As important as family traditions are to Pat and John Taddey, they didn't anticipate how quickly they would launch a new one when they hosted their eldest daughter's wedding at their home in La Jolla, California.

Not long after their daughter Tracy returned from her honeymoon, their younger daughter Jen announced her engagement--and that she and her fiance, Brandon Loyd, hoped to host their reception at the Taddey residence, nine months to the day after Tracy's wedding. Rather than feign exhaustion, John, a dentist, and Pat, an antiques dealer, immediately embraced the idea. "There's something so personal about having a wedding at home," says Pat. "You get the chance to share a part of your family life and your traditions with all your guests."

Jen and Brandon concurred: "We're both very close to our families and value time spent at home," says Jen. "This is where we feel most comfortable, and we knew that we could make our guests comfortable here as well."

Hosting the reception meant a new round of planning for Pat. Because a sit-down dinner was a priority for both mother and daughter, their first step was to determine how many guests they could accommodate. Pat suggested Setting up tables in the back garden, which would comfortably seat 120 guests. With the number set, Pat began figuring out how to use their 2,200-square-foot house to maximum advantage. "We stretched our home as far as it could possibly go, creating different areas for our guests to enjoy different parts of the event," she says. The Taddeys set up cocktails and appetizers in the front yard, dinner and dancing in the back garden, and dessert and gift tables inside the house.