I'm with Yard on the paver size. Large format pavers are hard to work with, even for experienced crews. One 16x24 weighs 72 lbs, according to the Menards link. Keep in mind that you're not just plopping them down and moving on. Odds are, because you'll be learning as you go, that you'll be pulling pavers up and putting them back multiple times to get a smooth, even surface. Plus, I don't know what the quality of the pavers are, but generally box store pavers aren't the greatest. That can mean being slightly out of square or other issues that are magnified when using a bigger paver. I'd do a 4x8 border and a 4x8 in a herringbone or running bond pattern.

In terms of your questions:

1. suck it up and make the cuts. Go slow and take off a little material at a time until you get good at it. This is another reason to use smaller pavers if you're not confident about the cuts! It's way easier to piece together a curve with several smaller pavers than to try and cut a clean arc in a slab.

2. Rectangular is fine, but if you feel up to it I like Yard's concept. I wouldn't waste time putting curves against the planting bed. Soften the edge with plants and you'll be fine. The curves in that inspiration photo are a terrific example of what NOT to do. Squiggles aren't good design. If it looks like a roadkill rattlesnake, don't do it.

3. border the whole thing unless you have a compelling design reason not to. I don't see a reason not to.

4. if your house has red brick avoid pavers w/ red in them. The red pigments in clay bricks and the red pigments in concrete pavers will never look right together.

Don't skimp on your base, and don't forget to pitch the patio slightly to shed water. The biggest thing is don't rush. Stand up and step back frequently, because your surface can start to get "wavy" and you'll never see it from 2-3 feet away. When I built my first paver walkway in 1995 I tore it out and redid it 3 times because I was impatient (and, at 20, kinda stupid).

Yardvaark, thank you very much for your inputs. We will give serious thought about your suggestions on adding curves on the driveway side. Currently, the line that driveway meets the dirt isn't clean cut, it's a bit hard for me to know how curvy the driveway really is. Our backyard is a total mess right now with lots of weeds and dirt piles we dig last year. I guess I will have a better idea after cleaning up a little bit.

Here is the paver display we saw at the store: I'm kinda like the color on the display. I will ask the store which color combination the display is. Or maybe as you said, buy some sample bricks home before making the purchase.

In terms of why setting on large pavers, that's really my husband's preference. He likes the contemporary look of the large pavers present. I would be happy with the 4"X8" holland pavers which is small and easy to manipulate. I'm afraid my husband is over optimism and underestimate the difficulties and energy-consumption of laying large pavers. The largest size of the above pavers is 71lbs!! What from your professional point of view that we should pay attention when dealing with large pavers? It's not final yet. If laying large pavers are really difficult or even might hurt my husband, I will convince him to change to smaller ones. Family comes first!

Thanks again for your help.

Depending on the size of paver, it may be more troublesome to make the cut in the saw. Also, the weight will make it harder to lay with care.

You'd bring the patio as close to the drive as possible. If the drive edge is not clean cut, you may need to fill in with drive material after you establish the abuting paver edge. It's best if you show a picture of the problem.

And I would add that any cuts needed when using smaller sized pavers are far less noticeable than if using larger sized ones.

Thank you all for your advice. Looks like everyone think the paver size we choose might be too large for us to deal with. I will ask my husband to read everyone's suggestions and see what he has to say.

Interestingly, when I googled "paver patio for red brick house", most advice I received is to avoid 4X8 holland pavers since they are too similar to the house. They all suggest using larger pavers (no smaller than 6X6, or 6X9) and avoid reddish color as Revolutionary Gardens suggested. I will keep this in mind when we choose the color. Also, we will check more stores for paver options, hopefully we can find something smaller than our original pick but still look nicely.