Thank you all so much for your lovely comments about my announcement that we're going to marry! It was so nice reading your kind words, thanks a lot! So, for everyone who's interested in wedding planning, here are some thoughts about budget and priorities:
Everyone knows that weddings are expensive and if you are ordinary mortals like us, you just have to set priorities and decide where you want to spend a little more of your budget and where you can make some cuts. And since we've spent half a fortune on our last vacation, we're gonna have to make some more cuts anyway. Here's our personal list of what is important to us and where we can save some Euros:
High Priority - Things that shouldn't be cheap:
The Location:
Our dream was a rustic-cosy location, with delicious food, where both our guests and we would feel comfortable, like a wedding-barn or something like that. However, we didn't have much luck with the barns: one location didn't want to have us (they only arrange wedding for more than 70 guests, and we'll only be like 50 max.), the other one was way to expensive (just because we made this item on the list a priority, it doesn't mean we want to get up to our ears in debt), the next one just didn't answer my e-mails anymore and was never available on the phone (is it too much asked to meet in person and ask some questions before you sign a contract??)
In the end, we decided to have the party in a newly renovated mill from the 18th century. It's not too big, not too expensive and the owners are lovely and commited people - we're sure that we've made the right choice here!
The Photographer:
Okay, I admit it: this is actually my priority :) but come to think of it: every time I've showed John some pictures of the cheaper photographs on the internet, he said something like "well, that's nothing special, is it?"
I've spent desperate hours searching for the perfect photographer, finding fabulous pictures (at a fabulous high price) and crappy pictures (at an affordable price, which was actually still too high for what you get for it) until I finally hit the jackpot: a fabulous photographer with a reasonable price. Meanwhile we've met him in person, and he's a cool guy with original ideas and a great know-how. He even asked me to send him the link to my
wedding shots Pinterest board, to get an idea of what we like :) (Imagine that! A man who knows Pinterest!!)
Mid Priority - Things where we want to save some money (but can we??)
Dress and Suit:
I really don't have to have the latest Vera Wang creation, or any other's designer's garment. Honestly, I'm okay with a second-hand dress as long as it is pretty. I can rule out about 80% of the dresses available anyway, namely the strapless ones. I just don't like the look, so I'd rather have one with straps or tiny sleeves. Here's my favorite so far:
Just in case you like this dress, too: this is No. 8555 by Justin
Alexander, from an older collection. I've found it in several online
shops for a very low price, but unfortunately the back part doesn't look
like you could wear a bra, and I definitely need one!
Since this style isn't really the latest fashion, it might be harder to find, but on the other hand, I might make a good deal with a dress that nobody else wants, right? Anyway, I'm willing to save some money here :)
There's no need to worry about John: I know he'll pick exactly the right suit: not a designer's one, and not a cheap one, just a good suit in a good quality. He'll look awesome! :) (I only hope he'll pick a black one...)
Wedding Rings:
stupid gold price :) we're not after something fancy here, but unfortunately even the simple ones will probably still eat up a good portion of our budget. We were even thinking about ordering them from the internet, but a friend of mine has made some negative experiences here. We'll see. John's got a diamond that his Mom gave him, and we would probably have it incorporated in my ring (if we have the rings made by one of our local jewellers)
High Priority - but here we can save some bucks:
The Music:
Oh, John and I just love music! Actually the endless talk about Country Music brought us together, I think :) Anyway - we've got all our favorite songs in our huge CD-collection or on the Computer, so it would be stupid to hire a professional DJ to play our own CDs, and a band probably wouldn't know most of our favorite songs anyway (plus, this is out of budget). Luckily, my cousin's a week-end DJ, and he'll operate the stereo-equipment.
Decoration, flowers and stationery:
Very important! But thank good I'm blessed with highly talented crafty girls in my family: my sister and my sister-in-law are true artists when it comes to working with paper, but other materials as well. I'm mainly into crochet, but I used to craft with all kinds of stuff when I was a kid, so I might be some help here, too :) Plus: my sister-in-law's mother (i.e. my brother's mother-in-law) has worked in catering for many years and arranged lots of wedding parties, and she's already offered to help us where she can - I'm mainly counting on her for the flower arrangement and the table decoration, she'd do an amazing job!! My sister-in-law, Micha, and I already had a few brainstorming-sessions and together we've come up with some great ideas and already did a little trial-crafting this week. This wedding's gonna be DIY-loaded, promise! :)
Since my wedding-related Pinterest boards and the ideas in my notebook keep growing every day, I'm sure I'll be back with some more Wedding News here soon. Or maybe I tell you a little bit about the second dancing course that John and I have joined a few weeks ago :)
Have a fabulous week-end everybody!
Wedding-Countdown: 7 months and 27 days to go!
