The Wedding 23 Apr 2007 11:09 pm
Wedding Planning
The wedding planning has begun. My mom and I spent the evening talking about the wedding. I just don’t know what I want! I looked at bridesmaids dresses for two minutes and got bored. I wish it all just “happened”.
Our wedding is going to be very simple. For example, a reception at a Katy-area country club with a band and “heavy hors d’oeurves” for 250 people is costing my mom’s friend $35,000. We have less than a third of that. I don’t know what sort of wedding to dream of because I don’t want to be dissapointed. All that really matters is that I am getting married. But I am a girly girl and I have always dreamed of being a princess on my wedding day.
I want this:
But there are two obstacles to that: money and the Pope.
So, what about a destination wedding? Breckenridge, Colorado is quite beautiful and is special to my family. Just a thought.
But then there’s always the fact that many people won’t be able to come and that’s no fun. Sigh and hmm.
I kinda wanna elope.
7 Responses to “Wedding Planning”
on 24 Apr 2007 at 8:47 am 1.Brett said …
Regarding the desire to elope - Joana and I had very similar feelings while planning our wedding (though, she did the majority of the actual planning). There are so many details and such that you start to wonder if it’s all worth it.
Well, I think it is. Despite all of the crap you go through, cakes you taste, flowers you pick out, etc., it’s still a hell of a good day once the actual events start unfolding and you’re past the fail-safe point.
Oh, and your moms would probably be uber-pissed if you eloped. Keep that in mind.
P.S. - Secret to a wildly successful wedding is just two simple words: “Hosted Bar”.
on 24 Apr 2007 at 9:47 am 2.Jen said …
Ahhh…the planning. But you (and I) have excellent resources: MaryT, Angela and Shannon. And probably more.
on 25 Apr 2007 at 2:10 pm 3.MaryT said …
Here’s your resource for you: elope. Do it. No, seriously.
Okay, not seriously. But believe me when I tell you that with no exceptions, everyone I have ever talked to about planning a wedding with any kind of reception or gathering or anything at all fantasizes about eloping.
The good news is, you can have a great day (and more important: a great marriage) for NOT a million dollars, and skipping over the insanity that the wedding industry wants to suggest you MUST have. Ask Jen about veil-pushers. Ask me about pushers in general. I slapped them. I am happy to help you do the same!
Also, the Pope is not really standing in your way. Catholicism might be standing on your way, but let me assure you that it can be a guilt-free experience to slam the door in Catholicism’s face and say “you are not the boss of me. I am not marrying Jesus, so back off.” At least, it was for me.
on 25 Apr 2007 at 2:11 pm 4.MaryT said …
P.S. $35K is an outrageous price. We hosted 150 people with a huge dinner and open bar for less than that. And in a resort town. Ask me about shopping smart!
on 26 Apr 2007 at 8:14 am 5.Jen said …
Mary is queen of wedding deals, it is true!
on 27 Apr 2007 at 4:37 pm 6.Hana said …
Hi! yay i’m going to make my first post to your blog…
i felt totally overwhelmed for a while - had no idea what kind of wedding i wanted and had no idea what all was involved in planning one. we thought we could just get engaged and then pick a date a few months away and it would be no big deal. boy were WE wrong. my mom was trying to have me make final decisions the same week i got engaged to be able to make our date. (i had NEVER thought about what i wanted my wedding to be like before)
HOWEVER, don’t elope! yeah your parents will be upset. yes, the day is worth it. but more important than all of that - if you take it slowly and calmly - the planning can actually be fun. and if you eloped or just tried to do something quick to get it over with you would miss the once in a lifetime opportunity to spend time planning this with your mom and your aunt and whoever else who are all so excited to help make it special. THAT was the reason that we pushed our date back to a more reasonable time.
you can have an incredible wedding for whatever your budget is - and it can be a princess wedding! the most important thing is that it reflects the two of you, if it’s personal it will be great.
and don’t start looking at bridesmaid dresses - start with the stuff that’s interesting to you…that can come later :).
on 18 May 2007 at 1:41 pm 7.Maria said …
Very late reply to this one, but I can’t resist…
As overwhelming as it may seem to put together your wedding, sharing the ceremony and party with family and friends is so much cooler than eloping. We didn’t have many people at our wedding. Only those really important and close to both of us, and they all played a huge part on making that day totally memorable.
We were lucky that we had the place. As soon as I saw Pete and Sharon’s property on the river with all those beautiful trees, I knew it: I had always wanted to marry outdoors in a casual setting. So we had the place right from the start, but we did have to dress it up and make it hospitable.
The whole planning was going to be long distance for us (we were in Dallas, and the wedding would be close to Austin), so Joey and I focused on getting the most important stuff to us. That is: food, music, and photographer. Those were our three priorities.
The band, we already knew. We just asked them if they’d play at our wedding, and the price sounded right. The photographer we got at a bridal fair. The catering I think we found through an online directory. We made an appointment to taste some food options and decided on the menu on one sitting. They took care of all food related logistics (tables, chairs, china, glasses, etc).
And then, we let others help us as much as they wanted. I was sooooo lucky that my mother in law is such a big planner, and she came up with the most creative ideas. We let her pick all the little things for us. That was such a huge help, and I can’t imagine the hell that would’ve been attempting to control every tiny detail from miles away.
In the end, it was the best party Joey and I have ever been to. Because our thing was not totally traditional, we ended up having our guests speeches at the wedding party, and that made it even more special.
Eloping? Never!… That’s for Hollywood celebrities trying to excape paparazzi.
Just manage the big stuff and let others help you. In the end, it’s not about whether you had this or that flower arrangement, but it’s all about how everybody at the wedding felt (Danny’s tears as he says his wedding vows count towards that :))… Oh, and the photos… You will always want to look back at how happy and awesome your wedding was.