Wedding Plans

Amanda asked about wedding planning. Thanks for stopping by, Amanda. How interesting... we have the same wedding date.

Wedding planning is... well, it's going. I am obviously not the typical girl when it comes to planning a wedding. Honestly, I would rather someone else do it. I find it stressful and a little annoying at times. September 25 is our date by default since we originally planned on getting married in Mexico. We booked our trip for October 2 but then our parents had major issues with us not getting married at home. So everything changed and now September 25th is the date - we are getting married at my parents' house in their backyard.

I refuse... refuse... to spend $20,000 or more on a wedding (and I wouldn't even allow my parents to spend that kind of money, either... I think it's ridiculous). I don't care if some stranger walked up to me and gave me the money, I certainly wouldn't use it for a wedding. Neither M or I want a big wedding. At least for me, I think this has a lot to do with being poor for so long. I worked full time while going to college and while my dad and stepmom did help pay for some of my loans once I graduated (and I am SO grateful for that!!) I had to work my @ss off while I was in school. There were times when I literally only had cents in my checking account. While M and I are much better off now, I am still very careful about my spending. Crap, when I bought my car last year, M basically spent the whole time calming me down - I was ready to have a panic attack every 5 minutes talking about car payments, etc. Even if I had a money tree growing in the backyard, I would still probably freak every time I had to spend a large amount of money.

Anyway, things are coming along. I have 5 bridesmaids and all of the dresses have been ordered. We are only waiting on two more to come in. My dress is ivory and their dresses are chocolate brown... each bridesmaid has a different style dress. The guys will not being wearing tuxes. They will wear khaki pants with ivory shirts.

We are using fall colors and I want the arch to look something like this...

I haven't decided on flowers for me or my bridesmaids yet, but I think I will stick with the sunflower/fall theme. Same for the center pieces. My stepmom and I are going to look at some flower ideas this Friday.

So far we have the minister, DJ, caterer, and videographer (this was my parent's doing... they want pay for a video of our wedding as part of their wedding gift to M and I) booked. The photographer is up in the air. A friend of ours was going to do the photography, but was recently in a motorcycle accident and will probably not be able to do it. I am so incredibly glad he is ok - but you have no idea how stressed out I am about trying to find a photographer with a little over 4 months until the wedding.

Since we will be having a bonfire when it gets dark (I HOPE it doesn't rain!), these are our favors, hot cocoa mix...

Oh, and here are what our invitations look like...

For the bridesmaids, I am buying them necklaces to wear on the day of the wedding. I also bought them these... I would like to find one more thing for them as a thank you gift. I also have something special in mind for my sister in law (my matron of honor) who is already making plans for my bridal shower and bachelorette party. By the way - I am SO excited about the bachelor/bachelorette parties. We are going on an overnight trip to some wineries in the Geneva area. It's going to be a blast!

So it's all coming together. I still need a bustle/alterations on my dress. All of the bridesmaids will need alterations. We still have to figure out exactly what the guys are wearing. We know where we are getting the wine/beer from, it's just a matter of buying it. M needs to decide on gifts for the groomsmen. M & I need to come up with a special gift for my dad and stepmom who are helping us out A LOT with the wedding. My stepmom is helping me decide on flowers this Friday. And we need a PHOTOGRAPHER!

Did I forget anything? I think I pretty much have it covered. I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. A lot of the wedding planning is already done, but I know there is still so much to do!