Where to budge on the budget...

Eventually you have to come to the realization that you can't have everything you want...or can you?

One of the things that has been extremely apparent while planning this wedding is that I have a champagne taste and budget. My taste is kind of like this bottle of Krug.

$750

While my budget is kind of like this bottle of Korbel. 

 

$12.95

But come on! Korbel is still delicious and fabulous! And so will be my wedding.   

Ryan and I don't have a specific be-all, end-all "budget". The main reason for this is that we both know that I can get slightly (extremely) obsessive about numbers. I don't really need to be calculating tips and tax for my hairdresser every day until next June. 

We know about how much we want to spend on each vendor. The key here is prioritizing what things are most important to you. For me, the easiest way for me to figure this out was to make a list. Boy, do I LOVE lists!

Venue- My last post made it pretty clear that our venue was not something we wanted to compromise on. Here is a preview of one of the entrees you might pick, via our food tasting. 

 

(swoon)

Photography- The only thing you have left after the big day is over! This is important, but can definitely be done on a budget. More to come on this at a later date.

Flowers- Nope. Don't care. Get me whatever is cheap and in season. Moving on. 

Dress- I need the best, most perfect dress in the world <3 No comments from the peanut gallery please. 

Invites, programs, and other misc. crap that adds up to a LOT of money....

 

I wondered if there was a way that I could have all of the beautiful little touches I wanted, without breaking the bank. And I figured it out!! 

Do It Yourself! This is perfect!! What a great way to save money. I am going to design and make everything from the Save the Dates to the invitations and beyond. I am definitely willing to put in a little blood, sweat and tears to save money. Remind me of this in a few months when I am pulling my hair out. 


Where did you trim the budget for your wedding? Did you do anything yourself?

 

  

Where and When...

Getting engaged in a foreign country is nice for many reasons. For one, it gave us time to take it all in, and figure out what we were going to say when we got hit with "the questions" at home.

I had always wanted a really long engagement. I had even wanted to take time to "just enjoy being engaged" without planning anything (ha). Ryan, apparently knowing me better than I know myself, nipped that idea in the bud.

The time frame for our wedding was settled easily- Ryan told me when we were going to get married. Not having many opinions about much ever, I figure when he does-it's important.

So June or July of 2012 it was. An engagement of about a year and a half. In another part of the country that would be plenty of time. But us Long Islanders love our big fabulous weddings, and actually when we booked our wedding, we got the last available Saturday in June!

 But I'm jumping ahead. Where to get married? I had always loved the idea of a destination wedding. But practical? Not so much.

 

It's technically an island...right? Right. Who was I kidding? I love Long Island. And one thing we quickly realized is that we love Suffolk County, and we love the south shore. That narrowed down our search pretty nicely.

Ryan and I each had one major requirement for our venue. He wanted to make sure the layout of the room was perfect, and I wanted the place to host only one wedding at a time. 

I may have perused Long Island Weddings a few times before getting engaged...And that's where I first came across our venue. I showed the venue's website to Ryan and he said "Looks good, lets write a check" jokingly, which is ironic that we chose that venue in the end. 

We spent a weekend or two touring venues that fit our requirements. Some were out right away. 

At one venue in particular that shall remain nameless (unless you ask me) I felt like we were being sold a used car. 

Literally, that could be the guy we talked to if he were dressed more nicely. I cannot stand people telling me what to do (just ask Ryan) and this venue defined the word pushy. From their "all-inclusive" wedding package that covered everything from the flowers to the photographer, to asking us what other venues had quoted us- it was not our style at all. 

There were a few other places that were nice, but we slowly but surely narrowed down our list.

We decided to go to food tastings at our top two choices and after a lot of thinking, some more talking, and one delicious food tasting- the choice was clear: 

Beautiful, tons of character, great views, right by the water, and amazing, amazing food (seriously). The people that work there pay such attention to detail that even a neurotic bride-to-be like myself can feel (almost) relaxed. The layout is perfect, and I will be the only bride in sight.

Hello Blog.

Blog?

I never really got the point of having a blog. In fact, I’m not even sure I know the point now.

All I know is that my fiance is sick of 24/7 wedding talk, and I really, really do not want to be (but am) “that girl” that doesn’t talk about anything except her wedding because she is completely self-absorbed in a day that will last all of 6 hours.

My Macbook on the other hand, has no complaints. Inanimate objects do not get sick of searching for “purple and pink weddings” “orange and pink weddings”  “purple, pink and grey weddings” and so on…

I don’t know how often I will update this…but if it’s every time I think about my wedding, I wouldn’t go signing up for email alerts.

Name.

The name of this blog is me, in a nutshell. That saying “better late than never” is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. If you know me, you know that I very much respect time. I have never willingly been late to anything, ever.

My fiance thinks its compulsive, and it is. But there is no better feeling than walking into my 4 p.m. appointment at 3:55 (besides walking in at 3:54…you knew that was coming).

Never late is much better. Never late is best.

It sure is. So why I’m getting married to someone who prides himself on getting everywhere at the last possible minute. Most likely the same reason he does not throw something at me when I am having a panic attack in the car at 7:55, on our way to an 8 o’clock dinner reservation.


Wedding. 

I started planning my wedding the minute we got engaged. That is a lie. I have been planning my wedding for about as long as I can remember. I never thought I would love it quite this much (I’ll stop lying soon). Much to my fiance’s dismay, there is a LOT of details and planning that go into the most important 6 hours of your life.

I will post as many details as I can here. But one thing is for sure: My wedding will start at 6 p.m. exactly, so don’t be late!