Our dream budget

So far, we have booked our ceremony site, reception venue and photographer, and I've purchased my dress and DIY invitations. So far, everything is within budget. We feel really happy with all of decisions we've made and things are materializing into the wedding we really want. While I had an anxiety attack over my dress the following morning after I purchased it, I have since realize that I made a smart buy. I really do love this dress. I even tried it on again last night and danced around my room.

But if you're wondering why the fiance and I are strictly following the numbers down to every penny when we seem to have so much room to work with in our $15,000 budget...well, we're actually shooting for way less than that. $15k is the absolute maximum we can spend. Meaning, 15K is the number we can safely afford without cleaning us out of money and savings. But my fiance and I don't make loads of cash right now and spending even less will help us out even more. We have no choice but to spend no more than 15K on everything, but our actual dream goal? 13K would be more like it. That would mean about 10k for the wedding (yes, the popular goal amount for most budget weddings) and 3K for our honeymoon. Going through our expenses so far, seeing how much everything costs and exploring cost-efficient alternatives, I think a 10K budget encompasses all the things we want and excluding things we don't need. It will be a tight squeeze, but here's trying.

I've realized that I don't need to spend $1000 on a wedding dress. I found one I love for a fraction of that cost. I don't need the $700 veil or the silly boudoir photo shoot. We realized that with some research we can find places, products and services that we're happy with for much less than what the wedding industry says we need to spend. We realized we don't need a florist to do all of our flowers, we don't need a wedding planner or a stylist. We're not being cheapskates, we're just saving ourselves tons of money for a wedding that actually reflects us and our tastes. That's what we really want, and if we go a tad over--it's ok. We've budgeted for that flexibility and we'll still have the wedding that reflects us. Amen!

But some folks in the blogosphere will say, "Oh, well why not have your wedding in the park? It's sooo much cheaper. Or just have a picnic at home. Just serve finger foods or little desserts. If you don't have a wedding that's hipper, greener and cheaper, you're not being true to yourself!" If I want a semi-traditional wedding, with a some formality then who is to say that's not being genuine? People who know us know that we looove to eat. Having vegetarian finger foods does not reflect us at all. And we like to dress up a bit. What I'm saying is just as you shouldn't feel bad for wanting what you want--no matter how conventional or unconventional it is, just as long it's what you want and not what anyone tells you should want. Whatever it is, there are ways to achieve it practically, cost efficient and within the amount of money you can spend. Word!