Ok, today is a day where heading to Vegas and having Elvis just get everything over with sounds good. The mister would like that, it is to be sure. I spent my lunch hour calling beach people, and it's even more expensive than I thought. The place I loved the most is redonkulous. Trying to find a plan B down there now, but that is redonkulous, jr. I am still about 65-70% leaning toward the beach, but trying to find a cheaper, non Jimmy Buffet way to do it (sorry, mom).
What I want to know now is--since you'll all been full of such great advice--what were the things that were worth the money to you and what was totally not worth the money/stress? If you're unhitched (which is a great thing to be when you put it like that), what was it about the weddings you've been to that made them great?
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re: money stuff
i think you are wise to keep shopping around for a cheaper venue for the ceremony. with all the other expenses that are going to come into play you should definitely try to save money on the venue. after all, it will be the people who are there and the way you have it decorated that is going to make the place special more than the actual venue itself. and if you are thinking beach or mountains, you already have the perfect natural backdrop for a beautiful wedding so really no need to drop a load of cash in that kind of setting.
the most expensive thing at my wedding was the catering. that's something you're going to want to shop around for, or even enlist the help of your good-cooking friends if you want to save some money there, but that can be worth splurging on. same with your cakes - i got mine from magic muffin i think in cahaba heights behind the summit - they were decently priced, delicious and looked BEAUTIFUL. i was 100% happy going through them.
for me, the thing i was most pleased with dropping some cash on were my flowers. they were ridiculously expensive but gahhh i loved them - the bouquets, the scattered petals, the big arrangements - it was lovely and well worth it.
so there ya go - some random thoughts. most importantly take your time and don't stress yourself. you have PLENTY of time to get everything together. jon and i planned our entire wedding in less than 2 months time and it went fine. weddings don't have to be about stress stress stress - definitely do not buy into that hype ;)
i'm about to become the two-headed monster.
head #1:
honestly, although the beach was beautiful, jeff and i kind of agreed recently that if we could do it all over we'd do it cathy and stephen style. i.e. find something cute to wear. get flowers for me a bouteneire for him and get married at the courthouse. have the immediate family meet us at highlands (or some such) for lunch and have a small cake.
have an informal party for all of the friends.
no invitations. no headaches. no high price tag.
head #2:
if you want to continue on with the beach idea, i can send you my cost spreadsheet. the most economical thing to do is not to get a "venue" per se, but rent a house that will allow special events for one day.
heads 1 and 2 agree that you should do what you think will make you happy. listen to that little voice inside of you and forget all the "buts" that come after it.
I think I said before, the pictures were the most important to me because they will be the only thing you end up keeping from that day. Yeah, you'll have your dress, but really, when will you wear it again? It was important to me to have pictures of my wedding party and family, but also to have pictures of our guests. My pictures are amazing, but I still wouldn't recommend Frank Allen. So my pictures were the most expensive thing because I bought a package, but also paid for a little extra time to make sure he was there from the time I got dressed to the time we left the reception.
I love flowers, but they are so freaking expensive for something that you only enjoy for a couple hours. My friend who got married in March had amazing arrangements (by Homewood florist and she highly recommends them)and she is relying on her pictures to remember what they looked like because the day went by so fast it was a blur.
Almost everyone I know wishes they didn't spend as much on their dress.
Favors are nice, but unnecessary.
Hhhhmmmmm... what else....
Jason's best friend is the curator at Sloss. From what I understand, you can pretty much decorate how you want and it seats a pretty good amount of people. Also, it can be planned for outdoors, or if it ends up being a rainy day (which is lucky, by the way) there is a neat warehouse type building where they have concerts.
I'm spent!
Ok, I thought of something else. You really shouldn't have included me in this blog process.
My friend who got married in St. Simon's only invited family and close friends. Close friends literally being about 10 people. There was a small ceremony on the beach and then a small reception at the house her parents rented, which was intimate and more like a party. They went on their honeymoon and I believe the next weekend had a big, but casual reception for the rest of the family and friends. She saved so much doing this, which was smart because her Dad gave her a wedding allowance and said whatever was leftover was hers to put as a down payment on a house. Believe me it was a very frugal wedding, but any guest would have never known it.
done and done...........for now.
yes! taylor is definitely right about the pictures. we tried to pinch pennies and let a friend do our photographs, but here we are almost 5 years later with a bag full of 600 pictures and no album to show for it. not good! rachel used a very expensive photographer, but they did an amazing job and put an album together and everything. i know rachel and her family are very happy with the results and believe it was money well spent.
to me...entertainment is important. the last wedding i went to my friend had a bad dj and no one was dancing...she was out on the floor with a few of her bridesmaids...it was painful to watch... and it was so bright in there that everyone was really uncomfortable..most people ended up on the back patio in almost complete darkness away from the actual reception...it was weird. so my advice: spend money on the reception...thats what youre going to remember...dancing with your friends, having a great time...the ceremony is so short..i know you want it to be pretty...but ive been to weddings were they had spent all on the ceremony and the reception sucked...people were out of there in no time...not that your friends would do that, just something to think about.
one good way to please russell...elvis impersonator for the reception! All Elvis All Night!
Oh, and another thing (from Taylor's Mom), the mountains can be pretty chilly in the early spring. But if it's an indoor wedding there, I guess it wouldn't matter... And with the beach, you'd have to be aware of when the venues would be flooded with spring break-ers. If it's not ants, it's spiders!
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