I’m starting out my first fun September weekend by heading out of town for friend’s fancy wedding (where I will wear yellow shoes like shown above), then spend the rest of the long weekend in my Hometown. Hope all of you have a wonderful, wonderful weekend! <3

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Below are the promised details for my wedding budget that I posted on Tuesday:

Stationery:

• Save the Dates: $0
  We plan to email a picture of us from our engagement shots holding a sign that says “Save the Date!” to all of our close friends and family.

• Invitations: $300
  Our goal is to spend no more than $3 per invitation. We are planning to purchase 90 invitations for 150 guests. Recent Brides: How much did you spend per invitation?

• Thank you cards: $85
  This budget actually may be free or significantly less because I have a lot of swagbucks Amazon giftcards I can use to buy thank you cards!

• Stamps: $200
  We haven’t decided whether to do an invitation RSVP via letter, postcard or email, so that could factor the cost of stamps. We also aren’t sure how many gifts we will get, so this may be more or less than $200.  Recent Brides: How much did you spend on stamps?

• Guest book: $15
  I have a clever idea for a guestbook, but I’m not ready to share this yet. :) Gotta keep some mystery!

Ceremony

• Music: $0
  My cousin plays the violin and graciously has agreed to play during our ceremony. We will get him a gift, but that is included in the Gift category below.

• Officiant: $0
  My uncle is a pastor and has graciously agreed to marry us. Same as above, we will get him a gift, but that’s included in the Gift category.

• Decorations: $0
  The venue is so gorgeous that I don’t think we will need many ceremony decorations. However, these will be included in the decoration category below.

• Rings: $350
  J and I agreed to buy each other’s wedding rings, so he has factored my ring into the groom’s budget using either his parent’s money or from his regular monthly paycheck.

• Marriage License: $60
  Standard cost for NC, I think? I looked it up but haven’t done any more research.

• Ceremony Location Fees; $0
  Don’t be fooled, this is not free, but included with the reception venue costs. Thankfully we chose a place where both ceremony and reception will be held! It will be a beautiful outdoor ceremony in a garden with an arbor.

Reception

• Venue: $2825.50
  This cost includes: ceremony grounds, ceremony arbor, beautiful gardens, 200 chairs, 25 round tables, 6 rectangle tables, large party tent, use of groomsmen room and bridesmaid room before the wedding, and a kitchen. Recent Brides: I’ve been told this is a large amount, how much did you spend on your venue?

• Food: $1,700
  This category may go up since food is sooo expensive. However, we have a family friend who has offered to gift us her catering skills and wait staff and we’d just pay for the price of the food: $1,600. The food will be just light hor’dourves since the wedding will be in the afternoon.

• Drinks: $300
  Sadly, no alcohol will be served at our wedding. :( This is for a couple of reasons: the cost (so expensive!) and the venue requires a licensed bartender to serve it, which probably won’t happen. However, it is an afternoon wedding and all of my friends and family will understand so it isn’t a big deal.

• Cake: $275
  I haven’t really looked into cakes yet; this category will go towards a fancy cake or just a table of delicious desserts.

• Music: $0
  We are going to use our iPod to play songs, mostly old timey jazz. We aren’t sure whether we will have a “couple’s first dance” because we don’t want to mess up the music to play a song and don’t really want to put the money into a DJ or a band. We will need to find some speakers, so there could be a cost in that.

Floral/Decorations:

• Bouquets: $350
  Who knows who much flowers cost! I have yet to research good flowers for the season and cost.

• Reception Flowers: $500
  I really need to review the flowers and reception decoration costs. Our wedding will be in April and we have a gorgeous cherry blossom tree in our yard that we may use for a lot of the decorations.

• Cake Table: $0
  We will put the bridesmaid bouquets around the cake.

• Reception decorations: $50
  Ok this may be combined with the Reception Flowers section, but I also have some great DIY ideas up my sleeve for decorating. ;)

Photography/Videography

• Engagement Photos: $0
  My sister will take these for free! However, I will probably give her a thank you gift using either the Gift category money or out of pocket.

• Bridal Portraits: $0
  My sister will take these for free!

• Wedding Photographer: 1,900
  This was the category that meant the very most to me, which is why it’s almost 20% of our wedding cost. However, I found a photographer who will cost $1,800 and she’s absolutely fabulous.

• Videographer: $0
  We will see if we can borrow a video camera from a friend to film the wedding and reception.

Gifts:

• Wedding Favors: $50
  I have a lovely little idea for the wedding favors but I’m not ready to share this yet. :)

• Gifts for Bridesmaids: $250
  I have five bridesmaids, so $50 each is acceptable I think. My goal is to get them a $40 gift and then factor a few dollars for wrapping paper and cards.  Recent Brides: What did you give your bridesmaids as a gift? Did you give your Maid of Honor an extra gift?

• Gifts for Groomsmen: $0
  J and his family are in charge of this!

• Gifts for readers, shower hosts, etc.:  $200
  I already know of 10 friends and family members who are helping us in some way (hosting showers, in the ceremony, etc), so I think this category will have to increase as well. I will reevaluate in a little while. Recent Brides: How much did you end up spending on gifts for helpers/hosts?

Attire

• Dress: $500
  I know what you girls are saying… but I am determined to find a dress for $500 or less!!!

• Shoes: $50
  Since it’s an outdoor wedding, I’ll probably end up wearing flats or wedges.

• Accessories: $50
  I am hoping to borrow a veil from a friend, so this category includes any make-up and jewelry.

Okay! That’s all. I promise not to talk about my wedding for a while. :) If you have planned a wedding or have any suggestions to any of my categories, please let me know!

Category: weddings | 6 comments

How we got to $10,000 as our Wedding Budget
If you remember about a month ago, I had $7,525 in my emergency fund and was talking about when and how I would save for a wedding. Of course I happily got engaged a week after posting that, so my saving plans have changed a bit. Originally we hoped to save $5,000-8,000, which we could easily save assuming both of us have our jobs for the next 8 to 9 months.

There were three words we want our wedding to be described as: Fun. Sweet. Personal. And we want an event that would accommodated about 150 people (originally the list was 485… we both have a lot of family!). After drafting a simple wedding budget, we figured out the only way to have this kind of wedding remotely close to our $5-8k budget would be to host it at our home. However, that idea lasted about half a day before we realized that the Fun factor of our wedding would probably be out the door, and in it’s place would come STRESSFUL.

Sooo after a loooong talk, J and I decided to transfer over $2,500 of my Emergency Savings into the wedding fund and contribute $800-900 per month into our wedding fund, bringing the total to $9,700-10,600.

How we will save $800-900 per Month
J has some debt that he will continue to pay off each month and I will save for the wedding each month. I stopped contributing to my Roth IRA and any extra money leftover in my account goes to the wedding. I will probably be moving in January to our new place, so when that time comes J may pause his debt-payments to help me save for the wedding or pick up some of the apartment expenses. My goal is to pay for the wedding slowly month by month (full payment for the venue has already been paid!) so it won’t be a huge amount by the time the wedding arrive and I can focus on simply getting married. 

I am also a bridesmaid in my roommate’s wedding in January, which adds a few lot more expenses to my budget each month. It’s challenging to balance, but I’m very conscious of my every day expenses and J has helped tremendously by buying our meals when we eat out and using his gas whenever we drive somewhere.

What our Parents Think
At the end of the day, J and I can pay for the entire wedding with no help. However, my parents have graciously offered us some money that we may use. To be honest, we need to talk about this in person and figure out how much they would like to contribute. It’s always been important to me that I pay for most of my wedding because my parents don’t have that much saved and I do have sisters who will need a wedding in the future as well. But we will talk about that this weekend.

J’s parents have graciously given us some money that will be used towards the rehearsal dinner, lodging for the wedding party, the groom’s attire, and the honeymoon. They gave us an amount that I don’t feel comfortable sharing right now (maybe later?) and told us what we did not use for the wedding they would give to us as a wedding present. After hearing the amount and crunching some preliminary numbers, I am not at all worried that our post-wedding Emergency Fund could be back to normal (or maybe even fully funded).

Whew! All this money talk is exhausting!  Thank goodness it’s Payday! Any questions? Comments?

Category: weddings | 4 comments

Alright my dear friends, here is The Wedding Budget that has been tweaked and scrutinized a few dozen times. I think I finally have the courage to show you all, but of course am a little scared to see what you think since it is a teeeeeny bit more than I had originally planned. I’ll do what Amber did (the former Carrie on the Cheap… check out her new blog!), and first will share with you the raw numbers, let you guys freak out for a little bit, then come back and explain it all in mind-numbing detail. Sound good? :) 

Here goes…

Ta da! Any comments, suggestions or snide remarks are welcome. Stay tuned because tomorrow I will post my Wedding Budget Savings Plan (aka: how exactly J and I will pay for this huge event!), and then Thursday I will go through all the dirty details of each category listed above. 

Have a great Tuesday! :)

Category: budgets, weddings | 16 comments

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on utilities; $51 for electric and $15 for Internet.

2. Today I feel excited about my money. I am putting down the ceremony & reception venue payment today! Not just the deposit but the full amount. It’s exciting that everything is coming together. :)

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was register for wedding gifts. It was the best five-hour shopping spree I’ve ever been on.

4. I will consider this week a success if I figure out an outfit to wear to a wedding I am attending this upcoming weekend. I have the dress, just need to find the cardigan and the shoes.

5. My favorite room in a house is the sunroom. Growing up, my family always had homes with a sunroom and it is always been a place of sunshine, comfort and happiness. In fact, I’ve found a few apartments that have a sunroom! Perhaps a little out of my price range, but one day I hope to have one. ;)

For those who care to participate, be my guest! :) Answer these five questions in the comments section or on your own blog and link it back here.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.

2. Today I feel _______towards money.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.

4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.

5. My favorite room in a house is ________.

Category: monday money checkup | 8 comments

Happy Friday dear friends! I hope all of you had a wonderful week. I am very thankful that the weekend has arrived! Upon arriving back in NC, we have been thrown full-force back into the wedding planning. I’ve been making lists, emailing vendors, making phone calls on my lunch break, and crunching numbers for the big day, the big move, and the big newly wed budget. It’s excited but exhausting.

This weekend will be no exception, but our plans will be more fun than just googling places… we are going to REGISTER! Perhaps it’s too soon to do that, but our weekends are booked for the next two months so we’d like to go ahead and get this done. Isn’t it such a funny concept to reserve items for your friends and family to buy you? It’s like an amplified Christmas list.

Hope you all have a happy weekend!

(photo credit)

Category: weekends | 1 comment

I mentioned last week that my roommate got engaged the day after I did. It has been absolutely fantastic planning a wedding together and I’m so excited for them and honored to be apart of the wedding party. There is just one tiny little glitch: they are getting married this January and I will have to move out.

We are planning our wedding in April, so there are really three options:

1. Find a roommate who needs a temporary roommate and sublease before the wedding.

2. Stay with J’s family who have graciously let me live with them before the wedding.

3. Get my own place and pay a little extra until J moves in after the wedding.

None of these options are ideal because moving is always a pain. However, I am leaning towards Option 3 to just get a place a few months before the wedding. It would be the least financially responsible plan, but I think it may be the most sane one since I don’t want to move out of my current apartment in January to a temporary home, continue planning a wedding, then move another time in April after the wedding. J also agrees that would be the best plan since he is living at home and can help with the rent until he moves in. Since J and I will be paying for the majority of our wedding ourselves, the next few months will be very tight in trying to save for the wedding before paying for an apartment and all those little moving expenses. (Also, in case you are wondering, it is not an option for J and I to live together before the wedding. Call us old fashion but we really want the first time we live together to be when we’re married.)

I’ll make sure to update you on our budgets very soon!

*Photo: Right after I got engaged, I grabbed my keys and scribbled “I’m Engaged!” on the chalkboard in our kitchen before heading to my hometown to celebrate with my family. After finding out my roommate got engaged, I promptly scratched out and wrote “we’re” as soon as I got home. :)

Category: decisions, housing, weddings | 3 comments

Oops, I have been in Texas for the last five days and completely forgot to publish an “I’m heading to Austin” post and schedule a “Monday Money Check-Up” post for yesterday. My apologies! So… here’s the belated version, after all today is my Monday.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on gasoline : $26.50. J paid for the entire Austin trip, isn’t that so sweet? I mean, sure our money will be joint soon, but it was so nice nevertheless!

2. Today I feel very good about my money. I mean, how could you not when you’ve only spent $26.50 in the last week? :)

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was go to a swimming hole. It was a much-needed break from the Texas heat.

4. I will consider this week a success if I put a deposit on the wedding venue! Woot! I also promise to give you the final wedding budget as soon as it’s finalized.

5. The next trip I have planned will be for a Labor Day wedding and then an autumn trip to a cabin in the mountains. I live for those weekend trips. 

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For those who care to participate, be my guest! :) Answer these five questions in the comments section or on your own blog and link it back here.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.

2. Today I feel _______towards money.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.

4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.

5. The next trip I have planned  _________.

Category: monday money checkup | 7 comments

Pecorino Romano with apples and fig jam:

Preheat oven to 350.

Category: recipes | 3 comments

1. Thank you again for all the comments. I started tearing up when I read all of them. Call me sentimental, but each of you “strangers” feel like such dear friends to me. :)

2. I promise not to turn this into a wedding blog. However, I make no such promise that you won’t be sick of hearing about my wedding. Sorry, but weddings and money just can’t get rid of each other and I intend to blog about the costs to keep myself accountable. 

3. This week I learned that an engaged girl is a fiancée but an engaged boy is a fiancé. I wonder why we don’t have an English name for engaged folk?

4. In just one week, J and I have decided the date, the venue, the time, the entire wedding party, the flowers, the theme, the wedding favor, the photographer, and the honeymoon. The only thing tripping me up are the colors. Pink and green? Green and yellow? Pink and yellow? Green and blue?

5. I mayyyy have subscribed to too many wedding blogs in my Google Reader. It seems every hour there is a new post that steals my attention and I get a new idea. I think I have to cut back. 

6. So far, in case you are curious, my favorite wedding blogs are: Style Me Pretty, Southern Wedding Magazine Blog, Once Wed, My DIY Wedding Day, Green Wedding Shoes, and 100 Layer Cake.  If you have a favorite, please share!

7. My budget has increased  just slightly from the original $5-$8,000 budget I had planned. Don’t alert the budget police, I’ll explain it all later. I just had to give you all a bit of a warning.

8. My roommate got engaged the day after I did and it’s fabulous. Our weddings are completely opposite so there is nothing but helpful hints and zero competition.

9. However, she’s getting married in January so I’ll need to find a place to live by myself in January before J and I get married. Tiny little kink in the budget plans.

10. I’ve heard it said that being married is better than dating, but that dating is better than being engaged because engagements are the worst. Is that true for any of you? So far, however, the engagement been great. In fact, the other night we were eating dinner and J said, “So I was on The Knot earlier today…” and I just couldn’t help laughing. I never thought I would hear that out of his mouth! But he’s quite the helper and I’m thankful to have a teammate who cares about the day as much as I do.

Category: weddings | 18 comments