From travelagentcentral.com, click for their breakdown of passport prices

I received it in the mail and a few days later had my birth certificate returned to me. My job often finds me running to the county’s Clerk of Courts office (where we applied for passports). When I told the ladies there that it arrived they had some advice for me that I want to share with you. They told me to come see them as soon as we return from our honeymoon so that I would save the most money on changing my name on my passport. Don’t wait on this, if you get a passport and change your name within a certain time period I’ve been told that they waive the fee!

It feels so nice to have one and makes me feel a lot less stressed about travel. Just don’t forget to sign your passport!

I love our wedding thank you cards and am so happy with how they turned out.  Here they are -

I just took the photo...and added the Thank You text on it through Vista Print.

It also took me a bit of time to order the thank you cards because I wanted to use a photo from our professional wedding photos.  I had to wait until I received the disk and then I had to order them.  We chose to go with thank you post cards from Vista Print which has been my affordable go to place for all of our printed wedding needs.  I spent more on the shipping and handling for 100 of these then I did for the actual post cards which were $9.98.  I also ordered return address labels with flip flops on them from Vista Print…which I got for free.

One thing we debated right away was getting engagement pictures.  I don’t know about any of you future brides, but for some reason, I just couldn’t understand why we needed pictures of ourselves all lovey dovey and posed before our actual wedding.  In my head, I wanted to be different and not send out a photo as a save the date, so I just couldn’t see the reason why to do it.  So, we debated.  Should we get engagement pictures or have Emily come and take pictures at our rehearsal dinner as well?

Here the rest of our photos

In the end, we decided to go with the engagement photo shoot.  And to my complete surprise, I LOVED THE PICTURES.  It captured Hydrangea Dude and I’s personality perfectly and combined some great close-up pictures, but also great shots of us in our natural fun-loving environment.  We can’t wait to see what she has in store for our wedding.

What did you end up doing? Did you go with the engagement session or do something different?

Here are a few shots of some of our small details, that I absolutely loved!

My bouquet... I never would have thought these things would be so heavy!

My jewelry, and yes ladies you all helped me pick out that cuff!

Can't get enough of my shoes! Photographed here with Dogwood Dude's and my rings.

The palm frond isle runner... although there was some pretty serious tripping going on.

Our engraved cake cutting utensils, a gift from my fabulous friend Lindsay.

Our guest book, a book of photos from the Florida Keys.

Wonderful photography provided by Emily Harris Photography, flowers by Blooming Design and Events.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

We do have backup plans in case of rain, however, nothing is as ideal as a ceremony on the beach.  We are hoping for the best. The funny thing is, right now the focus is on Earl, who seems to be taking the same path as Bob did back in 1991. While we evacuated and ended our vacation early that year, its damage to the Outer Banks wasn’t as devastating as others in recent years, though it hit Massachusetts pretty hard. Earl will be long gone by the big day, but we’re still far enough away that a new storm (or two), could develop and impact our big day. Right now its anybody’s guess.

As a bride bent on making the day “perfect”, I try to keep reminding myself of all the things I have no control over, first and foremost, the weather. The only thing that really matters is the Love and Commitment between Moon Dude and myself, whether it happens indoors or out. Whatever happens with the weather will only make our union more memorable. 

Rain or Shine, I’m Getting Married!

Not one of our photos, just one from the night we got engaged (personal photo)

It was so much fun! We went to a playground and pretended to be kids for awhile and then we had a classy picnic at a park.

The e-session was so valuable to me because we got to spend some more time with our photographer and we were very comfortable smiling, kissing and interacting for him. Which will make our big day just a little bit easier. I know some couples just go to a cheap studio and have 3-5 pictures taken to have one to put in the newspaper and to frame. I’m very glad that we opted to go with our actual photographer for these photos. I highly recommend picking a wedding photography package with engagement photos included.

We should get to see all of our photos in 1-2 weeks. I’ll share a couple of my favorites with all of you in the garden when we get them.

Lovebug proposed on a Wednesday and we went back to reality on Monday. It was a lovely fairy tale. Here, let me show you:

Ahhh, memories I’ve always told myself that I would never be a bridezilla. And it seemed that this would be perfect. He proposed two years in advance of when we had discussed getting married so we had all the time in the world to plan! Right?

Well it seems that as soon as the fairy tale was over I went into some kind of hysteria about finding the perfect location for our wedding. One might think that I would be more calm and cool given the time frame. One would also be wrong. I have no idea why I got so crazed about this, but I did.  After one measly week of looking at venues I was so worried about where we were going to get married. Looking back, it’s pretty frickin’ ridiculous.

Here’s a sampling of the hysteria I went through and the places that I looked at.  Lovebug and I wanted to get married outside. Since we’re both from the same area, we wanted to get married in the D.C. area, preferably not too far from Southern Maryland.  I looked into a couple vineyards in the area, most notably Ingleside Vineyards in Virginia and Running Hare in Maryland. Both of these options are completely gorgeous and if you’re looking in the D.C. area, I would highly recommend. They didn’t seem right for us as a couple, however, because Lovebug doesn’t drink. It would have been a selfish choice on my part.

In my craziness, Lovebug found a helpful website that included lists of great places to check out in the area that seemed to fit our style.  Finally, a friend of mine who is organizationally talented sat down with me and made up a spreadsheet with all the venues I had in mind. I would seriously recommend this to any and everyone. The spreadsheet included things like the venue name, price, capacity, time allotted, distance, things included with the venue (like linens, tables, catering, etc.), whether or not a tent was included, and what the plan B was if it rained. It was an amazing lifesaver.

The places we ended up seriously considering were Mount Vernon, Sotterly Plantation, Woodlawn Plantation, Old South Country Club, and Mount Airy Mansion. I set up times to tour the places, starting with Mount Vernon.  We loved Mount Vernon but had a few problems with it.  First, the ceremony site, while beautiful could only hold 120 guests, a bit too tight for our 180 guest list. Also, the plan B for rain was in the auditorium, not exactly picturesque. Let me say though, that the food was amazingly yummy. The restaurant does a great job.

Next I had set up to see Woodlawn Plantation and Mount Airy.  When I called to set up a time to see Mount Airy, the woman there, Mary, said that she had to have me come before I went to see Woodlawn because she just knew that I would be “wowed.”  So my mother and I popped in over there just to quickly look before heading to Woodlawn.

Wow. I knew immediately that this is what I wanted for our wedding.  No other venue could have been more perfect. The plan B for rain was absolutely breathtaking and the mansion itself is just wonderful. When my mother and I left there, we both said there was no point in going anywhere else.  We did honor our appointment with Woodlawn, although all I did was think about Mount Airy the whole time.

Lesson learned: stop freaking out about something that will work itself out in the end.  Hopefully, I take this wisdom with me throughout the rest of planning.

That was when I received an email reply about the cupcake icing colors where the baker said something like ‘the buckets of icing come in white and ivory’.  HOLD UP…buckets of icing? You are a pastry chef…you do not make your own icing?

Our cake table - stand created by my husband and his best man

To be perfectly honest this email conversation happened about a week before the wedding.  I was super stressed and lacking sleep.  It was too late to find someone else to do it, so I kept my mouth shut about it and hoped for the best.

I ended up being unhappy with the cakes/cupcakes for the following reasons -

1. the cupcake icing that was supposed to be LIME GREEN was more of a KELLY GREEN (in hindsight I should have asked to see samples of the tinted frosting to verify).

2. the cupcakes were dry and the icing was gross (we tried cake samples before and both the cake and icing was amazing…I am not sure what happened).

After the wedding I definitely felt like I could have baked better tasting homemade cupcakes and frosting myself.  I contacted the baker via email to let her know my issues – she never replied My advice is that if you go with cupcakes, ask to see and sample an actual cupcake.  I also recommend if you go with colored icing, ask to see it beforehand.  I guess you live and learn.

What a long walk down DIY lane it has been… but it was absolutely perfect!

Just Married!

We had the most perfect weather imaginable.  Really.  There were a few poetic clouds whisping through the blue sky.  The humidity was non-existent (mind you it’s been super humid in the North East this summer).  The temperature the days before (and the days after) were in the sweltering 90s, but not on our wedding day – a lovely 80 degrees, thank you.

Just look at those clouds!

Here are a few sneak peeks at our wedding photographs.  Specifically, posed photos we did after the reception at a rusted old VW Bus that I have always been fond of.

All photographs courtesy of TK&J Lochmandy Photography

Yogile.com is clearly the best option for me

In my research, there were a bunch of options that I considered, but one of them stood out above the rest, let me share it with you:

Yogile: I don’t remember how I stumbled across this website, but I LOVE IT and I’m glad that I did! Its so simple and easy to use that I have no doubt anyone with internet can figure it out. I love how simple and clean the website is, and that there is NO advertising to spam my guests. My favorite part is the upload from e-mail option. You can give guests a personalized email where they can email the photos to instantly upload to the album — talk about easy! And there is no requirement to join if you are just uploading your photos to a group album. The customizable URLs are easy to remember, too!  Overall its been great so far, and I highly recommend it! I cant wait for the uploads to start rolling in!

My command center for wedding planning AND school work (Personal Photo)

Since we obviously don’t hate school this has been a pretty good approach. I feel like I’m “studying” venues and traditions when I’m browsing through blogs and the articles that I send to Lilac Dude are “assigned readings”. I just finished a very large “art assignment”… the flowers! I’m proud to say that all corsages, boutonnieres and bouquets are done!

The next deadline on our syllabus is deciding on a reception venue, that deadline is the start of fall semester! Unlike college where we’ll finish with 8 semesters total we only have 3 semesters to put together our wedding.

Do you approach you wedding plans the way you do school or work? Or do you take a different approach?

First, let me introduce you to Calla Lily Lovebug, my fiance. I’m truly grateful for him every day of my life and find him to be absolutely perfect for me. I find that I’m a better person when I’m with him and I think we compliment each other perfectly.

At this point in my life, I’m at a bit of a standstill.  I’m living at home with my mother who is widowed.  Lovebug and I are planning on buying a house this year but we’re going to live separately until the wedding.  It’s not that I’m old fashioned, because I’m definitely not, but I always felt that there wouldn’t be much of a change if we lived together before we got married.  So we’ve decided to try it this way. We’ll see how long it lasts after we buy a house.

I work currently as a social worker doing early intervention with at-risk teen and first time parents. I’m also finishing up my Masters degree in Counseling.  This is the main reason Lovebug and I are waiting so long to tie the knot. I want to be done with my degree before we get married.  It’s also been nice to have so much time to plan. I can’t believe a year has gone by already!

I’ll write more about my specific plans later, I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone and say thanks for reading!

Tasting #3:

I had done some research and found a tiny bakery about 45 minutes away from our venue.  The place did wedding cakes but they were mostly a catering company/bakery in the heart of Annapolis, MD, called Palate Pleasers.  When we walked in the owner created us with a huge smile and FINALLY I was excited about our cake.  I had brought some pics to show him, giving him a rough idea of what we wanted.

Idea #1:

For the colors

Cakes Photo: marneycakes.blogspot.com

Idea #2:
(obviously just the shape, not the color)

Cake Photo: weddings.theknot.com

The one thing I haven’t mentioned about our cake – was that we were on a really tight budget for this – and we still needed to feed 160 people with it.  So after tasting delicious pieces of chocolate on chocolate, butter cream on vanilla, I decided on the tradition vanilla cake, vanilla icing – and it was delicious!  After a few bumps in the road, here’s our cake:

Photography by: Tom McCall Photography

Before:

After:

We ended up getting around 60 yards of this fabric, which is really just liner.  Its a gold color, with a slight shimmer to it.  We just used Velcro to fasten it to itself, around the railing.  We are also covering all of the banisters around the park.

What are some of the things that you are doing to to enhance your ceremony/reception venues?

Photo taken by Amy Sandoval Photography

My earrings were purchased at Ny & Co for around $3.50.  They were buy one get one 50% off at the time.  I also purchased a fabulous black neclace I had been eyeing and so was able to get the earrings for a steal.

Next we headed to Charming Charlie – which is a fabulous spot new to our local mall.  They have bags, jewelry, clothes, etc… all arranged in the store according to color.  If you have never been, I suggest you search for the nearest one and head there for some amazing bargains.  My necklace was $12.99 and came with a pair of earrings (that I didn’t end up wearing).

The 'purple section from Charming Charlie

Anyway, we got tickets for this bridal show from our baker–when we met with her to discuss our wedding cake, she asked us how we heard of her and I honestly didn’t know. I know that I didn’t meet her at the first (and at that time, only) bridal show that we had been to but I somehow she had my contact information and emailed me her specials and I contacted her back for a consultation. And it was “love at first sight”–she was the only baker we met with. So, when I explained that to her she asked me if I was on the mailing list for The Perfect Wedding Guide (of course I am!!) and that was probably how I got her email. She then asked how the first bridal show we went to was and I told her that it was okay. Definitely small and not what I was expecting–I expected it to be busy and crazy and have a lot of vendors. And it didn’t… So she gave Sunflower Dude and I free tickets to The Perfect Wedding Guide Bridal Show that happened this past Sunday, Aug. 22.

It was fun. And everything I expected in a bridal show. Right down to the crowd, the DJ and the fashion show. Oh, did I mention that it was the first time that I have seen wedding dresses/gowns up close and personal?? Yea, I haven’t been looking yet (more on that in another post!). One thing that really stood out to us was the fact that both Men’s Warehouse and Savvi Formalwear was there and definitely is something that hasn’t been “booked” yet. Well, Sunflower Dude wants him and his men in dark khaki suits–well, actually, he wants linen suits–but Men’s Warehouse doesn’t rent out khaki suits and at first no one from Savvi Formalwear showed us their other options (I think they were swamped and just preoccupied). Then we walked by one of the sales reps from Savvi and she asked us what we were looking for and all that jazz and we told her that we were looking for linen suits and possibly khaki suits and she showed us the options for lighter suits. Score!  They were doing a cash booth to collect money to go towards a saving on suit/tux rentals so Sunflower Dude got in the cash booth. He scored just under $200!!! Nice, huh? It was fun. I took a video of it on my cellphone but the quality is horrible. Very pixelated.

So, another thing checked off the list. I need to sit down and figure out what else we need to do. The list has got to be small when it comes to everything that needs to be reserved/booked.

We also got to experience photobooths Not that we haven’t been in a photobooth before–we have, but we’ve never been in one at a wedding and I’ve been leaning toward considering it for the wedding. I would much rather have a photobooth than a videographer and we’re trying to see if we can do it or not. It’s around the same price range… We both think that it would be super fun for the wedding and a good take on the favors Favor problem = solved. lol! We just weren’t going to do favors at all. Anyway, here are our photos from the photobooth we were able to get close to (there were 2 different companies):

We really want to try and incorporate it into our wedding budget… we’ll see. I’m still looking for a job which sort of decides a lot of things!!

Check out the blog post to read about this party theme (Photo from The Bride Tide Blog)

Since I can’t throw all of these parties and I’m just bursting with theme ideas, allow me to burst here in a blog.

Engagement Parties:

Image from: newluxuryitems.com, painting by Jack Vettriano

These don’t typically get themed but I’m considering throwing a “Tying the Knot” party to celebrate 1 year of engagement with all of our friends at college. Party goers should tie on a scarf, necktie, ribbon, etc and “tie the knot” along with us.

Black and White: this theme also calls for guests to don certain attire, when everyone is dressed in black and white it makes thing seem classy. You could also substitute your favorite colors for a party where the friends/family of the bride wear her favorite color and the friends/family of the groom wear his.

Holiday themed: Depending on season you could do a Christmas in July, St. Nicholas Day (early Dec), Halloween Costume Party, Fall Festival, Valentine’s or Sweetest Day, etc…

Bridal Showers:

The perfect cake for a picnic themed shower (Image from cakecentral.com)

Inspired by Maga Bud’s Wedding Dress Themed shower, I started thinking about thing themed showers. Here’s my list:

Flower shower

Cake theme

Shower themed shower (Shower as in what’s in your bathroom)

Non-thing themes could include:

Picnic

Bridal Tea

Destination at home (For instance “A Day in Paris” or “A Visit to the Italian Riviera”)

Something blue

Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties:

Photo from contradancers.com

Ugly Bridesmaid Dress/Paintball- idea directly taken from here

Night in the woods (AKA camping)

Slumber Party- (painting nails, braiding hair, watching chick-flicks)

Movie Marathon (pick your genre and watch all night)

Make-overs (If you have a friend who sells Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne, etc… this is a good option)

Pool Party (I imagine this for a combined party)

Sports night- the big game on TV or little games together (ping pong or Foosball)

Themes for Any Party:

Photo from myrecipes.com

Hawaiian Luau or Mexican Fiesta

Pizza Party (or a party based around any favorite food)

Barbecue

Any party theme suggestions that you think should be on the list?

I thought I would start this post with one of my favorite parts of our ceremony.  Our ceremony was short and sweet, and I mean 10 minutes short, but what that ceremony packed into those 10 minutes will live forever in my heart.  I was able to stay pretty calm, only slightly crying once when Dogwood Dude began his vows, and there were times when I could feel myself bouncing up and down like a child due to the excitement.  What I will remember most of all is the look on Dogwood Dude’s face (minus the sun that was shining in his eyes), and him stating the words “I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”

"I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before."

Dogwood Dude patiently waiting

Walking down the aisle with Dogwood Dad

"I, Dogwood Blossom, take you, Dogwood Dude, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love."

"I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. "

You may kiss the bride

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Dogwood Dude

Phew! We did it! Now let's go into the air conditioning!

Thanks go to Emily Harris Photography for capturing every second of the most amazing 10 minutes of my life!

Thanks to Blooming Designs and Events, for making the beautiful Key Largo Hilton beach somehow more beautiful than it already was!

And a special thanks to Susan Ashmore for writing such an amazing ceremony that meant so much to us!

I met Mr. Honeysuckle online, at Match.com.  He was just looking, after getting through a bad breakup, just seeing what was out there.  I was on there as a dare from one of my girlfriends.  I had also just gone through a bad breakup, and had nothing to loose.  His profile was the first one that I clicked on, and we started chatting right away.  We had instant chemistry, so we decided to meet in person at the local Starbucks.  Our first ‘date’ was awesome.  We got some hot chocolate and started walking.  We ended up walking and talking for over 6 hours.  The conversation never got awkward, or silent. We talked about everything, from what we had in common to the fact that he worked at the same company that my mom used to work at.  So I had to get the inside scoop….

The next day, I talked to my mom about it.  I said, so I went out on a date with Mr. Honeysuckle, and he said that he works for this software company.  And she said, MR. Honeysuckle?  Oh yeah, he is great!  Super nice, great guy, I used to sit next to him!  She gave me her approval right then.  I was so relieved that she already had met him and approved, that it made the whole ‘online dating thing’ much easier.

Almost two years later to the day, he proposed with my dream engagement ring, in our apartment.

Now since I am the ultimate perfectionist, I am planning my wedding myself.  Doing everything low budget, and doing most of it by myself.  From the fabric covering the railings at the ceremony and reception venue, to the invitations, to the cupcakes for my wedding, things are busy, but I am learning so many short cuts along the way, and I know that my wedding will be beautiful.

We are getting married on October 24th, 2010, in a beautiful park in Santa Barbara, CA that I grew up next to.  From the location of the park you can see the city and the ocean.  It’s really going to be a spectacular event.  Since most of our intimidate family lives within 2 hours of where we currently live, we thought why not have our wedding in one of the most beautiful places in the US.

I hope you all enjoy reading my tips, as I have gotten so many tips from you already!

http://www.custom-programs.com/fanprogram.htm

But with less than 3 weeks to go before the wedding, other items are just more important right now.  We do however have a slightly easier alternative thats pretty cheep and MUCH less involved.

Something like this, where a pretty simple raffia fan is tied with a ribbon and (MAYBE) a single sheet of paper with our names or something on it.

From: http://www.joycetan.net/index/projects/wedding/behind_scenes.html

The fans we got from oriental trading company for about $.70 each which is a pretty great price, and with the ribbon it won’t take long to put just a little personalized touch to it. While taking a significantly less amount of time than the creation of the entire program.  I’m satisfied with this solution and think its a pretty cost effective one too. Now hopefully they’ll come in in time!

Fast forward to the week before our wedding and neither of us had written our vows.  We spent a few days working on them.  Then I typed them up and created a little booklet out of them.  Our minister handed it to us at the wedding and we read our vows off of it to one another.  I went first because I knew I was going to cry…and I did.

Here is a portion of what I wrote to my husband -

I am so blessed by you
by the way you love me for who I am.
and let me be me
and you just get me.
It’s so nice to be known.

I love you, our family, and our life together. Today, tomorrow, and always. Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of forever.

Here is a portion of what my husband wrote to me -

Not only did I find my best friend and soul mate

but I gained a very special relationship with your daughter Madison.

I am so thankful that I get to share my  life with both of you.

I promise to cherish you always and to spend the rest of my life

being a loving husband and dedicated father to Maddie.

You make me a better man! I will love you with all of my heart forever.

I am so glad we did this. I would love to hear about your experiences with writing your own vows.

Source

So the above picture kind of goes along with the other book inspired table settings from my last post, but I had to share this one as well! Maybe it’s because I’m really just a gigantic child at heart, but I think that this is absolutely adorable. Have vintage children’s books as part of the centerpieces? Awesome!

Source

So this photo inspiration kind of goes along with my photography kick. This photo was taken during the Father of the Bride’s toast. Adorable, right? I must admit, this wasn’t exactly a moment that I was too worried about planning out. But after seeing this, I’ll definitely have to have our photographer capture this moment. My dad isn’t exactly the most emotional man on the planet (in fact, he’s rather cynical), but I am a daddy’s girl, and I will definitely want to remember this moment long after the wedding is over.

Source

We’ve all seen it: the cute picture of the newlyweds sitting outside (or inside) the reception area. And as much as I love this little touch, Dahlia Dude and I wanted to look for something a little different. And then I stumbled upon this. Adorable, right? And the best part is that it gives me an opportunity to show off my (what I think are) awesome Photoshop skills!! Yet another way to personalize the reception area, as well as save some money!

Source

Miniature. Fruit. Popsicles. How awesome is that? First of all, who doesn’t want to be reminded of laid-back summer days as a kid? You know, the really hot ones where you played outside in the sprinkler for hours? And then mom or dad would come out with ice cold popsicles? Those were the days, right? Anyway, I feel like this is a sophisticated twist on those childhood memories. And, again, it can all be DIY. You can find fruit pop recipes all over the internet. Just make them a few days in advance, freeze them, and have your venue hand them out either during your cocktail hour, or as dessert. Or both. I’m sure you won’t have any left over afterwards!

So that is my last (for now) inspiration picture for all of you. You’re all probably relieved that this is the end, as I’ve bombarded you with photo after photo after photo. I wanted to reiterate that I have no idea if I’ll be able to use all of these in our upcoming nuptials, but I have a special place in my heart for each detail and just wanted to share them with you. I hope that I’ve inspired you all, even if you don’t use these exact ideas on your Big Day. So, what about you? And details that you just couldn’t get out of your head? Inspiration pictures that drive you crazy? Share them!!

Source: http://www.punchstock.com

Looking back, it was not one of my smartest ideas.  Once my mind cleared from the shock of Periwinkle Dude’s proposal, I was grateful that I escaped that bathroom sink without incident.  When I told Periwinkle Dude what I had done, he laughed and said it was a good thing I didn’t drop the ring down the sink, or swallow it!  We giggled over the visual — knowing it would’ve been pretty near impossible for me to swallow a diamond ring accidentally.  Well, after hearing about the mishap Matt Cawley and Stacey Scanlon recently experienced during their engagement, I’m even more grateful that my dumb impulse that night only made for a funny memory and didn’t cause a serious stir!  You see, Matt Cawley apparently tried to hide the ring he was going to propose with (a family heirloom might I add) by tying it to a sand dollar that he rested on a rock while his soon-to-be-fiancee wasn’t looking, and then bringing her attention to the hidden gem.  According to the article, “She grabbed the sand dollar, but the ring tumbled into the rocky nooks of the jetty — and vanished.”

YIKES!!!  Poor couple!  They searched and searched, but to no avail — they didn’t find the ring.  They certainly have a memorable engagement story, but I imagine they both wish the ring situation had worked out a bit differently.  Here’s wishing them luck in their new life together, despite their engagement mishap.

Did you experience any mishaps with your ring the night of your engagement?  Do you have any similarly memorable (good or bad) storied from your engagement?  Please share!

Photo from jenniferpowter.com

I feel like we’re living and breathing wedding planning but not getting any closer to having a wedding planned. This feeling is mostly due to thinking we’d found our reception place and then having it yanked from under us. Now we have to start back at square one with the reception, also pushing back our DJ search.

In order to boost my mood about our planning process it’s time for another Lilac List! The following is the list of what Lilac Dude and I have done:

1. I have a dress (still need to get the right crinoline, but a dress is a dress)

2. I have accessories: a veil, jewelry and shoes

3. We have a photographer

4. We have a date and a church (still no pastor, but the church has to do that)

5. My mother has a dress

6. Flowers are 75% done

7. Our honeymoon is booked

We have a lot done, but as we’re approaching one year of engagement I feel like we should have more done. Especially since some couples put together their wedding in fewer than 12 months!

A link to a very interesting article was posted recently on a thread over at the forums on Wedding Wire, that discusses the many tiers of a bride – based on her budget.  Naturally, I landed on the bottom rung, which didn’t surprise me.  What did was the seeming lack of respect the author had for brides on such a small budget.

Here’s a direct quote:

“DIY Bride: (Budget: under $5000) Someone who probably doesn’t have the resources to get married just yet and is likely to turn most of her wedding into an Arts and Crafts project.”

Maybe I’m just a bit sensitive, but being a DIY bride with a total budget of about $4,000, I was a bit offended that my wedding is considered an Arts and Crafts project.  Perhaps, I need to thicken my skin.  The article is written from a wedding industry perspective for wedding industry professionals, not specifically for brides-to-be.  However, I feel that saying brides like me don’t “have the resources to get married just yet” is a mis-statement.  Many brides with small budgets and long DIY lists, like me, choose not to spend tens of thousands of dollars on one day, intentionally.  CC and I could have had a formal, black-tie, multi-course dinner for our reception, but we chose not to – it’s just not our style.  We prefer to showcase our creative and artistic talents in our wedding to ensure that it is our wedding and not a cookie-cutter industry standard.  We feel that it represents us more than store bought items that are not only common, but often times impersonal.

What are your thoughts about this article?  Are you a “DIY Bride” with a budget under $5,000?