A Change of Plans...

Already!? :)

As I had previously mentioned, we had discussed the idea of doing a party at Zach's father's for our "reception". I started doing a little math on that one, and quickly realized that we'd probably end up spending at least $5,000 to make that happen (oh yeah, and that doesn't even include an emergency tent in case of rain!). It also didn't include things like a dress for me, suit for Z or rings. OR the Honeymoon.

Suffice to say after studying all that math, I figured we had to come up with $13,000+ in the next year to make a wedding of that nature happen. Umm... let's say I have $1,000 saved already.... that means we would still have to save roughly $1,000 a month for the next year. Let's just say that, even in the best of times, that probably wasn't possible, and this isn't exactly the best of times. :)

So I was back to the drawing board. I tried to consider what was really the most important things for me when it came to the wedding. Here is the list:

1) Getting married sooner than later.
2) A wedding witnessed by our closest friends and family.
3) A wonderful honeymoon right after the wedding (no 6-months later stuff).
4) Good food and cupcakes (Molly's cupcakes to be most specific).
5) A chance to celebrate with our extended network of friends and family.

Somewhat "Important" Stuff
1) Pretty flowers for me
2) Pretty dress for me
3) Pictures of us
4) Pretty invitations

Let's be honest, that isn't really a very big list. And it can easily be accommodated by a variety of options. Here is what we have come up with so far.

Ceremony: Wedding at the Chicago Cultural Center witnessed by our nearest and dearest 28 or so friends and family. Well, as long as we're allowed that many people. :) I'll have flowers, a beautiful dress and our union will be witnessed by our nearest and dearest. I'm also thinking we'll have cupcakes while we wait... and possibly some pictures. We're blessed with having two photographer friends (one who does weddings for living!) and two brothers who are very good with cameras. Between all of them, I think we'll get some great shots!

"Reception": If you can even really call it that. We'll head out after the ceremony to have lunch with the group somewhere close. We have every intention of footing the bill for this one, and we'll have yummy food!

After Party: We can head out to a bar somewhere in Chicago that night to have a "after hours" party and invite everyone we know to join us for a drink. I figure this way we can party all night with people who love us and not have to pay for the entire party. Yeah, we're cheap, but we also don't expect and/or want presents, so I think that evens out. :)

Sunday Relaxation: We figure if any of our friends and family are still around (since many will be flying/driving in), we can hang out on Sunday and relax.

Monday (or maybe Tuesday) honeymoon!: We'll head out the next day or so for the honeymoon. The current idea is a 7-day cruise, but those are hard to find leaving on an early weekday!

Total cost: probably $6,000 - $8,000

I'm not going to say that even saving that much is going to be easy at this point, but it seems much more reasonable. I hope to be able to find some ways to do things a little cheaper. Do I need a $300 dress? Do I need to get my hair done? Some of those things are still a little up in the air.

Oh yeah, and when I presented this plan to the Fiance, his only input was, "I would really like to do it Labor Day weekend if that is possible. Otherwise it sounds great." Next Labor Day weekend would be out 5 year anniversary. Isn't that cute?