Wedding Planner

(Here's a dreaded wedding post! Aaaiiee! Run for the hills!)

A friend recently asked me how my wedding plans were going. Our conversation inspired me to respond to that privately-asked question in a public post, weeeee! So here we are. And the answer is!

I

hate

everything.

(source)

I mean, okay, not literally everything, and not literally hate, but I'm turning out to be waaaaaay more picky than I ever would have thought. I hate to describe myself as a non-traditional bride because I've seen enough reality TV shows to know that EVERYONE is a "non-traditional bride" these days. Non-tradition is the new tradition. And honestly, even if I don't love it, I do find lots of stuff that I like. At first. The thought process goes something like this:

Hmm, that might work.
It's cute.
Is it cute?
Is cute the best we can do?
You know, it's really not that cute.
It's just weird.
People will be confused.
People will be confused and offended.
I will be confused and offended.
It's terrible and I hate it!
What idiot ever thought this would work?!

And so the thing, whatever it is, gets cast aside and we start all over again. I spent weeks - weeks! - trying to find some music that I wanted to walk down the aisle to. Every time I would find something a little pretty, I would listen to it 2 or 3 times, and suddenly it was awful.

Seriously, eventually this:

=this

(source)

Similarly, it has taken me two months to find a wedding band, and it's (you guessed it!) non-traditional. It's been so difficult to find stuff because everything normally associated with weddings is abhorrent to me, and I'm not really sure why. This weirdo (you can't tell, but I'm pointing at my face) doesn't even like cake! Because my hatred of everything is so rampant, fickle, and irrational, I won't post any of the choices I've FINALLY made here. I've saved links to them so I can use/purchase them someday, but I don't look at them anymore to prevent hate-growth. I really have to try not to even think of them.

All in all, though, it's actually been a pretty fun process so far. Even when it's hard to find something I like, I have the luxury of spending a lot of time on it right now, so I'm trying to nail stuff down to at least 2 or 3 top options, so once I'm working all I have to worry with is paying for everything. That'll be the easy part - HAHA, I made a funny! - but really, I am trying to keep things on the low end price wise. I want a pretty wedding, but I also want no debt and the ability to buy a house at some point. I just don't see the rationale behind spending a house sized budget on a wedding. You guys can use your money to get drunk, I'm not paying for it!

I have found some useful resources that keep me organized and provide a little guidance. The Knot is handy for creating a free wedding website so you can keep guests up to date on plans. It also reduces the cost of paper goods because your save-the-dates and invites can direct people to your site, which in turn can provide all that extra info people often include with invitations (directions, accommodations, nearby activities and attractions, etc.) I would not use it to assist with planning however, as it is a VERY traditional site. Weddings according to The Knot, must be executed in a very particular way, following a very particular timeline and using a very large budget. Some better options for the planning side are Offbeat Bride for more eclectic and less stereotypical ideas, and Wedding Wire for the budget conscious bride. Pinterest is always good for inspiration, too. If you like a hard copy planner, like me, this is the one I chose. It's got tons of useful information about timelines, budgets, and just general wedding stuff. It comes with a tote and a hole-punch and extra space for adding your own worksheets and pages as well (don't love the pink, though). Finally, specifically for paper goods, I found Postable. Postable let's you email your guests, who then click on the included link and fill out their mailing information. Postable compiles that list for you so your mailing list is organized and easily available, plus, portable! I'm pretty sure you can even print labels from it! The down side is that people have to follow through on the email, and you'd have to get everyone's email, so it's not a perfect solution. Still seems like it's worth a shot.

courtesy of the offbeat bride website linked above

I'll leave you in peace now, as I know it's gets old hearing about other people's wedding plans unless you're planning one of your own. Happy Monday, everyone!