Friday, August 7, 2009

Blowing the Budget?

I have found myself in a unique position these days. Ever since January, The Candyman and I have been on serious financial lock down. All you brides out there know how tough it is to plan a wedding in an economic slump, right? My personal up-side to this is that I imagine myself, in my golden years, saying things like, "I remember the crash of '09! That's the year we got married honey, remember? We were so young then..."

Things in The Thirty-Something Bride's personal world are topsy-turvy, to say the least. Work is, well......work. It's both physically and emotionally draining these days. Damn economy. I come home totally exhausted and have to do things like print menus. Sigh...it's supposed to be fun, right?

I come home last night to a very unique situation: my neighbor's destroyed fence, a now non-existent clutch in the fiance's truck and the new knowledge that we'll be several hundred dollars lighter to repair said fence and truck. Again....sigh.

What's funny though is that I really don't care right now. I really just want to blow money on stuff that will chillax me: pedicures, eyebrow waxing, massages, facials. I haven't done all this, but I want it. Bad.

I'm also in the mood for some serious DIY stuff. Do not ask me why, I just am. I bought a bunch of matchbooks yesterday and had my intern friend Google DIY instructions to do my own matchboxes. She found a really aggressive DIY version here, but whomever did these lovelies is more OCD than I am.

Source

I made a lame attempt last night to DIY and decided that it was the dumbest idea I've ever had. Like I have time to cover 100+ matchboxes 2 months before my wedding. Riiiiiiight. It ain't gonna happen. However, I'm now obsessed with personalization - matches, napkins. I want them. Bad. Screw the budget. At this point, how much worse can it get? I mean, what's an extra $50 after $$$ has been spent already? This is not the attitude to have and I believe it's one that trips up many brides.

All I know is that this weekend is tax free weekend in Tennessee. The state has a tax free weekend twice per year so folks can get ready for back to school and summer. It applies to clothes and school supplies only. It means a lot to many people when your sales tax is 9.25%! I think this might be good time to shop for The Rehearsal Gathering Dress. And shoes. Because you know I loves me some shoes!

There are lots of you out there quickly approaching your wedding date! Cheap Wife is getting hitched this weekend, Chic n' Cheap NYC Wedding is about to walk the aisle, and we all know when August15Bride is getting married! Who else is just tired of the budget and ready to blow?

9 comments:

  1. me me me!!! it's been the worst year to plan a wedding! i'm just so over it. now we're making a bells & whistles list to see if we can afford the little extras we'd like to have (dance floor lighting, candy bar, cookie cutter to go with the homemade cookie favors, etc...) and i'm just ready to say ____ it all!!!

    HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

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  2. budget: blew that long ago. budget became "starting point" about 2 months in. so sad.

    matches: so glad you told me this b/c this was one of my projects (though much less than 100) for the cigar smoking groom of mine. now, we can just use a regular old lighter.

    tax-free: loving it but hate crowds. we'll see if i do any shopping.

    fence & truck: so sad. i'm so sorry.

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  3. Me! Only I just want a vacation...now!

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  4. "Rounding error" is a phrase that can be terrifying for budget-conscious wedding planning. As in, "Well, when you look at the budget to three significant figures, an extra $50 is really just rounding error." Then again, I'm probably the only one who even thinks in terms of "rounding error" and "significant figures" when it comes to budgets.

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  5. I've only been engaged a month, so I still have high hopes for the "budget"... though, I knew right from the start that my DIY skills are VERY limited, so we'll have to see what happens! lol

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  6. Thinking about you Louise and that budget!!! Hoping you get it sorted out or stumble across a pot of gold :) What types of ideas are you still looking for? How can we help??

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  7. A positive aspect to getting married in a recession...I'm learning how to negotiate with all the vendors! Everyone is dying for business. I keep reminding myself that I don't NEED all those little extras, but I'm sure in the next 11 months I'll change my tune and convince my fiance that our wedding won't be amazing without 90 mini trees in a keychain that you can plant after a year.

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  8. That's a link btw! It doesn't show up as a link on my end. www.pinkytree.com

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  9. Sigh I don't want to talk about the budget. Technically we underspent so well that I thought we were on track for another number. Our reception was over by a few thousand because people drink like FISHES, even during the day (but of course they should have fun). It was depressing, but we got a last minute amazing gift that paid for it so what can we say?

    So definitely try to stick to your budget but remember unexpected costs can come up and try to plan for them. It all balances out (spend less here, spend more there) and it's your day, an extra thousand+ here will be made up for in due time and many pea and potato dinners.

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