Sunday, October 31, 2010

Scary, Scary Budgeting*

Happy Halloween!

And in honor of the day, we will move on from the happy time of picking a venue and into the scary stuff.

The Budget.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

No seriously.  As soon as we worked out how much Catalina would cost, we completed the first draft of our budget.

It ain't pretty, but I'm going to share the run down with you because frankly there is just not enough budget-friendly information out there.

Ceremony site fee:  $700
Reception site fee:  $500
Food:  $2,600
Alcohol:  $1,000
Splitting the cost of getting to the island with our guests:  $2,250
Our hotel room:  $500
Tax and tip:  $1,080
Cake:  $420
My dress w/ alterations:  $1,400
My shoes:  $40
Undergarments (including slip):  $200
My hair:  $60
Make-up:  $0
Wax/manicure/pedicure (perhaps not all):  $100
Tuxedo (buying):  $300
Daniel's shoes:  $50
Rentals:  $660
Flowers (DIY):  $500
Music (DIY):  $200
Photography/Videography:  $1,060
Invitations:  $300
STDs:  $0
Rings:  $600
Attendant gifts (i.e. hotel room during wedding):  $700
Decorations/miscellaneous (including marriage license):  $800

Total:  $15,840

This puts us slightly over budget just for our estimate.  Obviously, this is not good though I do think I over-estimated some things and that we'll be able to get them cheaper.  So hopefully it will even out, but even so, we're going to end up paying for some things out of pocket.

For instance, notice anything missing?  Like the rehearsal dinner?  And any sort of pre-partying (bachelor/bachelorette parties, etc.)?  And, oh, I don't know, our honeymoon?  The first one we don't mind skipping, especially since logistics for that were going to be ridiculously difficult anyway.  And the second one won't be hard to do out of pocket, especially if we do small things.  But then there's number 3.  We were always going to do a honeymoon registry, but our dreams of Sandals are so, so gone.  At this point, we'll be lucky if we can leave the West Coast.  But I'm hoping that we will have been working long enough to save up some money at that point and that we'll be able to do something cheapish, maybe a cruise.  And I'm putting a lot of hope into our honeymoon registry.

How fucked am I?  People who have gone through this, is there anything I'm underestimating to an impossible degree?  Or forgetting altogether?  Please let me know, we haven't actually booked yet.  What budgeting tips can you share?

*I will give you a dollar if you get this literary reference.  Hint:  it's holiday appropriate.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Where It All Begins

I know, I know, I've already broken my promise to post regularly, but I actually have an excuse this time!  You see, I was going to wait for confirmation to tell you guys this, but as our coordinator is on vacation, I'm just going to go ahead and spill it.

WE HAVE A VENUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the end, it really wasn't that hard of a choice.  The more we thought about it, the less we could imagine having the wedding anywhere but Catalina.

We had a great experience with the coordinator when we went to visit in September and loved what we saw.  But the thing that really sold us is how amazingly unique our wedding would be there.  It is the foundation for the kind of wedding that we and our guests will never forget.

Since I've already given you guys an intro to Catalina, I'm going to keep it simple and get on with the gratuitous photos :).

When you get off the boat, you walk into this:


Classic Island.

As our guests continue toward the ceremony, they'll catch a glimpse the Banning House, the hotel where we will be married.


In all likelihood, the view as we get married will be here:


Though if we can figure out a way to do it, I'd love to have this as our background:


This will be where the guests sit:


And I don't have pictures of the reception space, so how about some views of the island?





*All Personal Photos

:D

So, it only took us about 10 months to find a venue.  How long did it take you?  How did you know you'd found "the one?"

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Search for the Perfect Dress: The End

I have managed to get one thing done in the past few weeks.  While on a trip to Northern California, I FINALLY got to revisit the dress that I fell in love with at Elegant Lace almost 2 years ago.

I still love it, and I'm buying it.

So if you don't want to see me in my wedding dress, you probably don't want to continue.


Saturday, October 16, 2010

And So I'm Back!

For reals this time.  Sorry again for the blatant absenteeism.  I just can't stand staring at a screen for 8 hours and then coming home and doing it some more.  It's been a real adjustment for me.  So for the time being, I'll probably mostly be writing on the weekends.  Maybe I'll try to do some posts that automatically spread themselves out.  We'll see.

ANYWAY, part of the reason I haven't been on here is because I have nothing to report really.  I'm working normal business hours now and commuting for 2 hours a day, so it's been really hard to try to get anything done wedding-wise, but we really need to get on it, so hopefully I'll have things to report soon.

For right now, let's talk about life.  A couple of weeks ago, Daniel went to his 10 year high school reunion, and on Thursday, I turned 23.  These things make you think about your life, and for us, this wasn't necessarily the most pleasant experience.  He's still unemployed and trying to finish up law school when what he really wants to be doing is starting a real job (instead of looking for an easier to find temporary one) and studying for the BAR.  Meanwhile, I'm very grateful to have found a job so quickly, but the attitude I've had toward finding a job is starting to worry me.  I pretty much just concentrated on finding a job that paid decently that I could get, and while this job is better than some things I could be doing, it's not where I saw myself going a couple of years ago.  I've become complacent about finding a career because the jobs I originally envisioned having are either far too competitive for me to get or are not available.  Have I mentioned I hate this economy?

What I'm trying to get at is that a lot of us in our twenties are really discouraged about the job market, whether it be finding the job you want or just finding a job at all!  And even though we're getting married which is at least some sort of accomplishment (you know what I mean), I for one feel like I failed at life a little bit by having such a ridiculously hard time finding a job last year and then being more concerned about a paycheck than a career this year.

But at the same time, getting married adds pressure to the system instead of adding financial support.  We all know how much weddings cost, and I would like to have enough money saved by next summer to have a little buffer zone in case we go over budget (and let's face it, we all go over budget too, especially those of us with little budget to begin with).  Plus there's that whole I don't want to be away from my partner or plan the wedding from afar thing which seriously inhibits my ability to find a job.  And I don't want my WEDDING to interfere with my career, but at the same time, I really want to enjoy my wedding.

OK, clearly this post fails at organization.  I guess, I just feel like life is hard enough right now, and I'm a little peeved at my wedding for adding pressure.  Of course, I also am so grateful to have someone to share that pressure with, and I have truly enjoyed having an excuse to write and having something to look forward to, so maybe it's not such a burden.  I guess I'm still a little jealous of my friends who truly have the freedom to do whatever they want (if they can get a job they don't hate), go wherever they want, and spend their money on whatever they can afford while I have to plan around someone else and am currently supporting that person (though I've got to admit, I'm pretty happy that I am capable of supporting someone else.  I never thought that I would be the bread winner in the relationship, and even though it's temporary, I feel like that's an accomplishment).

So in conclusion, the economy sucks, getting married in this economy sucks, but wanting to get married to your partner definitely doesn't suck.

Most of you are older than me.  How's your career going?  Do you have any advice for someone trying to get started in life?

Friday, October 15, 2010

I'm Still Still Here

Hey everyone, sorry again for the utter lack of attentiveness lately.  My new job and commuting have really gotten the better of me, but I swear I'm going to post for real this weekend.

In the meantime...

It was my 23rd birthday yesterday!  I feel old.  I know most of you are older than me, so sorry if you perceive that as a dig, but I just keep thinking that I should have accomplished SOMETHING by this point.  I mean, 23 is a real adult, I feel like.  Oh well, more on that later.

I will talk to you all soon!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Disappearing into Thin Air

Hey, I just wanted to say sorry for the MIAness lately and to let you know why I will continue to be MIA for a while.  Just started a new job which is good but time-consuming, largely due to the 2 hour commute I am now making daily, and staring at a screen for 8 hours really does not make me want to do so at home.  Hopefully, I'll get into a routine soon and remember that I have to plan a wedding, but for now, hang tight, I'll be back.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Award for Worst Customer Service Ever

And the winner is...Angel Island!  Not only did you make us wait 2 hours to meet with you even though you had said you were available at 1, but you also did not tell us about the $4,000 in fees that would be added on to your site fee and food.  But what really got you into this category was how much you did not want us there.  I'm sorry we burdened you so with our desire to give you money.  Angel Island, you may have a nice view, but I don't really want to get married on a patch of dried grass anyway.  Thanks for wasting our time.

Classy Wedding by the Sea