Monday, April 21, 2008

the most expensive day...

a couple weeks ago, david and i met with our first (potential) vendor for our wedding: Sofitel San Francisco Bay. we've known for quite some time that we wanted this hotel for our reception, and we've been in casual contact with the catering manager over there since our engagement. we finally had a formal meeting together where we discussed some questions we had about the facilities and banquet options. at some point we realized that we severely underbudgeted for our reception...by like, almost 50%. we were working off the prices from their regular reception menu not knowing that they had a wedding reception menu that listed totally different prices. sadly, we left the hotel feeling somewhat unaccomplished and, once again, trying to figure out how we are going to pay for the most expensive day of our lives.

see, we've tentatively decided to go through with trying to purchase a home sometime in the near future. the market right now is really good for buyers, and in trying to take advantage of that we're running into a few problems. i know that david and i will eventually figure this all out -- it's just a matter of readjusting everything and reworking the numbers. in the meantime, i've been trying to figure out ways to cut down the cost of our wedding. here's what i came up with:

  1. hiring just a videographer that can freeze video shots and turn them into photos instead of hiring a photographer. we'd have my cousin (a photographer just entering the wedding world) take photographs.
  2. forget about the chivari chairs i would kill to have. ($8-$10/chair)
  3. have my wedding dress made instead of buying it.
  4. have a family friend do the flowers (i'm not so into her style of design, but she won't charge us for labor, just the flowers)
  5. rethink our initial desire of paying for all 14 of our wedding party's attire (sorry guys...=( )
  6. forgetting about our honeymoon
  7. cutting down our guestlist

the latter 2 i really hope we don't have to do, but those 2 options are probably the ones that are going to save us the most money, especially cutting down our guestlist. i've spoken to so many people that wished they could have invited more guests to their wedding. every part of me just wants all the people that have touched our lives in some way to be able to celebrate with us, after all community is something david and i identify so greatly with. i guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

4 comments:

Rowena & Derrick said...

Hey dee! I know you and Dav have been talking about ways of trying to lower the overall cost of the wedding. I can’t even imagine how hard it is since I have no experience in that yet. It must be stressful, time consuming, and sometimes upsetting trying to figure your perfect wedding day. But I know you 2 will be ok. Nah, actually you 2 will be great. Through all the wedding preparations, decisions made and to be made, house buying, etc., etc., Dav n Dee will be great. The two of you are truly meant to be with each other and at the end of the day, just remember you two have each other. And that itself is beautiful right there.

P.S. If there is anything you 2 need or want from a socal guy, just let me know anytime. But if not, I am here to support and pray for the continued happiness and strength for you two through this all.

MnMLover said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MnMLover said...

awwww....derrick...you are TOO SWEET! i LOVE how you LOVE dee and dave! :)

hmmmm...dee...i completely feel you. i know you want the most perfect day possible, but it's really difficult on a budget to have everything. i like how you have your priorities and how you already have a game plan to cut costs. i agree with what you said...hopefully not to cut out the honeymoon or have less guests. in my experience, it was the MOST special to have the majority of the people who have touched our lives to be there. the honeymoon was also the icing on the cake where you can just go and celebrate with just the two of you. no matter what, the most powerful and memorable thing about a wedding is the LOVE that is shared by the bride and groom. people won't remember the chairs, the centerpieces, the giveaways...but they'll remember how you made them feel by your LOVE.

dee said...

i have the greatest friends.

thanks, you two. we definitely appreciate the words of wisdom and loving support. love you guys.