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.

feeling consumed.

before getting engaged i had absolutely no clue about weddings except that in 2005 it seemed like everyone was having one. (or was it 2004? i don't remember...) now that i am planning for my own, i've come to realize that this wedding business is serious.

there are so many details here and there that one can be utterly consumed with if one is not careful. escort cards vs. place cards? hair up or down? chair covers or chivari? blue vs. green? oh, the list is endless! i suppose i can understand, given that this is supposed to be the best day of your life, and for me, i only plan on doing this once. i just have to keep reminding myself that this day is about the love that david and i share, and the promise we will make in front of the people we care about. nevertheless, it's going to be one heck of a party.