so little time

[chestnutcurls]

Here are some of my pictures from Emily's wedding! Evan took most of the ceremony ones, so send any compliments or complaints his way. :)

Last night Evan and I hung out with Casey and had a great time. As it sinks in more and more that we're really getting married, I worry more and more about finances. As usual, Casey had wise words to say on that topic. She reminded me that we'll be taking vows for richer or poorer, and that's a sign that money will always be an issue. If we had a lot of money, we'd still be struggling about how to spend it wisely. What's important is the marriage. I really needed to hear that. Also, after talking with her, we decided to scale down our honeymoon. We've really wanted to go to Hawaii, but with the rates I'm looking at, it would cost me half my savings. So we're reorganizing our priorities in order to afford more important things (more on that tomorrow!) and will probably just drive down to the Gulf Coast or something. I feel relieved now that we've made that decision.

Today I'm leaving work early and we're going with my parents to check out a nearby country club. My dad has heard nothing but good things about it. If all goes well, we'll go ahead and book it for the reception. We don't have time for hall-shopping or lists of pros and cons. :P I'm so thankful for my parents; they're being very generous. I am also thankful to the authors of Bridal Bargains, from whom I have already learned a lot.

I am still completely undecided on bridesmaid colors and flowers.

My Best Friend is canticles

Our 31 common interests are: a mighty wind, american idol, babies, board games, buffy the vampire slayer, bursting into song, caedmon's call, candles, christianity, church, clay aiken, curly hair, flowers, flute, friends, hymns, iced tea, kelly clarkson, love, musicals, nickel creek, prayer, pro-life, scrapbooking, scripture, silliness, singing, strong bad e-mail, target, theology, thrift stores

Who is your best friend? Username:

Created by macoto

Runners-up are laraemily with 25 shared interests, and carolinacrc, glass_of_gold, lajea, and siemova with 24 shared interests. Wow!

Oh, and happy birthday Jeremy! :D And happy fiscal new year to everyone else. Especially the accountants.

Comments

[krikketgirl.livejournal.com]

Just a thought: Chris and I spent our honeymoon driving from WY to IN. It was not terribly "thrilling," but we really got to talk and be together (and it was fairly cheap). For our fifth anniversary, Chris was able to save up and we went on a "second honeymoon" to Niagara Falls. It was so worth it to wait for the big trip until we knew what this marriage thing was about and were able to afford it without killing our savings. I don't know if that makes sense, and I know our courtship stories are much different, but I thought I would share anyway!

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

No, it totally makes sense! I think that's the wisest way, really. It also gives us something to look forward to in a few years. :) And we'll be more able to afford it then.

[stacye13.livejournal.com]

Well you know you can try for some free rooms at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and that would save money! Can't hurt to call and ask - the worst they can do is say no. Several people in my area have taken advantage of that employee rate!

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

I tried. There was nothing available, which led us to decide against going. :)

[jmcphers.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing the wedding pictures. I mentioned this in a comment, but I really, really like the environment of the church where the wedding took place--it looks so peaceful, clean, airy, and sunny.

I'm sure your honeymoon will be awesome no matter where you decide to take it. (-:

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

That's Kathy's church- Church of the Nativity. The sanctuary was just built a few years ago. I agree, it's beautiful!

[raysofhope.livejournal.com]

Pretty pictures! :)

Matt and I were recently admiring our almost-completely-settled-in apartment, and he joked about how far we've come since we got married, adding, "Well, we know you didn't marry me for my money. ;)" We started out with very little and very simply--God always provided, and now He's blessed us with more. I am actually glad we've had to pinch and save and be careful and go without things we wanted!

For our honeymoon, we wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska, but like Hawaii for you, it was so expensive that we decided it wouldn't be a good use of our money. So we ended up on the Oregon coast and had a beautiful time there. For some, it would've been too boring, I suppose, but we were there to enjoy each other and to start off our married life together, so it was perfect. :)

Lastly. . . I had the *hardest time ever* choosing flowers. I probably changed flowers and flower colors every other week. :P That's what happens when you love so many different kinds of flowers (or, when you're indecisive - me!).

Sounds like you're having fun! I'm having fun reading of your fun. :)

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your thoughts! :) And I'm glad my fun is fun for you too. Fun fun fun! LOL.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[aftondays.livejournal.com]

We were originally considering going to Italy for our honeymoon! My parents were going to give us money with which to do that, but we ended up deciding to put the money toward something practical--like the down payment on our house. Our second choice was Branson, Missouri, because we met there and we thought it would be fun to go back. But in the end, we settled on staying in Texas, and we were incredibly happy with that. It didn't much matter where we were, because we were together, at last, in freedom. :)

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Wow! Yeah, the together in freedom is the most important thing. :) You can always take a big trip later.

[rawee1.livejournal.com]

For the best airline rates (I know there are loads of discount websites, but this is the best one) go to orbitz.com. Truly- the others charge a fee for their services, which is tacked on to the price of your tickets.

Don't write off a really great retro road-trip!

Also, you guys might want to have a two day long talk about finances- who will pay the bills, will you have a shared and then two seperate accounts? It really IS a big deal (luckily I've been paying John's bills for about two years now so he's used to me handling his money). You might also want to check your credit scores (and beacon scores) and see who is doing a better job with their money and let that person do the finances.

P.S. Pick the flowers first, then let your colors fall into place by what complements them. Whatever is in season will be the least expensive. xoxo

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Well, we've already figured most of that out. Or are in the process of doing so. Thanks for the tips, though! :)

[radiojedi.livejournal.com]

Money is a big thing for new couples, and if I had to do it over, I wouldn't have spend so much on the honeymoon! It was fun and pretty but the day to day stuff is more rewarding. :)

[angelic-1.livejournal.com]

Finances: Geoff worried about this too but I wouldn't let him back out! It is amazing how you can have a truly wonderful wedding and life together on a shoe string budget. If you have the patience and tenasity you can get all sorts of things cheap but make them look fancy and expensive.

I know every girl wants a picture perfect wedding but I think it is more important to focus on the marriage not the wedding. I think we spent just under $3000NZ on our wedding but had many frills. You just want to make sure you are prepared for life together - that is more important by far.

[canticles.livejournal.com]

OOh!!!!!!!! WHEEEEEE!!!! I didn't realize we had that many interests in common.... ROCK! I think I need to do this meme. *loves the Brens*

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

:) *loves the Shana*

[dakoda.livejournal.com]

A word from the 'I've been there' crowd: Work out a budget right now, and make a commitment to stick to it, no matter how tight it may make things. Josh and I worked one out, and we're going to live really tight so that we can put away the majority of our monthly excess to get a savings going that we can fall back on.

And also, don't worry about an extravagant honeymoon. Josh and I are going to Universal Studios in Orlando. lol The important thing is that you have fun. It's going to be my first vacation where I'm actually one of the people in charge! WOOO!! (sorry, my inner teen had to kick in at some point in all of this).

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Well, the problem is that we don't know exactly how things are going to go. We're going to have to figure it out once we're actually settled and he's back in school. We're also going to have to dig into my savings a LOT in order to pay for his school and other things, but hopefully we can still put a little back in.

That is exciting! I remember how cool it was when I went on my first spring break trip with my friends...I actually got to have a say in what we did. :)