Good afternoon!
QUOTE(ginger1981 @ May 20 2008, 07:42 PM)
The only thing is I wish I would have booked things earlier...I decided to wait until I had graduated from uni (this past December) to start wedding planning. But honestly planning a wedding in 6 months is a tall order...even a relatively simple one like mine and Nicky's! But really most places required only a deposit, and then full payment a month or a few weeks before (as our wedding is a month from tomorrow...the next few weeks are going to be VERY hard on my poor visa card lol).
I do feel a bit sad that most of the guests will be from my side of the family, friends and work. Thankfully we only have about 30 - 40 people coming...a manageable number.
I guess Nicky and I could always go down to the casino in Joliet and play the slots LOL. Not quite the same as Vegas, but as close as I can get!
Yeah; I'm hoping to avoid most of the pit-falls of planning a wedding in six months by sticking to the basics and doing as many things as possible myself. I've cut out everything we don't really need (flowers, photographer, attendants, DJ, etc.) and just need a place to host it, maybe a caterer (unless we go the cold food route) and an officiant. Our guest list is so far at 70-80 people, all of whom invited themselves.
I'm hoping that maybe half those people decide they're unable to make it.
I am getting married in a conservatory...so I didn't feel the need to get flowers LOL. I also have a friend who is a amateur photographer, and all she is charging me for is the photo paper and the dark room fees. I would suggest getting some photographer...it would be nice to have something to save for the future. I would try asking around to see if anyone knows an amateur who would like to get the experience under their belt.
I found out in Chicago that just hiring an officiant cost on average around $400...which is ridiculous for someone to come say a few words for 20 minutes. Basically Nicky and I are going into the courthouse the day before to have a civil ceremony, and then for the ceremony I'm having one of my closest friends officiate. Nicky even wrote the ceremony himself...I'm rather proud of him!
We're just having a MoH and a Best Man for attendants. Not only does it cut on costs, but also it avoids (at least with women) the drama that can go along with picking bridesmaids.
Our reception is at a local Irish Pub that has a nice party room in the basement. There is a bar down there and a soundsystem, so Nicky is just loading up his iPod to hook up in there. We're having a finger food buffet type thing, and we're doing a champaign toast and buying 1 round of drinks. As my family is Irish American and his is Scottish, our families and friends could easily bankrupt us booze-wise, so after the first round they have to fend for themselves (although we'll provide free pop and water the whole time).
For a dress...for example, go to www.houseofbrides.com . If you go to look at bridesmaid dresses, there are tons that look like wedding dresses and even come in white. Don't ask me why someone would want to dress their bridesmaids in long white dresses but I suppose it happens. Anyways, I got my dress for $250 - basically because it was a bridesmaid dress as opposed to a wedding dress. Actually, this is my dress:
http://www.houseofbrides.com/product.php?p...=443&page=5 No one (unless I told them) knows that it is really a bridesmaid dress.
The really expensive part really was the venue. Though if I had done an outdoor ceremony I would needed to rent a tent (Chicago weather is notoriously fickle) and it would have ended up costing the same. I think it was a little over $1000 altogether. I would see if you know someone who has a nice garden who would be willing to host the ceremony.
Other than that if you need advice just IM me. Mine wedding is a month from today...
Anyway...it went through her system and it was so stretchable that it was really painful for her to poop it out...I mean it would hang out of her butt but she wouldnīt let us pull it completely out 
But only cuz itīs you 
