What's It Worth?

As I affixed a stamp to one of my B list invites this evening, I wondered exactly how much had we spent on postage so far, with all the mailings we'd done.

The price makes me wish it was proper etiquette to send things out via e-mail.

• 120 Save The Date Large Postcards (sent before postal increase) @ .40 = $48.00

• 120 Custom Made .42 cent stamps @ $15.27 set of 20 + shipping = 76.36

• 120 $1.00 Stamps to mail invite = $120.00

• 25 Thank You Cards for Bridal Shower (1st one) @ .42 = $10.50

• 15 extra stamps for RSVP's @ .42 = $6.30

GRAND TOTAL IN POSTAGE SO FAR = $261.16

Holy crap! All I have to say is, I didn't budget for postage when we started this whole process. I didn't find anything about it in ANY magazine, Martha artical or anywhere else for that matter!

Simply put my advice to any new bride planning - weigh your invites, calculate the postage and budget for it!

(Un) Organized

I normally pride myself on being organized. I don't know why - because really I'm not all that organized, if I were to have to label it I would have to say that I am organized in a "chaos theory" kinda way.

I picked apart Amazon.com looking for the perfect wedding planner about 5 months ago. (See photo to left) When I got it, I loved it and I filled it quickly with everything. Pictures, receipts and ideas, names numbers - you name it. It went EVERYWHERE with me. A few months later. I banned this planner to my desk after an important receipt was left behind at my cabin.

So then I turned to my mini filing cabinet, where I've put all the other receipts and info, pamphlets, and so on. But then I realized that, you know I can't really take this anywhere with me. I mean; I can, but it's rather bulky and I'm not up on starting the new "cabinet purse" trend. Yes it's helpful, it's rather cute as well with is pink top matching my wedding colors, but still it's slowly becoming the second hand man to a wedding planner - but where would I find one just as I wanted it? And with only 6 months to go was it necessary to have one?

So the other day while walking though Target I came across a new organizer. A sturdy grey, 3-ring binder with room for everything. I picked it up and fumbled through, in awe. I placed it back on the shelf turning temptation down. The binder called to me from 10 isles away, and trust me I went back again playing devil advocate on spending the extra $17, but still walked away again.

Not too long after the fateful meeting of me and said-binder at Target, I spoke with my contact at the country club and she reminded me of the date and time for my tasting. She then asked me to bring "my book" with me when we came so she could get the vendor info she would need for the wedding day. My Book? She said it as if she expected me to have one, that every bride on the planet has one and I will not really be apart of this club if I don't have one and bring it with me.

At least this is what I have been telling myself in hopes of talking myself into buy a new planner. I go back and forth, on one hand I can e-mail her the info really easily, however think of how trendy and on top of things I will look walking in with "my book".

I will never really need this info again, however think of the keepsake value!?

In the end I have only 5 days to my tasting so I'd better make my mind up fast on weather or not I need this item as much as I think I do. And before you throw out there the "Oh it's just $17" let me remind you that we're over budget as is, have a mortgage and a 3 year old. It's never just $17!

The Guest List Disaster of 2008

"It was a dark and cloudy night.....not even the moon light shown in the windows of Midland Hills Country Club. Hundreds were gathered for the wedding reception of Mr & Mrs S. Everything seemed calm until (dun dun dun *spooky music) the guests took their seats and (*retched scream*) THERE WERE 10 PEOPLE TO A TABLE"

Okay, overly dramatic, I know. I know. But seriously when my FMIL (future mother in law) told me that the guest list would be the hardest part - she wasn't kidding.

Let's start a the beginning of the tale, shall we? Our venue has big round banquets tables, that are designed to seat 10. When myself, my FMIL and my SM (step mom) saw them, we had really no reason to believe they didn't. Of course they weren't set up with chairs around them, so what do we know?

I start my guest list, assuming 10 per table, with 22 tables brings us nicely to the 220 that we planned to invite. Everything is going great, we don't have to (gasp!) 'B' list anyone and I'm quite happy at how organized I am.

Zip forward through time from then to the day we went to meet our Linens consultant at the venue and we are placed in a room with the table we will be using. It all seemed fine until the men, Mr S and FFIL (can you figure that one out?) put the chairs around it and we realize we have a tiny issue. Sure the table fits ten, but not comfortably.

We wander about the venue until we come across a fully set up table and out fears are confirmed, it not only looks crowded - but we can't imagine how it will feel for the guests.

Immediately we decide - 8 to a table and that's it. A decision I was really happy with. Until I got home and looked at the guest list.

Sure 8's fine, but since we can only add 3 more tables to the 22 already in there that gives us a total of 200 people in the room. No big deal you say, ah - well here's the kicker:

We've already sent out Save The Dates out to enough people to fill the 220, and that's with the 25% that decline...Since Save The Dates are as good as in invite I can't take it back, or not send an invite.

Que nervous breakdown in 3....2....1....

I start making phone calls to my FMIL, Mr S, my bridesmaid MJ and the President - just kidding! The only answer is to add more people to the tables, 9 at least. Everyone but me at this point is still kinda concerned about the crowdedness of the table. I'm not on the page of - they are getting free food, drinks and cake I think they can sit elbow to elbow for 1 hour.

As if that wasn't enough, fitting the people in. Somehow my guest list has grown with family and friends so large that I had to start a (gasp!) 'B' list. Now I spend most of my days going over it little by little, making sure I've not missed anyone, adding people, B listing, A listing and I'm about to scream. Not only is trying to decide who's supposed to be on each list, having new friends and people we've missed need to be added.

I'm afraid this list will never be finalized! So as I end this blog I head back to my guest list, for the 3rd time today and certainly not the last...

Advice: Watch the list closely, don't let your dad add 5 of his cousins you've never met, and try not to let the people know they were (gasp!) 'B' listed!

Wedding Planning No-No #1

I'm not good at math. I'll never claim to be. In fact I'm pretty sure my math teacher retired after I graduated because of the many class disturbances I provided with the ever classic "Yes, but honestly...when will I really be adding A to B? Generally I like to use numbers..."

So when I realized I was primarily in charge of the budget I panicked a wee bit. Ok, a lot a bit...alright back off so I spazed...happy now?

I have 2 budget sheets going, one to make sure we stay on track, the other to make sure that I am using the first one correctly. Not to mention ever trusty Mr. Calculator who I think will be due for a battery change once this wedding is over.

Now, as bad as I am at math was about as prepared as I was to plan a wedding. Ah, some of you laugh because you know me, and know I have been solidly addicted to wedding anything's for the past, oh I dunno....5 years. Yeah well read all you want about dresses and crazy mother-in-laws....noting get's you ready for it. Nothing.

There's no list of "Don't forget this stuff because it will bite you in the ass later" anywhere. So when I started making my beautiful invitations, I didn't stop to think for one minute about how much it might actually cost to mail them.

With my beautiful (I'm not biased or anything!) invitation I walked into the post office ready to hear I was going to need .58 stamps. Wrong-O! I need both a .58 AND a .41 just to mail it! No to mention that I will need yet another RSVP .41 stamp (so help me God if you do not RSVP to this wedding I will hunt you down....) That's a grad total of......(insert crappy drumroll) $.99 to mail each invite.

Here's where I try to do math -

.99 x 120 (the amount of invites I anticipate actually sending) = $118.80
now add in the extra .41 for each RSVP - .41x 120 + $118.80 = $168.00
FOR POSTAGE!

Standing there, jaw agape, I take back the envelope and then even more stupidly - BUY ALL THE STAMPS right then and there. What was wrong with the next 7 months we have until the wedding? I'm still unsure of anything other then, my bank account is crying right now.

So learn from me - please God don't let my mistake go with out a lesson to follow, when you make your invites at home to save money - take into consideration the price of postage as well. The invites that started out to be money saving and come in under $2.50, now cost me over $3!

Ugh.

Ready, Set, GO!

I previously typed this entry - then lost it. I hope that's not a look into the future as to how this blog is going to go from here on out.

Had you read the other post, if I hadn't somehow lost it, you would know that I planned to start this blog when I first got engaged, back in August. Even though I was a planning machine and with in 2 months had booked the venue for the reception. the church, a DJ, a photographer, a florist and decided on the general type of invitation we wanted, still had little to talk about or rather, little time to talk about it.

Now that I've found a few extra minutes between "Mommy", "Hunny" and Cleaning - here we go.

Like I said I've most the big things booked, and now I'm trying to bring our budget down to a number we can say out loud with out stuttering and possibly passing out. We do have, not only the wonderful support of our parents but also quite a bit of financial help from them, which is amazing considering that's not all that common anymore.

We recently decided we could neither live nor have a wedding with out a videographer....unfortunately shortly after that we decided we could neither live nor have a reception with out having the tables covered with linens, instead of the exposed look of VFW chairs and wood tables....

Since I'd already mailed the check for the videographer and gotten such a good deal from the Linen place, we spent the next 15 minutes thinking of all ways we actually saved money by going with those two vendors. It worked and we've convinced ourselves that we are fine and the budget isn't too bad.

Thank goodness for the reserve of money we have, otherwise this wedding would be happening in the back of a Wal-Mart with red-neck preacher missing his front tooth, spitting tobacco into a old Budwiser can, wearing a Dale Ernhardt Jr t-shirt and ending the service with "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" instead of "You many now kiss the bride"