Our wedding will happen right here in two weeks!
Hello! I hope all of you had a great week.
It was a good one for me, even if it was a little uneventful. We ran a lot of wedding errands this week and we also did some Spring cleaning.
We have family staying with us the week of our wedding, so we cleaned out the guest room (it's been my “wedding room” for the past few months), and we now have over 20 LARGE boxes hanging out around our home of wedding stuff that I have bought but left in the shipping boxes.
I can't believe how quickly all of this stuff added up!
Wednesday was also my birthday! I am finally 25 and still feeling young 🙂
We went to a BBQ place for lunch and then ate at my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. I wanted sushi originally but after being in the car for around 4 hours on my birthday running errands, I changed my mind because my favorite sushi place is around 30 minutes away and it just wasn't worth it to be in the car any longer! BBQ and Mexican are just as tasty though.
Spending
We spent some money this week, but nothing too out of the ordinary. We went grocery shopping and paid for an oil change…
No wedding expenses came up this week, but next week almost everything will be due. AHH!
I believe around $8,000 will be due next week, which kind of makes my head hurt. We paid for a good deal ahead of time thankfully, but $8,000 is still a lot of money!
Business Income
May has been a good month so far, and I'm hoping to finish the month out strong. I've been working hard to stay ahead with all of my work and it's paying off.
If anyone needs any help, check out my Hire Me page and let me know what services you are interested in.
Being healthy
I'm finally back on my workout plan. I don't think I worked out at all in May before this week, which is scary to think about!
We did 7 miles on Wednesday and 7 miles on Thursday on our bikes, and I also managed to squeeze some actual workouts into my days as well this week.
The 7 miles on Thursday was rough because about 3 miles of it was all uphill and I really thought I was going to barf everywhere. Too much information (sorry!) but seriously, I need to get into better shape!
Wedding Planning
Our wedding is now only 2 weeks away. I'm getting nervous but also super excited. I'm sure all of you cannot wait until my wedding posts are done with. Sorry guys!
I won't lie. At one point in the beginning of this month, I was really regretting the whole expensive wedding thing. We are having around 235 guests at our wedding, which is a lot of people!
I thought about how I was stupid for having an expensive wedding and how I should have just gone to the courthouse or eloped. Weddings are expensive, and they are also time consuming. I was feeling guilty for spending so much money on the wedding. I also felt bad because people from out-of-town were RSVPing yes and I was feeling guilty for making people come out for it.
Luckily, other brides told me that these feelings are only normal when you are around one month away. Now, I'm fully back in the wedding mood and I cannot wait for it! Weddings are expensive, and we have been saving for it. We can afford it so I really need to forget about these already budgeted expenses and just enjoy myself!
It's funny how moods can switch so quickly and dramatically.
I'm ready to hang out with all of my favorite people (all 235 of them!) for the food, the dancing, the photo booth, and everything else. Everything is coming together very well! I can't wait until we get our photos back, because I plan on sharing as many as I can with all of you.
Updates on different parts of the wedding:
- RSVPs – Around 25% of people never RSVPed, so I followed up with each person individually. I'm glad that's done! Our final number is around 235. That includes several babies under 1 years old though – I think around 15! Some guests will also only be there for the ceremony, but for the most part around 200 people will be there all night long.
- Alterations – I followed up with my wedding dress alterations place and they said my dress will now be done on Tuesday. Thank god!
- Honeymoon – Still haven't thought enough about this. I want somewhere warm, fun, and a place that offers plenty of tasty food.
- Marriage license – We need to get this one of these days…
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Have you been doing well with your income, spending and being healthy?
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Helena says
May 23, 2014 at 4:03 amGreat post!
have a fab weekend!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:27 amThanks! 🙂
Barb says
May 23, 2014 at 6:33 amWe didn’t plan our honeymoon until after our wedding as we wanted to make sure we paid all cash. That was the best decision ever. We didn’t need to stress about it ahead of time. Plus that gave us lots of time to shop aorund and figure out the best deals. We ended up going to Hawaii for two weeks and staying for $100 a day. It was great. I highly recommend using homeaway.com or VRBO.com. Congrats!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:28 amThanks Barb! We are thinking about Hawaii. Loved it last time 🙂
DC @ Young Adult Money says
May 23, 2014 at 7:07 amHaha gotta love following up with each person individually who did not RSVP – what a pain! I realize weddings are expensive, but I have to say that I really don’t regret spending money on ours. It’s definitely a day we’ll remember “forever” and everyone had a great time. I think yours will be the same!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:29 amThanks DC! 🙂
John @ Wise Dollar says
May 23, 2014 at 7:26 amWow, only two weeks away….very cool! 🙂 Our month is going well so far. We bought new couches last week for our family room. I hated spending the money, but we had it saved so that helps lessen the blow. Have a great weekend Michelle!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:36 amGlad you’re month is going well John. I’m sure the new couches are amazing!
Tanner says
May 23, 2014 at 7:57 amThat’s a pretty good size for a wedding. I’ve worked in weddings for the past, oh, 9 years or so, and the average size is really closer to 300 for our specific hotel (5 star resort). I personally prefer them smaller, closer to the 200 range, both as a worker, and as a guest! I’ve seen 800 person weddings, and I can tell you that was DEFINITELY too much for the staff, the people and the bridge+groom+family. It’s a once in a lifetime event, so I’d say if you can afford it (which you can!), you should totally go for it. Photo booths are pretty popular at weddings too. Lots of fun, especially when they can squeeze the bride in! (We had one in a huge ball gown try… it was funny and hilarious, but definitely not recommended!)
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:37 amWow that is a crazy amount of people! Most of the weddings I’ve attended have been closer to 100.
Our photobooth is a little different. We splurged for a $1,400 one and it can fit like 20 to 30 people!
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life says
May 23, 2014 at 8:20 amHappy bday, you ARE very young 🙂 235 is a pretty standard number for the weddings I’ve attended. In fact, it’s typically closer to 300. The Ukrainian thing just makes cutting down the invite list so hard.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:38 amThat’s insane! I guess 235 just seems like so much to me since it’s all on private property and I literally have to plan every little detail. Sometimes I wish we would have just gone the easier/cheaper route and chose a venue!
Candice says
May 23, 2014 at 8:28 amI’m excited for you Michelle but so happy I decided not to go the expensive route. We’re having around 100 guests probably but it’s a cocktail reception without alcohol so no big dinner.
Can’t wait to see your pictures!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:39 amMy whole point of having the wedding is to have a celebration, so it was either I just eloped or I had a big BANG! 🙂
Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way says
May 23, 2014 at 8:37 amMy birthday was last Wednesday too, I was born on May 21! 🙂 And I’m pretty excited for this coming weekend, we are going to have a family outing before summer ends off.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 8:39 amHappy Birthday!
Retired by 40 says
May 23, 2014 at 9:00 amHappy Birthday! I know you’re feeling some regret about the big wedding, but once it is over, I think you will be glad. We eloped, and even though it was the right decision at the time, I am sad that we didn’t get to share it with all of our family and friends. Hang in there – it will be here before you know it!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 9:06 amThank you! 🙂 I’m excited for it!
Andrew@LivingRichCheaply says
May 23, 2014 at 9:04 amHappy belated birthday! Wow…only 25. You’ve accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. Very impressive. And 2 more weeks until the wedding…so many exciting things going on. Enjoy your weekend.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 9:06 amThank you Andrew!
Lauren says
May 23, 2014 at 9:28 amHappy Birthday, Michelle! Sounds like you’ve got a busy but exciting few weeks coming up!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 11:07 amThanks Lauren!
Rebecca @ Stapler Confessions says
May 23, 2014 at 9:29 amI have been under the gun with a lot of deadlines this week and last week, so they’ve been good weeks income-wise. Then I got my credit card statement and it was a good $1,000 less than usual. So, I’m doing something right!
Glad you’ve come to peace with the size of your wedding — there’s nothing you can do about it now, except enjoy the day and all the people who are going out of their way to celebrate with you.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 11:18 amDefinitely sounds like you are doing something right Rebecca, good job!
Abigail says
May 23, 2014 at 9:51 amCongratulations!
I think you have the right attitude: You saved for it, so don’t feel guilty. Not everyone agrees with everyone else’s priorities. What matters is that you have a budget and have planned.
BTW, my main piece of advice is to assume things will go wrong. I’m a highly stressful person (and a depressive) so thinking everything would be perfect was the surest way to ruin in my day. I think a lot of brides do this unintentionally. Then if the smallest thing goes wrong, they’re stressed and/or angry. So I assumed that at least a couple things would go awry. That way, I was prepared to roll with the punches.
In the end, I don’t think anything did, though I had to fire my hair stylist 3 days beforehand. My bridesmaids just helped me with it instead.
And if you know something’s going to freak you out, figure out how to cope. We were having our wedding about 40 minutes outside Seattle, and I knew I’d freak out the whole morning if anyone got stuck in traffic. So I asked my friend who worked for a hotel to get us a block of rooms for the wedding party ($30 a night). It was worth the expense to have some peace of mind.
Also, if you’re at all hypoglycemic, have someone keeping tabs on your blood sugar. My mom and bridesmaids made sure I had a Fiber One bar or something every couple of hours. It kept me from plummeting and getting all freaked out or nasty.
I hope your big day is wonderful.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 11:25 amThanks for all the tips! And luckily I’m not too worried about things going wrong. I have two day-of-coordinators who will be there who will have to deal with all of that! 🙂
CeCe @Pink Sunshine says
May 23, 2014 at 10:39 amI would have regretted it if I spent more then I felt we could afford and wanted to spend on it. For me that was about 10k. If my wedding had to be more expensive then that for any reason it would have been a no go. We ended up at 11k and I was really happy. The budget is different for everyone. As long as you are comfortable with what you are spending and ideally don’t go over it then I think you will have no regrets. My wedding day was one of the happiest days of my life. I’m so glad we did it!! You will be too.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 11:27 amI think ours will be at around $15K (but I bartered my services with wedding vendors so the true cost is somewhere around $25K to $30K). It’s a little more than what we wanted to spend, but I’m happy still!
Michelle's Finance Journal says
May 23, 2014 at 10:51 amIt’s so close now. I remember getting crazy busy the last couple of weeks before my wedding. On the actual day, I had bags under my eyes and a bad breakout. Try to relax and get a lot of rest.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 11:27 amYeah I’m trying to get as much done right now as I can!
Broke Millennial says
May 23, 2014 at 11:36 amIn the end, I bet you’ll appreciate that big wedding! But 235 guests does sound a little (financially) intimidating.
Sounds like we have the exact same birthday. I’m May 21 too (and also just turned 25). So Happy Birthday!!! I had a bit of a shock turning 25 though, it just sounded too “old”.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 11:48 amHappy Birthday to you too! There are a few other bloggers who share the same birthday – funny!
E.M. says
May 23, 2014 at 4:10 pmI am glad your bout with regret passed! As you said, you can afford it, and even though spending the money hurts, it will be so worth it in the end. I’m also glad your alterations are getting done much sooner, that must be a relief.
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 4:17 pmYes, I am so excited! WOOHOOO! I can’t wait! I’m currently spending way too much time looking at hair and makeup ideas on Pinterest haha
Michelle Lim says
May 23, 2014 at 4:16 pm235?! That’s impressive, woman! 😉 I don’t even think I know even 100 people! I’m not even planning a wedding (not like that’s stopped me from thinking about it), but I often struggle with the idea of having a big wedding or something super small, myself…. I hear so many mixed opinions when it’s all said and done! But I’m glad you’re back to being excited about it! No matter what, it’s going to be an awesome day to remember. 🙂 xo
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 4:19 pmA small wedding just wouldn’t have been possible for us, even though that would have been nice. Wes’s mom is like 1 of 10 and his dad is like 1 of 8, so he has like 30 aunts and uncles (once you count their husbands and wives), and then they all have children and grandchildren. I love his huge family though!
Christine Berry - Wealth Way Online says
May 23, 2014 at 6:50 pmI can’t believe your wedding is so close! Don’t worry about the money, it’s already spent, just get excited about celebrating with all those who you love 🙂 You’ll only do it once!
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 7:14 pmThanks! 🙂
Lisa E. @ Lisa vs. the Loans says
May 23, 2014 at 6:57 pmYay – welcome to the quarter century club! It’s fun here 🙂
Michelle S. says
May 23, 2014 at 7:15 pmHaha it’s been a great few days in the club 🙂
anna says
May 24, 2014 at 5:14 pmHappy belated birthday! I can relate to the wedding regret feeling, but the day of it feels so amazing to have a big family and friends reunion! I hope you have a wonderful wedding, so close and I’m very excited for you. 🙂
Michelle S. says
May 24, 2014 at 6:05 pmThank you Anna! 🙂
Anne @ Unique Gifter says
May 26, 2014 at 3:49 pmAh yes… weddings are stupid expensive… it’s okay, you’ll get over it! Sometimes I still have shock at the amount we spent. Oh well, it was fun!
Happy Birthday… now you’re going to start feeling old when you have them! 😛
Daisy @ Add Vodka says
May 26, 2014 at 10:42 pmWeddings are insanely expensive. Even if you look past the cost of the actual day, having guests come in and out and hosting and entertaining and showing your appreciation – it all adds up. I’m struggling with something similar right now!