Am I the only one....

[Chrissie-riel]

There are lots of options for you.....I'm sending Pixie Dust your way!

I am a self-proclaimed wedding addict. In my way past life I was an event planner, catering manager, etc. Believe me - your EM has heard everything; I sure did! Let them know where you want to be on the budget and they will get you there.

Now, I get to be a Bridal Consultant part time and stay home with my Mouseketeers the rest of the day. I hear about budget issues for gowns too. It may be tacky but I always ask my brides what kind of ceiling they want me to stay under for their gown. I have $4000 dresses that I would love to sell and get the commission on, but if she only wants to spend $800, I need to know. Then watch me make some magic!! There are "sales people" out there only in it for the buck - but not me!! When a bride has a tough time choosing between gowns, I tell her honestly which one looks the best even if it means a smaller commission for me.

Your wedding will be magical just because it is you and your sweety pledging your happily ever afters. The rest is just pretty fluffy stuff! Have fun at your planning session. Here's some more pixie dust.....

 

[WonderWomanDC]

Just wanted to say - we were married at MGM in November, 2004. I like to think I am good at making budget cuts - especially for things that I feel won't take away from the overall event. If you would feel comfortable sharing your BEO, I would be happy to make suggestions on where you could save/cut back/etc. You can pm me if you would like me to do that, and I will give you my email address.


I think maybe rather than sitting down to talk over the guest list, since this seems to be a hot button issue for him, try talking about what you want to get out of the wedding. What kind of experience should it be? I agree that anyone you haven't been close with in more than a year should not be on the list - unless it's a B list. We had 55 people according to this rule. We could have added a few more, but because it would've had implications for transportation, decor, etc. I stuck to our list.

 

[M.K. Poppins]

Ok, I just printed Mary626's post on page 2. I am going to make copies of it and put them all over my house. JonetteA, hang in there. I am over a year away, we haven't made one concrete decision yet (except to have the wedding at WDW) and I can already feel the stress creeping in. The bottom line, this is your day to marry the love of your life, and none of the people who are coming would wan't to hear that you are this upset. I had a thought about writing a personalized letter to those who you are unable to invite due to cost. - Write them a letter explaining how and why they have been special in your life. This way, although they haven't been invited to the wedding, they are still being acknowledged. (Maybe send a wedding photo after the fact.) And actually, if you have a hard time doing this for some people (i.e. those whose names you barely know) that will be a sign that it's ok for them not to be invited.
Just an idea, I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone that might not be considered "close enough" to be invited; I'd still feel special that you included me in some way. Who knows, if you're thinking they shouldn't be invited, maybe they are thinking that too?!?!?

 

[Tiggerlover91]

For me, it's not about who's feelings I'm going to hurt as our budget being blown clear out of the water. If you weren't getting married at Disney would the guest list be this important. I'm not one to want to hurt people's feelings, my DH often has to remind me that some people will just take things personally or take offense to something not meaning to hurt them. This is YOUR wedding, it should only matter what you and your DH to be wants, not anyone else. Keep us posted and don't worry, everything will fall into place before you know it.

 

[hmgolden]

Jonette - I think every bride goes through what you are experiencing at the moment. My advice is to talk to you WP about the BEO, our WP often had ideas on how to save us money. Also, you and Lief should figure out what your must haves are. Once you have them sorted out, it'll be much easier to make the cuts. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with some ideas when we all get together next week.

When are you sending out your invitations? Or have you done a STD mailing to try to guage definite numbers? I bet you'll find that a lot of those family members you haven't seen or heard from in years won't be making the trip to Disney - that will help you cut costs right there.

Hang in there and enjoy the engagement party this weekend. The moment you are announced husband and wife all of this will be forgotten. I promise!

 

[ahutton]

Don't forget when you are looking at this, what would it cost you at home, for all the other "have to invites" because it will be at home... For me that was a factor too.

By doing a WDW wedding I was okay with how many we were able to invite, and lots of people we worked with who would have been invited to a home wedding (along with a ton of other family friends/parent friends) would have significantly increased our guest list, and the related costs would have been HIGHER than what the WDW event of our dreams cost!

 

[WDWbride2007]

I must agree with ahutton. One of the main reasons I am considering a Disney wedding is so I can avoid inviting everyone. If we have the wedding in Miami (our home town), we will have to invite about 200 people. Most of my DF's family still can't remember my name after 8 years, so it would kill me to pay $100 a plate for them. I would rather spend the money on an amazing family trip to Disney with our closest friends and family. So as much as I may gripe about Disney costs, it truly is a savings from the guest standpoint.