Doing a wedding on the cheap: update post 50

[coffeelady3]

I think the person picking up your cakes needs a thank you gift. That's a pretty difficult and labor intensive job!

 

[insiderart]

Sounds perfect! Me and the other girls in the coop will make some deviled eggs to bring.

Jenn you will have so much fun, and it will be a great relaxing day.

 

[crtrlovr]

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[Southernbelle]

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This made me laugh out loud!!!!!!

 

[Serrin]

Jenn, I'm wishing you all the best for your wedding day.

One quick little story to share: My grandmother, God rest her soul, was the queen of events planning in my family! And she could do it all on a shoestring budget! I swear, that woman could plan and stage a wedding to rival that of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, with just two weeks notice and less than a thousand dollars. So, you would think she would be the perfect person to plan our wedding all those years ago, right? Well, she would have been except for one little fact. The woman could not take no for an answer. And don’t even think about putting limits on the size of the guest list.

She kept adding people to a list that was only supposed to be our closest and dearest friends and immediate family. All were friends of hers that for whatever reason, she felt just had to attend our wedding.

And then there were things like the decorations and such. All I wanted was a simple ceremony in the back yard of our home on the Nisqually River (I’m sure you know where that is Jenn

) Just something where our best friends and immediate family only could share our day of joy. Around 15 people total. She went and tried to turn it into the social event of the year!!

Long story short, because of her overzealousness, both Denny and I stressed out to the point where I cancelled the whole affair. I just couldn’t reign her in! Headstrong woman that she was!

It took another three years for us to get around to getting married, and then it was because we got the scare of our lives.

In October of 1993, Denny was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. (Lymphatic cancer) Denny didn’t want to take any chances of leaving me with nothing and having to battle the state for what we had built together over the course of ten years. Plus, there was our granddaughter (by marriage

) to think about as well. Annie was just a wee tot of 4 and a half months at the time. (She’s been with us since she was just four days old. But, that’s a story for another time!)

So, on November 1, 1993 our trip down the aisle was before a Justice of the Peace. And since my mother and grandmother were at war with each other, grandmother was not invited to the ceremony, brief, low budget and hurried as it was. To this day, I sort of regret that. The reception consisted of dinner at Genoa’s (is that place even still there?) with mom, dad, my two sisters, their husbands, one fossil hunting friend and Denny and I.

Small and simple. Not what I had always imagined my special day would be. But then I got what really mattered: My soul mate’s love for the rest of our lives.

Oh, and yes: Denny came through the chemotherapy with flying colors. 16 years later, we’re still going strong. Perhaps more in love today than we were the day before. Certainly more than the day we first met. But, probably not as much in love with each other as we will be tomorrow!

The moral of that story?

I don’t know if there really is one. Except, maybe, keep your eye on what is really important. Just being together. Twenty years from now, what will it really matter who slept where or who paid for it? Just having the ones you care about there to share your day will make it special.

By the way, if nobody minds a 6 hour drive, we have room in the little cabin for guests!

Gosh darn it!! I said I was going to keep it short, and there I've gone and done it again. Turned it into a novella!

Best of luck Jenn, and do keep us posted on your progress towards your special day!