Keeping costs low

It's no secret that Jason and I are paying for 95% of our wedding, The only things we're not paying for are the rehearsal dinner, my dress and alterations, and things typically covered by the wedding party like their outfits and travel. Everything else rests upon our shoulders. And our credit cards. Gotta love that 0% APR.

Awhile back, Jason and I were looking at buying a house. We spent an entire day with our realtor (friend of his family) and played around with a bunch of different financing options. In the end, we decided that paying for a wedding while I still didn't have a full-time job (I still don't) and trying to pay a mortgage was just too much financial strain. So we signed a lease for another year in our apartment.

During the house hunt, I talked to my mom, who said she thought buying a house was a better investment than having a lavish wedding. But I don't think our wedding is going to be lavish. I think words that more appropriately describe our wedding are intimate, modest and beautiful. Of course, any wedding is beautiful, so that's a given.

I got to thinking of the way we are keeping costs down, and while some people may be shocked by what we are/aren't doing, we're only looking to celebrate with our friends and family, not receive any type of awards or win any contests. Here are some of the ways we are making it work, to make it wonderful:

1. We are not eating on fine china. There will be no polished silver, no crystal goblets. Not only is our venue too country-charming for that stuffy elegance, it's just silly to spend so much for getting so little (not only was the china service an outrageous expense per person, we would have to hire additional staff to bus tables, as well as people to spend the entire night in the kitchen, washing dishes.) This ties in with point two.

2. Our caterering is untraditional. Yes, there will good food served at the wedding, and plenty of it, but don't expect caviar and pate or a six-course whirlwind. Expect home cookin. Comfort food rather than aesthetic food that tastes like cardboard. As a bonus, our caterer will also be cutting and serving the cake, and pouring and serving champagne for the toast (this ties back in with point one - they couldn't do that stuff if they were stuck washing dishes. Thus, we get more for our money in the end.)

3. Champagne is the only liquor that we will have at the wedding, for the toasts. We want our wedding to be a celebration, not a room full of drunk people. Especially since everyone will be driving home that night, it's something we don't want to risk. So we will have champagne, which people are welcome to drink (until it's gone) and anyone who needs more liquor than that can go out and experience Fort Worth nightlife on their own time (and their own tab!)

4. I'm a great bargain hunter. We have hoarded Michaels' coupons, gone completely out of our way, kept track of upcoming sales, and smooth-talked our way into getting some really great bargains. Online shopping is a wedding Godsend - especially eBay and Netbride. Craigslist was another helpful site, as was just doing general Google searches. The key factor is shopping around. Though we may have gone with the first vendor we met with from a certain category, it certainly wasn't the only meeting we had. We met with two of at least every kind of company, and some we had contact with as many as a dozen!

The point is, it can be done. Given a limitless budget, I can't say I'd choose all the same things anyway. But I can't say I won't be happy with everything that we will have. Because, in the end, what we have is better than anything money could ever buy.