I had my Kerry Flavors interview yesterday.  Located in Beloit, WI (just north of Rockford, IL across the WI line) I traveled 98 miles to get there.  Well worth it.  WELL worth it.  I got a call last night for a 2nd interview.  Great.  The 3 people I met with were nothing short of kind-- I wasn't nervous at all, which isn't typical in a 3 hour interview.  Fingers crossed the compensation is good.  If its not, forget it.

SO, there are some weddings coming up in the fall and I wanted to use this time to discuss a little matrimony 4-1-1:

YES, it is a big day.  Getting married is one of the biggest commitments in a lifetime, aside from having a baby or buying a house.  I take marriage very seriously-- it requires work every single day.  HENCE, why its called a sacrament.

YES, you want to celebrate said day with gusto.  Let us now logically think about the blessed day.  I don't care who you are, we've all been to a crummy wedding.  Normally, the crumminess stems from bad food or a bad DJ/Band.  YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.  That is the best piece of advice I can give.

Chris and I wanted our food to be bomb.  So, we looked and looked to ensure our guests could have an amaze balls culinary experience.  Did we succeed.  Hell yes.  WELL WORTH IT.  Granted, we had help from our parents to pull off our gala.

Everything else fell into place-- we paid good money for our photographer (another important valuable piece of the wedding day puzzle, since its the only real memory you have), DJ and flowers.  We wanted an inviting autumn celebration.  Our vision was fulfilled.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, be realistic about the outcome.  Once again, you get what you pay for.  Also, it requires TIME to make all this happen.  Hence, typical engagements are a year long.  Its takes about a year to plan a wedding-- unless you have lots of free time, SUPER motivation, help and a rock solid budget/game plan to execute in a timely manner.

My dress was reasonably priced-- you only wear it once.  Our invitations were reasonably priced-- nothing super elaborate (like the invites to the wedding shower in "Bridesmaids").  We had tons of help from my MIL-- she made the runners for the tables, and as a florist-- she had access to everything at her flower shop.  She also nailed the centerpieces and the other flora-related items.  Pat also altered my dress (HUGE money saver), made my veil and my bolero-style jacket.  I was SO LUCKY to have her. Speaking of which, we made our menu cards, programs and gifts for guests.  There is money savings everywhere.

All of the things pictured above were made-- except the lanterns on the "king's style table" where the wedding party sat.  They came from Ikea for $7.  Pat bought the birch logs and Chris cut them, dug a hole out and we put a votive in them.  The runners were burlap.  So, my advice is to get creative and find the savings.