I now pronounce you in debt for life...

Colin (finally) proposed in October. We started planning a month or two ago and I honestly had no idea how outrageously expensive weddings can be.

I was never really the type of girl to sit and daydream about what my wedding was going to be like. But now that it's actually going to happen, I had to figure out what it was that I wanted for the "big day" (dun dun DUN). What I really wanted was a simple outdoor ceremony/reception with our family and friends. What I realized was that this was nearly impossible and nothing is simple when it comes to planning a wedding.

I pride myself on getting good deals and spending wisely. Apparently, these two concepts are completely thrown out the window when the word wedding is mentioned or associated with something. Of course I want this day to be wonderful; I just don't want to go bankrupt for it. This "W word" markup is rather daunting since we are paying for the wedding on our own.

We priced out doing everything ourselves which one might think would save tons of money. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Between renting tents, tables, chairs, plates and what have you, it was just as expensive as a more reasonably priced hall. With a lot more of the work.

I am trying to keep track of our expenses as we go. My first purchase was my dress. It was on sale at David's Bridal for $250, plus they charge for the garment bag for it to be shipped in. The total came to $274.54. Our next expense was the down payment for the hall. This was $1,000.

After looking at about 10 places we finally decided on one for its price. Definitely not my first choice but I'd rather not like the place as much and be able to invite everyone we want. So now my "dream" wedding is my reality wedding. We thought of eloping in Vegas. I would love to have Elvis marry us. (haha) And while all this fuss for just one day can seem ridiculous and overpriced, sharing one of the most important days of your lives together with the ones you love the most really is priceless.