MyCouponsBlog

«	March 2007	»
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Hunka hunka burnin' love

mycoupons | 08 March, 2007 06:30

Thursday's are reserved for your questions. I will try to answer any questions within reason- and if I use your question, you win a $5 Target gift card.

Gina J. from Modesto, CA wrote:

Dear Cici,

I got engaged on Valentine's Day, and now need to start planning.My fiance and I disagree about the size/cost of the wedding. What do you think an appropriate cost for a wedding is? Thanks!

Dear Gina,

First, let me offer my congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

When I got engaged, I started to remember when I was twelve, staring at myself in the mirror, with a pillow case on my head. I would cry happy tears at the mirror, and imagine my first dance (To Air supply!) and dream of my white picket fence life with 2.5 kids and a golden retriever in the yard.

The night I got engaged, I went home, and took out my calendar and a notebook. Two months later, I had morphed into bridezilla. I wanted white roses DYED a light green. But not so light that they looked green. I wanted a band that played every genre, but not the chicken dance. I wanted a cake so light and fluffy that you couldn't even taste it. And I wanted a Vera Wang dress and pearl white, rhinestone crusted Jimmy Choo shoes.

I drove my mother insane, calling her up to 15 times a day to talk about flowers and menus. My groom-elect and I went to several 'tastings' with the caterer, to figure out THE perfect menu for our wedding.

One night, about 3 months after our engagement, I was on the phone complaining to my mother about how expensive releasing doves was going to be, but I just HAD to have them. She said something to me that struck like lightning. " Cici, focus more on your marriage and less on your wedding."

There you have it.

She was absolutely right. The wedding is ONE night out of thousands. Here I was worried about a cake no one could even taste, instead of focusing on the fact that I was getting MARRIED!

My father, being the benevolent gentleman he is, struck a deal with me. He had a pre-determined amount set aside in his mind. I could spend it on doves and green roses, or I could have the check.

I chose the check.

I am sitting her today to tell you that it has been eight years since then, and I do not regret not having that big wedding.

I still had a wedding, and what a wedding it was! It was a PARTY. Our DJ was awesome, although I did NOT allow the chicken dance. I had NO flowers; except for my bouquet- instead I opted for balloons. I made my OWN centerpieces, out of CANDY! My mother hand crafted my dress with her bare hands, and it was BREATH taking. She even sewed a piece of my baby blanket into it. I had no doves, I had no green roses. But, I had a wedding, at sunset on a golf course with 125 of my family and friends helping celebrate. And, I had my rhinestone crusted Jimmy Choo's (A girl DOES have her priorities!)

The ONLY food I consumed that day was the bite of wedding cake that my husband fed me. I was too busy dancing, and visiting to eat. I can look back today on my pictures and tell you what EVERY SINGLE person at my wedding is doing this week. I filled my celebration with people that I KNOW and LOVE.

My friend, Kari got married two years ago. Word around the campfire is that the wedding cost her father close to twenty large. <Eyes pop out> It was a fun wedding, no doubt. If you ask Kari and her EX husband about it, they will tell you they really don't remember many details. They were too busy getting their pictures taken and greeting guests to enjoy their own wedding!

What's my point, you ask? It is to spend what YOU feel comfortable spending. Do not make your wedding about other people. Don't try to out do your friends, or your cousin, Sally. If you want to get pulled down main street in a horse drawn glass carriage, go for it. If you want to run away to Las Vegas and get married by Elvis- PLEASE INVITE ME- I LOVE Vegas!

Remember, it is ONE night. ONE.

In the words of a wise woman, focus more on your marriage than your wedding.

Good Luck!

Until we meet again,

Cici

Cici@MyCoupons.com