USAA Now shares 2nd place in our wedding Bank Battle!

That's right, miraculously we're STILL getting wedding checks sent our way :) I guess that "1 year to give a gift" rule is pretty common these days. Not that i really care one way or the other, i just find it pretty funny. This rule doesn't apply to birthdays, graduation,or Christmas so why weddings?

I asked a couple friends but no luck, they all came back pretty much with "i dunno, it's just the way it is". Okay, so let's just say that's the deal. Why do it though? I mean, it takes a lot of time to make arrangements to go to the wedding, get a hotel (if needed), and schedule your family's life around it cuz of the time it consumes, so the present part should be the easy part, right?

The only thing i can think of is that perhaps it just gets forgotten w/ all this other stuff going on. Or it's just laziness :) I've never sent a late gift myself, but if i did it would totally come down to the lazy factor. But enough of this talk, my word vomit is going wayyyy off track now.

The reason for this post is to give an update on our newest check contenders in our Bank Battle! So here they are:

• USAA moves up a notch to 2nd place with a $200'er (holler)
• Commerce Bank brings in another $50.00
• And PNC makes it a 3-way tie for first, w/ another respectable $100.00!

Ooh, and i almost forgot about the BEST gift ever! A $500 Savings Bond :) Similar to the others in my safe, it's a "Patriot Bond" (EE) worth $250 at the present time, which will work it's way up over the years. I love it! (For more info on bonds, check out the snazzy Treasurydirect.gov site.)

There's just something about those little guys that bring absolute joy to my life. I think it's the whole "you can watch me grow, but you can't spend me!" thing. Fine by me, my other bonds will now have an extra friend to play with. No shame in that game!

So there you have it, our old cash gift total worked it's way up from $6,000 to $6,350, and USAA is battling Navy Federal for the 2nd place title...will it end here? Only time, and laziness, will tell ;)

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Wachovia, Bank of America, & PNC are really that popular?

POOP! What about my USAA? According to all of the wedding checks we got from our friends and family, it only ranks in 5th place :( Turns out most of them prefer Wachovia, Bank of America, and PNC. Oh well, at least we got some extra $$$ to help start our married lives, right?!

This is decidedly a GOOD thing, as our wedding budget had finally burst at the seams, and it's now time to clean it all up ;)

So, being the big dork that i am, i took some time to sort through all of our cash gifts and analyzed the bajesus out of 'em. It's just sooo fun, i love it! Plus, what else do i have to do on Friday the 13th? haha... Chew on these fancy facts:

After counting it all up, we were given a total of about $6,000 $6,350!
- $700 of them were pure cashy cash
- $5,300 $5,650 of them were old fashioned checks.

Here are how the amounts broke down:
- $1,000 was the biggest gift (holler)
- $40 was the smallest gift
- $138 was the average gift

And these are the banks the checks came from (most popular to least):
- 5 @ Wachovia Bank
- 5 @ Bank of America
- 4 5@ PNC Bank
- 3 @ Navy Federal Credit Union
- 2 3 @ USAA Federal Savings Bank (the best e-v-e-r!)
- 2 @ Citibank
- 1 2 @ Commerce Bank
- 1 @ Chase
- 1 @ BB&T
- 1 @ SunTrust
- 1 @ Hudson United Bank
- 1 @ Harleysville National Bank
- 1 @ Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union

Wasn't that fun? No? Well you are just too cool aren't ya ;) I certainly enjoyed breaking it all down - especially when it came to banking. There are so many options out there, i wonder what made them choose their specific one. I actually thought we'd have more "military" related banks than the 5 we did (USAA & Navy Federal), so that was interesting.

All i know is, as soon as these bad boys clear (i like to use that term "bad boys" don't i?) we're paying off each and every credit card, and throwing the rest in our House Savings! Bow chicka wa wa!

*Updated: 6-20-08

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I'm back, and ready to spill the beans baby!

Whew! From saying "I Do", to jumping in waterfalls, it's been quite an adventure lately - but my goodness was it a helluva good time :)

And the best part? Being back on U.S. soil and catching up on all the juicy gossip we've missed!

We literally have hundreds of emails and pictures to catch up on, and i'll be milking this attention while i can ;) haha...

But, as i sip on my overpriced yet DEARLY missed Panera coffee (which i still have yet to conquer), the time has come to talk turkey. This ain't no personal blog...although it would be much more interesting posting up all our drunken, crazy, wild, party pics ;)

So, in an effort to spew all of the thoughts swirling around in my mind, here is a breakdown of the categories i'd liked to share:

Stuff NEVER to Buy on Resorts
Sure you can go "into town" and pick up some of this stuff for a quarter of the price, but unless you have a killer instinct (aka know when you're getting ripped off and/or stalked by the beggars) and you wanna blow $10 for a cab ride each way, you're pretty much screwed.

• Deodorant: $8.50! And this was for one of those "mini" travel size ones!
• Magazines: $12.00! This was for the only copy of Cosmo they had. Not that i'd ever read it (unless you count browsing all of the hottie pictures ;) ), but my damness that's expensive. You could also pick up Good Housekeeping for $9.00, which was pretty random.
• Straw hats: $45.00 - $85.00! Cowboy hats, Panama Jack hats, you name it...

5 Reasons to go to a Sandals/Beaches Resort
There are a butt-load of reasons to go with a resort style place, but here were our top picks.

1. All you can eat! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, you name it.
2. All you can drink! Beer, Wine, Liquor, whatever your poison.
3. Private-ish beaches all around! Lay out and get tan without any crazy "locals" peddling their goods at ya.
   
4. Community pools, games, fun! Live bands almost every night, piano bars, talent shows, a whole mess of vacation goodness :)
5. Don't have to spend a dime while you're there! All your main things are taken care of w/ the all-inclusiveness. Be warned though, it sure ain't easy turning down all those "extras" all around you.
   

5 Reasons NOT to go to a Sandals/Beaches Resort
While those top reasons sure were sexy, you also gotta play devil's advocate on this one.

1. The hefty price tag - We spent around $4,100 for 8 days/nights, NOT including plane tickets (thank hotness for my boss hooking us up again w/ first class tickets all the way!) You get those awesome benefits I showed above, but it def. hurts the wallet either way.
2. All you can eat & drink! Haha ... while it's fun as hell, you KNOW you'll put on some pounds with this one ;) It's hard to keep count of how many drinks you pound down...believe me.
3. Their "resort credit card" - Since everything you buy (souvenirs, golf, island adventures, etc) must be put on this card they give to you during check in, it's hard to keep track of it all. You can easily blow through some greenbacks.
4. Having to dress up at times - Sure there are 7+ restaurants on these resorts, but if you only brought tee's and flip flops, you'll only be allowed into half of them. It was okay after I got used to it, but the bathing suit was the only thing i wanted to wear most of the time ;)
5. Extra costs for tours & sightseeing - It's bad enough spending the 4k+ on the resort itself, but there's only so much you can do on the beach before you get antsy. We got a GREAT deal on a 6 hour island tour for $80 a piece (Joe Knows! Best tour guide E-V-E-R), but you gotta check around or you could spend hundreds when the week's over.
   

Lastly, Never Wear Camouflage Stuff.
I learned this the hard way as I tried to get through Customs w/ camo shorts on ;) Although they took it easy on me and just forced me to change, they very well could have stripped me down in front of everyone, and then thrown me in jail for a day! (I don't recommend testing them)

Apparently this is a big no-no on the island, and I was just a "stupid American". After thugs were robbing islanders, dressed as the military, the governments passed a law forbidding any camouflage gear whatsoever. Oops.

That's it for now kiddies. As the alcohol clears and more fun-ness comes to mind, I'll be sure to post them up. I leave you now with the best slogan ever, courtesy a la Caribbean - "No Pressure, No Problem!"

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Hello from the beach! (A quick shout out)

Missing me yet? I hope not - you should have plenty to read while i'm away ;) Remember that Chuck Norris Random Fact Generator link i sent to ya? aww yeahhhh!

Anyways, I just wanted to give you all a quick shout out and to let you know that I'm looking for bargains down here when we're out and about... Just cuz it's our honeymoon, doesn't mean i can get all kooky w/ my our money!

Although, with the way we're being spoiled down here Mr. Sexy might come back in action and take over from Mr. Frugal! (Remember what almost happened back in Vegas?)

We got one of those "all you can eat & drink" resort places down here, so we don't have to plan a damn thing anymore ;) The price tag wasn't pretty ($4,000), but we get 8 long days and nights there, and it's supposed to be one of the best parts for our lives. We all know it'll be hard to justify another trip like this in the near future! Why do i have to be so frugal again?

Well that's it for now my furry little friends! I *may* or *may not* be back anytime soon, so if i don't respond to any posts or emails, you'll know why...i'll be down at the copa cabana w/ two drinks in my hand and a farmers tan ;)

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Net Worth: MAY... my very last "single" month!

What a good way to end single-ness: UP a good 3 Grand this month :)

The only stuff holding us back are all of the wedding expenses now charged on our card and sucking us dry! haha...

On the other hand, the beautiful checks still continue to flow in, so i'm pretty hopeful we'll be back in action soon. And NO MORE expenditures to come, HOORAY!

Here's how it breaks down this month:

Cash Savings: Oh yeah, lost a few dollars in this department. But it's only because of said wedding costs and balancing our credit cards the best way to limit interest charges. I'm afraid to report though that we'll actually accrue these fees on the next statement. At least it's a first in years.

Roth IRA: Another month of doing nothing, and watching the balance eek itself up ;) I'll take that any day.

401k: A+++ I love this bad boy! Had the usual two deposits of $1187.50 (my half + 100% matching), and then some extra help from the markets going up. And the best part? im STILL waiting for 3 full months of owed deposits!!! Well, i guess that's kinda good in that it's not in yet, but also terrible that it's taken this long so far :( But, as always, can't start getting heated about it again.

Savings Bonds: These guys don't like to move much...been this way for 2 moths now. i guess that's why they're considered a "safe" investment, huh?

Condo Investment: Still sending my brother $123 each month for his condo. Nothing too juicy going on here, except that this might stop within the next few months.

Home Equity: Same with this department - at a stand still until after the wedding and grad school stuff comes together. This amount reflects the purchase price of our house minus all principal payments.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again for the 4th month in a row. At least it didn't go down as MUCH as it has been, but it's still quickly depreciating like a mother. I'm adding this to the "do something about it" list for next month.

Credit Cards: It went down a bit (hence the drop in my cash savings as well), but it's still wayyyy off track. Chalk this one up to the wedding stuff too. But at least I get to move the sidebar a bit :)

Auto Loan: Slowly and steadily paying off $300ish in principal each month. I really won't miss this one at all if i end up getting a beater down the road which, naturally, I'm still considering.

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week out there! And hopefully i'll be able to jump on with some sexy updates soon - straight from the Caribbean ;)

* Side bars have also been updated
* Click here to check out past Net Worth updates.

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Drum roll please...WE'RE MARRIED!!!

That's right - as of this sec. we are officially married ;)

And it feels awesome! Well ... i'm pretty sure it feels awesome, i'm probably more nervous than anything right now with all those faces staring up at me! That's right, I am still up there on the alter as you're reading this- how cool is that? i SO heart blogger ... and Mrs. Budgetsaresexy!

(it's party time!)

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The time has come - I'm off to be hitched!

That's right my dear friends, tomorrow I go from "singlehood" to "chained", i mean "married" ;) It was a fun 27 years going it alone, and now i shall be blessed with a family. Oooooh, i could have little J's running around now too - woohoo!

And if you're wondering how you'll keep entertained while we're away, worry no more. I have a few nuggets lined up, and they'll be sure to do the trick:

• Guest posts from awesome bloggers & readers such as yourself.
• Random posts that i have future dated (savvy, huh?)
• And semi-tipsy updates if i can sneak online ;)
  

And if you go through all that, and you STILL need something juicy, then check out (and bookmark) one of the best sites e-v-e-r: The Chuck Norris Random Fact Generator!

You're in good hands my loved ones. I'm off to get hitched now and get to honeymooning, but while i'm gone next week you just remember one thing - don't do anything i wouldn't do!

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Wedding gift'ers are going crazy on us!

The presents are starting to flow in now, and we're getting some pretty generous checks - we're talking about ones for $100 and $150 a PIECE!!! I'm not sure what the average amount people usually give, but anything over $50 seems like a lot to me. I can understand if close family members or best friends want to give a little extra, but we're getting a lot from guests that aren't even COMING to the wedding! WTF? I guess we have some good fans ;)

Being the curious little badger that I am, I took it upon myself to do some research and I came across an interesting little blurb from WeddingBasics.com:

"Guests are not required to bring a wedding gift to the wedding which is one of the reasons you should never make mention of gifts with your wedding invitation. However, social etiquette indicates that if you are invited to a wedding you should send a gift to the couple whether or not you plan to attend."

First off, i thought it was a mandatory thing! haha...not that i personally care, it just seems to be the case. I guess that's where "social" etiquette comes in. To be honest, the whole gift registry thing was the only part where Mrs Budgetsaresexy and I got into some arguments :(

I didn't want to put a billion things on our registries cuz I feel that we (or I should say "I") already have most of this stuff, but she thought we needed to so that people know what to give us, and so that we could also have more "joint" stuff. At any rate, we're totally passed all that now, but it never fails to get a bit crazy when money starts playing a part.

Secondly (sorry, got a little sidetracked there) i guess it IS a rule of thumb to send a gift whether you're coming or not. That's quite a shock to me, esp. looking back at all those I didn't attend - YIKES! I'll just blame it on all those brain cells i lost back in College ;) I don't think many people expect any big gifts from college kids anyways, so whatever.

Okay that's enough wedding talk for now. I can seriously go on and on about all this stuff, but I'm sure not everyone wants to read about it - I know i don't want to any more! I can tell you one thing though, it'll be GREAT not having to worry about this stuff ever again. Crazy kids and their crazy weddings.

-------------------
If you're itching for more though, check out these oldies:
- Mrs. Budgetsaresexy on frugal wedding-ness
- Two rants and two helpful hints
- Wedding budget for $10k? Fingers crossed!
- I just spent $170 in under 5 minutes

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Mrs. Budgetsaresexy on frugal wedding-ness

Dear Readers,

Well hello! And welcome to my guest post :) As our impending nuptials quickly approach, I figured I would throw in a few of my frugally-minded wedding experiences to share with those interested. And, as I am MUCH more charming and interesting than the regular writer of this blog, you will probably find reading this to be the greatest experience of your life!! Haha, just kidding....it will be closer to the second or third greatest experience of your life.

I keed, I keed!

So as the oh-so-handsome Mr. BudgetsareSexy (aka J.) had previously mentioned, our initial wedding budget from my lovely and generous mother was just around $10K, and then we planned to pitch in the rest ourselves. It may be hard to believe, but most weddings, particularly in our (*cough*snobby*cough*) area, cost a great deal more than this, so we had to work hard to make ends meet and still make it a beautiful day for all to enjoy.

The following are some of my friendly and frugal tactics for cutting costs:

1) The wedding dress. Some brides want (and can afford) a dress that costs thousands of dollars; I am not one of them! I meandered over to David's Bridal, tried on 6 or 7 dresses and luckily found one I liked for a reasonable price. Some other tips for brides looking for their dream dress would be to check out second-hand bridal stores (where you can find a gorgeous pre-worn dress for a fraction of the cost), or for the hardier ladies, even the "running of the brides" annual event done by Filene's Basement. I did this years ago with a friend of mine who was getting married, and it was chaos! But, to some degree, it was fun--and indisputeably thrifty! If you are one of the lucky ones, you just may end up with a dirt-cheap designer gown, with only alterations and cleaning costs to cover.

2) Accessories. It's pretty easy to run up wedding costs with bridal accessories---headpieces, shoes, lingerie, handbags, etc. can put a considerable dent in your budget. However, keeping an eye out for sales and prioritizing your "must-haves" in light of your "can-do-withouts" is always important. Personally, I hit up Target for my reception shoes ($5.09 on clearance), eBay for my veil ($23 from an original $179), and the cheapest shoes/dress combo I could find for my rehearsal dinner outfit ($20 shoes from payless, and a $22 dress from Forever 21). It's definitely a special day and worth spending a little extra money for things you want to preserve for posterity (ie, i spent about $150 on a pearl necklace and earring set--on a 60% off sale, of course), but for the rest, give your wallet a rest and comb the clearance racks!

3) Online coupon codes. I ordered all of my bridesmaid gifts on overstock.com ($ saver in itself), and just today ordered disposable camers (on sale for only $2.99 each) and bubbles ($8.49 for a pack of 48) from theknot.com. Before checking out online, I did quick google searches for promo codes for both sites. Lo and behold, I found them, and wound up saving 10-15% off the original cost just by finding a little code to type in! Just as those little dollars here and there add up to the total wedding cost, saving those dollars wherever possible can also add up big in the long run.

4) Wedding favors. Who ever uses those crappy throwaway items that many people give away as wedding favors? I mean, seriously...when you get a cake-topper to bring home from a wedding, do you really ever do anything other than toss it in the garbage when you get home? The frustrating part about favors is, even though people don't tend to use their $2-3 momento for much, they expect them, AND, it winds up costing us hundreds when factoring in 170 guests or so. Our plan? Tentatively, we are planning to donate a tree for each guest from the Arbor Day Foundation. 1 tree costs $1, and even though it will still end up costing us a fair amount, it's A) tax-deductible, and most importantly, B) going to a good cause. We will then type up some small cards to place at each setting, letting the guests know that a tree was planted in their honor.

5) Stationary. Once upon a cold February evening, Mr. B and I headed off to a meeting at a fancy-shmancy stationary store to discuss wedding invitations. It was a night that we will not soon forget, but that is only because they basically ignored us after shoving some books of overpriced paper samples at us and walking away. We promptly returned home, and Mr. B found some much more reasonable online invitations for us to order (check out Exclusively Weddings). If you do your research, there are plenty of options out there in the online world for all kinds of budgets. And in lieu of buying matching thank you notecards with the invitations, we opted for non-matching (but still cute) notecards from the dollar bin at Michael's. 10 notecards for $1 is an awesome deal, and I guarantee you that no one is going to mind if our thank you notes don't match the invitation pattern. It's what written inside them that counts!

As this is turning into less of a blog posting and more of a book, I'm going to stop here. If you're getting married soon, I hope a few of these tips and experiences are helpful to you! And for the rest of you readers....well, hope I didn't bore you to tears!!

Happy Blogging to all!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Budgetsaresexy

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Net Worth: APRIL ... And how weddings eat your money.

Hum ... not my favorite month's review, but it's all good.

Gotta have those down periods, to make those up ones feel even better, right?

Most of this was also expected, so no big shocks (thank goodness).

The main difference here, from all other months, is the massive jump in the credit card category due to more wedding related costs.

I'm not scared yet though, we have a good month to pay it off before finance charges kick in ... and even at that point, it's only at 5%, so it's not THAT bad. We'll definitely be hoping for cash wedding gifts now though ;)

Here's how the other categories played out this month (no promises it'll be exciting):

Cash Savings: The $60 here is a bit deceiving, as my actual cash went up a good $600 thanks to my new best friend - George Bush! I ended up taking my bond amounts out of here (it deserved it's own category), and then took out 48 crisp $1 bills from my stash for my current art project.

Roth IRA: I like earning money for doing nothing at all! No new deposits in here.

401k: We're finally starting to get some of the due deposits into our account now. While we only had one deposit this month, we're still waiting for a good 5+ to hit any day now. Weeeee!

Savings Bonds: These were the bonds i found in my safe the other month. Had to take them out of the "cash" area as it really didn't belong there...i was just too lazy to edit my graphics last month ;) Now I'll be able to see the differences each month a little better too, esp. when I start adding some bonds down the road.

Condo Investment: Same ol', same ol'. $123 each month still going to my bro until we agree to stop.

Home Equity: Still at a stand still due to our frozen Heloc adventure. We don't plan on paying off more of either mortgage for at least 5-6 months, as the 9k we accidently "paid off" is enough for right now.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again. 3 months in a row now. i. still. hate. cars.

Credit Cards: All wedding related stuff - honeymoon, flowers, dj, you name it. We've already started getting some cash gifts coming in, so we're *hoping* to get enough to pay it all off before, or soon after our wedding. Either way, it's all good for now.

Auto Loan: Another measly $300ish principal payment. No more thoughts on selling my car, too much going on these days.

'Tis all for now fine folks. The sidebars have been updated, and life continues on with another glorious day ;) HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

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Two rants and two helpful hints.

I have two gems to share with you this morning. I will bitch about both, but will then give some handy pointers after as a reward for listening :) Please to enjoy:

Rant #1: Starbucks is gonna get it! Remember all those sexy rewards they started marketing last week??? Well, apparently they forgot about the training of their staff, including the managers. Today marks the 3rd day IN A ROW that they have not credited off our syrups! Not a huge deal, but since we make a run for our co-workers, it's a good $2 each trip.

The best, though, are the looks on their faces when we ask for the credits. It's like fear strikes them and their eyes slowly glaze over in confusion. haha....so, for the 3rd time now, we had to get a manager or senior-level person to credit back the amounts - this, after explaining to them why we deserve the discounts.

Helpful hint: If you want the syrups, soy milks, and other benefits of the new Starbucks plan, make sure to tell the cashier BEFORE paying so they can adjust it for you. Unfortunately (and prob. well thought out by Starbucks) it's not automatic.

----------------------------------

Rant #2: Remember how our flowers budget for the wedding was around $600? Wellll, not anymore! Our flowers person dropped out at the last minute, forcing us to do some spectacularly fast research. I could probably go on and on about how sucky this was, but the circumstances are fair and our new results are even better. Our new price tag is set higher at $950, BUT we found a much better rose package and all is now good in the world! And thank goodness for Mrs. Budgetsaresexy or else we'd have hand picked daisies everywhere :)

Helpful hint: If you ever find yourself needing flower arrangements, be sure to check out proflowersweddings.com. They have some pretty killer packages lined up, and cater to both smaller and larger events.

That is all. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

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Wedding budget for $10k? Fingers crossed!

Okay, so we *thought* we were budgeting $10k for our wedding! haha....since i started writing this i realized our total costs are actually gonna be around $16k! i guess it's good some of you prompted me to post about it :) Still though, our new budget is about half the national average for weddings.

According to Costofwedding.com:

"U.S. couples spend (on average) $28,800 for their wedding. This does not include cost for a honeymoon, engagement ring, bridal consultant or wedding planner."

AND, it's even higher in the county i live in, coming in @ $39,000!!! How INSANE is that? While our $16k will be pretty tight, we have to at least shoot for it (esp. now that it's 6k higher than the initially planned $10k!). There's no way in hell we're blowing $30k for one night. And to be honest, i don't see that big of a difference of those i attended where even $45k & $60k were spent. Sure the flowers and locations may be a bit fancier, but the food and drinks were plentiful at both, and everyone had a fabulous time!

In any case, you're probably wondering where on earth this money goes to. So, in an attempt to keep things clear and concise (there are entire websites pages dedicated to this stuff, w/ pages and pages of info.) here is a breakdown of the "average" American wedding costs, side by side w/ the money we've spent, or are about to spend, on each category:

* According to Bridal Association of America
I'll post more later on HOW exactly we went around a lot of these costs, but as you can see it CAN be done for lower.

So far we (aka Mrs Budgetsaresexy's mom and us) have spent a total of $4,963.77, with the MAJOR category still left - the reception.

We booked it at a restaurant, and at the end of the night we get a bill totaling up the number of plates served, and alcohol drank. BUT, at least we don't have to worry about any cleaning up afterwards :) Not to mention the set up, caterers, staff, etc, it's all included since it's a restaurant! woohoo.

That pretty much covers it, in a nutshell. There are a slew of potential things to think about, but Mrs. Budgetsaresexy and I are not one to complicate things. I mean, you could spend HOURS on just picking invitations, or merely choosing flower arrangements. The possibilities are endless. Unless you've been planning your wedding since you were a little girl, be prepared to spend some hefty prep time :)

Before i go, let me just recommend the following three things if you're starting the process yourself. I promise you they will help:

1) Book the location of the ceremony (for us, it's a church), AND the reception ASAP. These dates fill up faster than Warren Bufffet on a hot business venture! wow, okay so that was the dorkiest coment i've ever made...but you get the point. Some places book 1-2 years in advance.
2) Do one thing a month! If you get in the habit of doing this, esp. if your engagement period is 10+ months long, you will find yourself very productive. Not to mention as stress-free as possible.
3) Be patient and work as a team....even if you don't want to :)

The first, and second one, are super easy to follow. It's the third that gets tougher as the time goes on! You leave one person alone to do it, and you can kiss that honeymoon goodbye :( But if you're truly getting married for the right reasons, it should be all good :) Plus, things like picking the music to play at the reception, or choosing the food is pretty easy and fun!

I think that covers most of the stuff we've been getting into. I'll be posting more updates as we get closer to the big day as well. For those of you starting out, I hope this stuff helps! (and Congratulations!)

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I just spent $170 in under 5 minutes.

- Ordered my wedding party gifts: $140 - engraved cuff links!
- Ordered Baptismal certificate so I can get married in the church: $30! - didn't see that one coming. apparently since i was born in a military chapel, everything goes through the military archdiocese.

i'll have to write about all the wedding expenses one day.
y-i-k-e-s.

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