Freaders, I’m officially getting married in less than five months. I still have ZERO idea how we’re going to pay for the rest of it, but I’m sure we’ll manage. Right? Right.
I have one thing I want to write about today, and lucky it does NOT pertain to me.
Have you seen the site called “Help Me Pay for My Wedding?” Essentially, it’s some gal asking for money for her wedding. Her back story is that she was “surprised” by her engagement (aren’t we all? Except me of course) and thus hasn’t saved up for her wedding because she’s spent the past few years getting out of debt. Good on ya gal! (really. I need to do that.)
So instead of making a budget, and figuring out what she and her fiance can afford, maybe you know … putting off the wedding until they can afford it, she took it on herself to make a website asking for peeps on the interwebs for donations to pay for her “dream wedding.”
I can’t help but be disgusted and intrigued at the same time. It was bound to happen at some point, with the huge success of Save Karyn, why wouldn’t someone try it for their wedding? Right? However, the difference here is that Karyn was at least out right about where the money was going, she sold stuff on ebay to help, she had a job, and she kept track of how many donations she had gotten and showed a progress report. This girl
Regardless, as a bride to be, I find it tacky and somewhat…off-putting. I think brides should stick to their budgets (says the girl who doesn’t have one, only a rough idea of how much we want to spend and how much we’re getting from our family), and not ask for handouts from strangers, especially not from strangers who they’re not even intending on inviting to the wedding or letting in on where the money is going to go.
I do want a stunning wedding. I want it to be on a Saturday evening, not a Sunday morning. I want it to be in a gorgeous space. I want to pay for food that my guests will enjoy. Can I afford exactly what I want right this second? Nope. Hence, this experiment. Again, if you don’t want to donate, DON’T. But – it’s good karma. I’d totally donate a dollar to someone’s wedding fund.”
My dream wedding? Well, it’s pretty close to what I’m actually having. I’d probably move the reception site to the Hay-Adams Roof Top, and have 200 people (at $200/head), with a fabulous party that lasts well into the wee hours of morning before taking off to a Tahitian honeymoon (or Fiji, or Bora Bora or Bali…) . But hey, the Capitol Hill Club is in our budget, fabulous, and has a little bit of our history to boot (for some other time friends), and Puerto Rico will be just as fun as Tahiti or Bora-Bora but without the jet lag. Wedding planning is all about being realistic. I’ve been to weddings where the budget was non-existant, and it was beautiful but if you didn’t know them, you’d have hardly guessed they had access to that.
Dream weddings don’t HAVE to cost $50k. You can have a beautiful wedding for significantly less – Broke Ass Bride, A $10,000 wedding, A $2000 wedding among many other DIY/Budget blogging brides out there. She says:
A friend of mine is having her dream wedding for less than $6k, other friends of mine put off setting a date so that they can save for their dream wedding. You do what you have to do, you don’t ask for handouts. I’m fairly certain Emily Post is rolling over in her grave right now.
I hate being critical, but I’ve read so much about this girl, I hate giving her attention but 1. I’m curious as to what my readers think, 2. I had to put my two cents in and what better place than my blog. My biggest problem with her is that she seems to feel or portray herself as being entitled to this “dream” wedding. Like people, though she says don’t have to give money, should give her money because she wants her dream wedding. We all want honey, but we don’t all receive.
[Related Reading...]
The Real American Dream [Fabulously Broke in the City]
Help me pay for my wedding website: brilliant or baffling [SavvySugar]
Help her pay for her wedding? [Martha Stewart Weddings]
