after 39 years of figuring i was too weird to be married, i am engaged to the most wonderful guy in the world! we've been together for 4 years, lived together for 2 of those, and get along like peas and carrots. i'm a lucky gal!
i am SUPER excited about spending my life with my man ... but i was never the type to fantasize about my future wedding, and honestly i am struggling with the idea of planning it for a couple of reasons.
first off, we are not broke by any means, but we are also not where we'd like to be financially. we don't want to spend too much on our wedding -- our priorities mostly center around being outside and having great food. and i'm financially in flux right now -- working a contract job that will likely be over in the next few months -- which makes it scary for me to commit to spending $X on one day.
secondly, i have a HUGE stepfamily. my stepmom is the oldest of 10, and family culture states that everyone is invited to everyone else's wedding. but if i were to invite just aunts/uncles/cousins, that's about a hundred people and that's not at all what i want. i really want a small, low-key wedding but am not sure how to do it in a way that doesn't hurt my steps.
when i envision my wedding, i see it outside in a park, with excellent food and good music on the stereo and maybe a bonfire? and fun but not-that-fancy outfits all around! but when i think about planning this effortlessly elegant event on top of everything else i've got going on (a full time job, a growing small business, and being there for my grandma as her health declines), i kind of just want to go back to bed.
can you all please share your sage advice / stories of your own frugal beautiful simple weddings? how did you bring everything together and get the wedding you wanted?