Wedding Bells Blog
luxury
Stop and Smell the Roses…
Joseph and I enjoying a day of skiing!
With everything going on—building our house and planning the wedding and honeymoon, it feels like that is all we talk about. Joseph’s been working long hours, I’ve been trying to make sure we don’t forget to book anything, and it’s starting to wear down on us.
I had read some good advice about going out together and not talking about the wedding. Lately it didn’t seem possible. It really starts to consume your everyday life! Especially as you get close to the date.
Between his work schedule we finally got to plan a night out, on the anniversary of our first date. And it wasn’t even hard to not talk about it for the evening. It was very refreshing and some much needed fun and time together. I highly recommend anyone feeling a bit stressed out should definitely plan a night where you don’t talk about any of that “stuff.” It really did us both a lot of good.
When we started planning and saving we had to cut down on other things we used to do:
1. Going out to dinner (we can save a lot of $ just by cutting out the eating out)
2. Shopping (this was pretty much directed at me rather than Joseph—whose had the same jeans for three years. While I must admit at times it’s hard, I’ve realized it’s for the greater good. My clothes need a closet! lol)
Our first date March 22nd 2001
3. Going to movies (a big one for us. It’s sort of our hobby—if you can call seeing movies a hobby. We now rely on “Scene” points from my Scene Visa card to get us there! And I have to say wedding deposits have helped with point earning! But where we used to go every week, we are still only making it there every month to two months)
It’s definitely been hard, and I think because of that we felt like we were spending less time together. So we’ve made a point to find more time for “dates.” hee hee
I’d really love to hear any compromises you’ve made for your wedding, and if you have planned an evening where you both promise you won’t talk about it either.
Back into wedding mode now, our next step is flowers. I’ve met with the florist, and I have planned so far to just get bouquets. I hadn’t really thought about flowers to decorate the ceremony, and I’m wondering what do people think about that? Is it worth having? I know I can move them to the reception after, and I would definitely do that. I just wonder what others are doing for this.
Ceremony Flowers (for decor):
a) yes, definitely a must
b) don’t bother
c) depends where the ceremony is
Hopefully I will have some sample pictures of our bouquets next time. My maid of honour is coming home for two weeks, and we’re trying to arrange to get that done with her and the bridesmaids, should be a fun afternoon for all! See you soon!
Tags: anniversary, blogger search, date night, florist, flowers, luxury, movie
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6 Responses to “Stop and Smell the Roses…”
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Compromise, marriage is about compromise, so you have had good practice this past year! Owning a home and having to stay in it to meet your budget is common.
Darlene
Oh I know what you mean! We have the added bonus of many of our relatives and friends also getting married in the same year – so we have to juggle not only time but finances.
Mark and I have faced many challenges in the “spending time together” area since the beginning of our relationship: I have a daughter, I went to school full time, work, daughter’s activities, his job and other commitments – it’s always been a struggle. Our thing has always been “movie night” in – renting movies and having our time together usually every Friday night. Since we don’t live together, it gives us time to wind down after a crazy week and just relax. It just sucks I only see him a few hours every week and just on the weekends.. can’t wait to be married! I think what we’ve changed quite a bit is keeping an eye on our finances and ensuring that we’ve properly allocated funds to wedding costs first before we make any other splurge. Mark did quite a bit of travelling and snowboarding prior to our engagement but since then, he hasn’t been snowboarding or travelling. I’ve also cut down my shopping dramatically and I take the bus to work.
I don’t think it’d be a big deal to opt out on decorations for your ceremony venue. People will be focused on the two of you anyways :). If you really did want to decorate it, bows and ribbons is a great cost-effective alternative – plus it’s allergen free (that’s a concern for me so no real flower decorations for us).
Hi Emily!
Ya, ultimately, I think it would be a waste. That money could definitely be better spent elsewhere.
I think we have the equivalent of that here to. The dollar cinema. You pay a dollar but they are the movies that have been out for a long time? I’ve never been since it’s not too close to where we live, but it’s a good idea!
Ballroom dancing is so much fun! We did that a few years back, and we really enjoyed it
I wouldn’t bother with decorating the ceremony location with flowers. People won’t really remember them and they’ll be hugely expensive! We’ve had to cut back on a few things too – we’ve been going to the cheap seats instead of movies when they’re just released, cooking more recipes instead of eating out (which is actually tonnes of fun), and staying in on Friday nights doing karaoke Rock Band :) We did just sign up for a NEW date night activity though – ballroom dancing!! It was through our local leisure guide so it was only $60 for 10 weeks, which is awesome – and we’re both so uncoordinated it’s totally hilarious :)
Hi Jennifer,
No – giving up shopping has definitely not been easy! lol
A camping weekend sounds nice! That will definitely get you relaxed and ready for the wedding, its a great idea!
Large bows could be quite pretty, I hadn’t thought of that. I think I might go for that look instead. I don’t flowers are really needed in the hall that we have, it’s quite decorative just in itself.
Hi there!
I totally understand what you mean about having to give up shopping for awhile and it hasn’t been easy! lol. We did the same things, cutting back on eating out, movies and extras that we really didn’t need. And you’re dead on about making sure you still make time for each other outside of wedding planning! My FH and I have planned a camping wknd away about a month before the wedding to relax, enjoy being together and the rule is no wedding talk! Regarding your flowers, I think it really depends on your ceremony location. We only bought bouquets as ours is an outdoor wedding in a beautiful garden so we decided the extra floral decor wasn’t needed. The other thing is depending on where you’re ceremony is you can use alternatives to flowers as well to decorate. For example, only use some floral pieces up at the front and then use large bows in your colour scheme up the aisle.