I was thinking about this the other day and I have actually forgot how many Weddings I have been part of. I remember my first wedding it was 1982 and I was almost 6 years old I wore a white eyelet dress that my mom made and it was a great twirling dress. This wedding was 29 years ago but I remember almost every detail of the wedding. The next wedding I was part of was my Sisters and I again was a flower girl and the dress was amethyst which is still my favorite color. I think what I remember most about Leah's wedding was all the work my mom and Leah and many of my moms friends and relatives put into the wedding, it was beautiful and a very special day.
I then worked my way through candle lighter, junior bridesmaid, then to bridesmaid and finally to maid of honor. I actually can somewhat relate to the movie 27 dresses, I believe my count ended between 12 and 15 weddings, but I then went into planning, doing flowers and then catering I have flown cross country to help make a day special and I have worked for weeks on end to help make it the greatest day of the couples life.
I am a sap and I cry at the special ones and I love to see the pure love that the couple is feeling on that special day. There are so many things that can go wrong, I don't think I have ever been part of a wedding that did not have some issue that we have had to make work. I truly have a fear of wedding cake I have ended up having to make sure that that there was a cake whether the baker forgot the cake or they did not support it right there is almost always something to stress about on a cake.
I move into food several years back, when I am in the kitchen I know what it is suppose to be like and I desire no matter how big or small that the food be amazing I want all the flavors to be perfect, honestly my biggest fear is that my food would be like other wedding food.
I believe that you can have a amazing wedding on a budget and that there are places to cut corners I also hate what the TV is teaching young brides about having to have dresses that cost thousands of dollars and that you just go into debt for a wedding.
What are we teaching out young couples? If you spend $50,000 dollars or more on your wedding how long will they be paying it off? I believe that we should be teaching them to pay cash for the wedding and save money so that they can buy a house or pay off their student loans.
I love to get a great deal for everything and I have never paid full price for anything, yes this means that sometimes I may have to settle for something that is close but not exact but at the end of the day what does it matter. I tell every young girl I meet to think about what they want even if they are not in a relationship because then when they do get to that special time they know what they are looking for.
I also tell brides to be mindful of your wedding party as most of their friends are on very tight budgets and it is not fair to expect them to pay $150-200 for a dress and $50 for shoes $100 for hair and make-up and then expect them to travel and bring a gift to each of your showers so remember they are your friends and you should do things that keep them your friends after the wedding.
Another thing that I tell a young bride it to really think about the people that you choose to have in your wedding, pick family and lifelong friends, but do not feel obligated to have every friend you have. There are plenty of jobs that you can assign to these friends.
My final tip is to take the advise of those who have gone before you, I know you will feel overwhelmed by all the advise but at least listen and catalog it so that you can avoid some painful issue that can arise.
