Phases of how I see money with planning (anyone else the same?)
I will try to explain this journey of seeing money in the planning leading up to the wedding. Leading with a caveat, I consider myself a very responsible spender, and we tried to balance in our expectations for a wedding in the U.S. today. Also, please be nice, this is my safe space.
Over the past year, I have seen a lot of online content for brides saying how money became less of a shell-shock sticker price, almost like it was not a big deal. (We all fall down WeddingTok right?) Lol. At first, I felt it was hard to relate to, like, how do you mean $2,000 becomes less in your mind?? Former scholarship kid here. But then, when I started to book and pay for so many vendors over months, and then it happened to me too...
Tonight I made a master master excel sheet of all parts of this process. Then, after adding up all of the odds and ends of the two-day affair (husbands' parents paid a lump sum, and my foster parents paid a lump sum for us to use), it was shocking to count how much we had already paid. It was all cleared from our accounts, and I am so grateful my husband tried to see if his extra shifts at his work could help offset the month after the wedding, and we had some savings, but OMG. $48,000.
I did so much DIY that the venue was annoyed with me for using Costco flowers and making my own arch, and it is still a lot! And I probably forgot some incidentals. Meaning these costs are for the entire trip, including driving in and renting a 2nd car, and a standard like the lower-end Hilton hotel for 6 days. Maybe we were a bit generous with gifts and help for family that could not afford to come without our help, so at least $2,000 of our airline miles too, but I know how much this wedding means to so many people. Does anyone else feel mixed though?