How did you find ways to make your wedding affordable?
I am getting engaged this summer. I have dreamed about this time in my life almost obsessively since I was old enough to know what a bride was. I watched every episode of Say Yes to the Dress and Four Weddings, I repeatedly watched family wedding tapes, and I would regularly use wedding planning as a form of escapism during difficult times in my life. Recently, I’ve come to realize that my family doesn’t truly see me as a person worth really celebrating (which frankly is probably why I dreamed so much about my wedding day, because all I wanted was to feel loved and valued by my family and friends) and likely will not be contributing much, if anything. My partner and I don’t make a lot of money, we have just enough from each check to put about $100 in savings and maybe go out to eat once or twice. We don’t even have $10k saved that we could put towards a wedding. How do I plan a wedding that won’t feel like I’m sacrificing everything I dreamed? I really don’t want wedding planning to feel like I’m grieving the whole time. I guess in addition to budget tips, I would love to hear from some brides who also had very lofty dreams for their wedding that they were very attached to and found themselves in a very different situation and needing to change their expectations drastically.