I haven’t posted in a while. Things have been…rough. Though, things are okay. Actually they are totally okay it’s just that life has a funny way of being inconvenient. That being said I just wanted to drop a quick update so that I didn’t leave you all hanging in the dark for too long. A few things:

• After my last post about budget woes we happened upon a minor financial windfall (not big enough to leave all my anxiety behind but enough to keep the panic attacks at bay).

• Fun Fact – We’re getting married on the 56th Anniversary of Doc Brown’s discovery of time travel!

"Marty! We've Got To Go Back!

• Multiple friends have offered fun ways to incorporate Back to the Future references during the reception. My favorite thus far is that at the end of the night someone grabs the mic and says “Hey! Why don’t you make like a tree…and get outta here”
• I’ve somehow succumbed to the fact that there will be light sabers at our wedding.
• This Saturday we’re hosting a Craft-o-Thon at our apartment (we have conned most of the bridal party with food and booze)
• I’m excited about giving Katie’s Napkin Flowers a try
• I’ll have a much better update for you next week

Until then, have a lovely weekend!

The first thing that we started looking into (pre-engagement ring hunting) was the perfect venue. Traditional catering halls just don’t do it for us. We weren’t completely certain as to what we wanted, we just knew that we wanted it to be different. I believe I may have spent the better part of an entire weekend tunneling through the internet. Continuously clicking my mouse as I viewed and scrutinized every raw event space website in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn. Why a raw space you ask – well, because I thought that perhaps it would be a touch cheaper.  Boy was I incorrect.

Now don’t get me wrong, a blank slate of a space is a fantastic concept if you have the means to set it up inexpensively, but after I reviewed the cost of the space (most of which fell into the $7k – $11k range!) then factor in food, beverage, tables, linens, staff, etc. – I discovered that I would have a minimum of a $25k wedding on our hands and that just does not seem reasonable.

I decided to take a step back for a few days and brainstorm with Japh about the best course of action. I have a tendency of being a little neurotic when it comes to planning (neurotic in the nicest sense. It’s quaint to have check-lists and to basically give yourself an anxiety attack while you rack your brain to make sure that you’ve covered every last detail, right?). Due to this condition I just could not stay away from continuing to seek out the most fabulous and budget friendly venue in NYC.

Then one day in January I came across an interesting filter on The Knot; an option to select only “unusual / alternative” venues. I chose “Manhattan” and a short list appeared on my screen. The first one I noticed was called “Housing Works Bookstore Café”, I was already in love. Japh and I have a bit of a familiarity with the Housing Works charity; we stumbled across one of their thrift shops during a day-date in the summer of 2010. It’s a wonderful organization and their mission is something that we certainly get behind:

Housing Works is a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts.

Outside of the fact that all the proceeds for the wedding will go towards the charity, the space is a bookstore! I’m a big reader and collector of first editions—Japh is also incredibly well read and has been working for a bookstore for a number of years now.  And the pictures of the space…

(Source: Housing Works)

So yea, this is our venue. It’s the first one we took the time to check out physically and it’s just damn near perfect! Also, the price-point suits our budget. Here’s a quick breakdown for a minimum of 60 guests:

• Space Rental (2-hours for prep & 4-hours for ceremony & reception): $2,680.00
• Equipment Rental (tables, linens, flatware, etc,): $1,080.00
• Cocktail Hour Hors d’œuvre: $603.00
• Open Wine & Beer Bar (3.5-hours): $1,935.00
• Organic / Locally Grown Buffet Dinner: $1,350.00
• Cupcakes (assorted): $360.00
• Staff (3-chefs, 1-floor captain, 2-bartenders & 3-servers): $1,799.00

Tentative total for 60 guests = $9,807.00. Everyone after 60 will cost $115.00 person. We’re thinking that we’ll probably fall into about the 65 guest category, so our final invoice will probably be closer to $10,382.00. Yes, that is an astounding amount of money and just about 70% of our total budget BUT it’s all inclusive which means we don’t have to worry about an outside caterer or staffing or table rentals. We already have some great DIY projects for the centerpieces, bouquets, photobooth and stationery which will (hopefully) be at minimal costs. Fingers cross that we can do the rest for under $4k!

Hey there BSB readers! My name is Michelle and my fiancé Japheth (for those that are curious it’s pronounced “Jay-Fifth”) and I hail out of Astoria, Queens NY. I’m seriously looking forward to sharing my pre-wedding projects, experiences and potential mishaps with you over the course of the next 6(ish) months.

Japh & I, Dec. 2010

How We Met (the abridged version)

Japh and I met by way of OkCupid.com (yep, that’s right—we’re an internet dating cliché) in November of 2009. He sent me a playful smart aleck message and I was slightly put-off but then I started perusing his profile and there was a photo of him dressed as Cyclops from The X-Men for Halloween and I thought to myself “Well now I HAVE to go out with this guy” (no seriously, I really love The X-Men). Email banter manifested itself to instant messaging which then turned into long text messaging sessions throughout our respective workdays.  All was fantastic with the exception that he lived about 80 miles away in a small town in Northern New Jersey. To be honest, at the time even though I found Japh to be completely perfect for me I just didn’t see how we were going to work around the distance. Our first date lasted 8+ hours. By date three Japh wanted to “put this on lock” and asked me to be his girlfriend and the rest is well…moving along quite nicely.

Sometimes it's the little things that make you love a person

The Proposal

After dating long distance and basically having a “weekend” relationship for 10 months, Japh’s car died. Instead of throwing money into a new car we decided that it was time to see if we could make this relationship work on a full-time basis (having him living in NYC meant there was no need for a vehicle). He moved into my place in October of 2010. Fast forward about 3-months and we find ourselves lying in bed talking about future plans and it just sort of happened organically—we love each other and it just seemed like the natural thing to do. There was no ring or formal “will you marry me” that night, just an overwhelming feeling of wonder and trust.

The Wedding Budget

I’m a numbers gal who loves equations and all things math related. After a bit of calculating I figured that the cheapest and chicest way for us to throw the type of celebration that we wanted without depleting our bank account would be to go the DIY route. Both of us are big on up-cycling so I feel that we have a bit of an edge when it comes to making things. Also, our family and friends are crafty (which translates to lots and lots of appreciated costless labor!).

Our overall objective is to have a NYC wedding on November 5^th, 2011 for >$15k with 65 of our nearest and dearests. After conducting a bit of initial research, this proved a risky goal due to the fact that living in one of the most expensive cities means that on top of the ridiculous costs of wedding related items that lovely NYC price tag is attached as well. There have been a few bumps in the road but thus far we’re doing well and keeping on the straight and narrow budget-wise.

To reiterate, I’m stoked to be sharing this life altering experience with you all and hope that the challenges that we face will be both helpful and humorous.

Hello everyone!

I cannot believe this is real! My name is Katie, and I am absolutely ecstatic to share my crazy, upside-down, and fantastic wedding plans with The Budget Savvy Bride. I’ve been obsessively following this blog for almost a year, and it’s such an honor to be able to contribute to it! My fiance and I are planning an October wedding for 175 guests with a budget of $15,000. We’re going for classic and simple and traditional and wonderful and slightly 1950s-esque and vintagey. I am overwhelmingly excited!

Here I am with my fiance, Justin!

We’re from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’m currently teaching high school English and he just graduated with a degree in Athletic Training. We met in high school (aww), and, although we didn’t date then (he’s a year younger than me and I was faaaaaaaaar too cool to date a junior when I was a senior; duh), it did not take him long to win me over.

We started dating shortly after and we’ve been inseparable ever since (I mean hello please just look at how cute he is)!

Soooo last summer we took an extraordinary trip to Washington DC. I’m the biggest history/government dork and one of our best best friends lives there, so it was the perfect place to spend a few days together. We roadtripped it, which was tremendous, and I absolutely loved every single second of bopping around our nation’s capital.

Our second day there fell on Justin’s birthday. After the best day of perusing through museums and sightseeing all over the city, we made it downtown to see the monuments at nighttime (can I promote going to DC here? PLEASE go to DC! It’s BEAUTIFUL!). Stunning is an understatement; they were perfect. EVERYTHING was perfect, and at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (also perfect), Justin got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. OBVIOUSLY I said yes, and we got an astounding round of applause from everyone visiting the memorial! Oh I cannot even tell you how flawless it was.

Oh heyyy. Here we are at the capital! (not engagement day, but close enough)

So I think that’s that. We have a little over 5 months until the wedding, and I have never been more excited for anything in my life. Justin is quirky, goofy, spontaneous, logical, thoughtful, compassionate, caring, loving, funny, intelligent, and always always always puts others before himself. I am, hands down, the luckiest girl in the entire world. I’m so excited to keep rocking out our wedding planning and I’m even more excited to have the opportunity to share it all with you. Thank you too much for letting me! Have the best day!

XO,

What was your budget?

$15,000- here’s the breakdown:

Church/Organist – $150
Reception Hall – $1,000
Catering – $5,500
Alcohol – $1,000
Photography – $2,000
Music – $1,200
Stationary – $750
Attire – $1,000
Planner – $1,000
Linens – $400

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

We chose to get married in my family’s small church near the beach, it is so old, small and quaint that it didn’t need much decorating it was just wonderful to know that my family sat there every Sunday and we had exchanged our vows there. For our reception we thought outside of the box. We wanted a beautiful location at the beach but didn’t have much money. Our location doesn’t advertise a lot and the ballroom was small so it was a steal and very unique. We had our cocktail hour in the lobby and made our entrances down the large marble steps so we could join our guests.

Each couple in our bridal party had their own song and loved the attention. Once it was our turn we descended the stairs, popped a few bottles and filled our champagne tower. After mingling for a while our guests were asked to go upstairs to the ballroom. We were re-introduced to another song and danced our first dance to Elvis “Can’t help falling in love.”