playing with numbers.

as i've said again and again, i'm in LOVE with our venues. however, one mistake that i've made during wedding planning is that you shouldn't do ANYTHING until you have your guest list firmly in place.

we reserved patten chapel super early, because we knew that was exactly what we wanted and it was big enough to fit any size guest list. however, seating for a reception is a bit trickier. while our reception venue, the fairyland club, CAN hold the amount of people on our guest list, it may be standing room only if our guest list stays the size it is. it's so hard to make cuts when you want to share your day with so many people, but it is a necessary evil.

so, if i could give any advice to someone getting ready to plan, it would be to figure out your guest list first before you do anything else! while the idea of having a simple affair with family and close friends only is lovely, the size of families and defining who is a "close" friend can be more difficult than expected. additionally, the quickest way to cut your wedding costs down is to cut down your guest list. fewer guests means fewer food, fewer linens, fewer decorations, fewer favors, etc. however, the economic reality vs. the emotional toll can be rough. i've had a hard time thinking of hurting people's feelings by not getting an invite. but it would be harder on me to take out a loan to pay for 50 extra guests! this is where the budget crunch gets hard, but i, personally, would rather have my dream wedding with fewer guests than a bare bones event with more guests... because i really don't want my husband's third grade bff's "plus one" for the evening showing up in all my wedding pictures... can you imagine looking through your wedding album and seeing some floozy with big hair, too much makeup, and a too short dress in half your pictures? and then, to think, you paid for her dinner... get real!

luckily, tyler and i are good at compromising and we have already worked through a lot of guest list difficulties. we're still going to have a large wedding, mainly because we both have big families, but it's still going to be elegant, intimate, and fun... with no strangers. because, after all, STRANGE is the root word of stranger.

fin.