Weddingbee Blog

Since I’ve come clean with my issue of patience, I’m sure this next confession will hardly come as a surprise… I started planning out details of the wedding (only in my head, I swear!) before I was formally engaged. (I certainly can’t be alone in this, right?) From the very beginning, for whatever reason, there was NO question in my mind about where I wanted to get married. I attended a small public school in Williamsburg, Virginia, and my experiences and memories there stuck with me. Besides the historical aspect, there really isn’t much going on in the ‘burg; however, what it lacks in entertainment, Williamsburg makes up for in beauty. Quiet, quaint, and picturesque are all words that accurately describe the ‘burg. And although these things perhaps aren’t the perfect ingredients for a party school, they certainly do make up the recipe of my ideal wedding locale.

Photo by Holland Photo Arts

Since I had already planned this aspect out, I was ready to go email-guns blazing once we were engaged. They did make us wait it out on the waiting list for a couple weeks, but luckily, due to my fast moving and pre-planning (see it was helpful!), we were able to have the date and time of our choice! Naturally (and to Mr. Hawk’s dismay) when I received the email confirmation, I immediately started jumping around the house doing some really uncool happy dance moves and grabbed a bottle of champagne to be popped. We had a ceremony spot!

After I had successfully locked in our ceremony location, I was ready to move forward by securing our reception spot. I knew we had limited options having our wedding in a small town like the ‘burg, but I really wasn’t concerned. I figured the perfect reception location would be none other than the W&M Alumni House! It is, like many on-campus buildings, a beautiful, historic brick building (and, even better, it’s located just a few steps away from Wren Chapel). It houses a great spiral staircase and gorgeous ballroom, none of which really mattered since I envisioned the reception outside on the all-brick patio and grass park attached to the building. We were going to have a large white tent with tons of pastel Chinese lanterns. (Romantic, right?)

Image via Taylor Rental & Party Plus

See, when Mr. Hawk and I developed our wedding budget, it seemed like a BIG number. We were right on par with the cost of the “average American wedding,” and the weddings I’d seen on Style Me Pretty and The Knot were pretty grand affairs. Then I got my reality check. When meeting with our DJ/master of ceremonies/DOC/Superwoman, I told her my vision, and naturally she asked about our budget. Her reaction was not quite what I had expected. She thought my vision was “lovely,” but was I willing to shell out a QUARTER of my entire budget on the reception space? Then Mr. Hawk chimed in. “Yeah, I didn’t understand why we’d pay thousands to rent the building just to have the reception outside in a tent.”

UGH! I was crushed. The word “traitor” might have crossed my mind. Didn’t they see it? This was my DREAM! My VISION!

Well after getting over their mutual squashing of my dreams, I started to see the light. It really didn’t make sense to spend so much money on the reception space. I started to realize all of the things we’d have to cut out with such a large portion of our budget gone. (I mean, it wouldn’t be much of a party if we couldn’t afford to feed anyone…ANYTHING.) Our big budget started to look a little smaller and I had to readjust my expectations.

I actually lucked out in that my fiance is pretty level headed and no-nonsense. He doesn’t get lost in unrealistic visions of grandeur like his daydreaming bride-to-be. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time Mr. Hawk has to bring me back down from the clouds.

During the planning process was there a time you were hit with sticker shock? Did you ever have to readjust your expectations to stay within your budget constraints?