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Mrs. Hummingbird's Picture
Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist Engagement Date: May 4, 2007 Wedding Date: June 28, 2008 Blogging Since: September 18, 2007 Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property. About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
About Mrs. Hummingbird

Dollars and Sense

October 30th, 2007 @ 11:03 am by Mrs. Hummingbird

In light of my last post, I figured I’d write kind of a how-to follow up for people who maybe haven’t had the big money talk with their families yet. It can be a really hard thing to talk about, especially because there’s kind of this general idea floating around that the love and happiness of your big day shouldn’t be tainted with talk of dollars and cents, but really, when it comes down to it, the bottom line can be a really big deal and one of the first things you should deal with when planning so that it doesn’t cost you a huge amount of grief later.

So my tips for “The Talk”.

1. Be united – Before you go in to talking to either set of parents, talk things out with your partner to make sure you’re on the same page. Work out the things you might need help with and then, when you go into the talk, have the person whose parents you are talking to take the lead in terms of navigating the conversation. There is nothing more awkward or unfair than forcing your honey to hit up your parents for cash.

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Mrs. Hummingbird's Picture
Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist Engagement Date: May 4, 2007 Wedding Date: June 28, 2008 Blogging Since: September 18, 2007 Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property. About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
About Mrs. Hummingbird

Money Talks

October 29th, 2007 @ 5:16 pm by Mrs. Hummingbird

It’s funny how a little bit of time can change things. When I originally wrote my post about my parents and my financial situation surrounding our wedding, it was not too long after we’d gotten engaged and I think my parents, even though they were happy for Mr. Hummingbird and myself, were kind of weirded out about the idea of me, their only child, getting married.

After we made our announcement, as if it was almost a reflex, the first words out of my mother’s mouth were “We’re not paying for it,” even though I hadn’t expected or asked my parents to. I’m not sure exactly which emotion motivated the reaction. Maybe it was surprise at our big news. Maybe it was confusion because I once announced as a teenager that I would never get married. Maybe it was fear after seeing the increasingly elaborate and expensive wedding plans being staged by her friend’s daughter. I don’t know. All I knew was I made my announcement, my mom said no and I immediately figured that was the end of it.

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Mrs. Hummingbird's Picture
Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist Engagement Date: May 4, 2007 Wedding Date: June 28, 2008 Blogging Since: September 18, 2007 Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property. About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
About Mrs. Hummingbird

As I mentioned in my previous entry, as much as I wish it were not the case, money is a concern for us as we plan our big day.

From the minute we got engaged, I was told by my parents that they would not be contributing financially in any way to help us pay for our big day. My mother thinks that long engagements are ridiculous and both my parents feel that it is a big waste of money on what “essentially boils down to a big party.” This reaction did not surprise me since I have always known my parents to have very set ideas about money, especially due to the three years of financial hardship we faced when my father was unexpectedly laid off from his job. When he became re-employed, he not only ended up having to take a pay cut (his senior management salary was considered too much) but we ended up moving into a smaller house and a precedent was set - every man for himself.
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Mrs. Apple's Picture
Mrs. Apple, Dallas Age and Occupation in '07: 28, Entrepreneur Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Police Officer Engagement Date: Easter Day 2006 Wedding Date: May 27, 2007 Blogging Since: September 28, 2006 Venue: Marie Gabrielle Restaurant & Gardens About Me: I'm in the midst of trying to plan a "perfectly beautiful" wedding and decorating my new home. It's been exhausting but totally worth every minute of it. Ironically, I was never the type of person to want to get married but now that I'm engaged, I get giddy over anything that is wedding related! I'll try my best to give you all unique and practical ideas.
About Mrs. Apple

Budgeting As A Married Couple

October 24th, 2007 @ 3:36 pm by Mrs. Apple

Now that Mr. Apple and I are hitched, we’re really trying to budget as a married couple. Budgeting was easier when I was single since I knew what I was bringing in and what items I was spending on. But now that we’re married, everything doubles up - the food expense, the traveling expense, the income (yeah!). We have our own separate accounts, and we also have a joint account, a shared credit card, our personal debt, and future investments. Though we think we have a good handle on our current financial situation, it wouldn’t hurt to narrow it down to exact figures. Every penny does count!

Anyone have any good suggestions on software for MACs and Windows?

I think this would be great information for those brides who are still in the engagement stage as well. You can get started now and it will be an easier transition when you do get married. :)

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Mrs. Violet's Picture
Mrs. Violet, New York Age and Occupation: 27, Executive Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Computer Engineer Engagement Date: May 13, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2007 Venue: Westbury Manor About Me: We've been dating since college. In our spare time we enjoy the city life, playing with our dog "Sam", eating our hearts out, and traveling. I also love to DIY. Check out my crafty creations at http://www.waisze.etsy.com.
About Mrs. Violet

Money Talks…

October 23rd, 2007 @ 1:49 pm by Mrs. Violet

We had quite a busy weekend. Birthday celebrations, a karate tournament, apartment chores and errands.. but most importantly, the one thing we did accomplish this weekend was planning our financial future together.

I think I’m a dreamer. I live thinking that as long as I’m making some kind of money, I’ll be fine as long as I designate my husband to handle all the finances. I hate financial talk. I’m seriously not a numbers person and even when my financial friends talk about money, they start losing my focus after about a minute. However, a dreamer still needs to eat and live.

On the flip side, I am also realistic. I worry a lot. I worry that we won’t have enough money left to do what we want (travel, buy a home, eventually have children). I realized this weekend (it only took 8 years) that I can’t just leave it up to my husband, because he can’t do it all. Just like I couldn’t plan our wedding entirely by myself (although I tried really hard to), this is a team effort. I need to get involved and work out a plan.

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Mrs. Penguin's Picture
Mrs. Penguin, Sacramento Age and Occupation: 26, Video & TV Producer/Director/Editor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Doctor of Physical Therapy Engagement Date: January 29, 2007 Wedding Date: June 7, 2008 Blogging Since: September 14, 2007 Venue: Winery in the Gold Country About Me: I'm a silly mess of a girl who, above all else in this world, LOVES the Spice Girls. I eat sushi at least 3 times a week, and feel guilty about how much it costs the other 4 days a week. I love designer jeans and cheap accessories. I don't like sweets, but I love the UCLA Bruins!
About Mrs. Penguin

What’s Mine Is Yours

October 11th, 2007 @ 11:32 am by Mrs. Penguin

Money. The most dreaded topic.

What to do with our finances after we officially become Mr. and Mrs.? I’m an independent contractor, meaning that I don’t get a regular paycheck, but work job to job. So for tax purposes, I keep close tabs on my business expenses, and have 2 separate bank accounts, one business and one personal. I only transfer money into my personal account to cover my minimum personal expenses, and leave the majority “pool” of money I have in my business account. Long story short, a joint checking account would be really unfair to Mr. Penguin, because he would deposit ALL the money he makes into the account, while I would deposit a minimum amount to cover my personal credit card.

Lately, not having combined accounts has really gotten on my nerves. Now that we cohabitate, I’m sick of deciding who pays for groceries, who pays for dinner, who pays for plants, furniture, ANYTHING. It’s not even a “50/50″ thing, because neither of us care about who’s paying more or less, its more of deciding who has more money on hand at that particular moment. And after 2 years, it’s getting exhausting.

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Mrs. Kiwi's Picture
Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA Engagement Date: March 31, 2006 Wedding Date: November 3, 2007 Venue: Radisson Hotel About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
About Mrs. Kiwi

Money Help

September 28th, 2007 @ 1:25 pm by Mrs. Kiwi

I’ve been reminding (ahem, nagging) Mr. Kiwi to get his suit. With 36 days to go, we kind of need to get going on that. I wasn’t worried about my dad’s suit- he’s pretty easy to size off the rack. Mr. Kiwi, on the other hand, is a XXXL size, and about 6’2″, with thighs (muscular) the size of hams. I call them his “foghorn leghorns”, in reference to the Looney Toons character.

z111218

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Mrs. Peony's Picture
Mrs. Peony, New York Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer Engagement Date: June 28, 2007 Wedding Date: April 18, 2008 Venue: The Fountainhead Blogging Since: August 7, 2007 About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
About Mrs. Peony

No More Honeymoon

August 24th, 2007 @ 2:13 pm by Mrs. Peony

Last night I had a dream that Mr. Peony and I were on our honeymoon and having the time of our lives. When I woke up, I couldn’t help but be sad…..because we had just recently decided that we will not be going on a honeymoon.

When I first started budgeting for our wedding, I was taking national averages of vendor costs. It never occurred to me that a New York wedding would cost so much more. Some of the things we’re doing, such as the charter bus to and from the reception, are not necessary but I really want it as a courtesy to our many guests who are arriving from all over the world.

In addition, Mr. Peony and I just signed a contract for a condo! I honestly did not think we would find something we both love this fast. The rest of the nation may be in a real estate recession, but the NYC area is still red-hot. We knew that if we didn’t grab it, we wouldn’t be able to find anything comparable for a long time.

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Reader Buzz About: Let us know what you think by leaving a comment...
About Reader Buzz

Reader Buzz: Budget Overages

July 12th, 2007 @ 7:53 pm by Reader Buzz

Commenter Red had a good point about how most brides exceeded their initial budgets in our Real Reader Budgets post earlier today.  So we’d like to know how much your budget has changed from your initial estimate, to what it is now (mid or post planning).

How close did you stick to your original budget estimate?


View Results

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Mrs. Kiwi's Picture
Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA Engagement Date: March 31, 2006 Wedding Date: November 3, 2007 Venue: Radisson Hotel About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
About Mrs. Kiwi

My Money? His Money?

July 11th, 2007 @ 7:23 pm by Mrs. Kiwi

z986743

Yesterday I accompanied Mr. Kiwi to the bank, for the reason of it being air-conditioned and banky-smelling. I have a weird love for the smells of places: banks, bookstores, laundromats. Anyway, after he made his deposit, we started walking out, and I asked him when he’d like to open our joint accounts.

All along, we figured we’d have a joint checking and savings. As of right now, I have a checking and savings account, and my IRA account. Mr. Kiwi also has a checking and savings account, as well as a credit union designed for teachers. If we were to also open at least one joint checking, we’d have a combined total of 7 accounts. That’s just crazy, right?

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