apracticalwedding.com

Unlike the stereotype, the biggest thing in my mind wasn’t the party, or the flowers, or the dress; I always wanted to know what the face of my groom looked like. Years later when we bought the ring together, the stress of the perfect wedding began, and I immediately grew concerned about the details: the party, the flowers, and the dress. And all for the price of $800 or less (leaving $200 for alterations within the $1000 dress budget). I began to look forward to other aspects of the wedding: the mad crazy dancing, the great food, and spending the rest of my life with someone who would always tell me I was beautiful no matter what dress I wore.

this party isn’t a wedding and isn’t going to feel as special as one. But this party is not a wedding, and that “two people committing themselves for a lifetime” magic won’t be there. That’s particularly nice, given that some of his people couldn’t make it to California for the wedding, and hosting (well, anything) at a chateau in France is magical. What makes it special and meaningful is that you are blessed with fifty people who want to celebrate your love so much that they’re coming to your first anniversary party.

And you know what people don’t seem to want to talk about much after you get married? My hormones made a sharp left after I gave birth, and haven’t quite corrected yet, so while we’re having sex (and pretty good sex at that), most days my body is aggressively trying to not make another baby. And of course, if you want to leave an anonymous comment, don’t forget to make sure both your name and your email address are anonymous (this goes double for Gravatar users, because the photo links to your email address). If you’re already logged into Disqus, you’ll need to logout: And then fill out the signup box using fake/anonymous credentials and make sure you click on the “I’d rather post as a guest” box.

We knew that the wedding needed to be in California (we are originally from Chicago and New York), since many of our family members had never seen the beauty of the mountains and palm trees that we see everyday. Lastly, because our celebration would bring in so many out of town guests, we knew we’d want some extra time to celebrate the following day under the desert heat and in a pool with our family. I loved it, but I kind of wish I had budgeted less and got a lightweight party dress. I’m not sure that everyone does that, but we wanted the full picture of what all things associated with the wedding would cost, including flights for our bridal shower/bachelorette/bachelor party back home in Chicago and driving family around Los Angeles and to the airport the week after our wedding.