It's OK if...

Today, I'm going to be writing a post that I hope will make you feel better if you're struggling to cut costs, because there have been times that I've felt that way!

Reading about budget weddings can be one of two things, and occasionally, both. It can be really helpful in planning your own wedding and learning where to cut costs, or it can be really depressing for one reason or another. Sometimes, you can have mixed emotions about the blogs, tumblr sites, pinterest boards, etc. I know. I've been there. In fact, I just finished looking over one lovely wedding page that made me want to cry. It was a beautiful wedding, with an adorable couple who even managed to keep their wedding eco-friendly as well as low budget! I'm not sure about the details, but I know I walked away from that feeling mostly let down about my own wedding. Here's why:

1- The bride bought her dress for 25 cents at a thrift store. A freakin' quarter. No joke. And yeah, it was adorable.

2- They got married outside. I sooo badly wanted an outdoor ceremony! (Catholic church doesn't allow it. I know. Weird.)

3- Their photographer was still amazing.

4- They had a beautiful reception.

Now, my wedding is still about 3.5 months away, so I could easily have great pictures and a lovely reception, but I'm spending more than them, so I darn well hope so! But more often than not, when I'm reading about budget weddings, I see things that make me so mad. Things that make me say, "Some people have ALL the luck!" Like the fact that this girl got her dress for a quarter! I would've been JAZZED to get mine under $200, but that wasn't to be. So anyway, I was feeling bummed out, because in my wedding planning, I've had no such luck. I picked a terrible time to get married- all my bridesmaids will be in school (one in MED school!) or working, so my help is limited. My mom is a great help, but it's basically just the two of us. We can DIY some things, but not EVERYTHING. Anyway, I started thinking and here's what I came up with.

First, when you're planning a wedding, you need to be happy with your choices and your ideas. If you try to please everyone, or certain people, etc, you won't be happy, and it won't matter if you spent $100 or $1 million.
Second, you need to be realistic about what you and the people offering to help you can actually do. If you have 40 friends or neighbors offering to help, you can get a heck of a lot done on your own. If it's just you... do what you can, but take time to relax. I think it's okay to spend a little more money on an area you can't realistically do on your own, for whatever reason.
Third, keep the focus on the reasons for the wedding. Always.
Fourth, take time off wedding stuff.
And fifth, don't spend too much time getting all bent out of shape over how someone spent less or someone got this or that.

Simply put- a wedding is a big deal. But it doesn't have to wear on your soul. Let go of the little things, and when the actual day gets here, make sure you get around to enjoying the momentous occasion!