Words of Wisdom from 2000 Dollar Wedding:

Dearest Bride-to-Be:

The 12-18 months of wedding planning will pass in a matter of hours or days. When it’s all said and done, the photos will be the primary artifact remaining.

My wish for you—when you look back at those photos—is for you to think:

Look at how relaxed I was. Fully present in the moment. Basking in it. Soaking it in. I was not saturated in stress.

My shoes and dress were comfortable enough for dancing. My beauty radiated out of me; it was not applied to me.

I got to spend quality time with my friends and family. I was myself, not a show. In fact, I was my fullest expression of self.

I do not remember whether the invitations were letterpress or whether the flowers at the ceremony were the same ones at the reception.

The wedding favors or the fanciness of the food did not make memories. The sincerity did. The connection did. The time together did.

It did not matter whether every last detail conformed to the signature colors. Instead of saying, “What a beautiful bouquet,” the guests said, “What a beautiful love.”

This is my wish to you, dear brides, as you pore over wedding magazines and read daily blogs. Some of it matters. Most of it does not. Casting your net in the wrong direction will most surely mean you miss the things you most dearly want to catch.

May your wedding be just one sincere, authentic, happiest day in a long line of many.

This is my wish to you.

All my best,

Sara - 2000 Dollar Budget Wedding

MIA Bride-To-Be

I've had bronchitis and have been miserable for about a week. I will post pics of the ceremony/reception location as soon as I can get out there and take them. Hopefully in the next week.

~ sarah

Sexy, AFFORDABLE, Shoes?!

Mr. H's sister sent me a link on Facebook to these shoes...
Aren't they cute?!

4" Stiletto Pump with Lace Trim - Sale: $27.75

I might just go ahead a buy them. I could always just buy a dress to wear with them if I don't end up wearing them in the wedding.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It seems like every day I get a chance to go take pictures of the reception hall, it's raining... maybe later this week.

In the meantime, we've been looking at cakes and found this one. I would rather have buttercream than fondant though because I heard it tastes better. I think we'd put red ribbons around the layers without the hearts and surrounded it with red rose petals on the table and I think it would look fabulous. I'm sure this will be the first of many cakes we like.

Mr. H has a huge sweet tooth so I know the cake tasting process will be a favorite event for him.

Ceremony & Reception Site!

We booked our ceremony & reception site! It's going to be at Cave Hollow Centre at the Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal. It cost only $50 to hold the date with the remaining $450 to be paid the week of the wedding, $150 of which will be refunded if there are no damages. We will have access to the property from 3:00 p.m. on Friday, the wedding will be on Saturday and we have to have it cleaned up by 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. So I think all that time and space for $350 is great! Plus there's a huge gazebo outside being built with built-in sound.

Pictures coming by the end of the week!!