You. Yea. YOU. 

Put down the new copy of Brides. NOW. Right now. Right there, just set it down. That’s it……

Now…

Log out of your Pinterest account, that’s right…allll the way out. 

Good.

It has recently come to my attention, that you are trying to plan a wedding, but that you have not discussed the B word. 

Girl. You cray. 

The B word is absolutely, positively the FIRST thing that must be discussed once that shiny sparkle is slipped on that left hand ring finger. I mean, go ahead and call your parents and your besties, and by all means post that ring selfie on Insta (#engaged). But then, I’m going to make you really uncomfortable for a minute…because it’s time. Time to just lay it all out on the line…that’s right…it’s time to talk about your BUDGET. 

That nasty little B word. I’m not a fan of it anymore than you are, believe me. Given an unlimited budget do ya’ll realize the wedding I could pull off…anyway…before we go down that rabbit hole…let’s get back to the point. 

Pour a mimosa, make a nice breakfast, and pick up the phone. Have the difficult conversation with both sets of parents (if they will be contributing), and hash things out with the hubs-to-be. Just rip the bandaid off and write that magic number down. What I do with all my clients is flesh out a preliminary budget based on that big (or medium, or small- doesn’t matter) number, knowing ALL THE WHILE, that we’ve got FLEXIBILITY within the safety of that number.

Want to spend a little more for that dream venue? Awesome, but lets cut out the party bus, favors (no one needs another can coozie- trust me), and maybe go with 8 hours of photog coverage instead of 10.

Want to splurge on those garden roses for your December wedding? Let’s do it! But let’s keep them in your bouquet only, and make the bouquets for your bridesmaids coordinate beautifully.

Want those amazing rustic mismatched wooden chairs at your rustic farmhouse wood tables that you’re using as the head table? You got it, but let’s go with the white chairs that are 1/4 the price at the guest tables that will be standard rounds covered in a white linen, gotta stay within that number ya know. 

Now…here’s the one tricky part…in this Minnesota market…setting your budget is often dependent upon your venue. So while setting your budget should be step one…venue selection should really be step 1.5. This will give you much better guidelines when making selections later down the line so that your B word stays HAPPY. 

I know it’s icky and uncomfortable and not the sparkly, champagne bubbly, joy filled conversation you’ve been dreaming of, and I KNOOOWWW it isn’t easy to approach the soon-be-in-laws, but you have to. You can pin a billion pretty images on Pinterest, but I can’t help you make them happen without knowing the digits. I can help you stay within that safe, warm, glowy, everyone’s happy limit and still get you the wedding you imagined- but you have to be comfortable talking about the B word. Got it? 

Now…

Call your mama. 

Proceed with turning the pages of that magazine.

Cheers! 

XOXO, Amber