Martha Stewart Weddings Makes Me Want to Blog

I just got off the phone with my mom who is absolutely thrilled that I will be in Chicago next week. I asked her to make a list of the things she wants/needs me to do while I'm at home and she goes "oooooo, I really want to go to that bridal shop and look at dresses!" She's like, super stoked about the whole thing. Which got me thinking how I haven't really done a "wedding" post. So voila.

The first thing one should do when planning a wedding is pick a budget. Matt and I discussed how much we felt comfortable spending before I approached my mom to see what she wants to contribute. Here's how that convo went:

Me: Mom, before we can really do anything, we need to know our budget.
Mom: What's a budget?
Me: You're cute mom. Seriously though, I need to know.
Mom: You don't have a budget.
Me: A budget is important
Mom: You're crazy. You know your mom has expensive taste. So tell me what you need to make it look amazing.

Helpful, right? While it could be fun to pretend like my wedding is an episode of "My Super Sweet Sixteen", I really couldn't pull it off. So I have a mental idea of what I want to spend and will have a lovely time discussing this with mom next week.

I spent the majority of the summer looking at the billion possible venues where I could see myself getting married. Major criteria: 1) Ceremony and reception in one location. The wedding can be outside and the reception inside, but I really want to keep it all together. 2) I really want my ceremony outside. While my mother is still trying to get over the fact that I won't get married inside a church, I've always pictured myself outside. So that's that. 3) Must have amazing photo ops. That makes sense for obvious reasons. 4) Has to be somewhere where we can stay late. And by late, I mean like...11ish. Which you would think is easy, but places have a ton of restrictions that might make it difficult. So after searching and searching I think I have 5 places that fit the criteria. I made Matt create a series of spreadsheets (because excel is a beautiful thing) with costs based on number of guests, what each venue includes, pros/cons, etc. Matt and I are going to start visiting them next month and then pick...*fingers crossed* that I absolutely fall in love with one of them.

I have a mental idea of what I want my dress to look like. I've found a bunch of pics that I love, but each one has 1 tiny thing I want to change. Part of me thinks that I'll have to tweak whatever dress I pick, but I am so thrilled to start trying them on. Look forward to the "omg, I hate wedding dress shopping - I feel like a cow and I look crappy in white" post that I'm sure will show up in the next few months.

I have a bunch of ideas and visions about what I want(flowers, colors, favors, etc.) There's only one thing that we're dead set on, but everything else is up in the air. All the wedding mags and tabbed like crazy. I'm starting to freak out with the enormity of the whole thing, but I think I can handle it...right?