I've had to make some tough choices these past few weeks. And there have been some drastic changes in my life forcing me to rethink how I prioritize weeding planning in relation to all my other responsibilities. One thing is for sure, I'm going to keep you all up to date on the wedding planning. I may have to look for some help to keep up with the crafts though.
Last year I had nothing but time. I was a third year law student, taking the least stressful classes imaginable and spending most of my free time designing our wedding. That plan was working so well until about three weeks ago when I started my new job. I won't go into particulars, I'll just say that politics is 24/7. So suffice to say when I found out I'd been hired, I had a sneaking suspicion that things were not going to be the same anymore.
Flash forward to today and now I spend the majority of my time checking my iPhone, in front of my computer, or at community meetings. I'm working 60 - 70 hour work weeks and it's non stop. Now don't get me wrong. I absolutely love my job. No question about it, this is hands down one of the best positions I could have asked for. But after my first week reality set in, and I started to realized that I didn't have time anymore to create designs or search for things online. I only had time to make things. That's it. Materials in hand, sit down in front of the couch before I go to bed, and start cutting things time.
That also means, that my time is limited. And our budget is going to be affected as a result. I've had to restrict my DIY list, I know, sacrosanct right? But it's been restricted, and I've decided to instead enlist the help of Ms. April Foster, who will take on the final design plans for the photo booth, tea and biscuit table, the ceremony, and quite a few other things. I'm okay though, I really trust April to do a good job and help bring my ideas to life. She knows what I'm looking for, so I'm confident that she'll do a fantastic job.
But while I'm happy I found a way to adjust, this also means our budget has to be adjusted to account for what I can't do anymore. Things like flowers will likely have to be outsourced, that's an additional expense - and a pricey one from what I'm told. More on that later. And April's contract will be adjusted to include some more work on her part, that's also an increase.
I think last year this would have really bothered me, but as I've been doing this whole keeping cost things down act, I've come to realize that sometimes, things just cost what they cost, so its more important to know your limits and work with the reality that is there. I set a lot of budget goals, and some of them I met others not so much. In the end, I'm not worried though. Mainly because I know that even though we've had to increase here and there to account for market rates and life changes, we aren't making decisions that would put us in debt. And I've managed to do all this without compromising my expectations. The good thing is we kept our original budget projections so low that all our first decisions were directly influenced by them thereby helping us stay as close to budget as possible, and giving us a nice cushion if things changed or didn't work out as we planned.
All in all, we're doing okay and chuggin along. Things aren't going perfectly, but I've still met my priorities, and that ladies (and gents) that is what matters. Did you have any major life changes that directly affected how you approached planning your wedding? How did you adjust? Did you just say forget it or did you find another way?
