After we decided to have a local-to-us wedding, I started researching wedding venues in Fayetteville. Luckily for us, Fayetteville has a wide assortment of potential wedding venues. I knew that I didn’t want a copy-and-paste country club or hotel ballroom wedding. While researching venues, I did include some of the local country clubs and hotels to compare costs across town. I quickly narrowed our choices down to Fox Hollow Gardens,… View Post »
How to plan a wedding during a deployment
As I mentioned, Mac deployed the day after he proposed. We had to figure out how to plan a wedding during a deployment. Ergo, all of our wedding planning was done long distance. I did lots of research for venues, catering, photographers, and all that jazz. When Mac was able to call me (sometimes we went weeks between calls), I would mention what I had found and what I liked…. View Post »
How we chose our wedding location
One of the first major decisions of wedding planning is picking a location. Mac deployed the day after we became engaged, so I took on all of the initial wedding research. We had a few different options for where we could host a wedding, so we had to finalize a location before we could do any more planning. Here’s how we chose our wedding location. Blacksburg, Virginia Pros: Home sweet… View Post »
What do we do now?
Okay. The ring is on my hand, we’re officially engaged. What next?The next day, I drove Mac to Fort Bragg and watched him get on a bus to go to war. Not the happiest way to celebrate your engagement. I settled myself in a routine that would minimize lonely, sad time with my thoughts. As bad as it sounds to not think about a deployed loved one, thinking about them… View Post »
Non-extreme couponing
Now, I’m a big fan of any show on TLC. An addiction of mine is Extreme Couponing. This show follows folks like you and me on grocery trips where they buy $1000 of food for $20. For reals. Disclaimer: I have never saved more than I have spent. That isn’t my goal. Also, my husband is the champion of impulse buys. Our grocery bill would be a lot lower if… View Post »
Our story: the proposal
Mac’s parents left Sunday. That night, we were up in our room. Mac was packing his carry-on bag and getting any last minutes items down before he had to report Monday morning. The sight of his packed bag was too much for me, and I started crying. The proposal Mac asked if I wanted something to cheer me up. Knowing that only him staying would accomplish such a feat, I… View Post »
More budget matters
A more naive version of myself thought I could plan a wedding for $12,000-$15,000. I guess if we had really tried, we could’ve made it work in that budget. Our catering and venue alone blew that original pipe dream out of the water. Luckily for us, the Army has played a big role in paying for the wedding. As I mentioned, Mac and I are paying for everything. While he… View Post »
Our story: engagement ring shopping
After a few months together, the weekend before Mac deployed was suddenly upon us. We spent weeks shopping for extra gear, packing up his stuff, and dreading the first weekend of December. His parents decided to come down one last time before he left. Mac told me he wanted to buy my Christmas present before he left. We headed over to the mall before his parents arrived and walked through… View Post »
Creating a wedding budget
One topic brides, single ladies, and the long-time married can talk about is money. No matter how hard we work, we always seem to never have enough. Budgeting for a wedding tends to put a pinch on the purse-strings. Mac and I decided that we would pay for our own wedding. We’re adults and employed full time. We didn’t want to put the burden of our wedding costs onto our parents…. View Post »