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Sober Women Managing Money & Mental Wealth

Planning a Simple Frugal Wedding on a Non-Budget

March 27, 2021 By Deanna Leave a Comment

 

Photo by James Orr on Unsplash

 

Okay, I know it’s been like forever since I’ve written a blog post. However, I’ve been planning a wedding and getting ready to become a wife! Whoa, I feel the gravity in even writing that sentence.

Anyway, I thought I’d share some of the ways we are keeping things simple and the costs low but also doing it on a non-budget (Don’t worry I did save for this; I’m just not counting every penny!!).

Also, if you prefer to do a budget (I usually do) check out this awesome blog post by my friend, Andrea.

What Matters Most

Take a look at the theme picture of this post and that will clue you in on what matters most. The reality is that it’s all about joining two lives into one. It’s a lifetime commitment and the most important part is the bride, the groom, and the pastor or officiant. Family is a close second but everything else is fluff!

The party and the celebration can be a fun part of it. However, my take is to focus on the main reason and the other stuff will come together.

We are being counseled by pastors in all things pre-marital. It’s been fun, challenging, thought-provoking, hard at times, filled with gravity, and oh so worth it. We have good pastors bringing up tough topics for us to consider. We’ve had some conflicts in these sessions and/or even after these sessions.

You know what? Conflict is a part of life and the bigger thing is to learn how to work through it lovingly. Always focus on the mend when there is a rift. We are getting better at it.

No doubt, we’ve decided we want to spend the rest of our lives together so we are willing to put in the work.

Keeping it Simple

Neither of us wanted to spend lavish money on a big reception. Although, we did want to have a celebration with family and friends. The best part about it is that we planned our wedding one afternoon on a walk. We kept bouncing ideas off of one another and voila, we had our wedding details planned.

The ceremony is the most important to us so we are basically doing a flip. Since the ceremony is what matters most to us, that is the longest part. We are doing some unique things that I cannot reveal just yet but this has been literally the most fun part about planning the event.

Since we are inviting a bunch of people to get together for our ceremony, we decided to include the second most important thing, cake!  We are just having a simple reception of cake, coffee, and sparkling lemonade. Oh, and a bride/groom dance but that’s it.

I saw this on social media somewhere but I have no idea who made it! If you know, let me know so I can give them credit!

Attire

Here’s where things can get expensive but they don’t have to! I bought my dress for under $200 online at this website. I paid the extra $20 to submit my measurements and have it custom-sized.  It fits perfectly (unless I lose more weight which is a good problem to have). I love it and it’s exactly what I was hoping for!

My matron of honor and junior bridesmaid both got their dresses for under $30 at Dillard’s and JCPenney. I knew what colors I wanted and then it was an open game to find some dresses on sale that would work. Simple. Easy. Frugal.

Now Tom’s suit was another story. We took one walk into Ticknor’s and were sold on a fabulous suit for him & his best man. It cost more than my dress but what guy couldn’t use a good suit! He’ll be wearing it again; me probably not on the dress.

One piece of advice on Ticknor’s…just don’t let them sell you the $200+ pair of jeans.

Decorate

The decorations are another area that could add up real quick.

I have a lovely friend who is gifted at decorating and she happens to be retired. I decided to ask for her assistance in this department. She was thrilled to help and is blessing me so greatly with her skills at making the tableware pretty. Here is the one place I was going to set a budget. Although, quite amazingly she is gifting me with much of it. Whoa!

I was all set to make our bouquets and floral arrangements for our wedding. But…I have a good friend who does weddings and is hooking me up with his florist for a super-duper friend and family discount. Whoa x2!

The thing is on all of this is, to look to trade and barter with friends who are skilled. Everyone loves a trade!

P.S. making floral arrangements is fairly easy if you are looking to cut corners. I made some for my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary ♥.

Check out that good looking family celebrating my parent’s 50th ↓↓↓

Pictures

So this is a fun story. We hired my friend’s daughter who is in high school because she is a budding photographer and did my photos for my blog (see three pics below).

Anyway, we wanted to give her a chance at growing her skill and because she’s inexperienced we were able to settle on a price that doesn’t break my bank but still blesses her.

 

 

Then another surprise came to us in this department. Our pastor’s wife offered her photography services as a gift. Whoa x3! We found a way to meld the two as she will be mentoring our young budding photographer. Win-win!

Honeymoon

Now we’ll never tell where we are going cus we want some privacy 😉

But, I can tell you that we decided we didn’t need to go far to “get away”. We did splurge two nights on a very special and costly place but then the rest of our trip is at an Air BnB house in a very remote area. No flying necessary.

One thing to keep in mind here is that when you don’t travel far, you can splurge a little more on a fancy hotel. I learned that trick from my boss.

Happily Ever After…

So we are not yet living together and are kind of old-fashioned in all things surrounding marriage.

Anyway, my fiancé is renting a house currently and I’m renting an apartment. We are opting to have him move into my apartment after we get married. The reasons are:

  1. We love the area by my apartment
    1. Close to both of our jobs
    2. In between our parents
    3. Close to biking/hiking
    4. Close to some ski resorts
  2. We can save beaucoup money for a future house

We also figured what better year to do tiny living than the honeymoon year ♥♥♥

Sidebar: did you know that fiancé is the male version and fiancée is the female version? I just learned that myself 😉

Closing Thoughts

My final summation is simple. Focus on what matters most and then build from there. Save money – as soon as we started courting we both started saving. Additionally, lean on people in your own community and find ways to trade and barter for services. Lastly, take a chance on novices because it’s nice to give newbies a chance to shine!

 

We Got Engaged During the Year to Forget!!!

January 9, 2021 By Deanna 21 Comments

Okay, so I must give credit where credit is due. My boss had the best line ever when I told him of my engagement in 2020. He said, “I just got the best news of this year to forget!!!”

Yep, 2020 was historical on a macro level and as much as we’d like to forget it and put it behind us, it’s one for the history books and the effects still linger on in 2021. Additionally, for me personally, it’s historical on a much more micro level – I got engaged!!!

We are so excited and I’m thrilled to write a blog post about some good stuff that came out of 2020.

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My Biggest Lesson in 2020, We Need One Another!

January 2, 2021 By Deanna 8 Comments

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

 

Happy New Year y’all! We made it through 2020 and are ready to start a new year. Sometimes the best thing about seasons is that they end. That can also be true for years like this.

The Bible tells us…

To everything, there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

This past year was historical, challenging, a bit scary, divisive politically, and riddled with caution. However, as I’m reflecting back on it, there is much we be grateful for. Moreover, there is much we can learn from it as we move into a new year.

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Are you Ready for a Money Coach?

December 19, 2020 By Deanna 2 Comments

Photo by Jonathan Brinkhorst on Unsplash

Hello friends, I know my writing has not been regular lately but let’s face it, not much in the world is regular lately. 😉

Today I want to talk a bit about what a money coach is how you might know if you are ready for one. Just like anything in life when we want to get better at it, we need to focus some energy working at it.

For example, if you play a sport and are looking to improve, you may hire a coach. Or if you are working out again for the first time after a period of complacency, you might want to hire a coach or a trainer.

what if you are working to improve your habits surrounding money and/or dig your way out of debt, why not consider a coach? I’m not trying to sell you anything nor am I a money coach. However, I do know many people who are and feel their services can be very valuable.

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About Me

My name is Deanna and I am happy to be on this redemptive path. I got sober from drug addiction/alcoholism in 2010 and returned to a faith in Christ. Additionally, I finished digging my way out of debt in 2017. Today, I’m learning to be a wise steward/investor of my resources while helping other women find their victories too. More about me.

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