K.I.S.S.

Bernhardt was a marketing major.
When he was in college, one of his professors gave him this bit of advice about writing papers:
K.I.S.S.
Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I thought of this the other night at dinner.
Bernhardt and I MOVED TO CHARLESTON last Sunday (it is wonderful here) and family has been popping around to help us with the unpacking and the settling in...and the helping us eat at restaurants thing.

(us, two days before the move)
At dinner with B's parents, I went over the catering packet prices I have received since I started making calls...number to make your tummy drop. Everyone I have called has given us $14, 500" as the MINIMUM wedding cost. I have stressed our small budget, but no one has really listened. I think these companies believe that we will just ACCEPT the expensiveness of it all. However, we're not willing to go into debt for our wedding. It's SILLY. It's just a party.

As we went over the numbers, Bern's stepfather (Marty) said, "why don't you just have heavy appetizers?" and we stopped. We've been trying the "buffet" thing, but for the sake of an evening wedding and not being tacky, we've been trying to feed everyone a banquet meal. Sadly, we can't afford to do that. Instead, on our invitations, we are going to let everyone know we're just feeding them "heavy hors d'oeuvres". We're going to KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID.

There have been a few catering places that have not called me back when they heard my shoe-strings budget. I find that insulting. Not everyone planning a wedding is RICH - and I KNOW city companies want to make money, but still. The idea of THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS in wedding catering should be out there. TEACHERS get married every day, OK? And we don't have doctor budgets, thank you very much. SO. I'm going to call every catering place on that park list (the district gives you 12 choices for caterers) and I'm just going to be very firm about the money situation. My phone calls in the beginning were a bit embarrassed of my small budget and I don't think I got across the importance of AFFORDABLE.

This time, firm K.I.S.S. planning is ON!

Save the Date!

(A make-shift "save the date" that made the "no" pile...alas)
*I would like to announce that Bernhardt is designing our "Save the Date" and wedding invitations - he's the artist in the house, why not?! I get a say so it's all equal (his request), but I am excited that he is the project master. It's sweet and he is really working hard to make the perfect SOMETHING.

We have decided they will all probably be post-cards...saving in paper costs and stamps. Because wedding invitations just get thrown away in the end...might as well be friendly to the pockets...

On another note:
It's time to start the whole "who we want to come to our wedding list" - and it's tough. I made a list the other day and I had around 176 people - and that's just MY family and friends. Jeez! And yet, when I spoke with my mom, she said to probably count most of our family out because they won't be able to travel...which makes me sad because they've traveled for everyone else...but then again, everyone else was within 8 hours driving distance at the farthest point...
but I digress.

How does one whittle down a list? I mean, I KNOW how to do it, I just have a hard time crossing names of people I love...off.

We've decided to have a Georgia reception - that way, I still get to see my extended family (there's a lot of us) and Bern and his family members that are able to attend can see how my life in Georgia was growing up...it's nice...letting them have a glimpse of "Georgia Stace" vs. the usual old "Chicago Stace".

And finally, we have decided to MOVE to Charleston, SC this summer! So Chicago is going to be our destination. Some say it will be hard to plan from far away, but I have a good team of maids on my side.

The moral of the blog: anything is possible when planning a wedding, from post-card invitations to a change of living space, an extra reception, and whatever else is thrown into the mix. Thank god I have a great support system.