H and I have finally settled back into daily life and I've been procrastinating posting this because I can't believe it's all said and done! So after a year and a half of planning here is goes:
Good:
- Our wedding day was 100% stress free, honestly, I never felt rushed or pulled in a million directions.
- It was a very intimate ceremony
- The venue and our photographers style really complimented each other well and suited our personalities perfectly
- The Irish are such wonderful people
- The food everywhere was AMAZING!
- The staff at Ashford Castle were really welcoming, we felt like King and Queen the entire time we were there.
- We got to see quite a bit of Ireland during the two weeks we were there
- We came in just under budget
- Our friends and family were amazing and so supportive (his parents threw us a surprise reception the weekend after we got back!).
Bad:
- One side of my family is crazy enough when there isn't a wedding in the mix...let's just say there are some bridges that have been broken permanently.
- The weather wasn't all that great, it did rain a lot, but we're used to horrible weather and I'll take rain over -50 degrees celcius any day of the week
- His parents and our best friends weren't able to make it due to finances
- I got a massive pimple on my chin two days before the wedding
- The alterations I had done on my dress wound up being quite shotty and a total rip off
- We weren't really big fans of Dublin. The service standards and the people were very different from Galway
Ugly:
- There really wasn't anything that was down right horrible.
Now for the budget...I just broke down everything and we came in right under our 15K budget. It was tough but we managed to save it all up within a year and a half! I'm pretty proud to say we have not a single penny of wedding debt.
(All prices are in Canadian $'s)
Wedding expenses:
My e-ring: $1000
H's e-ring: $300
My w-band: $150
H's w-band: $88
My dress: $300
dress alterations: $150
H's attire: $50
My handfan (instead of bouquet): $10
H's bout: $15
Ashford Castle: $3000 (two nights in a suite, room hire fee, two witnesses, dinners)
Gel nails for me: $60
Limo: $200
Photographer: $1200
Wedding license and officiant: $400
Wedding planner: $1500
Trip expenses:
Airfare: $2500
Galway accomodations: $700
Dublin accomodations: $300
Wicklow day tour: $80
Burren day tour: $65
Spa day: $160
Intercity buses: $80
Food: $1000
Spending money:$ 1000
Falconry at the castle: $130
Extra baggage fee: $65
The only thing I would change about the wedding would be having had his parents and our best friends there. Other than that it was exactly what we wanted.
Happy New Year everyone!
