Introduction!!!

leahrafaela · February 2012

Hey everybody!

My name is Leah and I'm newly engaged, living in a tiny studio in Boston, with my awesome fiance named Anthony. I just wanted to do a little post to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about me.

I'm 22 (a youngin', I know) and my fiance is 25. He has a really wonderful 5 year old daughter who hangs with us 2 days a week, and an amazing full time job. I'm finishing my last year of my undergraduate degree in fine art, with the hopes of getting a teaching job for the next few years before making plans to have a baby and settle down and all of that jazz.

As you may be able to tell from my tone here, I'm pretty positive and fun loving, but all of this wedding nonsense has got me a little bit bogged down. To be honest, I don't know how much money my fiance and I are going to have to throw down for a wedding, and while I'd love to have some epic party for like 400 people, I have a feeling that we may end up chickening out, going to city hall, and doing the deed incognito.

I have never been part of a wedding, nor really been closely involved with someone who has gotten married recently, so I literally have no idea what to do. I know this might sound weird, but I was not one of those little girls who dreamt of her wedding day when she was a kid... quite frankly, I've never really given it that much thought at all.

Anyway, hopefully I can get inspired and start planning away.

So excited to meet all of you and get to know everyone! If anyone is a new bride to be in the Boston area, hit me up! Maybe we can go to David's bridal and laugh at all of the gaudy dresses together!!!

AmandaLeigh1014 · February 2012

Hey there neighbor! My name is Amanda, and I am not too far from you here in RI! I'm also pretty young myself (23), but ill be a month shy of 25 when i get married.

Firstly, welcome and congrats! Next, you should spend a little time thinking about what you would be looking for in a wedding and discuss it with your FI. See what he would like as well. I know that the industry can be ridiculously expensive (esp here in NE) so take some time to figure out what you can afford. Talk to both of your families and see what they will be willing to contribute, if anything at all. It can get a bit over whelming, but you're (hopefully) only getting married once, so it should be special! Trust me, i have my days when i feel like driving down to the courthouse lol. But for the most part the planning is fun! However, in the end, whatever makes you happy is all that matters! It is possible to have a gorgeous wedding on a budget, you just have to look in the right places! Goodluck!

CoffeeBeanFiend91 · February 2012

Welcome! don't worry still not as young as me

but I really dont think anyone here cares about that, or at least I would hope not.

Chels&Jimmy · February 2012

Welcome and congratulations Leah!!!

Klyn1983 · February 2012

Welcome and congrats!

Don't let wedding planning overwhelm you. Just focus on what you and your FI want and go from there. Don't worry about what anyone else's wedding was like and do things your way. There are a ton of wedding blogs out there that can help with inspiration! Style me pretty is one of my favorites and of course, Pinterest helps a lot too.

Definitely talk to your FI though about what he envisions and then take an honest look at your budget before you start planning anything.

Jaridds68 · February 2012

Welcome and congrats! My name is Julia, and I'm the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family - so wedding planning is very new to me as well. Thankfully the ladies on this board and several of the other boards are really really helpful!

As a sidenote of caution: I'd consider re-signing up to TK w/ a different screen name - esp if that's your actual, full name. As helpful/nice the ppl on these boards are, they are still strangers on the interweb, and you don't know who else is 'lurking' on the boards. Can never be too careful!

ashlidie · February 2012

Hello and welcome!

I was engaged a year ago today, when I was 22 (and he was 25 too!) so don't worry about your age.

Best advice is to figure out your budget before anything else. Not worth daydreaming about all these beautiful things only to find out you can't afford it. We set our budget at about 12,500 because it is what we can afford to put away by then. If our parents help, well great it just means more money in our pockets (we don't like the idea of spending a LOT of money on one day when we really don't live the extravagant life). From there, use the budgeter on here to get a good idea of how much things should cost you, and do not stray! Little budget breakers here and there really do add up. Some things are not applicable to everyone (for example, we wont be needing a limo since we know many people with classic cars, nor are we having a videographer) so you can nix that stuff after talking with FI about what you want to prioritize. I would say thats a good place to start.

PrettyInPearls23 · February 2012

Welcome and congrats Leah! I just want to say that I like you already because you talked about going and laughing at all the gaudy dresses at David's Bridal

Now don't get me wrong, I AM going to look there because they have dresses in my (tight) budget, but I really despise that chain.

This is my second wedding, so I can offer plenty of "expert" advice. I want to remind everyone that at the end of your wedding day, the result is still the same...you're married. You have a lifetime with your (then) DH ahead. You'll look back on your wedding day and honestly won't remember what songs were played at cocktail hour, that your MOH's shoes weren't the ones you wanted her to wear or that your bathroom baskets had gum instead of mints.

blferguson1s · February 2012

Welcome Leah. First of all, I feel the need to tell you that I read your post in the voice of my friend who is also named Leah (who visited Boston last summer), and it sounded exactly like what she would say. Sorry that's so random. Next, don't worry about being young. I just turned 21 nine days ago. I got engaged at 20, and FI and I will both be 22 when we get married. I'm also in my last year of college. I'll graduate in December with my BSBA.

You're going to love this board. Everyone is wonderful and shares tons of advice. The price of a wedding can be scary, but there are a lot of tricks to having a great wedding on a not as great budget. You and your fiance will have a perfect wedding that you'll love for the rest of your life.

lodonnell616 · February 2012

Welcome Leah--I'm a Boston Bride, too! Good luck with planning. My best advice for you is decide your budget first, then start looking at things that work within it, not the other way around.

emilyb213 · February 2012

Congrats and welcome!! Have you guys given any consideration to what weekend in June you're aiming for?

I can feel your pain with the being uninspired/not knowing where to start...the extent of wedding planning I did as a little girl revolved around the decision that the bridesmaids would wear rainbow colored dresses, with the goomsmen wearing matching cummerbunds and white suits. Oh, and they'd stand in rainbow order at the altar, natch.

Fortunately for my wedding party, I decided that this wasn't practical and in order to find some inspiration, I started really paying attention to stuff that I saw and went "oooh, that's pretty". Once I started doing that, it's helped me articulate what I want. For instance, I realized that everything I liked, whether it was in a store or on TV or whatever, fell into one of two categories: 1920s-style stuff, and peacock feathers. Doing something like this might help you narrow down what you'd like everything to look like.

We're also trying to work within a pretty strict budget, and I've found it helpful to remind myself that the wedding industry's version of a wedding has nothing to do with what my actual wedding has to look like.

Cheers and best of luck to you!!

NicoleMarcelle · February 2012

Welcome! I'm also young and a student! PPs have given tremendous advice! I find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest. I agree with a pp on the budget, I am super lucky that my parents are able to pay for our wedding, but we still set a low-ish budget, and are trying to keep everything under control, i.e., mom gets really excited about things and forgets about the budget. The ladies on this board are phenomenal, don't be afraid to ask questions!

Introduction!!!

Re: Introduction!!!

Choose Another Board

Search Boards