trash, trampoline, and the party girl

ah, nothing like an obscure U2 song title to come in in the clutch. whenever i can't think of a song title for the blog post i want to write, i go to u2.com to search until i find something. never fails! never.

anyway.

so this wedding planning stuff is stressing me OUT. it's not really the wedding planning, it is the budget. the teeeeny tiny budget from which i must draw a simple, fun, beautiful, Jesus-centered, joyful celebration for 135 or of of our dear friends and family. wedding planning always sounds fun until you have to be the one paying for it. i had sort of sketched a rough budget right when we got engaged based on the savings i had kept from the money we got from mom's life insurances. but now it turns out that i will owe my siblings about $4K each based on the expenses they have paid on mom's house and funeral and legal expenses since she died. we've all paid for things, but somehow or other it has been my siblings who forked over the biggest chunks of cash. we're finally settling up, and that $8000 hit to my savings is gonna sting.

SO. what's a girl to do?

first of all, i am deciding right now that i refuse to freak out. i have turned to our trusty friends in the blogosphere for help. and there actually exists a wealth of help and knowledge out there from brides across the country who have done it on the cheap.

and so, faithful readers, i throw my veil into the ring and accept the challenge of celebrating a wedding with about 135 people for $7500 or less. i am not sure it can be done. it will be frought with peril. it will involve begging, bartering, borrowing, and bootlegging. it will call upon the skills and talents and generosity of all our nearest and dearest.

i may be calling you to ask if we can borrow your cake plate. or your stereo. or your salad-tossing skills. i may be calling to ask you to talk me away from the ledge.

if i would not be wracked with guilt, i'd use disposable stuff and save myself about $500 in flatware, dinnerware, and glasses. but i can't bear to see bags full of trash, no matter what the cost.

there will not be a trampoline at the wedding. but i AM scoping out options for building our own dance floor out of plywood rather than renting one.

so we've covered trash and trampolines, and the party girl should be me, but right now i just feel like lying down and sleeping for many many days. i am tired already, and all i have is the dress so far....

do you think anyone would mind if we made the wedding BYOB and just ordered some boxed lunches from Beef a Roo for the reception? (don't despair - Beef a Roo also has quite an extensive veggie sandwhich menu)...

ugh. i had better go to bed. i feel my brain getting melty.

suggestions, offers, and boxes of flatware welcome...