Wedding Plans

This weekend was the wedding of Matt's Auntie Kathy. It's only made me want to get my wedding planned that much quicker. I have so many ideas and things that I'm really interested in doing, but it's tough. Part of the reason we're not getting married until 2011 is because we need to save money. That being said, everywhere that deposits are required sucks because quite frankly, we don't have the money just yet to put down deposits. I was spending a lot of time on TheKnot.com for a while, working on at least generating some ideas. I've definitely found a few and I have a pretty good idea of what I want. The trouble now is finding people I can afford to give me what I want. Some things I know I'm going to have to let go by the wayside, but others I can't imagine having a wedding without.
One of the biggest expenses is going to be the catering. Not only do I need caterers to come to a backyard and serve, but I can't provide them with an industrial kitchen so they need to find a way to cook and prepare everything and have it ready to eat and hot when we're ready to eat the hot food. I definitely would like to some sort of Italian foods and go with either family-style or buffet-style. I found one caterer that came highly recommended on a few websites and was listed in the "affordable" category, but when I got their menu back charging upwards of almost $10,000, I probably almost fainted. I can't fathom spending that much money on a salad, some cheese and crackers, and 2 kinds of pasta dishes. Insane.
This weekend, at Auntie Kathy's wedding, the catering company was Executive Gourmet Services out of Wakefield. Not only have we had their fantastic food twice now (the wedding and for Uncle Mike's funeral), but they are very reasonable according to their website! Now I just need to find the time to make the phone call which will I'm sure lead to sitting down with someone from the company to discuss menus, details, and the like. I have a wedding expo to attend on the 30th and I'm sort of excited about that as well, although I feel like it's too soon in the wedding planning process to get too excited. I wish I could just hire someone, tell them what I want, what I'm willing to pay, and leave the rest to them.
Auntie Kathy & Uncle Larry's wedding took place at the home of some friends in West Newbury. It was small, beautiful, and I loved it. Even though it poured, the outdoor ceremony under tents was lovely and Auntie Kathy looked like she was having the time of her life. The food was fabulous, the set-up was great, and I also got to spend a lot of time with members of Matt's family that I don't get to see that often. I spent quite a while talking to Uncle Kevin, as well as a bit of time with Grandpa Bert and his two sisters. It was such a nice wedding and I enjoyed it tremendously. I hope that people will say the same when they leave our wedding.