Who, What, Where, When and How?

I bought a binder and a fancy notepad. Here's what I've got on paper thus far...

For starters we've got the What?
A wedding. Rustic, laid back, something that represents us. Good, fresh food cooked on a grill. No tux and no ball gown. Cornhole, dancing and lots of hugs.

Who?
Me, him and 100 of our closet friends and family. Wish us luck!

Where?
A rustic location. We've found that PA really has what we want, so we're looking in Lancaster (about 1.5 hours from Baltimore). I've looked at 7 venues, yes 7. Like I said before, I'm looking for a very specific aesthetic. We're considering places where we can bring our own alcohol and caterer. We think we could save money by going this route.

When?
Fridays and Sundays save muchacho! Although many people discourage this, we're looking at Labor Day weekend 2011. It's our wedding and we gotta go what we gotta do. If we do Lancaster, we'll do Sunday 9/4/11.

How?
This is the tricky and most important part of planning for us. It's hard to set a 'budget' when you don't have a specified amount at your disposal/saved. We know that my parents plan to fork up $5,000 while the remaining amount will be pulled from tax returns, saving and welcomed donations :)


I'm going to buy my mega million ticket now, so I leave you with this by Meg over at A Practical Wedding.

To Do's before the I Do's

So, I've accomplished one thing...I've got myself a groom.

Before I was engaged I drooled over posts on SMP, stalked a photographer with whom I was obsessed and checked oncewed so much you'd think it held the secrets to my future. I dreamed in wedding colors, clipped ideas and was convinced that the moment I got engaged I'd hit the ground running. Then it happened, I got engaged! It was the most amazing feeling ever.

All these ideas of beautiful'ness are swirling in my head, taunting me with their good looks and charm.

The reality is we're on a tight budget and I want something very specific. I just CANNOT justify going into debt over one day -- one glorious, love-filled day.

The photographer with whom I'm in love, yeah she'd cost us our entire budget...hmmph

Where do I start?!