Can I be real with you for a second? I am starting to look at how much it would cost to have a wedding of my own. I’m a believer in being prepared financially for one of the most important events of my life.

As an entrepreneur and somebody who loves the industry and serving brides through photography, I want to not only have a beautiful event, but also pay vendors what they are worth. As I sat down and budgeted everything out, I started to become overwhelmed. It’s really hard to think about having the wedding of your dreams when prices are constantly increasing year-by-year and needing to pay for everything out of pocket in addition to having a goal of buying a house in the next year.

It’s really hard to think about how to bring a celebration to fruition and making sure that you don’t offend loved ones by leaving them out. I started wondering how I was going to be able to feed guests and hire vendors to ensure that my family and friends can enjoy the day and relax. I think that I finally started to understand a little bit more of what brides have to walk through and I’ll be honest I cried a little bit. 

Last night I was talking to my mom a little bit more about what’s been on my mind, and she said exactly what I needed to hear and I’m so thankful for her:

“Please don’t let this time of your life the one where you look back and see that you’ve been so anxious about a good thing. A good thing you can change. There are so many other circumstances that could happen that no money in the world can fix and this is an event that could easily be fixed no matter when it takes place, and with just a little bit of money. Remember that it is far better to get married at the right time, rather than for the right price. Please don’t rush if you don’t have to. I know you’re anxious about how you can afford this with increasing prices, but I promise that being set back a few thousand dollars extra is such a small blip in the grand scheme of things. I wish that your dad and I were in a position to give you money for the wedding of your dreams, but remember everything will be ok. Remember that the end goal of this all is to be with the man of your dreams, sweet girl.”