Stinkin Budget

21:31 debating pro hair/makeup for the wedding. seems silly to only have for our day after photo shoot. suggestions? besides @ameliacartist :)


16:26 is $180 a lot for wedding day hair & make-up? i know i know, the pictures are priceless, but .....


16:31 & the $180 is including coming to our hotel room for me only. no one else. @seblagg @diybride @brideonbudget

So, in discussing Vegas nuptials with another bride on FB using the same company, I started thinking about getting pro work done for the wedding itself. I will be totally pro (for FREE) during our day after shoot (or rather 2 days after) and it seems kinda silly to not be made up similarly for the actual wedding. When I put the question out to my consultants on Twitter, by this I mean all the brides and wedding planners I’m friends with, they said $180 is damn cheap considering they come to your location. I’m still not sold on it.

Which bring me to another reason...


16:44 i wish i could remove our flight/hotel to vegas from our wedding budget. it's so much prettier w/out them.


18:24 are you including travel & hotel in your wedding budget or is it an extra expense?

Considering our wedding is a destination wedding, I automatically including hotel and airfare in our budget. The hotel is deeply discounted (yay for @LuxorLV and they’re amazing deals), but still about $600. The airfare, when I last did estimates, is between $600-750 for 2 round trip flights. Now granted, that’s from Raleigh; Miami is about $60 less. Without including hotel and airfare, our budget/ actual spending is really low. The wedding is $400, marriage license is $60 and cake/ cupcakes are about $100. With a budget of $1500, that leaves plenty for tours, shows, dinner, rental van and gas out to the Grand Canyon, and so much more. Also, if this damn wedding dress does sell, that’s an extra $400 towards the purchase of the $125 dress I want. So obviously, now I’m reconsidering how to figure our budget.


Now onto a much more fun topic... graduation and bling!

18:57 have been looking at amethyst & citrine for grad rings. (school colors are purple & gold) just realized i can get any stone! #noclassring


19:13 i'm considering this: bit.ly/cFAeEA to wear with this: bit.ly/2SmvHm (already have) whatcha think?


19:19 the ring will be a "hooray i now have an MBA" gift to myself :) @Tryphyna


19:24 oooooh another option: bit.ly/cWC5Jj


20:36 new options, graduation gift: bit.ly/bRYwgw, bit.ly/9Bfpnw, bit.ly/dCIFww, bit.ly/9XqiHm, bit.ly/9UxqRm


20:46 and bit.ly/bh4Kvp - yes, i'm indecisive!

23:00 big surprise, more choices: http://bit.ly/bjyh4Y, http://bit.ly/db4hvj, http://bit.ly/aOcBk8, http://bit.ly/b44uOH in order of pref.

I have been checking out different websites with gorgeous rings for my graduation gift. After graduation from UF, I bought myself an utterly gorgeous diamond and sapphire ring that was stolen a few years later. I loved that damn thing. So yeah, I started looking at other rings for my ECU graduation gift. So far my favorites, in order, are: http://bit.ly/bjyh4Y, http://bit.ly/db4hvj, bit.ly/9UxqRm

Did you buy yourself anything for graduation? It's such a huge accomplishment and... why not?! Also, making payments is my friend. ;-)

Our Hotel is Booked!

Image Source: Planet99

You read that right! This morning I received a DM from the @LuxorLV twitter account telling me to hang tight, that their Twitter Tuesday rates would be published shortly. I've been all over twitter the last few weeks asking which hotel we should stay in: the Luxor or Excalibur, the Luxor or Flamingo, the Flamingo or Tahiti... you get the drift.  Well, the Luxor has been on my short list for a while, and actually kept retweeting my questions out the their follower base.

Today, when the twitter-only rates were published, I was floored. I was able to book a Tower Luxury Suite for not much more than the normal price of the Tower Deluxe room.

source: Luxor

Yes, we are staying in a huge suite that is larger than my first apartment in North Carolina for 4 nights. We will have plenty of room for the cupcakes and wine reception I'm envisioning. Also, with as big as the room is and as pretty as the pictures are, we can totally have the ceremony and take professional pictures in the room!

This after I emailed the link to this top secret special deals page to all our Vegas invitees and some have checked it out and booked their room already! I actually wonder if I should bother to get a room block. I should email again and see who hasn't booked yet and if they want to book there and then decide. 

When I was chatting with my younger brother's girlfriend earlier, she was telling me all these places they (she) want to visit during our Vegas trip. We're totally doing the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon and Zappos! Where else should we go?