The 6-Letter 'B' Word That Cuts Like A Knife

Two hearts, one budget!
Via smartgroom.com

Oh yes, we're going there. You know what word we're talking about. 

Budgets.

I love/loathe Pinterest. It's complicated, but I'm going to try to unpack why.  Here's my love list:

*Amazing collection of all things. Literally, all the things. Green goddess smoothies, coconut oil benefits, housecleaning hacks - you name it, you search it, and Pinterest will deliver it!

*User-friendly way to keep visual and comprehensive boards of ideas for anything from one-pot recipes, DIY manicures, decorating hacks all the way to party themes and colour swatches

*Easy way to find/pinpoint what you like, and be able to express to others what you've got in mind with carefully curated images

The loathe list:

*So. Many. Ideas.  A veritable rabbit-hole, where looking for 'Alice In Wonderland' wedding ideas can lead you down, down, down... Further away from what you want, and find a thousand other ideas you didn't know you needed. 

*Picture-perfection images that, in some cases, are rooted deeply in fantasy (aka Photoshop) or Baller Status (what I like to call 'Keeping Up With The Wests' -the Kanye and Kim Effect)

And here's where the B-word comes into play.  Pinterest can sometimes blind us to the age-old dilemma of Prime Rib Dreams/Hamburger Reality! We're inundated with pictures and magazine spreads of celebrity parties, galas, and weddings; we follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat and are given front-row seats to the best of the best in everything THEY have access to - haute couture fashion, innovative interior design, no-holds-barred styling, surreal make-up and top-drawer event planning. When we try to pull star inspiration into real-life events, fantasy and reality collide head-on. So half of our Pins end up being good from far, but far from good (financially). Budgets and Pinterest sometimes are in stark opposition, so I saved this article published earlier this year that gives a little insight into some of the ways wedding budget spends become post-event regrets:

*~The Hads and Had-Nots: Brides Dish On Some Of Their Wedding Day Regrets~*

Budgets apply to people outside of the couple getting married; being invited to be a part of the big day is a huge honour - and an even bigger responsibility financially. Here's how life in the wedding party can unfold:

*~It Takes A Village... To Make A Wedding Happen: How Much Does It Cost Your Wedding Party?~*

Sigh... What to do, what to do? Which ideas are workable, doable, attainable, and ideas are best left to the the A-list and their unlimited funds? It's a tough call, especially 'in the heat of the moment' (aka mid-meeting with a decorator) so the best thing you can do is have the hard, clinical discussions about all-things-money and what your non-negotiables are beforehand, so that at the very least you are walking in to the planning process on the same page and with the same endgame in mind. Best case scenario? You have a clear vision that's drawn up by you and your partner, not by the special celebrity wedding issue of InStyle magazine!

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April