
So I sit here tonight after a long day at work drinking a delicious New Glarus beer that we smuggled into Georgia. People wonder why we drive every time we go to Wisconsin. We tell them it's because it's cheaper but it's really so we can bring back as much Spotted Cow and other New Glarus brews as we can possibly fit in our car. And one of them was absolutely necessary after today. Even though the wedding is a year away, the stress of planning and paying for it has already set in. The boy and I have very large families, once we counted our family and our wedding party we were already over 100 people. And since we have so many friends who mean so much to us and we can't possibly celebrate without them, we're looking at an invite list of 250. We've already booked our venue - the awesome Palm Garden at Lakefront Brewery which is the biggest expense but now we're thinking about all the additional expenses and I feel like I might lose it!

Lakefront Brewery - Milwaukee, WI
We're trying to cut corners everywhere we can by doing things ourselves but there are just certain things we know we can't avoid paying a significant amount of money for. Fortunately one of my best friends has volunteered to be our photographer. I am so lucky to have such a great friend who's willing to help us out like that. Here's a link to his site: http://dkdesignphotography.com/
We've decided we'll be making our own Save the Dates, Invitations, Flowers and Centerpieces but we're still hoping we'll be able to find a deal on a DJ, Transportation for the wedding party, Cake, Favors and anything else my overworked brain is forgetting at this point. Is there anyone in the Milwaukee area that can recommend people for these needs? Or a way to work out a deal? We've heard of people sponsoring their wedding programs and at this point - I'm not against it. Would love to hear some suggestions!