Does a Wedding Plan/Pay for Itself?

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!

The Song Behind the Blog Title

So the title of our new blog gets its name from the lyrics of the song "Here We Go" by Jon Brion. The song was used most famously on the soundtrack for the film Punch Drunk Love, which we both love. Before we were dating I saw the film and was so taken by its love story that I called Angie immediately after it let out to tell her to see it, remember, we weren't dating...it was a pretty awkward conversation.
Check out the music video below.

Exciting Times Ahead!

So the craziness actually started a couple months ago. We decided it was time for us to start thinking seriously about buying a home. We started looking with a great agent (if you're looking in the Atlanta area, we'd definitely recommend him - let us know) and found a house much sooner than we expected (there were a couple disappointments along the way... we missed out on a couple houses we really liked). And that's where the drama begins.

We toured the house a couple nights before we were due to drive up to Wisconsin for my Mom's wedding. After we saw it, we pretty much knew it was the place so we decided to put in an offer. What made things so interesting was the fact that we were already on the way to Wisconsin when we made the decision. So the entire process of offer/counteroffer/contract was done from another state. Which isn't terrible - it just involves a lot of faxing and coordinating where we could meet up to sign each counter since we were both staying with our parents a few miles apart. It was so exciting and terrifying to hear that our offer was accepted and we were under contract. We could not wait to have a place of our own but the thought of writing the big check frightened me a bit. Our little spot in the ATL

So I thought that was going to be the only big event on our plates for a while until the boy decided that after six years he was ready to propose. So a couple days after we went under contract on our house, we got engaged. Which means we've now got another big check to think about! The wedding won't be for another year but it's crazy how quickly you have to begin planning things! Especially since we'll be planning from another state. We love to make things complicated! We've got our date set - September 4, 2010 and a couple things booked already. More on that later - time to watch True Blood!

Here We Go

I've never been good with introductions and to be perfectly honest, I might forget your name. Please don't hold it against me - I've just always been better with faces.

Here's a little explanation of why I'm here: I've just recently realized how incredibly busy my life is about to become and I'm terrified that if I don't write it down, I might miss all the excitement. So my fiance and I have decided to start keeping track of it all here. I figure not everyone will care but who knows, we might say something interesting every now and again.

And if you're curious about the title of our little space on the web, it's a play on song lyric that's meant a lot... it's a rather goofy story which makes it all the more appropriate.