Life: The Update

What an INSANE few months this has been! Here is a short recap:

Destination: Puerto Rico!!

Every e-mail I was getting relating to the DMV-region wedding was starting to stress me out. I would get nervous and anxious and kind of do an internal panic that went a little something like this: "OMG, this is so expensive. If we do this, then we can't do this. If we invite this person, then we can't invite these people. What if this person comes anyway? Where will they stay? If we have the ceremony here, how will people get to the reception here? Then we'll have to rent a shuttle. How much will that cost? Have we saved enough yet? We can never eat again until the wedding." etc.

Then, a light bulb went off. What if instead of stressing ourselves out, spending a TON of money on ONE day, we didn't do any of that?

If most people have to fly from out of state anyway, why not ask them to fly to a tropical island during a cheaper off-season? The flight will be longer (and for some, a little more expensive than just getting to VA), but the hotels will be cheaper. The food will be cheaper (and better). Oh, and you'll be within a stone's throw of a rain forest. And the Caribbean. And you DON'T need a passport :-)

More importantly, with the vast sums of money we'll be saving, we were able to hire an amazing wedding planner named Victoria! The low-stress of having a destination wedding just went to a minus factor with that decision!

Not to mention, the significance of this location. Many of my family members live on the island. My grandmother is buried here. She may not be able to be with us on the day, but this is the closest we can get to her. If she were here, she'd be SO thrilled with the decision!

Steve and I talked and thought and weighed all of the options in this decision. It wasn't one we made lightly, and neither are any of the other plans. We are firm believers that this is just one day...the rest of our lives is what is important to us. We won't have to make the decision to skimp on things we really want to have to make our day special, and we can really celebrate the beginning of our life together!

So, keep an eye on the luggage sale racks; save your Starbuck's money for the plane ticket and get your sunscreen ready. Because, we're going to Puerto Rico, baby!!!