Meet Stefania, Our New Budget Guru

Hi BG brides! I’d like to introduce myself: I’m Stefania, the new wedding whisperer-in-training. As a real bride on a budget, I’m constantly searching for ways to cut wedding-planning costs without compromising the quality of the glamorous nuptials I’ve always envisioned. Two months before I earned my Masters diploma, my then-boyfriend Jason gave me the biggest shock of my life when he dropped down on one knee after five years of dating—I was finally engaged! I’ll never forget the feeling that swept over me when he opened the box containing my cushion-cut sparkler and placed it on my finger, seagulls cawing and waves lapping the shore where we stood. That night, as I tossed and turned and dreamt and wakened, reliving those ten glorious minutes over and over again, it finally occurred to me: we would have to start planning (and paying) for the day when we would proclaim forever in front of hundreds. Gulp…how were we going to pull it off?

We’re both paying off student loans and live in Brooklyn, just a few subway stops away from the land of skyscrapers and Manolos, so we could use all of the money-saving advice we can get. Our wedding is going to have at least 300 guests since Jason and I come from super-sized families (he has 25 first cousins alone!) and we share the same circle of friends (we’ve known each other since sophomore year of high school). Luckily, we have the next two years to save all of the money that goes into matrimony. (It turns out I’m in good company—2010 Census data reveals the average age for men to marry is now 28, and for women it’s 26. Also let’s not forget that before she was the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton was once mocked as “Waity Kaity” by the British press.) Follow us as we circumnavigate the crazy world of wedding-planning, whether it’s dashing for diamonds in a scavenger hunt, painstakingly gluing rhinestones onto our engagement invitations to add some texture, or road-tripping it across the Tri-State area until we find the one special venue where we can see ourselves taking our first dance. We’ll share all of our financial experiences along the way, including booking vendors and tackling DIY projects together.

All of the pressure surrounding this defining moment in your life can cause us brides to make some pretty irrational wedding purchases—after all, we’ll only have one wedding gown, one cake to cut and smoosh in each other’s faces for photos, one pair of shoes to take our first steps in. If you have friends or family members who are engaged and getting married around the same time as you, all of the above gets even more compounded. Let’s make a pledge to be proud of our savings instead of playing up our costs; to shatter the “Bride Wars” stereotype by sharing our secrets along the way, so that other brides can learn from our triumphs and mistakes; to allow ourselves one or two luxurious treats, whether it’s high-quality photos that will hang on your walls until you’re 102 or a crystal clutch that only holds your lipstick and keys on that day, just because; but most notably, to never lose sight of the knowledge that you’re marrying the love of your life, which somehow always puts all of the stress and aggravation into perspective.  Now that’s something not even money can buy.

—Stefania Sainato