Making Tough Choices

I'm not very exacting. I'm an eyeball-it kind of gal, a how much do you think this weighs, a these two shades of yellow can work together, good enough kinda' gal. So you can imagine, I'm not very good at sticking to our budget.  My parent's told me what they can pitch in and we're staying in those boundaries, but there are a lot of extras on the peripheral budget that I can't quite see or keep track of. But I'm trying to get better! Today, I made a tough choice.

This intricate wedding band that compliments my e-ring:

Tacori 462ET

Elegant with a timeless heirloom quality... All this craftsmanship is concentrated in a dainty band that measures about 1.5-2mm wide.  I didn't really love any other band on my hand or with my engagement ring... but I felt guilty wanting such a glam designer ring! I mean Marc was okay with it, and after I confessed that simpler ones weren't really doing it for me he said we should just get it... and I was pretty giddy about it...

Versus beautiful heartfelt videography:

Well Spun Wedding Films

And then I stumbled upon Well Spun Weddings on the Weddingbee boards. I had completely nixed the idea of professional videography for our wedding. Every time a beautiful video in the blogosphere moved me to joyful tears and made me want to hire the filmmaker on the spot, I'd click over to their website and find prices starting in the 6K range. (I know, I mention how much things cost a lot. But my "eyeball the budget" methodology sees 6K as tooo biiig). I was scared away and never fully researched my options. Then 82 days before my wedding I found Well Spun and checked out their ala carte price list and thought, Hey! We were going to spend close to 2K on that ring... could we spend it on this instead?

My original video plan was to hand my friends some Flip Vids and tell them to get as much as the could and DIY edit. I was curious and excited to see what we could come up with, but also wary that I'd forget about this plan and lose video all together- and I didn't really want to make my friends work when they could be celebrating.  But then again... on the other hand... my friends are tv-film and theater folk who would do a great job...! 

See the over-thinking in action?

The only thing these two items have in common is the similar cost, which makes for an apples to oranges comparison.

I asked my mom her opinion, and she likened it to a recent anecdote about her friends: C and G were coming up on their 20th anniversary (or so....) and C had a choice of a diamond anniversary band, or a romantic trip to Paris with G, a destination she has always wanted to visit. My mom voted for Paris, I voted for Paris, C and D chose Paris!! I mean, for me it was a no-brainer. 

Translate to:  Marc can always gift me with a diamond band later ;) But we only have one chance to capture our wedding in HD.  We chose videography!! A new vendor, completely on a whim, and it feels sooo goood!! (Barring any competition for our date of course. There was one other bride who had inquired and it was 1st come 1st served to complete the online contract and deposit...)

But don't worry!  I have a plan B forming in my mind grapes for a beautiful sentimental wedding band. And another layer to my over-thinking tendencies so stay tuned.

In what ways have you prioritized wedding costs? How did you decide which elements are more  important?