DB and I had a lovely weekend. Friday night was nothing but relaxing on the couch (and a bit of whining from me - I'm quickly getting sick of winter and getting a little cabin fever here in minneSNOWta! But he promised me that Saturday would be better and asked if I would mind accompaning him to one more jewelry store - one he had high hopes for. Um...OK! :)

So saturday we filled ourselves up with a hearty breakfast from our favorite joint (ok - it's not much of a "joint" - it's Baker's Square...we just LOVE it!) and headed on our way to The Shane Co.

WOW - what a difference this place was than the last. I loved it there and would've happily stayed the rest of the weekend with those wonderful people, lovely natural light and allllll of those pretty-pretties!! The salesperson was spectacular - full of information and comparisons to other area jewelers (as she had worked for a few others previously). She taught us SO much more than we learned at the first place, saw SO many BEAUTIFUL rings and truly felt valued. She wasn't afraid to talk about anything, and I loved that. Complete honesty and truthfulness. I picked out three and narrowed it down to one (gasp!). She even let me see how it would look with different bands on it (droooool). Then, she showed us different diamonds in the setting. Oy-vey!

It was a wonderful experience, the prices were better there than the other place, they have better lifetime service, the list goes on and on. Needless to say - I'm done. DB said he MIGHT go to another place on his own...but probably not.

So now the waiting begins.

...btw, I totally fell in love with the ring I singled out. I really couldn't care less if he proposes with that one or one like it...but it was soo prettyyyyyy...



In other news....I've been obsessed with scouring the internet for my favorite wedding things in order to find the best prices. I've already got a budget in excel and I'm trying my best to find better things for better prices in order to get that "total" a bit lower - I'm not sure what it's at is feasible right now. However, I do live in Minneapolis where venues and catering are certainly expensive with a capital "E." It seems as if no matter how much I wittle (sp?) away at all the little things, that total will never look less scary due to venue and catering. Plus - I REALLY want to do a photobooth - I know, I know - it's so overdone. But honestly, neither DB or myself have ever seen one at a wedding so we feel like it'll be something new and exciting for our guests. Basically, it stems from me wanting to really make an enjoyable reception atmosphere. My older brother got married 2 years ago and everyone was out of his reception by 7:30! I do NOT want that! I want fun and merriment and partying! So yeah...photo booth = lots more money. But I'm trying to find the deals! I think that a lof of my prices will go down once vendors are actually contacted though. Not to mention that I'm totally open to a Friday wedding (which sometimes equals less money) and I think we'll be getting married in the "off season" (which usually equals less money!) - so that's good.

I'm really not sure what else I can cut in the budget. And I really don't want to give up anything that I care a lot about. I also don't know how much parents will be contributing - but we're both assuming not much.

What was the hardest thing you had to cut from your budget and did it work out?