Pains in my bridal arse

I had kinda prepped myself for this, but I knew the GuestList would be a huge pain in my arse. And it has not disapointed me yet. In fact, right now I am avoiding re-adding some people back to the list that I know I will end up inviting. Thankfully it doesnt add that many invites to the list and I believe keeps me under 150. Is it tacky to send a box of invites to my mom and have her distribute them to save postage? Not all the local ones...just the family. I'm seriously considering that.

My second arse burr is the budget. I hate that thing. I know that we are over budget in some critical areas for me - namely invitations and photography. Oh, and facility rental. Our rental fee is $2500. Thats just the location...no food, no decor (except for its natural beauty), just the building. Thankfully mom is gifting it to us. [thank God for her. seriously.]

Despite the previously mentioned things, were pretty on target for the budget. All the major things are on there and accounted for. Its the minor things that I now have to figure out. Like our cocktail napkins. Cocktail napkins are standard fare at weddings. But they dont have to be tacky. I hate the standard ones like these:
Ech. I think I just half-gagged.

As you can imagine, said monstrosity is pretty cheap. Hell, they really should give these ugly things away. Part of the problem is that I don't know anything about this couple other than the fact that their colors are navy blue and white and they like flowers and doves (and I'm sure other equally typical wedding decor) from looking at these napkins.

Ugly and cookie-cutter? Double ech.

Personally, I ♥ these:Look at them...hearts, initials, and totally personalized. These are not your average cocktail napkins! Plus, my favorite part is that they actually don't scream wedding day. Everyone I have showed these to so far could easily see me pulling these things out for any occasion at our house. They're just so us.

And up until a couple hours ago, I fully intended to order them. But at $24.95 for 100, even if I supplement printed napkins with solid ones (the current plan), I'd need about 150 of these (running me about $36.90) before sales tax and shipping.

It didn't seem like a lot when I fell in love with them (i.e. picked them out) but now that's alot to spend on just napkins. Damn budget. My shoes didn't cost that much. And if I go with the current veil plan, my shoes and veil together wont cost that much. Plus, that's just the printed ones, that's not including locating and purchasing plain ones....probably from PartyCity or someone like that.

Long story short, I am determined to have cute cocktail napkins and I think Etsy may save the day for me. I found these fab (and inexpensive) customizable napkins from Etsy seller Go Against the Grain (perfect for wedidng planning), that may work. I read on another blog that she's getting married, but I'm seriously considering convo-ing (Etsy lingo for sending a message) her today so that we can get the ball rolling on the napkins. They don't go bad and I have no problems with them sitting in my office or at my mama's house for a year.

I'm avoiding the budget spreadsheet like the plague right now. So much so that I continue to think of things that should be on it and instead of adding them to the spreadsheet, I'm adding them to a Word document on my desktop with intentions to add them later.

*sigh* terrible...I know. At least I'm writing it down somewhere, right? Never thought I'd say this, but I much prefer Curves-induced arse pains.
♥