The 10,000 Dollar Question

So, as some of you may already be aware, Judy, my totally awesome mom, gave us a choice between using $10,000 for a traditional big day (church, reception, etc.) or not having a big wedding and keeping the money. At first the choice was easy for me, bring on the wedding!! I wanted what every girl dreams about: the big dress, the ceremony in the church that my whole family has been married in, the huge reception with delicious food, lots of drinks, and of course dancing. For John the choice was also easy, take the money!! He wanted what every boy dreams about: being debt free, having a little extra in savings, and just feeling more financially secure in general (maybe a new game system too, a new Wii is what I've been hearing a lot from him these days). We went back and forth and contemplated the pros and cons of each scenario and, after many late night chats while consuming wine on our deck, we came up with a perfect solution, getting married in Mexico!! We both really wanted to go on a honeymoon in Mexico but, unfortunately, that wasn't going to be in our budget if we did the bigger wedding at home. With this new plan we can have a beautiful (and cheaper!) wedding, have our honeymoon, and have some money in the bank. BUENO! I literally could not be happier with how things are turning out. This decision we've made feels so right to us. Me, John, the people closest to us, and a beach. Ahhhh, I'm totally blissing out right now just thinking about it. I also think its really cool that we will not just be having a wedding DAY, we'll be having a wedding WEEK. Its going to be great, a week on a beach with everyone we love, tequila poppers, hanging out at the pool bar, margaritas, eating delicious all-inclusive food, modelo beer, dancing in the discotecs, more tequila poppers, doing all the tourist-y things...and then of course our beach wedding! Not too shabby, right? So this puts a whole new spin on the wedding planning process. So far we've made two big decisions. 1. take the money. 2. get married in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Next up on our list is visit with a travel agent this weekend to scope out the best deals. Let the games begin.....