She said what?? A non-wedding, wedding.

Shortly after Mr. Spice and I were engaged we went to LA-LA land for the Holidays. Both Mr. Spice and I have family in LA, so our trips down there are often whirlwind adventures where we bounce from family to family, and if we are lucky we get to see our friends.

This holiday season was even more busy. We went to LA to celebrate Christmas with my folks and on the 26th we jetted off to Hawaii for an amazing trip with his fam.

Here I am enjoying the magic of Christmas with my niece:

And here we are relaxing a day later in Hawaii with a post engagement glow (I so wish I were on vacation right now):


In between these two pics, Mama Sugar asked me how I envisioned our wedding. While I hadn't really thought of what I wanted until a few days before, I had attended and participated in both my brother and sister's weddings six and five years previously, so I felt like I kinda knew what to expect. Nothing crazy elaborate, but a super fun day with all of our family and friends. I was envisioning something woodsy and organic with about 150 people in the Bay Area. And of course, a full bar (just because I love the environment doesn't mean I don't like to party)!!

Well, Mama Sugar had other ideas. She knew that Mr. Spice and I are on pretty tight budgets, so she suggested putting the money towards a down payment and then just throwing an afternoon open house.

She said what? While my head said, that's a great idea and that I should be oh so grateful for all of their generosity and support.

The little girl inside my heart said, wait- how would Poppy Sugar walk me down the aisle at an open house party? And does she know how much a down payment on a house is in the Bay Area0- let alone one big enough to host 150 people (remember this is before the housing bust)???

In the picture above I am wearing sunglasses because I had cried all night saying good-bye to the wedding dreams I had created in the ten days I had been engaged.

But as you can tell I am smiling ear to ear in the picture because early the next morning Mr. Spice reminded me why I was marrying him. Because he understands me, neurosis and all.

He found the perfect compromise, holding a small wedding with just those nearest and dearest to us. Allowing us to keep the cost to a minimum, save the rest for a house in the future, all the while creating a meaningful intimate affair. He even suggested our favorite restaurant in Carmel, Casanova. Who wouldn't want to marry here:

So we flew off to Hawaii with all our problems solved to enjoy a relaxing vacation.
And that's why we decided to throw an intimate wedding!! If only the location were that easy, up next: location, location, location.
How did you decide how many people you would have at your wedding? And did you have to re-vision your wedding once you started planning it??