Hi and hello! My name is Ashley and I am new to the Dream Weddings on a Budget team. I’ll be writing a little bit here and there on budget friendly ideas that you can use as inspiration for your own dream wedding! First, let me tell you a little bit about myself and how I came upon Dream Weddings on a Budget.

This past May, my incredible boyfriend and I got engaged! A little back story to catch everyone up on our history together: Daniel and I met my freshmen year in college in choir. He asked me out a handful of times and I said yes but always flaked. Bad me. I tell him it’s because I knew once we started dating we wouldn’t stop. He says it was because he was post-Chemo looking with pale skin and growing back his hair. Maybe it was a little bit of both…? We did eventually date on and off until just before Dan’s graduation in May 2008. We officially began dating then and have been together for just over one year! All the waiting was well worth it

On the weekend of my college graduation Dan, his mom, and my family all traveled into town. We went out to lunch in Laguna Beach at this incredible beachfront restaurant called Las Brisas. Before we ordered, Dan said he wanted to go out to the little gazebo overlooking the ocean. My heart dropped into my stomach; but still I thought, no way.

He and I walked out to the gazebo where four ladies yelled for us to look out and see the dolphins! We saw two dolphins’ fins glide over the water. (Later, my stepmom told us that dolphins are good luck in Hawaiian, Mexican, and Native American cultures…hilarious but we’ll take it!) Without planning, all of the women left the gazebo so Dan and I could enjoy our favorite beach together. The waters were crashing onto the rocks below and we just stood together talking about how beautiful it all was. I also mentioned how starving I was. I probably said “guacamole”” at least three times.

Our waiter brought out a bottle of wine to me and said a man at the bar bought it for me. Dan acted upset….I smiled Inside the bottle was not wine, but this poem that Dan wrote for me about the magic of our relationship. I turned around and there was my Dan, on one knee, asking me to marry him. Y.E.S., I said, and proceeded to put my head in my hands and jump up and down. I threw my arms around my FIANCE only to have him ask me if I wanted to see the ring! It takes my breath away still.

Now we are living in New York for the next few years as Dan completes his masters degree at The Juilliard School. I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and we are planning on getting married there in the summer/early fall of 2011. We’re looking for casual elegance in a predominantly outdoor venue. The next two years will be full of planning, dreaming, and saving for our special day! I look forward to sharing our adventures along the way and hope to be of some help for all of you, too!

Earlier this month we posted letting readers know that we were accepting applications for a writing position. We got some absolutely fantastic applications. It was very hard to choose just one – actually it was impossible  – which is why we will be introducing you to at least 2 new writers in the next few days lol.

Neesa (short for Laneeca) is planning a July 24, 2010 wedding for 100-150 people and her wedding budget is $6000! Here is a little about Neesa in her own words:

Like most women, I have been dreaming about my wedding day since before I could ride a bicycle sans training wheels. I must have “married” every male cousin & neighbor atleast five times each in my backyard before I was even out of preschool. Of course, while I was walking down the “aisle” (aka a slip n’ slide) in my white church dress & toilet paper veil with the family dogs acting as a horse-drawn carriage, it never occurred to me that someday I would actually be doing this for real. And on a budget, no less. That isn’t to say that I still can’t have the kind of wedding every little girl dreams of. It simply means that I will have to make some sacrifices along the way & decide what really is important to me. (So much for that horse-drawn carriage..)

I should probably start out by saying that Eric & I are not a traditional couple by any means. We have been dating for very nearly ten years now & have a daughter who is just a week shy of her first day of school. To the two of us, & everyone who knows us, we are already a married couple in every sense of the word, & a wedding at this point is merely a formality. Because of this, we have a lot of things that most engaged couples don’t, including a mortgage & a child who needs a college fund a lot more than I need that one-of-a-kind hand sewn Vera Wang gown. While a fantasy wedding on the beaches of Belize certainly sounds appealing, the fledgling economy, my check book, & my own sense of reasoning remind me that it has to stay just that- a fantasy. Perhaps some women would be disappointed by this, but I am certainly not one of them. The fact of the matter is, whether my budget was five thousand dollars or five million, I am getting my dream wedding regardless. It has nothing to do with location, or centerpieces, or the type of dress I might wear & everything to do with the man at the other end of the aisle, waiting with baited breath to spend the rest of his life with me. That, in & of itself, is what is important to me- that which we can not put a price tag on. Everything else is just a bonus.

Welcome to the team Neesa, we look forward to reading your ideas as you plan your own dream wedding.