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The Case for the 45-Person Wedding
The fastest-growing wedding is the small one. What 45 guests makes affordable, what it makes possible, and who should not do it.
August 13, 20263 min readWedding PlanningBudget & Money
The altessa journal
Notes on planning
Practical answers for couples planning their own wedding: vendors, budgets, timelines, and the calm way through all of it.
Read the article
August 10, 2026
When to Make Your Wedding Website (and What Actually Goes On It)
The right moment to put your wedding website up, the six things guests actually look for, and what to skip.
Wedding PlanningTools & Apps
August 6, 2026
Seating Charts Without Tears
A calm method for the most political part of wedding planning: zones before seats, anchors before problems, and one honest list.
Seating & LayoutGuests & RSVP
August 3, 2026
The Wedding You Saw Online Costs More Than Yours. Good.
Sixty percent of couples say the gap between inspiration and budget is their top stressor. The case for letting the gap exist.
Budget & MoneyStyle & Color
July 30, 2026
Why Free Wedding Planning Apps Feel Pushy (Follow the Money)
The economics behind free wedding planning apps, why the checklist has 200 items, and how to use free tools with your eyes open.
Tools & AppsWedding Planning
July 27, 2026
Your Wedding Has 13 Vendors. How to Manage Them Without Losing Your Mind.
Thirteen contracts, thirteen payment schedules, thirteen email threads. The management system for the small business you accidentally started.
VendorsWedding Planning
July 23, 2026
What a $15,000 Wedding Actually Looks Like
A line-by-line budget for a 45-guest wedding, including the part where it went over, because real budgets go over.
Budget & Money
July 20, 2026
The Guest List Is the Budget
One decision sets your wedding's price more than any other, and it is not the venue or the flowers. The per-head math nobody shows you.
Budget & MoneyGuests & RSVP
July 16, 2026
The Right Order to Book Your Wedding Vendors
Book wedding vendors in the wrong order and every later decision gets harder and more expensive. Here is the sequence and the reasoning.
VendorsWedding Planning
July 13, 2026
The 12-Month Wedding Timeline That Doesn't Assume You Have a Planner
A month-by-month wedding planning timeline for couples doing it themselves, with what actually has a deadline and what does not.
Timeline & ChecklistsWedding Planning
July 9, 2026
You Just Got Engaged. Here Is the Order to Do Everything In.
The first thirty days of wedding planning, in sequence, before the spreadsheet spiral starts.
Wedding PlanningTimeline & Checklists
July 7, 2026
The Knot, Zola, or Neither: An Honest Guide to Wedding Planning Apps in 2026
The Knot vs Zola vs Joy in 2026: which wedding planning app is better, what each does well, how each makes money from you, and when paying for one is the calmer choice.
Wedding PlanningTools & Apps
July 4, 2026
Why Couples Are Ditching the Wedding Spreadsheet in 2026
Where the wedding spreadsheet breaks, why free planning apps are not really free, and what to use instead.
Wedding PlanningBudget & MoneyTools & Apps