Inhale, Exhale, Repeat.

Oh man. Oh jeez. Whooo. Aaaahhh. I can't (gasp) seem to get (gasp) enough air over here (gasp).

I just received the first "official" quote from one of the many (and by many, I mean 8) caterers we're interviewing. And by interviewing, I mean being tortured by.

It seriously just feels like someone has sucked all the air out of the room. Melodramatic...maybe. But really, I'm absolutely shaking right now.

By now, I'm sure you've realized that this was not a good quote. Nope. The quote, not including 15% gratuity, is almost 3 TIMES our budget!!! 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Granted it includes absolutely EVERYTHING we want, including the mashed potato martini bar, the custom groom's cake, the 3 signature cocktails, the made-to-order salad station, the fruit & fresh cream bar, gourmet coffee bar, countless hor d'oeurves, and a wedding coordinator, I just wasn't expecting the final number to be more than a new car. A very expensive new car.

And now comes the fork in the road. Of course we'll be entertaining quotes from the other 7 vendors (well, probably 6 because I might have offended one by calling her "Susan" instead of "Diane" in an email...whoops), but the likelihood is that they'll all be just as expensive.

At first glance, the quote seemed very reasonable. The food and beverages were almost on budget. But as I continued to scroll down, I saw more numbers. $12 for napkins for the bread baskets. $0.50 per fork. And we need a lot of forks. $600 just for table linens. $100 for fresh flower garnishes for the buffet table.

Oh man, here comes the panic attack again. Oh no. Aaargh.

Excuse me while I go hyperventilate into a brown paper bag.

PS - Did I mention the quote was higher than the ENTIRE wedding budget?? Ughhhhhh.