Fast Frugal Fashion: Fast Frugal Wedding Anniversary

Hello! Hubby and I recently celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary -- woo hoo! The wedding was on March 2, 1996. It was a cold, clear and windy night. Our color was purple. The church was full of 200 of our family and friends. We had a lovely ceremony with three bridesmaids, three groomsmen, and a flower girl. A close friend sang two songs. My girlhood piano teacher played the wedding march. We had two pastors, one from my church and one from his(the church in which we met). The reception was fabulous. Our family friend (a florist) helped us transform the local Moose hall into an elegant candlelit space. The food was great. We hired a band(whose trumpet player I knew) and they played anything from Steely Dan to the Electric Slide to Ella Fitzgerald. It was the best night of my life! People remarked about how great the music was. We honeymooned in Jamaica.

Fast forward 18 years: we have two beautiful sons (one who is 15 and one who is 10). We've lived in three different communities. Hubby stayed home for 5 years to raise our 1st son while I worked full time. We've traveled to England(with an 8 mos old!). We've taken trips to both coasts. We've weathered good times and bad. But we're still together.....warriors of love (as a friend once said).
So when it came time to mark our anniversary, the natural choice was to go out to eat without the kids. We are now able to have the teenager babysit. And to save money, we used a gift card we had from Christmas for 54th Street Grill. So, dressy casual was appropriate.