As a brand new Real Bride Contributor, I thought I'd share with you how I became a Broke-Ass Bride in the first place.

As a teenager, I worked at a hobby shop with an enormous magazine section covering every possible topic you can think of. I would cautiously walk past the bridal section but wouldn't dare flip through any for some inane fear of jinxing myself into being a life long old maid. This is a true story. Aside from some casual Pinteresting, I've totally steered clear of anything related to wedding planning until I was actually engaged. Not to completely digress, but I never thought it was right to get my heart set on anything without having the groom in mind.

I always thought that the first thing I'd do after I got engaged would be to run out to the hobby shop and come home with an armful of bridal magazines to swoon over. A magazine in one hand, and a glass of chardonnay in the other. (The chardonnay was added to this daydream later, you know, after I turned 21.)

It didn't exactly happen that way.

I ended up at Barnes & Noble since I live on the other side of town now, and I'm pretty sure that hobby shop is closed anyway. I did get my stack of bridal magazines, and also Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette (highly recommended, btw). I may, or may not have had my glass of chardonnay. Truthfully, I don't recall and that detail is irrelevant.

What I remember is the sinking panic that resulted from the sticker shock I felt when I saw that dresses were upwards of $3000-$4000. Then I started looking at local photographers, and those were a few thousand dollars, venues were a few thousand dollars. I was going to have to figure out some way to pay for all of this. I was totally, and completely unprepared.

Do guests really expect a four-course dinner? In an upscale ballroom? With a DJ, photographer and videographer? Two hundred of my "closest" friends and family members? Pyrotechnics, glitter and smoke machines? {Eds. note: Always glitter}

A solid month or two of anxiety, hyperventilation and some brass tacks budgeting followed.

We've been engaged for five months now, and I can confidently answer these questions:

No, your guests expect nothing but to share in the joy of two people they love, making a commitment to one another. (And food. Yeah, probably some food.) Anything else is a bonus. No one will be disappointed if your wedding doesn't resemble William and Kate's, Kanye and Kim's, or another celebrity's outlandish wedding du jour. Wedding magazines are gorgeous, but they are often extravagant, and far from representational of what ordinary people actually do. There should really be a disclaimer, or footnote - or maybe a declaration of the family's income when magazines share real wedding stories.

Reading magazines and doing a little initial vendor research made me feel as though the one day that I've thought about my whole life would be a disappointment to me, and the people I love. A bride-to-be should never feel that way. That includes you, dear reader. This is how I became a Broke-Ass Bride.

I've accepted our frugal budget as a personal challenge. I refuse to go into any debt to pay for our wedding. I will also not spend the next 14 months being a hermit to save up for it either. This budget was created so that we can have a lovely wedding, and still enjoy ourselves in the meantime. Summer in Milwaukee is a pretty amazing place to be, and I don't want to miss out on the festivals, rooftop patio-sitting, and other fun things that make this city great.

With a little due diligence, thinking outside of the box, and some trips to the crafts store, we're going to throw the best damn wedding. I'm excited to share with you how we're making this work, and hopefully provide a little inspiration to another Broke-Ass Bride at the same time.