They laid it out for me.
Total remaining venue balance: seven thousand two hundred dollars. Owen and Claire had already paid for catering, photography, and Claire’s dress, which had taken a significant portion of their combined savings. Their liquidity for the venue was three thousand two hundred dollars — roughly half of what was needed.
They had five additional sources they were working with:
My mother had offered fifteen hundred dollars. This was more than I expected from her, and it told me that the conversations she’d been having had landed somewhere real.
Owen’s parents had offered to contribute five hundred, which they were giving as part of a wedding gift reallocation — they had intended to give a check at the wedding, and they were redirecting some of that to the more immediate need.
Becca had offered three hundred, which I thought was extraordinary generosity from a maid of honor who was already managing an enormous amount of logistics.
Owen’s sister Hannah had offered two hundred.
That brought the total to: thirty-two hundred from Owen and Claire, plus fifteen hundred from my mother, plus five hundred from Owen’s parents, plus three hundred from Becca, plus two hundred from Hannah. Total: fifty-seven hundred.
They were fifteen hundred short.
“The florals,” Owen said. “We’ve been going back and forth about the centerpieces for six months. The custom arrangement the florist was proposing would cost twelve hundred. The barn’s rental option is two hundred and fifty. If we cut the custom arrangement, that’s nine hundred and fifty saved.”