For those of you that read our blog, you may have noticed that we are not writing as much about the nuts and bolts of bankruptcy. Instead, I’ve been writing more about general money matters. The reason for this? Two words - wedding planning.

So, if you ever wondered what a wedding planned by two self-employed bankruptcy lawyers looks like, here’s the inside scoop.

1. It’s all about the bottom line. One of the most common mistakes self-employed people make is doing what they love without considering the bottom line. Similarly, we had to consider our bottom line and make sure it was something we can afford. It’s critical for the survival of your marriage. (Trust me, I learned a thing or two about couples in debt. But that’s for another blog.)
2. Be creative. As a lawyer, I feel that my best asset is my ability to solve problems. Many times, the best solutions are those where you think outside the box. I really get a kick out of finding novel solutions to difficult problems. This might be figuring out a way to protect assets in bankruptcy, or finding ways to reduce cost of office supplies. In planning our wedding, it meant I didn’t follow the crowd. Instead of going to party rental store, I tapped into Freecycle and was able to find a lot of what I needed for free!
3. Be frugal. There is a big difference between “cheap” and “frugal.” Frugal is defined as “prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful.” In practice, I associate frugality with getting the best value for money spent. It also means figuring out what’s really important to you in life and spending your money on those things. For us, it’s spending time with our family, sharing amazing food and pictures to capture those moments. Everything else is just fat that we don’t need.
4. Ask questions. Lawyers attack every legal issue by asking questions, then researching the answers. Most of the time, the initial question I start out doesn’t end up being the most important to answer. For example, when I got engaged, I went on Google and typed in “planning a wedding.” But in hindsight, the issue is a lot more complex and the research ended up being about meaning of marriage, defining our goals and values as husband and wife.
5. Find love. I know, it’s cliché. When I started college in 1996, it was in the midst of the technology bubble. Everyone was taking computer science classes because that’s where the money was. So, despite my better senses, I took computer science classes and hated it. Even at 17, I knew that there was no amount of money that can make me love computer science. Finally, I switched majors and went on to law school. It’s what I love - all that Law & Order stuff . When Jeff and I made the decision to quit our law firm jobs to be self-employed (talk about scary), it’s because we wanted to be able to do what we loved - help people. We also wanted to be able to live the lifestyle that we wanted and not depend on an employer to sign our paychecks.

How about you? What’s your self-employment or wedding advice?

Image credit: SweetCakery