End Of Financial Year Sales and Boxing Day Sales are the ultimate for saving up to 50% off suits, ties, shoes and just about everything else, so why would you bother hiring? Sure it’s an easy and less time consuming option, but it’s by no means the cheaper option when everything is on Sale, Sale, Sale.

Shopping from a blokes point of view has to be more like “bargain hunting”. Once it has objective it becomes a challenge, and even if it’s heavily discounted we’re likely to still haggle. Sure I seem like a tight arse, but it’s fun playing the game, and you’d be surprised how much people will mark down an item to make the sale.

It doesn’t have to be a designer suit either, most guys look snappy and make their mothers proud in just about any suit. And lets face it, it’s all about her dress. So unless you turn up nude or in fluoro, people aren’t going to be overly bothered if your wearing Armani or not.

Not to mention there will always be “special” occasions that you’ll need a good suit, so while the sales are in your favour (and you need one anyway), take the opportunity and dress yourself and your groomsmen for half price and know that the next time you wear it you’ve just ‘added value’.

Mr A

Honeymoon: I hereby discovered the “honeymoon upgrade” rule. I kid you not, make sure you tell people you’re on your honeymoon when you travel, and don’t be shy to ask for an upgrade. More often then not you will be! We had everything from car to room upgrades, even meals at half price and ‘complimentary’ drinks, chocolates and cheeses.. everywhere we went!

The only time you may have difficulty exercising the honeymoon rule is coming back to Aus with excess booze in your baggage. We were gifted some Central Otago wines (absolutely delicious I might add), and customs NZ told us because they have had tax paid on them, we should be ok. This is not the case, Aus customs are very strict about their 2lt booze rule, if it weren’t for a quick joke that {A’s} initials are now AA and I should send her to meetings they probably would have made us pay the duties. I would expect to be fined on top of that if they find excess booze and you haven’t declared it too, so declare everything.

So for now it’s back to reality and we’re looking forward to our next holiday.. I mean honeymoon

Mr A.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, no cousins, no kids. We received an invite from one of my cousins last week to his engagement party. It’s scheduled for the night before our wedding. This didn’t prove to be a huge drama, I mean my family is more than capable of partying two nights in a row, and I had spoken with {cous} around Christmas time & explained our wedding circumstances and our no cousin polciy.. I must have forgotten to mention the date. He too is having a small wedding hence {A} & I would be invited to the engagement party but not the wedding. Problem solved.

But now comes the fun bit, with just over two weeks to go, people are starting to realise they haven’t received an invite, and are probably not going to. So in come the distressed emails from family and friends. Great Aunts & Uncles that have known “of” you all their lives. And friends that invited you to their weddings, but you haven’t shown them the same courtesy.

Maybe it would be easier for them to get over it, if you shared that the day is not about them, or that they should try respecting the choices you have made. Because at my wedding there will be no “Guilty” tables.. And it’s not that they don’t ‘mean’ anything to me, its ‘where do you draw the line’.

However if they really do push your guilt button, try to make best of a really awkward situation and invite them to the ceremony. This way they can still be a part of your celebration without tearing your family apart or ruining a friendship.

The Mr.