2015

You and your fiancé have agreed that you’re not taking his last name, and you’re both at peace with it. Now comes the challenge of explaining your decision to everyone else. Here’s how.

You’ve chosen your wedding venue, your DJ, your photographer and caterer. You know you still have to buy a gown, and flowers, and formalwear, and favors. You’re prepared for all the big wedding expenses; but these little details can suddenly leave you way over budget if you don’t catch them early.

There are essentially two phases to choosing a venue for your wedding reception. Start by getting input, from friends and online. Read reviews. Get rough price estimates. When you’ve narrowed down your search to the top two or three venues, do a site visit to each of them, so you can actually start visualizing how your reception might look there. Here’s what to ask while you’re there.

Before you can even think of getting married, you need a man (or woman) who is marriage-worthy, right? Here are some signs that he/she is “the one.”

You’re engaged! And you want to spread the joyful news to everyone you know. So you head straight for the internet, right? No! No! For the love of God, NO! There’s a right way and a wrong way to use social media as your wedding communications center. Pay attention, now.

Those dreamy articles in the wedding magazines represent someone’s fantasy of the perfect wedding. The reality may seem a little scary at first; but with proper preparation, you can navigate around the pitfalls of planning a wedding, and make your own fantasy come to life.

A great wedding doesn’t just happen. A lot of pieces need to be in place. If you’re booking a banquet hall, most of those pieces are part of the package; but don’t just assume that everything is provided. Get out your checklist, and be sure you have these essentials.

Take a look at this list of the things brides fear as their wedding days approach. You may find out that you’re not as paranoid as you think. The good news is that most of these fears are never realized.

It doesn’t take long for newly engaged couples to learn that booking a venue, photographer, DJ, florist, stylist and planner are easy, compared to dealing with all the people who may (or may not) become your wedding guests. Here’s just a sample of some questions couples have asked, along with some common-sense answers.

An introverted bride doesn’t like being the center of attention; but like it or not, what’s what she’ll face on her wedding day. These simple tips will help a shy bride get through her big day with minimal stress.