Planning Your Wedding

A wedding photographer's website is akin to an online dating profile; we must cast ourselves in the best light and find ways to create a connection within seconds of viewing our profile...ahem...site.

No matter how carefully you plan, no matter what you do, certain "types" of people will be at your wedding. Maybe you can blame your new groom's family, but be honest, some are on your side.

In the same way that you hope your guests will remember all the special touches you planned into your wedding, you also hope they will remember what you said.

You met. You dated. You fell in love. He proposed (or maybe you did!). You started planning a wedding... and suddenly found yourself wondering why. Screech! Stop! What!?

He's popped the question, a sparkly new ring adorns your finger and you've begun turning your dreams into actual wedding plans. And then you start having some of your worst arguments ever.

Once the bauble is placed on your finger and the news is made public, whatever private wedding fantasy you may have been harboring in your mind has to meet it's sworn enemy: Reality

Yup, you read it correctly, "man-gagement ring." Nope, it's not a company ring he was given for his promotion to the management tier; it's a ring he was given by his significant other.

Years later, divorce was imminent, but my fantasy of a wedding and the perfect marriage, well, it still lives on. Marriage is a rite of passage for every bride and she should never compromise on her special day.

In Caitlin Moran's brilliant new book, How To Be a Woman, she says you've got to get over the wedding day being the best of your life. I don't agree. Your wedding day really can be the best day ever. The secret is to forget what all the bridal magazines tell you, and make the day your own.

Opting for a vintage-themed wedding is a great way to get involved in your wedding day by taking on all kinds of cool DIY projects. These projects are simple to do and many of the items needed are easily found at your local dollar store.

My number one tip for the bride and groom who want an elegant wedding without the big budget is to select a few elements that are most important to them. A wedding is not about showing off. It's about creating moments and memories.

The idea of being somebody's wife kinda freaks me out! Am I alone here or are other modern day Rosie the Riveters out there struggling in silence?

I hear it all the time, "Love is love!" But in the eyes of many family members and politicians, love is not love. And this makes planning a gay wedding much more complicated.

Proposing marriage can be an overwhelming task. It may be a challenging feat, but if you follow the tips below you can have your own perfect marriage proposal.

You are not a bridezilla. You have not been planning this wedding since you were three and Barbie and Ken were your role models for love. You want a simple, meaningful, shenanigan-free wedding and you have somehow ended up a crazy person.

Here's my advice: if you have a sister, make her go down the aisle first so you can learn from her mistakes. And when it comes to a party, no one remembers the details, they just remember the fun.

When planning a wedding, there are three very important lists that should be created: wedding guest list, wedding budget and wedding wish list. All three go hand in hand in the orchestration and execution of the big day.

As an Indian-American, you're often saturated with information about Indian-owned businesses that were created to satisfy the masses, but you rarely hear about non-Indian run businesses that solely exist to satisfy our small (but growing!) population.

When people ask me what I love most about weddings, the answer is always the same. Spunk. I love when a couple ditches the notion of a traditional wedding and throws a fête that represents their personalities and loves.

Congratulations, you're engaged! Before your head starts spinning -- take a step back. Your wedding coordinator will be able to guide you through the process of making your day personal, understand your needs and desires and make them a reality.

You can't recreate a wedding, or any of the moments within it. It's the ultimate documentary assignment and your photographer, whoever they turn out to be, only has one shot. Less presence is more when it comes to photography.

With so many ways to shave down expenses in other areas of your wedding plans, you can make room in your budget to hire professionals.

There is a sense when I declare that I play the organ that I have confessed to something quaint and vaguely eccentric, like being a keen Morris dancer or a maker of intricate models of famous places using matches.

With a few notable exceptions, gluttony has pretty much bit the dust in this recession. The last bastion of excessive self-indulgence may be weddings. It wasn't always like that. Weddings have a long tradition of being an occasion to give back to the larger community.