Tenomania.com

Getting married? Congratulations! But you probably have a million things to do to prepare for the big day. If the list of to-do’s is stressing you out and making you wish you could afford your own personal wedding planner, let technology make the planning a little more easy and enjoyable.

1. A new kind of address book

Get rid of the handwritten address book you’ve been carrying around and enter the information for your invited guests, new family members, and vendors (such as your caterer or florist) in the Contacts folder of Microsoft Outlook® 2002. It not only makes it easy to change information without erasing or crossing out, it keeps the information in one central location. No more worries about accidentally leaving your address book somewhere with no recollection of where it could be.

Hint – You can create separate Contacts folders specific to your wedding to add a little organization to your address book. This will allow you to import and export that information for other uses, which you will learn as you read on.

2. A simple communication tool

As you enter information into Contacts, be sure to include e-mail addresses for your wedding party and vendors so you can use e-mail to easily keep everyone up to date on all wedding activities.

Hint – If appropriate for your taste, you can create a custom template for your e-mail so that when you send it out it has a wedding theme. Add a wedding bell for fun!

3. A to-do list that almost does the work for you

Of course you have a list of one hundred things to do. You could write them all down and try to keep track of them on paper, but instead, try using Tasks in Outlook 2002 to keep them in a central place. You can set due dates and/or identify the progress you have made on your tasks. And if you haven’t checked off an item by the assigned due date, you get a nice reminder that it needs to be done.

Hint – If you need to assign a task to your spouse-to-be, your maid of honor, or your best man, you can do so by checking the Assign Task option and it will send the task to them in e-mail. You will then either receive an e-mail message when it has been completed or a reminder if it hasn’t been completed.

4. A calendar that keeps you on task

As you schedule appointments for things such as clothing alterations and food tasting, use the Calendar in Outlook 2002 to enter your appointments. And be sure to set a reminder to prevent you from forgetting! If you have followed our first tip and entered your wedding party in your Contacts, you can pull up your attendants’ e-mail addresses and send them a meeting request with the time and date for an appointment, such as clothes shopping. If they accept, it automatically enters the appointment into their calendar with the reminder you have set.

Hint – Set reminders for important appointments a day ahead to prevent you from forgetting until the last minute.

5. Unique invitations that stand out

If you are having a tough time rationalizing paying a professional printer to make your invitations, you can stand out from the rest and create your own. Microsoft Word 2002 is great for adding photos, clip art images, and special formatting to make your invitations shine. Not only will your invitations look unique, but you can also keep a consistent theme by creating the rest of your wedding documents, such as engagement announcements and ceremony programs.

Hint – If this sounds like too much work, check out the

Templates site on Microsoft Office Online, where you will find wedding-themed templates already created. You can download these and edit to your taste.

6. Your own custom envelopes

If you decide to create your own invitations, why not go a step further and print matching envelopes as well? With the contacts you created in Outlook, you can use the Mail Merge option to import the information into Word and thus print your own envelopes with the invitees’ names and addresses as well as your return address.

Hint – To add a special touch, you can even add graphics to your envelopes.

7. An interactive budget

Ah, yes — everything costs money, and boy, does it add up fast. Get rid of the calculator and let Microsoft Excel 2002 track your expenses for you. By creating a budget in Excel, you can automatically calculate your total expenses as you go. It’s a good way to see how you are doing based on the budget you set forth, and it’s simple for you to know what you have left to spend.

Hint – If you would rather not take time to create your own budget spreadsheet, check out the Templates site for templates you can use.

8. A tracking system that works

Keeping track of your RSVP responses, all those presents, and the thank-you notes you need to send can be tough. Excel makes this simple. As you get responses or open presents, type in the person’s name and the response or gift associated. Once you’re done, you can sort the list by the "yes" or "no" response to determine how many people will attend or to whom you need to send thank-you letters.

Hint – If you created a Contacts folder of your invited guests, you can export their information into Excel 2002. That way, their names and addresses will already be in the spreadsheet for you to use.

9. A memory book to share

Add a little something different to your reception: Run a slideshow with pictures of you and your spouse during the reception. With Microsoft PowerPoint® 2002, you can take a basic presentation of photographs, add music and custom animation, and turn it into a continuously running slide show that seems almost like a home movie.

Hint – Create a similar presentation with pictures from your honeymoon to send to family and friends who live far away, so they can see what a great trip you had (and you won’t have to spend money on additional copies of pictures).

10. The extra mile

If you want to make things easy not only for yourself but also for your guests, take some additional steps in your planning with these suggestions. Avoid annoying phone calls with questions about where to stay and what to do by creating a personal wedding Web site with Microsoft FrontPage® 2002. On the site, you could post pictures and information such as suggested hotels, fun activities to do in the area, and stores where you are registered. For guests without e-mail access, you can use Microsoft Publisher 2002 to create a beautiful, full-color wedding guide to drop in the mail instead.

Hint – For the ultimate "professional" look, use Publisher to create beautiful, full-color invitations, thank-you cards, or even your wedding program or dinner menu — all templates included!

Now that you’ve read all of these tips, get your wedding planning started. It should be a piece of cake!

If you were someone who spent half her life dreaming about her wedding, dressing up as a princess, or obsessing over bridal magazines pre-mate, stop reading right now. You’re not going to like what I have to say.

For everyone else, you feel my pain. I’ve always loved going to other people’s weddings, but I never thought very much about my own up until now. Now that I find myself getting married, I’m in a happily strange position. Suddenly I need to plan.

Curiously, I’ve become a planner in ways I hadn’t imagined. It’s beginning to scare me a little. I have started to notice the sparkle of rings. I see places as potential wedding venues and experience food in restaurants as menu ideas. I notice the line of a dress, the exact shape of a flower, and all music as potential reception songs. Poetry is no longer poetry for me; it’s a possible reading at the ceremony. My life has been taken over! Or has it?

No matter what fantasy the wedding industry presents you, it’s a five or eight-hour party—and it will end. (Okay, ours is a two-day affair, so it’s closer to ten hours, but it’s not very much time in the scheme of our life!)

Here are a few ways to avoid the whole wedding racket, or what I call “the wedding industrial complex.”

1. Never lose sight of why you’re planning a wedding

After a recent engagement party, I was so moved by all the love and support from family and friends; it was a complete and utter reminder to the both of us why we’re doing all this planning in the first place! We’ve chosen to spend our lives together—and that is a wonderful thing. I’ve seen brides and grooms experience amnesia during the planning. They forget why they’re getting married and let the stress overwhelm them. “Bridezilla” may be an exaggeration, but these women—and their crazy grooms—exist. The planning process is not always pretty. It can take over your life—if you let it.

2. Think of wedding planning as a joint effort

My mate and I work on things together. We do have designated tasks (I give him lists of things to do with due dates), but we also do a lot together. It makes the process fun.

3. Consider a budget ahead of time and stick to it

Don’t let anyone persuade you to do something you don’t want. Consider what you could buy or invest in post-wedding. If you skip on the expensive gown or caterer, the money can go toward education or a down payment on an apartment or house.

4. Wear what makes you feel good, not what the world thinks you should wear

You don’t have to wear a gown or a veil if you don’t want to. White, cream, and all versions of ivory are gorgeous, but not all of us want to wear it. Why not green, blue, silver, or gold? One friend of mine went to a recent wedding where the bride wore a short blue dress and tall go-go boots. She was happy—and it showed.

5. If in doubt, skip it

In the wedding industry, so much is about theater—and it’s optional. I had a caterer blather on about “lighting options.” My idea of good lighting? A $2-bag of tea lights from the hardware store! He also mentioned a wonderful “stylist.” Aren’t stylists for celebs? Am I not fabulous enough?

6. Observe people carefully before deciding to work with them

I try to avoid vendors who say things like “You really should …” or “You have to …” or “You need to …” No, I don’t. As soon as someone starts talking to me like I’m a child, I run away as fast as I can!

7. Keep the wedding an expression of you and your mate

We’re writing our own vows and have decided not to have a best man or bridesmaids. Some have reacted in horror. You’d think the world was coming to an end. We also decided on a small ceremony on a separate day from the reception. No matter the reaction, we plug ahead with our plans.

8. Shop around

Not all vendors are alike and never assume that a vendor is giving you the best possible price. I’ve found that higher prices do not always correlate with higher quality in the wedding industry. It’s hit or miss. And when a vendor hears the word “wedding,” it’s often code for (sshhhh!) “double the price.” Give yourself options and don’t feel rushed into doing anything.

9. Designate one night of the week when wedding discussions are off-limits

Banning wedding talk guarantees that there is one day when not a thought or trickle of conversation between you and your mate is given over to “the big day.” Hell, make it three days a week.

10. Ditch what you don’t like; take what works for you

There is so much advice out there: from books, newspapers, and magazines, to TV shows, Web sites, and blogs, it can easily become overwhelming. It doesn’t matter what the latest trend is. It’s your wedding to plan. Not Modern Bride’s or Martha Stewart’s. I’ve thrown out the magazines and returned to my novel. It’s much better for my soul than any bridal magazine will ever be. The plans will come along just fine. We’re happy to be getting married, period.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food," said George Bernard Shaw. While you and your sweetie may disagree, your wedding guests will most likely be eager to fill their bellies with tasty treats. A little menu planning can easily woo the crowd. Here are ten tantalizing tips to make your wedding meal memorable — and have your guests licking their lips:

1. Dream Up a Theme

One of the most fun (and often easiest) parts of developing a theme wedding is deciding the menu. From a traditional New England clambake to a spicy Southern barbecue, theme-wedding menus create a fun, exciting, and memorable event. It might even be the way you eat the food that stays in your guests’ minds — cracking crabs at a Maryland riverside wedding, nibbling satay at a Thai-inspired city garden reception, or roasting marshmallows over the flaming bonfire at a wedding "campsite."

2. Go Regional

There are many people who take culinary vacations, traveling through countries in search of the local fare. Turn your wedding reception into its own culinary vacation by creating a menu featuring regional specialties. It may be foie gras from the Hudson Valley, spicy chicken wings in Buffalo, or even the largest cheese spread ever seen in Wisconsin.

3. That’s Entertainment

Who said that food only pleases the palate? You can devise a wedding menu where the food preparation is as flavorful as the food itself. Consider a sushi bar complete with professional sushi chef — the performance of slicing and rolling turns simple ingredients into works of art right before your guests’ eyes. Or perhaps French chefs donned in aprons and hats will create flaming crepes tableside. Find a wedding caterer who can pull it off!

4. All in the Family

Something in between a sit-down meal and a buffet, family style offers a natural way to get tables of guests talking while creating a very festive and homey atmosphere. Each dish is delivered to the center of the table and guests pass them politely (or grab and hoard, depending on your family). Italian food might be an obvious choice, but Asian, Mexican, and Indian cuisines work well here too.

5. That’s So You!

The wedding day is all about the bride and the groom, so why not plan a menu that has special meaning to the two of you? Perhaps your first date was at a baseball game — why not serve hot dogs? Or maybe the two of you love to fly fish — highlight freshwater fish on the menu. Or he proposed over a romantic picnic lunch — recreate the magic by recreating the meal. When your guests think about what they ate, they will automatically think about the couple of honor.

6. Presenting…

The eyes have it — when it comes to remembering things, that is. Your guests will very likely recall a fabulous-looking buffet table before they remember what foods it featured. Be creative — instead of serving soup in a bowl, have it ladled into a hollowed-out acorn squash. Or have asparagus tied up like a present with leek leaves. You could even serve coconut shrimp inside a coconut and garnish with a tropical flower.

7. Less is More

Sometimes the simplest foods presented in an elegant, bountiful manner have a more memorable effect than a wide variety of offerings. Colin Cowie offers this advice in his book For The Bride: "You can make a statement of style with one or two spectacular dishes. For example, instead of having ten different tray-passed appetizers during the cocktail hour, serve mountains of jumbo shrimp or sliced smoked salmon." Remember, KISS — keep it simple, sweetie.

8. Ride with a Trend

Trends come and go and if you can jump on one before it’s passé, all the more power to you. Ask your caterer what’s up and coming. Perhaps she’s got some unusual idea that will make the kind of memorable statement you’re looking for. It might be something as homey/funky as a mashed potato bar, complete with your choice of spuds and toppings, presented in a martini glass. Or maybe a true Belgian treat — pommel fritters served with the traditional mayonnaise in paper cones. Just remember — they’re trends, so plan accordingly if you’re setting up your wedding menu a year in advance.

9. A Honeymoon Preview

Don’t worry-we’re not suggesting anything X-rated here! Just that you consider planning a menu based on your honeymoon spot. If you’re off to Venice, serve a spread one could imagine eating in a gondola. Or if Hawaii’s your destination, feature luau fare (without the flame-eaters) — perhaps even the spit-roasted pig. Maybe it’s Japan where you’ll be spending the week — how about a Tepanyaki station (Japanese barbecue), where guests choose raw meats, shrimp, veggies, noodles, and sauces and watch it get stir-fried. Get honeymoon ideas, if you’re not sure where you’re off to.

10. Five-Star Elegance

If dining out in the fanciest of restaurants is your idea of luxury and you happen to have a lot of dough, treat you and your guests to gourmet, white-glove-service dinner. Plan a multi-course meal, complete with a refreshing intermezzo (with hot lemon-scented towels after the fish course, of course). You can choose from French or Russian service: With French, the waiters prepare food on stands set up next to the table and then serve individual plates; Russian service features white-gloved waiters who carry each course on a large tray and serve guests directly from it. For that added touch, offer a different complementary wine with each course.

Original artical source – TheKnot.com

Think having a green wedding has to be complicated? It doesn’t. Here are ten easy ways you can green your big day.

1. Choose a green location to have your wedding and/or reception

This could be a park, a museum, or a local charity venue. You could also look for hotels or restaurants that are green, either by serving organic menus or adopting a code of green business ethics such as recycling, buying local and donating part of their proceeds to charity. Check listings such as Green America’s (formerly Co-op America) National Green Pages.

2. Serve an organic and local menu

Supporting local farms and businesses is important and your food will be fresher. Try to find a caterer that uses local and organic ingredients to make dishes. Everything from your cake to your appetizers, even your drinks can be organic but even just a little bit counts.

3. Send out invitations printed on recycled or tree free paper

Companies like Twisted Limb offer beautiful wedding invitations made of recycled, handmade paper.

4. Wear a gorgeously green gown

Your eco-friendly wedding gown may be something borrowed, a family heirloom, a gently used dress, or a vintage beauty. It could also be made from sustainable eco-friendly fabrics like bamboo, hemp, organic cotton or peace silk. The options keep growing everyday as new eco-designers appear or traditional designers add eco-friendly selections to their lines of wedding gowns.

5. Less is more

Opt to cut out all the unnecessary extras like favors, menus, place cards and things that are not needed. This saves resources and money.

6. Get creative with your décor

Nature is full of beautiful items that can be sued to decorate then be returned to nature after the wedding; rocks, twigs, flowers, potted plants, trees, leaves…Use the bountiful options nature offers to create stunning decorations, centerpieces and more. Once the wedding is over these pieces of nature can be placed in your yard or garden.

7. Ditch the disposables

Forget about disposable plates, napkins, silverware and all that. Opt for rented items that can be washed and reused over and over again. If you are having a small intimate wedding you would even consider purchasing tablecloths, plates and tableware that you could reuse in your home after the wedding.

8. Candle light is extremely romantic

make it eco-friendly as well by using natural soy wax or beeswax candles. Regular candles are made with paraffin, a petroleum based product. Not a green choice.

9. Green your transportation

Arrive to your destinations in eco-style with hybrid or electric vehicles. You could even provide transportation for your guests with buses that run on biofuels.

10. Have a great green honeymoon

After your wedding plan to stay close to home or travel to an eco-resort or hotel to keep the green going after the big day.