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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!

Many times, brides and grooms experience different kinds of stress. Brides are usually more emotional about the wedding plans and grooms can be more concerned about, or "stressed out" about money. Whether you are a bride or a groom, it is a time where all kinds of stress can manifest itself. Here are a few tips:

1. Expect that there will be stress in planning your wedding

Why? There are a lot of decisions to be made, many details to be worked out, and others may want, or try to influence you. That is not bad or wrong, it just requires that you and your fiancé be aware of what is really happening. Try to respond to issues and avoid reacting to things.

2. One of the greatest challenges facing brides and grooms is their feelings of wanting to satisfy everyone

There are so many people involved – family, friends and relatives. Setting realistic expectations is very important. Don’t expect perfection. Expect a "terrific" day. Setting expectations that are too high will create stress and lead to frustration, and then more stress.

3. Feeling stressed about certain elements of the wedding such as, saying your wedding vows or your first dance?

Then, visualize the event. Spend some quiet time alone, relax and really visualize in your mind the events going smoothly. Do this exercise several times a day if you need to!

4. One of the best ways to combat stress is to exercise

When things start getting out of control – STOP. Take a break and go to the gym or go for a brisk walk.

5. There are always some people (relatives or friends) that know how to "push your buttons"

When you are feeling very stressed… be sure to stay away from or at least limit your time with these people.

6. Wedding planning can cause a great deal of stress between the bride and the groom

Individually, they should be aware of their thresholds for stress, and how much stress they can handle in a given time period. If you notice that one of you is nearing your "threshold", then take a short break from your wedding planning and do something fun together.

7. Parents can also experience wedding stress as their children get married and leave "the nest"

This is commonly referred to as "separation anxiety". It can be a time of great anxiety for the parents which can then create stress and highly emotional issues for the bride and groom. Being aware of what is happening, REALLY happening, is a big part of dealing and managing stress.

8. Time pressure can cause a great deal of stress

Don’t try and do everything yourself. Delegate as much as you can to others. Use the Internet.

9. Are you and your fiancé arguing more than normal?

Realize that this is normal because you are spending more time on wedding planning versus spending time on your relationship. That’s why it is so important to take time away from wedding planning and spend time with each other. A romantic dinner, a bike ride — whatever you both like to do together (just don’t discuss the wedding plans!)

10. Believe in your love and y our partner

It is the most important thing you should keep in your mind. If you love your partner with all your heart, then you can overcome anything. Wedding is just a part of it…a new beginning towards a beautiful  life full of love. Keep that in mind, keep your head cool and go for it.

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.