I remember being a child near Christmastime and my favorite day was “Christmas Wish List” day.  My sister and I would each type up on the computer the extravagant presents we wished to receive.  Our own TVs with cable in our rooms, cell phones… neither would ever come true.  It was a glorious day of wishful thinking and relentless hoping.

But these days it seems I’ve come to dislike the gift-giving holidays.  Never mind the part where I’m horrible at coming up with gifts to give others, I dislike telling others what I want.  It seems almost selfish to me.  I’m sure I have some sort of weird skewed vision of the subject now because clearly I didn’t mind when I was younger.  (I wonder what odd traumatic experience happened to me that I’m now blocking?)  As of late, I hate the idea of listing off things I want to another party, whether it be friend or family.

However I’ve come across a way to avoid it.  And it’s so 21^st century.  Wishpot.comis by far the coolest thing I’ve seen lately.  And something I’ve long been thinking would be an excellent idea in the age of Internet shopping.  The concept is quite simple:  you download a little tool and when you’re on a website that has a fabulous find (a must-have, if you will), click the button in your toolbar, fill out a bit of information and it adds the item to your list on Wishpot.com.  On top of that, they have a wedding registry section.  Perfect.  (And once you’ve graduated to the next stage of life, parenting!!, they have a baby registry!)

So make sure you check this website out.  They even have a one-minute instructional video.  And as wish almost everything these days, you can add a “Wishpot Widget” to your Myspace or Facebook.  So I’m going to go register right now and delve more deeply into my fabulous find. 

So this Christmas I will DEFINITELY be using Wishpot.com.  And sending the link to prospective buyers.  As for not feeling selfish?  My New Year’s Resolution.

• DJ – well, I work at a radio station and music is my life, so that really does need to be top notch.
  
• Photo and/or Video - #1 I’m absolutely in love with the wedding videos that make it look like a real movie.  And #2 it’s something I went to school for, so how am I going to sit back and watch someone botch that up?  As for photography, I can’t wait to see professional candids of myself that actually look good. 
  

 
As for my dear friend…granted she’s getting married in New Jersey and everything is automatically more expensive, she’s paying something like $12,000 for food.  $100 a head.  Insanity, I must say.  However, her cake may be included.  My memory is fuzzy. 
 
My friend is like me.  There’s no way she’ll sacrifice when it comes to the DJ.  She’ll jab the man in the stomach and start playing some of our classic mixed CD’s from our college days entitled such things like “the soft hand” and “the classic what” before she lets him play the wrong song.
 
I’m afraid for her on the photography/videography front.  Our group loves photos.  Last time we were together we pulled out every album we had and reminisced over the good old days.  Or we would spend hours on Yahoo Photos poring over a night famously called “helllloooooo.”  So really, how do you skimp on photography? 
 
The classic “every table has a disposable camera” idea has been around for a long time.  And it’s a great way for your friends and family to get involved in your wedding day memories.  I know when my mom got remarried in ’94 she didn’t have a photographer at the reception.  And your friends can get pretty creative when left with a camera. 
 
Digital cameras have really helped in that department as well.  I’m not sure that I know a single person who doesn’t have a digital camera, or at least access to one these days.  And this day in age, the Internet makes it so easy to share photos and videos between friends. 
 
So it’s not so impossible to “skimp” on photography.  You’ll still get the same memories, but for much less money.

Seating arrangements.

It’s one of (if not THE) most stressful parts of planning a wedding.  You’ve selected your dress.  Agonized over flowers.  Even spent time creating the coolest, most original favors you could think of.  But you still have to seat the guests.  It even makes me shudder.  And I like puzzles.

First come up with a plan.  Draw out a floor plan of your reception hall, where the tables will be, the dance floor, the dj, entrances, etc.  Or your reception hall probably has one available for you.  Don’t forget to find out the number of guests each table sits.

Secondly, write every guest’s name on a separate card or a post-it note and start placing them.  Make sure to put people near places that suit them best.  Your family will want to be closest to the head table, but your friends may want to be near the dance floor or with easy access to the bar.

Don’t forget about the wedding party.  Maybe you don’t want to have that traditional long table facing out to rest of the guests.  Some brides and grooms want to make the day a little more about them as a couple and decide to sit at a smaller, more intimate table, just the two of them.  That way the wedding party can sit at a separate table along with their dates.

Beware of “singles” and “couples” tables, as sometimes it could make guests feel awkward.  You also might want to avoid seating the “random guests” together.  They will quickly realize that they are the odd people out.  Instead, get creative with where you seat them. 

Another easy way to get through the agony of seating arrangements is using a spreadsheet.  Break the guests up into categories and place them at tables based on who they know.  (The bride’s family, groom’s family, bride’s friends, etc.)

A new development in making the seating arrangement process much easier is software you can download from the web.  The software allows you to create a guest list, manage the menu, see who has RSVP’d and easily place your friends and family at specific tables.

Toptableplanner.com works completely online so you can access it from any computer.  It allows you to easily add guests and tables; rearrange and rename.  You can choose what type of table you’re using and you can simply drag-and-drop.

Perfecttableplan.com is another useful tool.  This program is downloadable onto your computer and will auto assign your guests to tables.  It’s usable for any size event, from small gathering to an extravagant 2,000+ affair.  You can make profiles for each guest including their age (child or adult), gender, meal preference and more.  Another step allows you to select the proximity of each guest to another person, from “seat next to” and “seat near to” to “not next to” and “not near to.”  You’re easily able to select the shape of the table and arrange them according to the floor plan of your reception hall. 

Seatingarrangement.com is the free service.  This one lets you choose the meal options, design your floor plan manually, track RSVPs and all.  However, you have to assign the seating yourself.  Everything is easily movable.  And as you fill up a table, the program makes a small pie chart showing how many guests are seated and how much room you have left at that table.  And if you notice, the guests seated that are linked to the bride are pink and for the groom they’re blue!

So it may not be as stressful as we thought.  One thing is for sure, the earlier you get started, the easier it will be.  Good Luck and Happy Seating!

It’s one of the most important parts of your wedding day.  Well, we might say that about a lot of things.  But it’s definitely one of the things guests will remember the most.  Up there right next to “How beautiful her dress was!” will be “And the cake!  The cake was amazing!” 

There are many elements to remember when choosing your cake.  How big does it need to be?  How much am I going to spend on this edible decoration?  What color is going to be?  (Oh so often asked with “What color is my wedding going to be?”)  What will it taste like? 

With wedding cakes these days (much like birthday cakes, shower cakes, any-type-of-cake-you-can-think-of cakes…) there are endless possibilities.  The recent introduction of such shows as Ace of Cakes and Food Network Challenge have shown brides that they can have just about anything they want at their wedding. 

 
The traditional cake.
 

The three-, four- or five-tiered cake is still often the norm at weddings.  Decked out in elegant decorations, white icing, pretty lace, exquisite roses… It all screams a picturesque, stylish wedding. 

It’s easy to make that traditional cake unique to your wedding.  Make each tier a different flavor.  Vanilla for one, chocolate for another, maybe even a red velvet.  Cake decorators and bakers have their specialty cakes, so see what’s available.  Not only does this make your cake different, but memorable.  Guests will be relishing in the fact that they get to choose what type of cake to eat and will definitely divulge the information when talking about the wonderful wedding they attended this past weekend.

Oftentimes when you have a tiered cake the number of tiers depends on how many people you have attending the wedding.  You should always ask your baker or cake decorator how many your cake will feed, but a good reference guide can be found here: Cake Serving Guide  
 
But…it doesn’t have to be traditional.
 

I’ve come to find that my personal favorite type of cake is the un-traditional.  Cakes have become art pieces, a way to represent the couple (or occasion) in a way other than the square or the circle shapes set on top of each other.  Your cake decorator may be able to make you a cake in the shape of a set of wedding bells or the car you’re driving off with together in the sunset.  You can make it as fun as you want. 

All you have to remember is that it’s your day and you can do whatever you want.  That’s the beauty of a wedding.  It’s all about you.