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You've planned your Cinderella moment carefully, putting more thought into your dress, your hair, your make up than you ever have before. So...why should your guests look at the back of your head during the ceremony? Arranging the bridal party so they face out toward the audience is not a new thing in the realm of weddings, but it is rare. Think of the advantages, though. Your guests see you and hear you and revel in your big moment as much as you do, and you can share it with them, too. In fact, one officiant, who practically insists that the bride and groom face out, says it builds a stronger sense of family and friendship to share this moment face-to-face with your guests. As an extra perk, your dress will look that much more fabulous in the photos.

Let's face it - the unity candle can be a beautiful part of your ceremony. But sometimes, it can feel outdated. Or maybe even slightly dangerous, what with the open flame and all. And it's a one-trick pony. If you have children and want to involve them, you probably won't hand them a candle. Not to mention it's difficult for two people to light a candle, much less more.

A unity sand ceremony may be just the thing for you. Here's how it works. You have two smaller vases and one larger vase. The two smaller ones are filled with colored sand - one color for the bride and one for the groom. If you have kids, add a small vase with another color for them, too.

The groom pours some of his sand into the vase. Then the bride pours some of hers. The bride and groom then pour the rest of the sand in together, creating a sand pattern in the central vase. You can create many alternatives to this. Let your officiant pour in some sand of another color, forming the base, and then the bride and groom can follow. Children can pour in some sand after or with the bride and groom.

And when you're done, the sand pattern is a perfect keepsake of your day. Just don't forget to seal it up so it doesn't get ruined if it gets knocked over.

Lots of couples in the throes of wedding planning daydream about scrapping all the complicated plans and running off to the courthouse instead. My courthouse wedding took place on April 1, 2008 -- over the next few weeks, I'll tell my story, and maybe it will help you decide if eloping is right for you.

I met my partner, McKenzie, at the bridge table in Tennessee a few years ago. We both play a lot of bridge and go to a lot of tournaments, but we'd never met before because we lived on opposite coasts. It was only a matter of time, though -- pretty much all bridge players under thirty eventually become friends, because there are so few of us out there. And we became fast friends -- we kept up between tournaments via email, and after spending a little more time together in person, we knew we would be together for the rest of our lives. Simple as that.

McKenzie was one of those guys who wasn't sure he ever wanted to be married, and certainly not before age 30, an arbitrary guideline he'd set for himself years ago. He says it was because he'd seen too many young people make huge mistakes, and he didn't want to be one of them. I already was one of them. I'd gotten married right out of college, and divorced two years later. I'd had a big wedding before, and didn't want to have another one. I felt like having another wedding so soon after the first one would look self-absorbed, silly, and open me up to massive judgment. No thanks. So I didn't want a wedding, and McKenzie didn't even want to be married anyway -- or so I'd thought.

This week we're thrilled to be chatting to Kimberley Petyt, of Parisian Events, a first class American wedding consultancy in Paris.

How did you come to be a wedding planner in France?

Eight years ago I married a French man and after planning my own wedding in France, long-distance from San Francisco, I decided to start a wedding planning agency. I already had years of event planning experience in the USA, and I had also learnt so much about the differences between French weddings and American weddings through my own experiences, so it was almost a natural progression.

What are the major challenges of planning a wedding in Paris?

The biggest challenge for any couple is the long list of legal requirements. The main requirement is that one of the couple needs to have been a legal resident in the district in which they plan to marry for 30 – 40 consecutive days prior to their requested wedding date. And that means really living there, and being able to provide proof of residency (such as a utility bill) and not just bunking down in a hotel and being a tourist for a month!

If a couple wants a full wedding, with the civil ceremony followed by a church blessing, do you sort all the paperwork out?

I provide clients with a global road map of the documents that are needed for a civil ceremony, and the overall timing for submitting the documents. I'll also give them direction as to where they can find additional assistance, but I always recommend that a client contact their local embassy as well as the city hall in which they wish to marry directly for more information.

I provide the same type of assistance to those clients who are marrying in a religious ceremony. A lot of people in the U.S. don't realize that in order to have a wedding in a church in France, you first HAVE to have had a French civil ceremony.

Because there are SO many restrictions here in France, the majority of our clients who come from out of the country do choose to marry legally in their home country and have a symbolic ceremony or a religious blessing here in Paris.

You've weighed the pros and cons of getting married at home or away and away won. So, it's now time to decide where exactly to go? Some couples who opt for a destination wedding have a specific location in mind when they begin planning but others only know they want a sandy beach or somewhere near a lake or a picturesque mountain scene. How do you decide the exact place then?

Here are a few things to consider:

• What time of year do you want to get married? Are you set on a holiday wedding? Or, perhaps, springtime nuptials? Do you want to get married outside or do you envision a church setting? These are all questions to ask yourself right before you spend a nice afternoon with Google to make sure the location in your head is compatible with the other criteria you've laid out for your wedding day.
• What's the weather like? If you're planning a destination wedding, it's likely the setting is just as important as any other detail. Meaning, if you want a Mexican beach wedding, the weather will be crucial to a happy day. If you want an Irish celebration you'll want to avoid getting married in April -- an unpredictable time of year there. Weather.com is a fantastic resource for all brides-to-be and the site offers regular e-mail updates for the location of your choice.
• How easy will your wedding be to plan? The Internet has made planning a destination wedding much easier these days, but you still want to be sure the place you have chosen has a variety of things you will need for a destination wedding: local and professional vendors, accommodations (hotels, lodges, etc), a nearby airport. You not only want your wedding planning to be as stress-free as possible but you want your guests to enjoy their time there with few headaches.

Before you can dive into the joy of planning your dream wedding away from home, you want to pick the perfect spot. Is it a ranch in Santa Fe or a hilltop in British Columbia? Regardless, you want it to be right for you and your needs. Think it through before you dish out deposits, and you're sure to have a magical (and picture-perfect!) wedding day.

The 1920s are making a roaring comeback in wedding themes. And to help make your 1920s-themed wedding planning go a bit easier, our experts here at Aisledash have tracked down the best-of-the-best so you don't have to. Take a look at the fabulous things we found:

The National Cathedral in Washington, DC is a beautiful venue that you don't have to be Catholic -- or even religious -- to appreciate. The incredible architecture and stunning stained glass windows make this one of the most gorgeous churches in America. How would you like to have your wedding there?

If weddings at the National Cathedral were available to anyone who wanted them, there wouldn't be time for any of the cathedral's regular services or tours! There are strict requirements for anyone who wishes to marry at the National Cathedral, so before you start daydreaming about walking down those aisles, make sure you can meet at least one of these guidelines:

Brides spend hours planning the perfect wedding. We choose the ceremony venue, our dress, our brides maids and their dresses, our gift registries, reception hall, food, the cake, the photographer, and the details go on and on.

But do you ever stop to think about "what if?" What if you lose your ceremony venue or reception hall? Do you have a backup plan? You should. Brides in Fort Wayne, Indiana found out the hard way that reception halls can close with little notice. Fortunately for them, they'll get a refund. But with short notice, they will be hard-pressed to find a new hall.

So what do you do?

Confetti is fun and attractive, but we all know it's messy, it's a pain to clean up, and it's environmentally unfriendly. Bubbles are slippery, rice is now suspect, and birdseed, while better for the environment, is every bit as hard to clean up if it gets indoors.

Which is where ecofetti comes in. As the name suggests, it's eco-friendly. Though the site doesn't say what ecofetti is made of, it does assure us it's entirely biodegradable. Ecofetti is sold in cones or envelopes, and comes in vibrant colors as pictured above, or the pastels you see below. It's pretty and fun and won't harm the environment. The custodial staff will love it, too: just hose the stuff down, and it melts right away. It isn't slippery, and it doesn't stain.

Sounds like a win-win-win for the eco-conscious bride and groom!

Brides want the perfect location for their wedding. It has to be intimate, but able to accommodate a number of people. It must be elegant, yet welcoming. And most of all, it must be beautiful. If you're looking for venues in Orange County, California, then you may just want to check out the Franciscan Gardens in San Juan Capistrano.

Their beautiful rose garden is perfect for pictures. In fact, they claim that they specialize in "dancing under the stars." So if you'd like an outdoor venue, this may be your place.

The Gardens have a special area just for your bridal party: the bridal and bridesmaid suites, and the groom's library. The men and women can relax and get ready before the ceremony. And the luxurious rooms are included in the venue rental. Now that's getting ready in style!

With the Mission San Juan Capistrano right across the street, and a railroad behind the gardens, you have additional photo opportunities just waiting for you. This is one venue you will want to visit. You may just fall in love with the Franciscan Gardens.

While destination weddings and unusual venues are growing in popularity, many English couples still prefer to have a traditional church wedding. However, it isn't as easy as you might think. It's not simply a matter of finding a pretty church in a beautiful setting and booking it for your wedding. Oh no. The Church of England has long been quite snippy about who may exchange vows within the hallowed walls of their church buildings.

An old law states that you need to live within the church's parish, or attend the church, if you want to get married there. It made no difference if you grew up near the church, or your parents still live close by. You had to reside there yourself. Which wasn't always possible, especially with climbing house prices in those picture perfect villages forcing newly weds to leave their picturesque home towns and buy a more affordable house elsewhere.

But all this is set to change. The new law which should take effect in autumn, mean that you will be able to get married in a church that has special significance to you, even if you don't attend it or live nearby. Which we think is very good news indeed.

Perhaps we'll see a rise in the number of church weddings in the not-too-distant future.

It's not unusual to start dreaming about one's wedding when in a happy, loving relationship -- we've all practiced our signatures with our true love's last name, and thought about what our bridesmaids would wear. Paris Hilton, however, is reportedly thinking about some other wedding plans -- namely, how to get the most money for her wedding pictures.

She and rocker boyfriend, Benji Madden, aren't engaged (though they are going strong, and P-Hilt's family seems to really like him), but she's already got plans in the works for a double wedding with her sometimes-BFF Nicole Richie and Benji's bro, Joel Madden. Apparently, she thinks photos from a double wedding will bring in millions.

Villa Vizcaya sits on the edge of Biscayne Bay and is an impressive thing to see, especially at night, when it glitters as the site of grand parties - just like in the Great Gatsby. It was built in 1916 as James Deering's winter residence and he lived and entertained there until his death in 1925.

It's the perfect setting for a Roaring 20s wedding - and it's available for rental. From a small daytime wedding ($750) to a Grand wedding for 125 people (rental rates start at $12,500) you too can recreate all the glitz and glamour of the 1920s in an authentic setting.

Take a look at our gallery for a tour of this historic home and its gardens. Even if renting it is out of reach, touring this beautiful home might just inspire you into puttin' on the Ritz!

What's the most unusual wedding you've ever heard about? Underwater? Skydiving? Performed by a clown? Those are all old news, now, thanks to Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic.

Virgin Galactic is planning the first EVER space-wedding, and eccentric British billionaire Branson is to be the officiant. See, we told you it was unusual! (This actually isn't the first time Branson has played the part of officiant. Just last year he conducted the wedding of Virgin America marketing director Dimitrios Papdognonas and Coco Jones, on, of course, a Virgin flight.)

Whether or not you and/or your beloved are in the military, you've probably seen the military tradition of the arch of sabers. Though details of the ceremony vary depending on which branch of the military is involved, the essentials are the same throughout. Depending on the branch, however, not every serviceman (or woman) is eligible for the arch. If you're in the military, consult with your chaplain, who will know the ins and outs of your particular requirements.

The arch is usually performed outside the church. The saber- (or sword-) bearers, who must be in uniform, line up on either side of the walk. As the attendants proceed, they will have their sabers upright against their bodies, tip to their chin. When the bride and groom appear, a series of quiet commands have them raise the sabers into the arch. The couple proceed through the arch, but when they get to the end, the final two saber-bearers will drop and cross their blades, preventing the couple from proceeding.