AisleDash

Dear AisleDash,

My fiance and I just bought a house together. We've been living together for a while and already have all the things we need, and really all we want for wedding gifts is money. Is there any way to register for this? Can we put it on our invitations that we just want money, not gifts? We don't know what the proper etiquette is. Please help!

-New homeowners

Dear homeowners,

Congratulations on your purchase. Presumably you bought a house you could afford, and you weren't banking on monetary wedding gifts to pay the mortgage for you. Still, paying the mortgage is your highest priority now (as it should be), so it makes sense that you'd prefer monetary gifts. However, there is no way to ask for money that isn't tacky, and blatantly putting that in your invitations is a huge faux pas. Don't do it.

Paper wedding invitations can cost hundreds of dollars (some can even cost thousands!). And, what's more, the cost doesn't end when the invitations are printed and assembled. The cost of stamps alone (to send and to apply to the RSVP card) can set you back a considerable amount of money. More and more people are turning to electronic invitations because of exorbitant paper invitation costs. Even though it's more financially feasible to send out an evite or e-mail, electronically inviting guests may seem to lack some originality and design for some brides and grooms. That is until now.

Pingg.com offers a new, more attractive way to invite guests without bothering with the high cost (and stress!) of paper invitations. At pingg.com you can design your own online invitation -- either by choosing a pre-designed theme (there are tons to choose from!), or by designing your own with any of nearly two million available images or with original art work you can design and upload yourself. The best part: most pingg.com invitations are completely free.

After you have designed a beautiful, theme-friendly invitation, you can choose RSVP options and then send it off through e-mail, SMS or even Facebook! Another fun feature on pingg.com is a customizable Web page for your special event, with guest list, registry and event detail options.

Finally, if you have your heart set on a snail-mail invitation, pingg.com does offer printed invitations at a reasonable cost.

Visit pingg.com and read the press release, which is full of information and helpful tips to use pingg.com without a single headache that one comes to expect with paper invitations.

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.

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Bridalwave gives us the scoop on the $10,000 proposal.

Polka Dot Bride has us drooling over the idea of customizing our own bubbly. Cheers to that!

We love the Capiz Party Garlands at Hostess with the Mostess. But who needs a party? We want to decorate our house with them!

Wedding Bee's Miss Toucan discusses her hesitation toward registering for big ticket items. If you don't register for them, you have no chance of getting them, but you don't want your guests to think you're greedy ... what do you think?

With the wedding season about to blast into full swing, invitations are going to start arriving in post boxes. Those comfy, warm winter clothes won't do for a pretty summery wedding so it's going to be off to the shops to find something to wear. (Any excuse for a wardrobe update!)

UK store LK Bennett has a fabulous range of summery floral prints and plain pink dresses and pink accessories that are exactly right for a warm weather wedding. From shoes and handbags, to dresses, and gorgeous overcoats, the summer range is lust-worthy and, with a bit of judicious mixing and matching, should see the savvy shopper through a few weddings this season.

Although the store in based in the UK they do ship internationally. Click on the gallery below for pink inspiration.

We really couldn't believe it when we first saw this story. A bride and groom got into a brawl on their wedding day - and went to jail still in their wedding attire.

A Pittsburgh couple got into a fight after their reception at the Holiday Inn. The groom karate kicked his bride to the floor. A couple of guests from another wedding tried to step in and help, but the bride then turned on the would-be helpers.

The fight went from there - on the hotel's seventh floor - into the elevator and down to the lobby. And then the bride and groom threw metal planters at the helpful couple, causing minor injuries! Even the police called it wild.

This couple had married the month before in the Bahamas and renewed their vows in Pittsburgh in front of 150 guests. They were just checking into their room when the fight started.

The police charged them with numerous infractions and hauled off to jail. The bride left the jail the next morning, still in her wedding gown. The groom, who left separately, was bloody, bruised, and wearing only one shoe. Neither of them would comment to the press.

That's not the way we would recommend starting your honeymoon. We're just saying.

Image: ToastyKen on Flickr

If you are planning a "Roaring 20s" wedding, your reception is likely to be one funky (and fun!) party with groovy jazz playing and bridesmaids donning flashy, flapper-like outfits. In order to stay true to the heart of the era when Art Deco peaked and culture came roaring back to America you will want to find an invitation to send that looks and feels authentic.

First, visit Olivia Stationery, an online store out of the United Kingdom that offers a few original designs that will perfectly capture the feel of your "Roaring 20s" wedding. Or try Decodent Dezigns, a site specializing in Art Deco wedding invitations and save-the-date cards in a variety of styles and colors.

In addition to those two must-visit sites, there are a few more invitations sprinkled around the Internet that you'll definitely want to glance at if you're planning a "Roaring 20s" wedding. Check out the gallery to get a sneak preview of them.

For every bride who wishes she could have added those blank patent-leather heels from Banana Republic or a few Stila eyeshadows from Sephora to her wedding registry, myregistry.com was created for you. This one-stop registry shop allows all brides- and grooms-to-be to hand pick what they want on their registry -- not just what they want from one store but what they want ... period.

You can begin adding items to one comprehensive registry from all your favorite retail stores for no cost. Not only can you add items from every store imaginable, but you can use the resources on myregistry.com to find the perfect must-have and must-buy items for you and yours.

Myregistry.com has an extensive FAQ page to walk you through growing your perfect wedding registry in one specific and easy-to-access Web site, and you can also peruse a "Gift Idea" section (gifts to ask, gifts to give) and a "Sample Registry" section at myregistry.com.

Just pass the word to friends/family through an e-mail, a note on your wedding Web site or an add-on in your wedding invitation. Then sit back and let the perfect products come to you!

Handmade recycled paper stationery is great for green weddings. Use it for invitations, place cards, favors, and thank you notes. You can also take the green paper idea a step further when you buy stationery with embedded seeds. You can literally plant the paper right in your garden, and the paper will dissolve cleanly while the seeds grow into wildflowers.

If these special cards aren't in your budget for all your paper needs (they are definitely a bit pricier than standard stationery), consider sending these unique cards as thank yous to everyone who bought you a "green" gift, or just the special folks on your guest list that you know will appreciate the cards and plant the seeds.

Botanical Paperworks has seeded cards for all occasions, including a wide selection of wedding uses, like favors, invitations, thank yous, and more, at around $1.25 per card.

Earth Day is tomorrow, and it's the perfect reason to explore some earth-friendly alternatives in planning your wedding. One of the best ways to take the planet into consideration when planning your big day is through your invitations. When you use that much paper, you're bound to leave a footprint behind. But there are ways around such a pesky little problem. The writers at AisleDash have offered traditional invitation alternatives over the last few months, and today we'll offer a one-stop place for the creative ideas from past posts.

So, if you're interested in doing your part, skip the regular wedding invitation and, instead, opt for one of the following:


• Tree-free invitations -- If you can't imagine doing away with a physical wedding invitation, choose a tree-free or recycled one instead. They are offered at a handful of online stores and they look just as beautiful as their original counterpart. (Some of our top picks: Invite Site, Seal & Send and Custom Paper.)
• E-mail your invite -- Through sites such as Evite, My Punch Bowl and BWedd you can design a beautiful and personalized e-mail to circulate among all your friends and family. In addition to saving a few trees, you'll also save an incredible amount of money (the average wedding invitations cost $327).
• Utilize your wedding Web site -- You want your friends and family to know all the details of -- not only your wedding day -- your proposal, pre-wedding parties and honeymoon, so set up a wedding Web site where you can add all the important information and pictures, too! Some top picks: ewedding.com, theknot.com and ourwedding.com. An added perk: all of your guests can RSVP directly on the site, to the actual wedding and to all other wedding events.

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.

You have so many memories of good times with your family, you know you'll be shedding a few tears as you walk down the aisle on your father's (or mother's, or both) arm. Maybe you'll walk down that aisle on your own, but your family and friends will be in your heart as you start your new life.

What better way to express your appreciation to them than one of these lovely picture frames? For your parents, fill it with pictures of happy family events; for your bridesmaids and groomsmen, shots of wedding preparations and good times together.

The "family" frame is walnut; the "friends" frame is black. Each frame is 20.5 inches by 7 inches (about 53 x 18 cm) and comes with a glass front.

Every bride and groom wants to find the perfect gift to thank their wedding guests for joining them in celebrating the start of their marriage. And, in this modern day and age where everything you could want is just a click away, there is a variety of favors you can choose from to convey your grateful sentiment -- from candy in tins to mini-picture frames to personalized matchbooks.

One recent favor idea for your guests is compiling a mixed CD filled with songs that will remind your guests of your special wedding day. You can include songs from the processional, the first-dance songs, dance tunes that played into the wee hours of the night. You can even personalize the CD label.

Is this is a thoughtful and original favor idea or will a CD filled with the bride and groom's favorite songs fall flat for wedding guests? Tell us your thoughts: yes or no?

You've been planning your perfect pink-and-brown wedding for months. You've had a pretty pink-and-brown bridal shower with invitations to match. You've chosen your bridesmaids gifts. You've even spent some time shopping for your wedding weekend attire (to match your theme, of course). And now the wedding is just around the corner, and it's time to invite your guests. Of course your pink-and-brown theme should expand to include your wedding invitations and why not as some of the most stunning invitations out there come in the pink-and-brown feminine and eye-catching color combination that's so popular these days.

There are so many invitations to choose from, you are sure to find the exact one to suit the tone and feel of your particular wedding day. The gallery has a quite a few invitations to glance at, and each one will brighten up your friends and family's fridges.

Let's face it: there are certain things that you do NOT want as part of your big day. There are also certain things that you MUST HAVE to make the day perfect. Does that make you a Bridezilla?

Sort of.

Wanting the perfect wedding is perfectly acceptable; making everyone around you crazy with your demands and attitudes is not. So how do you walk the line between detail-oriented and crazy?

1. Keep demands to a minimum. Make a list of Must Haves, those things that you have always dreamed of. Keep the list short, though -- no more than five things. If you find that your Must Have list has grown to more than that, it's time to reassess and reconsider what really matters. Do the same for Deal Breakers, and again, keep the list short.

2. Articulate your desires. As you make your Must Have list, be clear -- with your fiancé and your parents and your wedding planner and yourself -- about why these things matter. Can't explain why all the bridesmaids MUST wear the EXACT SAME LIPSTICK? Maybe they really don't need to after all.

3. Be polite. It is truly amazing what people will do when you ask nicely. Saying please and thank you and making clear that you understand that people are going out of their way makes it that much easier to have things your way. And sometimes, the only difference between a Bridezilla and a Perfect Bride is manners.

Finally, keep in mind that on your wedding day, your thoughts should be focused on the ceremony and what it stands for, not on the bridesmaids' tan lines or guests' hats. If you are unable to let the small details go, you will miss the big picture, and that would really make for a terrible wedding.