Most of the best wedding ideas I found were from reading and participating in a wedding forum.  I get to connect with so many brides from all over the world!  A local forum is also best to get recommendations and advice for your wedding location, especially if you’re not very familiar with your location (e.g. destination wedding).  A forum is also a great way to get different opinions on a topic.  I had so many moments where I couldn’t decide on something (my fiance wasn’t any help) and my forum buddies saved the day!

My favorite wedding forums:
TheKnot Community Board
WeddingWire Wedding Forums
Best Destination Wedding Forum

Where else to hold a clambake but on the Cape?  Alyssa and Scott’s rehearsal dinner was held at the Chatham Bars Inn.  The beach house, the smell of the ocean, the lobster lollipops, the seashell-adorned centerpieces and favors, even the beachy blue chairs make for a beautiful clambake party.  Photos were taken by one of my favorite photography teams, Brian and Maria.

Before anything else, I would like to thank all of you for visiting and reading my blog.  My readers are very important to me.  Without you, this blog wouldn’t exist.  So every beginning of the year, I try to re-evaluate the blog, and make necessary changes to improve quality and relevance of content.

And I need your help.  I’m trying to gather some information regarding my readers via quick 1-minute survey. The data collected is confidential.

Click Read on… below or click here to open the survey in a new window or tab.

Read on…

Photo from Getty Images

I love talking about my wedding in person and here at Aylee Bits.  My friends even helped picking out the venue, the first wedding vendor we booked.  They’ve helped out with other things and they even saw my dress.

Recently, a thought occurred to me.  What else do I have left of my wedding that they haven’t seen?  I’ve talked to them about almost everything!  So I’m gonna try to not talk about our wedding so much from now on.  I want to keep a little element of surprise for my guests.  Don’t worry, I’m still gonna blog about most of it since most of my family and friends don’t visit my blog.  And the rest?  I’ll blog about them after the wedding, so I have something to talk about .

WellWed Magazine & Vermont Vows cordially invite you to attend one of their signature destination bridal events – the 2010 Wedding Affairs. Filled with lavish decor, innovative floral & tabletop designs, a grooms lounge, local wedding library, a dazzling runway of couture & so much more – their one-of-a-kind bridal events are dedicated to catering to local & destination couples that want to experience the BEST your wedding destination has to offer. From planning seminars & decor workshops to makeovers & manicures, The Wedding Affair will introduce you to the products, people & places that create some of the country’s most talked about events.

January 23, 2010
Finger Lakes : Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester NY

February 20, 2010
Hamptons : The Hamptons, NY (exact location TBA)

March 6, 2010
Cape & Islands : Ocean Edge Resort, Brewster MA

Tickets are $40/couple or $25/person and includes:

• A Gift Box filled with over $100 worth of goodies (one per couple)
• A copy of Martha Stewart Weddings and Vermont Vows / WellWed
• Complimentary seminars & Workshops with industry experts
• Complimentary Hors d’oeuvres, champagne, cake tastings, wine tasting, cigar rolling, and other fine delectables
• An opportunity to win a Gift Certificate Bouquet with upto $8,000 of Gift Certificates (featuring certificates for: Spa Services, Restaurants, Event Rentals & more…)
• The chance to participate in our silent auction featuring up to $10,000 worth of jewelry & gifts (to benefit The Make-A-Wish Foundation)

Click here to purchase tickets.

Image from VTSK Parents Club

I suggest creating a separate email (if you don’t already have one), if you’re planning to sign up or register for wedding-related stuff online, enter contests, attend bridal shows, etc.  You wouldn’t want spam clogging your personal email.  I also like a little anonymity online for safety purposes so I suggest not using a username or email address that is too revealing of your identity.  Click here for the top free email services from About.com.

When we first visited our venue, I thought I wanted just the blue water and clear skies in the background.  Then I saw these photos of weddings in our venue and those sailboats made gorgeous backdrops.  Aren’t they perfect for a nautical wedding?

Here’s to wishing for sailboats on our wedding day.

My friends think I’m crazy when it comes to organizing some things.  But it’s a trait I don’t think I will ever try to change.  So as expected, I try to organize my wedding planning as much as I can.  Here’s a glimpse of how I organize my planning:

Wedding Spreadsheet:
- MS Excel file
- printed and filed in a binder

• Vendor questionaires and comparisons
• Budget and Expenses
• Guest List
• Planning Timeline and Checklist
• Shopping and Packing Checklist
• Week-of and Day-of Timeline
• Ceremony and Reception Layout
• Vendor packets (details each vendor need to know)

Wedding-Files Folder:

• Saved correspondence (including emails)
• Designs
• Important info about the wedding
• Resources

Wedding-Photos Folder:

• Inspiration Photos
• Photos of items I plan/want to buy
• Photos taken during planning

Wedding Bookmark Folder:
- Internet Explorer and Firefox

• Important sites

Calendar:
- Yahoo! Calendar and MS Outlook

• Timeline and due dates with alarm if necessary

Contacts/Address Book:
- Yahoo! Contacts

• Wedding vendors
• Wedding friends and consultants

Notes:
- MS Outlook

• Random Ideas
• To Do List

All the above are saved or backed-up in my computer.  Every night, I sync my computer and phone so I can access everything on the go and update them if necessary.  All contracts, brochures, receipts, and other papers are filed in a binder.

If you don’t want to set up your own wedding organization, I suggest using the online Weddingwire Planner.  It is very intuitive and easy.  It also comes with an iPhone app.  If only it can generate a more custom report and has alarm options, it would be perfect.

How do you organize your wedding plans?