Choosing invitations and announcements was one of the most daunting tasks I faced when planning my wedding. The first time I walked into a stationers to pick out invites, I looked at the pile of massive books filled with samples, I lasted about 10 minutes before I got overwhelmed and had to leave.

I was so happy when a friend suggested I try Scriptura. They are true professionals in every sense of the word. They had an uncanny ability to ask the right questions about my wedding's style, location and theme, and were able to help me narrow down the field very quickly. I could not have been happier with my invitation choice or with their excellent service.

I went to the Magazine Street location of Scriptura, but I'm sure the Lakeside one is just as wonderful!

This New Orleans institution is where I went to buy a wedding day gift for my husband. Adler's has a gift for anyone, at any price point. In their front room, they sell diamond wedding sets, high-end watches and jewels, and in their back room, there are dozens of lower-priced gift options, many with Louisiana or New Orleans themes. Some of my favorite Adler's items are the Jose Balli Louisiana alphabet charms and Adler's sterling silver Tabasco caddies. Either would make fabulous wedding party gifts.

For my husband's gift, I chose a set of Kieselstein-Cord alligator head cufflinks and studs. He chose for me a charm bracelet with my name in "Louisiana" letters.

Adler's has another location in the Lakeside Mall in Metairie.

We chose The Westin (formerly known as the Wyndham) Canal Place as our wedding day luncheon site for one reason - the stunning views of the Mississippi River and the French Quarter. This is one of the best vistas in the entire city, and it was perfect for our smallish post-wedding lunch reception. I was pleasantly surprised by the sophistication of the menu offerings and the high quality of the food. The planning staff was great, which was especially important since ours was a destination wedding, planned from across the country. The only thing I wasn't terribly thrilled about is that we were constantly being "up-sold" on everything, from liquor to linens. At one point during the reception, I was sitting at the table, drunk on $200 a bottle champagne, tracing the luscious embroidery on tablecloth we were paying $350 to rent, wondering "what have I done?!?" It was all very lovely, but it was a budget buster for someone who finds it hard to say no.

In a Jewish wedding, there's a tradition of smashing a glass after the blessings and vows are spoken, to symbolize that even though we're at the height of our joy, the world is still a broken, unredeemed place and that there's much work for us to do to fix it. A contemporary twist on this is to use a decorative glass and to incorporate the shards into a kiddush cup or mezuzah that can be used in the newlyweds' home, as a reminder of both the wedding ceremony and of our mission to repair the world.

We wanted to have the broken glass made into a mezuzah, so we contacted Dashka Roth, one of the premier Judaica shops in the South. Dashka herself hooked us up, providing the glass for the ceremony. Afterwards, we dropped it off at her shop, and several weeks later, we received our mezuzah! It is so cool! Dashka was super-helpful, making sure we had the glass in time; she even helped this waffling bride-to-be pick out a color that would complement our decor. This is one of my favorite mementos from our wedding.

When we arrived in New Orleans for our destination wedding, we realized we had forgotten to bring our Kiddush cup (a ceremonial wine cup used in a Jewish wedding). We remembered that we had seen a silver shop in the French Quarter that carried Judaica, so went zipped down to Naghi's. They have an incredible selection of silver Judaica, and they were able to help us pick out a gorgeous silver kiddush cup that is sure to become a future family heirloom. They also sell all kinds of beautiful silver pieces, as well as gold and silver jewelry, some of it with New Orleans themes. I'm looking forward to going back to shop, without the pressure of last minute wedding business!

If you're going to do any kind of Uptown wedding, I think there's a local law that requires you to hold at least one pre-wedding dinner at venerable New Orleans institution, Commander's Palace. What more could you ask for - delicious food, the best service in the country, and the knowledge that you're part of a long tradition of families sharing their celebrations with Commander's. We're looking forward to expanding the tradition - we plan to dine there on every anniversary:)

We stayed at this lovely historic hotel during our New Orleans destination wedding. We couldn't have had a better honeymoon experience! The hotel is gorgeous, but the staff is what makes it extra special. Some of the employees have been there for decades, and it feels like one big family. Despite the fact that it was an extremely busy time of year, they gave us personalized service and added special honeymoon touches (a gift basket on check-in and champagne on our wedding night!). They really went the extra mile to make our honeymoon an unforgettable experience.

Touro Synagogue is a beautiful old synagogue in the heart of the city's Garden District. Even though we live on the opposite side of the country and were not members of the congregation, they were willing to provide the location for our destination wedding. We were very attached to the idea of getting married in New Orleans, and we definitely needed to have a traditional Jewish ceremony. Touro helped us make what we thought would be an impossible dream a reality. Everyone, from the rabbi to the administrative assistant, was wonderful and helpful.

We wanted something unusual to give as favors to our wedding party, something one could find only in New Orleans. We contacted Gallery Rinard, which represents Chris Menconi, one of our favorite local artists. Each year, Menconi creates a special line of dogs for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and we wanted something like this, in our wedding colors. Beth, the best gallerina in the universe, managed - on short notice - to obtain a set of dogs that met our specifications. They were a bit hit!

We had a small destination wedding, planned from a distance. It's tough to make decor decisions based on phone conversations and thumbnail photos on the Internet, but the pros at LeGrand's were so helpful and so good at describing the arrangements (and figuring out from my babbling what it was I really wanted), that it worked out beautifully. They did a fabulous job on my bouquet and on the reception site. They also thought of things I hadn't even considered. They were a delight to work with.