We were having a very short engagement. Alex always said that he wanted to be engaged for about six months before the wedding, which is a short time to plan and prepare, especially since we have friends who are studying all across the US right now. I knew about mywedding free webpages because this was how another co-worker advertised her wedding date. We were able to let our friends know right away when the wedding date would be, and we were able to include cute engagement pictures on the site, too. The background we choose was cute, but best part was that it was free!

Rehearsal Dinner: This place has amazing food, which is why we wanted to go there with our friends and family members that came to town for the wedding weekend. Even when it's just family, we're never a small group, so it was necessary to find a place that could hold almost forty people for the rehearsal dinner. We picked Great Waters for several reasons, mainly because they have a great beer selection, the food is amazing, and the staff is always super friendly. They also have a patio, which is where we usually try to get a table, but that wasn't possible with such a big group! Alex made the reservation almost five weeks ahead of time, and we also picked out a menu so that we wouldn't have to worry about waiting for our food. I really recommend the pork chops, though we ordered the grilled chicken and tenderloin combo for everyone.

Djay Sound and Lights were recommended to us from a few places, included information that I picked up at the Wedding Fair and from the hotel itself. After we contacted them, and saw that they were very professional and very charismatic, we knew that these are the guys to have at your wedding party. They played all the good songs, including the chicken dance, they made the dollar dance short (thank god!). They set up on time, they were able to clear out without any problems. I think it was great that they had worked there before, so there wasn't any concern over whether he was going to blow a fuse.

I was too nervous at the idea of ordering our cards online, I wanted to go into a shop and see the person that would be making our cards. I wanted an actual face-to-face encounter. This was a great place, I loved working with Bridgette just because I felt so confident in everything she said. She was very professional, she gave us lots of great suggestions on how and when to mail the invitations. Our cards, also, were beautiful, really vibrant color paper which I haven't seen anywhere else. I was so happy about this process, because it really is the most important piece of the wedding planning.

Simple up-do, but so elegant and much better than what I normally do. The make-up, I think was key for the wedding day. I know how to apply simple make-up, but this was my big day and I wanted it to be done professionally. My best friend suggested Brynn Andre, just because they will come onsite to wherever the bridal party is. They are very talented, very professional, and they made each one of us feel beautiful. We set up a consultation about three months before the wedding date, we were quoted a price that included myself and the bridesmaids, for both our hair and make-up. I think it was great because I got lots of tips of what I should and shouldn't do, like when to get my haircut and when to redo my highlights. It's a real beauty consultation, and that's what made it worth it. I loved it, I felt like a real princess getting ready, and in the pictures I didn't look like I was wearing make-up.

Hotel Block: Though we didn't ask everyone outright how they slept, everyone kept complimenting how beautiful the hotel was, and how great it was that it was near other stuff. Our family members that stayed on the whole week went to the Mall of America and the zoo and said that the hotel was very central to most places. We booked 30 rooms when we booked the hall, and got a fairly good deal.

Reception Site: This was everything a wedding reception place should be! Alex and I went with both our parents to a consultation with the manager, Jessica, to find out all the costs and details about having it at this Holiday Inn. We choose it because it was somewhat central, and also because lots of our friends and family would be coming from out of town, and having them stay at the same hotel as the reception seemed very convenient for them. The planning through the hotel is all very comprehensive, they have a list of all the costs so that there is no hidden costs, and they were able to give us a quote right away. For the menu, we were able to go to a tasting at the hotel, and went with a buffet at the end. The manager was also able to show us wedding pictures of recent weddings, so I had a good idea of what the centerpieces would look like, along with the lights and the set up of the room. I think we were very lucky that the hall was free, and think that my wedding was absolutely beautiful!

Wedding night hotel: It was great, we had our suite for four days, which meant that we had somewhere to rest and hide before and after the wedding! I don't know how our guests felt, but we found the room to be really nice, clean, great air quality, and the room service was good, too.

We had picked centerpieces through the hotel, which were these flute vases that would hold floating candles, but I wanted to have a bouquet for my bridesmaids and myself, and I also wanted Alex and the best man to have boutonnières. I went with Prairies Crocus because I felt very comfortable talking with Jen, who works there, about what I wanted my flowers to look like, and she was really great about coming up with suggestions of what would work, and what flowers would be in season. Part of the creation included ribbons, which were beautiful, and the flowers were gorgeous as well. It was fun because she also explained how I should hold the flowers so they look the best in the pictures. I liked it also that Alex had a mini version of my bouquet as a boutonniere, and that the simple bouquets of the bridesmaids matched the boutonnières of the best man.

We waited until about three months before the wedding date to look for bridemaids dresses. My three best friends and I took a weekend and went to Nordstrom, at my mother's suggestion, and looked at the formal dresses they had there in stock. You can't rely on what's online, because often times what they have in the store is completely different. The wedding colors were chosen, so it was just a matter of finding three dresses that were appropriate, not to sexy and not too simple. There were hundreds of ready to wear dresses to choose from, and they were more beautiful and of a better quality than most of the bridesmaids dresses we saw in bridal shops. It was hard deciding, but they chose on a Rachel Pally dress, which was a brand that I had never heard of before. One suggestion would be to also check out Nordstrom Rack. We found dresses that we loved, only we were only able to find one or two in the same style.

I know, i said 'antique' shop, which is what I told my mom, but I actually found this beautiful dress at Goodwill. Sometimes you can find really amazing things! And I've been to the bridal shops, but none of them can even compare with how beautiful my dress is, seriously.

If part of the bachelorette party should include walking around, drinking big plastic cups of warm beer, and eating lots and lots of unhealthy food, then there is nothing better than the State Fair. My friends made me wear a veil, blue eyeshadown and hot pink lipstick, and a really crazy homemade t-shirt. Everyone at the Fair is already in a really good mood, so no one minded one more crazy group of people walking around. We also played fun games, including who could bring me the strangest fried thing on a stick. We made the day last by agreeing to camp onsite at the fair campgrounds for one night, but two days of fried food can have a toll on a person! I loved all the fun we had, and felt like we were sixteen again!