On my wedding search I visited the John James Audubon Center in Audubon, Pennsylvania. It is a beautiful nature reserve conveniently located to major highways less than 40 minutes from Philadelphia. The ceremony can take place outside in a pear orchard or out by this lovely pond at the bottom of the hill and there are birds and small furry animals running all around. The cocktail hour and reception can take place in this concrete barn which is minimally decorated for a rustic look. It was a bit TOO rustic-looking for my fiance and I, but I'm sure that for the right person who is close to nature and doesn't mind a bare cement barn, it will be lovely.

My fiance had a great experience finding a suit for my sister's wedding at Men's Warehouse. The man picked out the right cut, the right fit, and all the right accessories to make my full-time student sweetie look like a millionaire. They have a great range of prices and the employees there are very patient and helpful. I don't doubt he will go back when looking for a tux for our upcoming wedding.

On South Street in Philadelphia there is a great little shop called Condom Kingdom that was practically made for bachelor and bachelorette parties. They have everything from serious sex toys to every variety of penis-prank and naughty novelty. And, of course, they have tons of condoms in every variety. When my sister got married in May, my other sisters and I stocked up and threw a fun, inexpensive party at home using the goodies we picked up there.

I was sad to learn that The Philadelphia Museum of Art does not allow weddings on their premises, particularly because one of my first memories when I met my fiance happened there. You cannot do a ceremony or a reception there, but they will let you take your wedding photos outside on the property if you so choose, which is a nice bonus if you are getting married nearby.

Over the summer, my fiance and I toyed with the idea of getting married in the woods. We went to check out Elk Neck State Park in North East, Maryland (an hour north of Baltimore). It's a beautiful park and it's a great place for a weekend camping trip. They will allow you to rent out all the cabins they can offer and you can of course reserve tent areas, too. It's fairly cheap and the small town of North East is a quaint location for a wedding brunch the next morning.

The thing is, this is a terrible wedding location for a big wedding with lots of older people like grandparents and out-of-shape aunts and uncles. There's a beautiful lighthouse on a cliff where you can get married but it's a mile and half uphill hike to get there. It's definitely good for a low-key wedding with friends who aren't afraid to rough it for a night or two.

I LOVE The I Do Foundation (idofoundation.com), which is where brides and grooms can create charity gift registries. They work with vendors like Target and Mikasa so that when friends and family buy a gift from your registry, a small portion will go to a charity of your choice. It's a wonderful way to support a cause you believe in without giving up all the wedding gifts!

Alternately, if you DO want to ditch the presents, you can start a registry where friends and family can donate directly to charity in your name. It's a win-win situation!

My dress-shopping experience with David's Bridal felt like I was the only customer in a private boutique, and the woman who helped me effortlessly found dresses that look stunning on me. I haven't made a choice on a dress yet, but when I do, I will probably go with David's Bridal. My only complaint in that in the process of signing up for my consultation, I had to give them my name and contact information, which they then sold on to third-party customers. I get mysterious phone calls on my private line all the time now and for the first time I am actually considering putting my number on a do not call list. That is definitely NOT a boutique experience.

After attempting to work with Jeffrey A. Miller catering company for my wedding, I found the representative to be pushy and bad at getting back to my e-mails. He was better on the phone, but insisted on us looking at a different venue when we really just wanted to find out more about him catering at another place where his company has an exclusive contract. To be fair, my fiance and I did not know exactly what we were looking for in these beginning stages (kosher, glatt kosher, non-kosher vegetarian, etc.) and while the representative was very accomodating at first, even making up a special sample vegetarian menu for us, but his patience did not last long. Ultimately, when we tried to get kosher catering through them, things got overly complicated with their subcontractor, Prestige Catering, and my fiance and I chose to give up on Jeffrey A. Miller.

If you know what you want and don't care about having kosher catering, I expect you to have a better experience with this vendor.

Although I still haven't decided where I am having my wedding, The Abington Art Center stole my heart early on in the search. For $2,000 in the off-season (or $3,000 in May, June, September or October), you get access to a sweeping, woodsy property dotted with unique ever-changing sculptures and art exhibits. The staff is very helpful and friendly, although they have contracts with only three caterers, all of whom make kosher catering more complicated and expensive. You can use both the inside museum as well as various places outdoors for the ceremony and the reception is held in a gazebo that fits 150 comfortably. The wedding planner there will tell you 200, but it looks like a tight squeeze. It's definitely a venue that exudes class and eccentricity.

I made a big mistake when I accepted my two free tickets to the Great Bridal Expo that rolled into Philadelphia on Sept. 21. Initially I had planned to go, but my plans changed and my fiance and I were unable to attend. However, that did not stop vendors at the show from contacting me. Today is October 17th and I am still receiving vendor e-mail spam and phone calls from 800 numbers, most of which don't leave messages. I signed up for the bridal show to learn more about Philadelphia-area vendors and instead I am a walking spam-target. It even opened me up to a scam very similar to this one which I luckily discovered before completing the phone call. Summary: If you want to learn more about local vendors, skip The Great Bridal Expo and use a trust-worthy peer-reviewed Web site that won't spam you.