It seems Elizabeth Hurley is having trouble finding the right wedding dress! Sound familiar?

She is currently dating Indian business tycoon Arun Nayer and hasn't ruled out wearing a kaftan.

"I might just get married in an Elizabeth Hurley beach kaftan. Jewelled, of course. Hand-beaded in India."

Liz fears that with so many friends in the fashion business it would be a nightmare to try and find something that meets with their approval. I think she is missing the point, surely she should be looking for a wedding dress that makes her happy!

She reckons the easy way out is to make it herself or buy it from Debenhams.

Oh well I'm sure Liz will cope, but isn't funny to see that everyone gets stressed out about their wedding, even when they aren't engaged.

Liz, if you're reading - I recommend you take a read of my article on coping with wedding stress

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THE BEST WEDDING TIPS ON THE INTERNET

Each week you can receive a great wedding tip by simply filling in this form:

After you have clicked on the "Send My 1st Tip" button follow these 6 easy steps to ensuring you receive a free unique wedding tip every week.

The most important step is that you you click on the confirmation link in the email sent immediately to your inbox - if you don't you won't get your wedding tips!

A TESTIMONIAL :

"Hi Elle, I just wanted to give my thanks for the generous, often funny and thoughtful planning tips I have received. Our wedding is in just over two weeks time. It's the first time we're getting married (as for many people), and inevitably, there are things we had not considered. I really appreciated many of the planning tips for this reason, also because they were very practical and down-to-earth. Great job, and many thanks again. It must be great to know you are making a positive difference to the marrying couples that receive these. Best Wishes" - Marcela Read more testimonials here

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Having spent some time in Chicago I often find myself surfing the Net intrigued to know what is going on in a city I dearly love.

Thus only tonight I came across a great wedding site created to help brides plan a wedding in the Chicagoland area. A lady called Alison Rodriguez reports on their forthcoming event titled "The Wedding Chicago Bridal Show" and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun!

She reports:

"Stylists from Nicole Miller will do a fashion presentation featuring designs from their bridal collection. Some of our other vendors include Franco Lanzi Photography, Highland Park Country Club, Belden-Stratford Hotel and so many more. "

Sounds a thoroughly professional event and if I wasn't so far away I would definitely like to attend.

If you do live in the Chicago are here are the full details:

Sunday, February 26, 2006
10AM - 3PM

The Great Hall of Cafe Brauer
2021 N. Stockton Drive (at the Lincoln Park Zoo)
Chicago, IL 60614

You can order your tickets here.

This blog is just for the technies out there and I apologise for it having noting to go with weddings.

Just updated Wedaholic.com to Movable Type version 3.2. The previous version was good but without the correct plugins it was difficult to stop trackback spam. I kept meaning to install the plugin SpamLookup but never got round to it, especially as I knew the latest version of MT had it integrated into the actual installation.

Anyway I'm now dreaming of a blog with no spam, giving me more time to write about weddings!

Most prospective brides and grooms know how difficult it is to plan a wedding on a budget. Wouldn't it be great to receive a large cheque to pay towards your wedding costs or honeymoon?

This is exactly the predicament of hard-up couple Kristine Stone and Shaun Baland of Rocklin, California when they were planning their wedding. They auctioned off sections of their wedding on the internet auction site Ebay to help raise money for their honeymoon.
Read more.

Pop star Pink has married her long-term love Carey Hart in a sunset beach ceremony in Costa Rica. The singer dressed in a beautiful champagne-coloured halterneck dress tied at the waist with a dramatic black sash, rather than her usual rock chick gear, wed the 30-year-old daredevil biker in front of 100 guests, including Lisa Marie Presley, at the Four Seasons resort on the central American country's Papagayo peninsula.

Pink, real name Alecia Moore, and Carey met in 2001 and have been dating on and off ever since. Pink proposed during Carey's race at the Pro 250 event in Mammoth lakes, California last June by holding up a sign that read "Will you marry me?".

Their wedding was as non-traditional as the proposal - they wanted an intimate and non-denominational ceremony. "We're spiritual, but we're not religious," said the groom. "It was about being with our closest friends and family and having a fun, loose party."

The newlyweds honeymoon plan is to head off with their four dogs on a snowboarding holiday.

I thought the story of a woman visiting Israel on vacation, finding the partner of her dreams and getting married was a story with a beautiful story with a fairytale happy ending - then I found the woman's chosen partner was a dolphin (and I don't mean the kind that plays for the Miami-based football team)!!!

Read all about it here.

It is becoming an increasingly common view from couples planning their own wedding on a budget that one of the main moneysaving options is to opt for DIY music rather than hiring a band or wedding DJ. More and more budget conscious brides and grooms are cutting costs of expensive weddings by forgoing the traditional wedding DJ and master of ceremonies, and instead using an Apple iPod. Could this new digital technology make wedding DJs obsolete?

A lot of wedding DJ's really help to create an atmosphere and do offer you the benefit of their many years experience of wedding entertainment. However a lot of couples’ confidence in wedding DJs is waning nowadays as DJs are prone to sitting at a laptop pushing a few buttons and get paid vast amounts of money for doing so. Most couples rightly believe that they could do exactly the same thing themselves and save money.

However, it is not just budget-conscious couples who are opting for iPod music at their weddings, rock star Alanis Morissette, who is engaged to actor Ryan Reynolds, has said during recent interviews that she is interested in using an iPod at her wedding which is due to take place this year. She is amongst a growing number of couples making personal music players a central part of their wedding day.

The way it is done is for the couple to make a playlist of music they would like to hear at their wedding reception and then download it to the iPod. The iPod can then be connected to a PA system. A sound system will need to be rented or borrowed including speakers, amplifiers, cables and a microphone. These sound systems are inexpensive to rent comparative to the cost of hiring a DJ or live band. If you don't own an iPod or know of anyone with one an MP3 DJ program on your laptop can work just as well.

Advantages of using an iPod for your wedding music entertainment:

♫ As mentioned you will be saving money. DJs charge an average of £500 per wedding and a live band can cost up to double this amount. If you already own an iPod then your only cost will be hiring a PA system to play the iPod through. If you don’t already own an iPod or laptop you can spend the money you budgeted for a DJ on treating yourself to a new one.

♫ By being in complete control of the musical entertainment at your wedding reception this allows you to put your own personal stamp on the event. You can choose every song that is played and express yourselves through your choice of music.

♫ As a couple you might well have different taste in music. By using an iPod you can both download your preferred songs so that you can get greater variety than might possibly be available through a DJ.

♫ Choosing to select the music yourself will allow you to control the pace of the evening. Sometimes wedding DJs can make the event seem staged and not so relaxing. You can select different playlists to alter the mood of the evening.

♫ Organising the wedding music yourself is an exciting and innovative idea. By using an iPod you can set a trend and bring a uniqueness to your wedding. Your guests will be sure to be impressed by the novelty of a wedding without a DJ.

Things to consider when using an iPod:

♫ An iPod sound when amplified over large sound systems is usually fine but it is important for you to have a practice session beforehand. If you are renting the sound system equipment ensure that you rent it prior to the wedding date so that you can pre proof the audio setup. This is even more important if you are having your wedding reception outdoors.

♫ Using an iPod can be a money-saving idea as long as you are organised and have some committed friends to help. You will need to arrange who will set up and dismantle the sound system on the wedding day. You will also need to nominate someone to be in charge of the music that can change songs in the event something is not working.

♫ To ensure that the sound system runs smoothly and to keep an eye on the playlist you could perhaps ask a musical or technical whiz amongst your friends, family or wedding attendants to be the unofficial music-watcher. Sometimes there can be a couple of seconds pause between songs so it is important to have someone supervise.

♫ In order to keep the reception flowing smoothly you should consider nominating someone to make announcements and quickly switch the music to enhance various events at the reception (e.g. cutting of the cake, tossing of the bouquet/garter, the first dance, serving of the buffet etc.).

♫ Another point to note is that it will take a little bit of practice to switch between the iPod and a microphone when acting as MC and making announcements and speeches during the dancing. Ensure that whoever has offered to do this task on the wedding day has a practice in advance.

♫ Something to bear in mind is that the person you choose to operate the iPod and thus "DJ" your wedding reception will not be able to undertake any other responsibilities during your wedding. It is a big responsibility and one that might best be shared between a few of your wedding attendants, family members or friends to ease pressure on any one guest. You might well want to release your inner DJ/MC and take on these tasks yourself!

♫ Ensure that you offer your guests choice with your music playlists. There might also be special songs that you should ensure are downloaded prior to the wedding. Select appropriate music for the guests and respond to their requests. You should be prepared to deal with guest’s music requests. If you do not choose to take requests but would prefer to stick to a playlist then this can be left to run with minimum supervision.

♫ An important recommendation is to back up your playlists in case of a technical malfunction. Another idea is to have a backup iPod or laptop or other musical device whereby if the iPod fails to work for some reason (they have been known to freeze) on the actual day then you do have an altnerative source of music rather than reverting to Uncle Tommy playing tunes on the spoons to entertain your guests!

♫ Make sure that you leave the iPod in one place and do not move it around as this can increase the risk of it failing to work.

♫ If you are concerned with the visibility restrictions of an iPod then try a powerbook laptop as its screen is larger and it allows for more audio options.

♫ If you are not having dancing at your wedding event and simply want background music you can simply use an iPod and speakers without having to rent a larger sound system.

♫ If you are at all worried that if you eliminate the DJ the musical entertainment may not go so smoothly look at positive feedback on the internet. You can start to read up about another bride-to-be’s opinions on iPod music at weddings here.

Further Reading On Wedding Music and Songs:
20 Essential Wedding DJ - Choosing the right DJ is crucial and my top tips should help you get it right.
How To Successfully Choose Your Wedding Songs And Music - Whether you choose a live band, a string quartet, a DJ or even an iPod these tips will help you make your choices.
Revealing Five Wedding Song Ideas 5 tips to selecting the best wedding songs you can.

Pamala McDougall of Inverkeilor, Angus writes to the Scotsman in order to clear up a Wedding misnomer:

I would like to point out that there is no such thing as a "civil wedding" (Family Announcements, 2 January). Please use the correct term, "civil partnership", for announcements of same-sex registrations. I wish the media would realise that "wedding" and "marriage" describe the legal and/or religious ceremonies for couples of the opposite sex.

She goes on to say

I am fully supportive of civil partnerships and think it right committed homosexual couples should be recognised in law, but if or until the law is changed, let's stick to the facts.

It's good to start the new year on the right footing.