You are looking for the perfect wedding ceremony or reception venue that will accommodate your number of guests, blend with your theme, and is in the right location.  Here are questions you should ask when you’re inspecting your site to make sure it will be all you dream it to be on your wedding day:

1.   Will any renovations or construction be taking place around the time of my wedding?

You want to be sure the room you select will look the same when you book it as it will on your wedding day.  You also want to make sure there is nothing that would inconvenience you or your guests.  For instance, will construction vehicles be blocking part of the parking lot?  Is there a chance the elevators won’t be in service?   Will the nearest restrooms be out-of-service because of upgrades and cause your guests to use ones that are further away, or worse, portable toilets?

2.  What do your gardens/outdoor landscaping look like during the time of my wedding?

You might be visiting  in the Spring but have a Winter wedding.  Ask what the grounds look like during the time of your wedding and look at photos.  Find out if the venue looks as good during the season of your wedding as it does when you visit.

3.  What other events are taking place here on my wedding day?

Conventions, bar and bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteen parties, and other weddings could mean large crowds, noise and parking problems.  Be sure you know what you and your guests might be up against on your wedding day.

4.  Do you allow open flames?

Some sites do not allow you to use candles or sparklers anywhere inside or immediately outside of their facility.  If these are important items in your ceremony or reception, double check that the venue you select allows their use.

5.  How much time will I be given to set up my wedding?

The venue will tell you what time you and your vendors, such as the florist, caterer, DJ or musicians,  may have access to do setup.  You won’t be able to plan elaborate or complicated decor if the venue is not able to give you the time you need to do it.

Don’t be afraid to aks questions before you sign a contract, you are entitled to know what you are getting for your money.

American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi planned her own wedding when she married Mike McCuddy in small (36 guests – no celebrities) intimate ceremony near her home in Prospect Harbor, Maine on July 5, 2009.  Photographs and a description of the event are featured in the July 20, 2009 issue of In Touch Weekly magazine.

Here are some ideas you can steal from Kara:

Something Borrowed and Recycled!

• Kara’s matron-of-honor wore the dress that Kara wore as a bridesmaid at her wedding

• Kara wore her late mother’s wedding dress at the pre-wedding reception (her wedding dress was a mermaid-style, strapless gown by Vera Wang)

• She wore her grandmother’s pearl earrings and bracelet

The Ceremony

• The 30-minute ceremony was held in a church across the street from her home

• The couple used traditional vows rather than writing their own

• They included moments of remembrance for her late mother and his late sister

The Receptions

• The pre-wedding and post-wedding receptions took place in her backyard

• Pre-wedding reception food included crepes, quiches, pastries and muffins

• Post-wedding reception food included Maine lobster and salmon – food was organic

• Music was handled by a DJ and featured karaoke

• Colors were cream, white and natural beige

• Desserts were red velvet cake and whoopie pies

• Favors were personally inscribed iPods loaded with music selected by her business partner (instead of  iPods, select music and create personalized CDs to use as favors)

If you are having a small, intimate wedding, you, like Kara, may be able to handle the details yourself.  Be organized and keep things simple, but beautiful.

Planning to have a wedding with a casual style?  Then you might want to have a Western themed wedding.  This theme is perfect if you are holding your wedding in a chapel, church, home, garden, park, community center, farmhouse, ranch or country inn.  But even if your wedding is in a big city hotel, you can carry out the theme with your choice of decorations and food.

Here are some ideas:

Decor-

• Use patchwork quilts, Navajo blankets, or red and white gingham as tablecloths.

• Use bandannas as napkins.

• Centerpieces can be arrangements of flowers in baskets, mason jars, vases of flowers inside cowboy boots, or small blooming cactus plants that can be used as favors.

• Flowers should look like they were hand-picked from a garden.  Choose wildflowers, daisies, sunflowers, zinnias, roses, and lilacs.

• Use bales of hay for decoration around the room or for seating.

• Keep drinks cold in buckets and washtubs filled with ice.

• Light the area with kerosene lamps or, for safety reasons,  battery-operated lamps that resemble vintage kerosene lamps.

• Hang a metal triangle and ring it when it’s time to cut the cake.

Cake and Desserts-

• You can simply top your cake with a cowgirl and cowboy.  Or work with your cake designer to create something unique such as the look of a hand-tooled leather belt wrapped around each tier or get cakes shaped like cowboy hats or boots.

• Apple pie or cobbler.

• Homemade (or homemade-like) ice cream.

Food-

• Buffalo wings with ranch dressing

• Barbecue  ribs and chicken

• Grilled steak

• Baked potatoes

• Corn on the cob

Favors-

• Bandannas personalized with your name and wedding date

• Program fans that look like Western “Most Wanted” posters

• Cowboy hats

Wedding attire-

• You can wear a vintage or vintage style wedding dress in antique white with lace but it isn’t necessary.  In fact, actress Sandra Bullock wore a designer (Angel Sanchez) white lace wedding dress and veil to her Western wedding to Jesse James in 2005.  She added white cowboy boots to give her look a Western flair.  If you love denim, there are stores online that sell blue denim wedding dresses.

• Your bridesmaids can wear square dance dresses or dress like Western saloon girls.  If you prefer something more traditional, find vintage-style dresses that are similar to your own.

• The groom and groomsmen can wear black suits, vests, white shirts with bolo ties (decorative strings with a clasps of silver), and cowboy hats.

• Ask guests to dress casually in Western wear.

The Summer 2009 issue of Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine has a two page spread showing decorations and acessories you can use at your Western wedding.  There are also many wedding vendors who sell Western and Cowboy related wedding accessories and favors on the Internet.

Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, costars of the movie Step Up, got married Saturday, July 11, at Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu, the same venue both Fergie and Josh Duhamel and Natasha Bedingfield and Matt Robinson used for their weddings this year.

Here are the ideas from people.com’s report that you’ll want to steal:

• A short, 15 minute outdoor ceremony

• A fairy theme carried out by two flower girls who wore wings

• Bridesmaids wore long, flowing,  pink, halter-neck dresses.  The halter neckline varied a little among the women.

• Jenna wore a Reem Acra strapless wedding gown with a sweetheart neckline

• Flowers at the ceremony were were white and pink roses

• The sit-down reception took place in a tent

• The cake was shaped like a castle with fairies.  Flavors included red velvet, chocolate and white.

• The favors were crystals, which kept to the fairy theme

Trying to decide on a color theme for your wedding?  Think about using black and white, it’s classic, elegant and can also be a little bit edgy.   Both Fergie and Josh Duhamel and former reality show bachelorette, Jen Schefft, used these colors for their weddings this year.

Here are some ways you can use black and white in your wedding:

Reception Decor-

• Centerpieces of white roses, calla lilies, carnations, or white dendrobium orchids.  Use black vases to keep with the theme.

• Black flowers, whether tulips, roses, or calla lilies, will give the wedding a real edgy look.

• Black and white checkered dance floor (which you can get from a party rental company).

• Black linens, both tablecloths and napkins, with white china, white linens and black china, or mix it up with white tablecloths, black napkins and black china.

• White chairs or chair covers with black sashes.

• You can also incorporate an accent color of pink, lavender, or, for a very dramatic look, red, in your centerpieces or chair sashes.

Cake and Desserts-

• Wedding cake iced in white, piped with black scrolls, lace-like designs or banded with black ribbons.

• Large strawberries decorated to look like they are wearing a black tuxedos.

Favors-

• Black and white favor bags, you can even find ones that look like mini bride’s dresses and tuxedos.

Wedding attire-

• Jen Schefft wore a white Carolina Herrera wedding dress with a black bow and black peep-toe pumps.

• The train of Fergie’s white mermaid wedding dress was held with vintage black and white crystal floral brooches.

• Bridesmaids can wear black dresses with white sashes and carry white bouquets.

I found a set of interchangeable black and white simulated pearl earrings from the Jacqueline Kennedy jewelry collection at www.QVC.com.  Wear the pearl color that will stand out the most with your hair color or have some fun and wear one of each color!

Kendra Wilkinson, Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriend and a former star of The Girls Next Door, wed Philadelphia Eagles football team wide receiver, Hank Baskett, on June 27 at the Playboy mansion in Beverly Hills.  The July 13, 2009 issue of Us Weekly magazine gives details that you can use when planning your own wedding.

Here are the ideas you’ll want to steal:

• The civil ceremony was outdoors.  There was a white aisle runner which led to an arch of roses and hydrangeas.

• The reception in the backyard was tented, decor was also all in white.

• Kendra co-designed her strapless, duchesse-satin wedding gown with R-Mine Bridal’s Armine Ohanessian.  The groom was dressed all in white.  The bridesmaids wore short lavender dresses and the flower girl wore a white dress with a lavender sash.

• Flowers were roses, hydrangea blossoms, and orchids in white and lavender.

• The cake was layers of chocolate and strawberry, frosted white, decorated with their monogram and topped with a replica of Kendra and Hank.

• Food was served buffet style and included lobster, rib-eye steaks, sushi and mini cheeseburgers.

• Music choices:

• Processional – The Wedding March

• First Dance – I Cross My Heart a George Strait song

• Father-Daughter dance (Hugh Hefner and Kendra) – As Time Goes By – from Hefner’s favorite the movie, Casablanca

• Bouquet toss – Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye

Find great photos and more details in the magazine.

Are you planning to have sparklers at your wedding?  They are often handed out as favors for guests to hold to form a sparkling tunnel for the bride and groom to pass through.  There are also large, 36″ ones that can be put into the ground to light a walkway and small ones that can be used to top the cake.

You and your guests need to exercise safety precautions when using sparklers.  Here are a few of them:

• Decide if you will allow children attending to have sparklers.  If you do, make sure they are closely supervised
• Make sure people hold sparklers away from their face, body, and clothes and away from other people
• Keep sparklers away from any highly flamable materials or substances

Carefully follow instructions given to you by the maufacturer.

Confirm that the city and county in which you are holding your wedding allows the use of sparklers.  And, confirm that your venue allows their use.  Many venues ban any kind of open flame in and around their facilities so ask before making any big plans.

Are you borrowing or renting folding chairs for your outdoor wedding?  Make sure you get either plastic or wooden ones, metal chairs will get extremely hot in the sun and you don’t want to risk burning your guests.

Some other outdoor wedding tips that might help your guests be more comfortable if it is warm:

• Schedule your wedding early in the day to avoid the afternoon heat.

• Provide shade with a tent, patio umbrellas, beach umbrellas or parasols.

• Give fans away as wedding favors.  You can order paper fans with your monogram or wedding program printed on them when you order your invitations.

• Rent outdoor fans and put them on a low setting to keep the noise level down.

• Provide water or lemonade when guests arrive.  Stay away from alcoholic drinks that cause dehydration.

Make sure you also have an air conditioned place where guests can retreat if the heat becomes too much for them.

Wearing a Piccione gown, “The Biggest Loser” winner, Michelle Aguilar, wed TV producer Micah Whitehead on June 14 at The Ranch House in The Colony outside Dallas, Texas.  The June 29, 2009 issue of Us Weekly magazine gives details you might want to steal:

• Michelle’s gown was silk satin, off the shoulder, with a crystal beaded bow on the left shoulder.  The seamtress cut out the inner lining so the dress would be cooler to wear.  The gown can be seen on the Piccione website.

• The bridesmaids wore lipstick red stapless cocktail length dresses from Alfred Angelo.

• Her family made hand-tied bouquets and centerpieces from pink, green, and white roses.

• The wedding cake they ordered didn’t make it so they got cupcakes which friends spkinled with pink and green glitter.

Find out more details and see photos in the magazine.

Did you watch last night’s episode of Wild Weddings on The Learning Channel (TLC)?  If you did, you probably saw the bride who fainted at the altar, twice.  The problem – she had not eaten all day.

Your wedding day timeline should include time to eat before the wedding ceremony.  Start the day with a good breakfast then prepare, or have someone prepare for you, healthy snacks that you and your bridesmaids can grab during the day as you are getting your hair and makeup done.  The snacks you select should not be too salty, greasy, spicy, or high in fiber, in other words, stay away from anything that might cause water retention, bloating, or an upset stomach.  You definitely don’t want to eat onions, garlic, or anything that will make your breath unpleasant.

And don’t think that you can just wait until your reception to eat.  You will be too excited and busy to get in more than a few small bites.  Don’t strave on your wedding day, plan in advance to take the time to eat.