The planning begins

Again, since I am new to planning a wedding, I looked to many media outlets to inspire and help me during the process.

I must admit that I was obsessed with some wedding shows before my engagement - Bridezillas and My Fair Wedding with David Tutera on WEtv. They were great for knowing what not to do, or what to avoid, so as not to become a "bridezilla," and Tutera was great to watch as he transformed everyday couple's weddings into unforgettably unique and classy events.

Of course, another place I headed to first was the world-wide-web. Oh. my. lord. Just after a few hours of surfing, I was in wedding search overload. Many sites were helpful but some just made my head spin more.

One of my favorites so far are www.theknot.com, which has a great tool where you can serach for vendors by what type of service offered, location, price, and more. It also has a great wedding checklist that definitely helps the newbies - like me.

Yes, the list can seem long and you may not even have 12 months but relax. Remember a checklist is just a guide and not everything on it applies to every bride or couple. Also, you can adjust the time schedule to however many months (or years) you have to plan. (I just have nine but am making it work for me!)

As far as magazines, the ones I got the most inspiration from are Brides, the knot (yes also a mag), Ceremony is beautiful with lots of pictures, and surprisingly Latino Bride and Groom, a SGV-based magazine has a great vendor guide in the back, www.getmarried.com just launched their print version of their online guide. The magazine has great pictures and ideas for all kinds of brides.

Next time: My first bridal show.