Planning Our Wedding...

Here's how we went about the planning of the wedding:

1. Location - Choose the location and get the deposit squared away.  We looked at several locations around the North Lake side of Tahoe but found that Commons Beach in Tahoe City was everything we needed.
2. Date - Select the date for your wedding. Now most people choose a date and then make the plans.  It was important to us to find the location so we could choose a date. 
3. Rings - Our rings came from Ultra Diamond and they are fabulous!  Our favorite person at the store in Milpitas is Tabby.  She is wonderful to work with!
4. Food - Discuss what kind of food you want at the reception and find a caterer (We started off with picnic theme and decided on a bbq theme was what we really wanted.  The Crest Cafe and Catering was our choice and they were fabulous).
5. Wardrobe - For us it we wanted simple and elegant and that's exactly what we got! The Mens Warehouse was great!  The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful!  Thanks EmmaClaude! David's Bridal was also very helpful.  The assistant there was also knowledgeable and helpful and I was able to find a dress that day!.
6. Cake and Refreshments -  We had our favorite chocolate cake and added sunflowers as decorations and the refreshments were beer, wine, soda, water, and coffee.
7. Photographer - This was difficult to decide on but we were very pleased with Kevin Klein! It is very important to get a good photographer who will be able to capture the moment without being a part of the moment. We love Kevin's style and really enjoyed his company.
8. Flower Arrangements  -  and the bouquet were simple but exactly what we had in mind. Amazingly I ended up ordering the flowers and my bouquet from Safeway!  They did an excellent job and they were beautiful!
9. Officiant - This was actually the hardest part for us because we are not religous but we are spiritual. I did research on the web and found Nance Liekham and it all worked out and she was very spiritual and supportive.
10. Gifts for the guests - We gave each of the flower arrangements to the ladies that attended and I was very proud that they were able to take a piece of the wedding home with them!

We didn't have a wedding coordinator.  We did the research, the interviewing, and the coordination ourselves.  We even dropped off the cakes, the drinks, and flower arrangements off at the park before the wedding.  We saved a lot of money by using the normal day to day resources and we are very proud of it!

So, I guess my point is that your wedding day is a celebration of your relationship and it should be fun, representation of the both of you, and it doesn't have to break the bank to make it happen!