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Setting a budget has been one of the more frustrating exercises of wedding planning. Even though I knew weddings were expensive, I sat in denial for a few days about the fact that we could potentially spend the equivalent of a new car or down payment on a house on our wedding day. (Granted, it's a pretty important one-day event, but still.) Luckily, both my parents and my fiancé's mom have offered to help. But, they are by no means able to foot the entire bill — nor would we expect them to do so. (Learn how to broach the money talk with your parents, here.)

So, we still have to come up with a pretty penny to pay for everything by next fall. Thankfully, in addition to the amount that my fiancé Gray and I are putting aside each month, I happened upon an unexpected source of income. Just prior to our engagement, I got the opportunity to apply for an adjunct teaching position at our local community college. Teaching has always been something I wanted to do, so I jumped at the chance to teach an Intro to Journalism class.

When I first spoke with the college, I wasn’t even thinking about Gray’s and my eventual wedding. I was simply excited for the opportunity to teach and expand my resume a little bit. But post engagement, I realized that unless one of us drained our savings or we took on a lot of credit card debt, we would definitely come up short in the wedding finance department. Personally, we were against both of those options.

I am extremely proud to say that I am now down 20 pounds! When I woke up on Sunday and weighed myself, it was one of the best feelings in the whole world. Now, I still have about 60 more to go, but this is such great motivation to keep it going.

I had a pretty laid-back weekend, mostly because I am staying sober and sticking to my new diet. On Friday night, Rene and I went out with another couple to The Nautical Mile in Freeport, NY, and I was the designated driver. It was a beautiful night, and I enjoyed myself anyway — no cocktails needed! On Saturday, I woke up and went to the gym and did 45 minutes of cardio split between the elliptical and the treadmill. Rene cooked me breakfast when I got home (two over-easy eggs and three pieces of turkey bacon) — he is the best breakfast chef ever!

I cleaned my apartment, got a car wash, visited my dad, sister and nephew, and then went to the mall to find a dress for my engagement party. Shopping was unsuccessful. I went to two department stores and didn’t find a thing I liked. I did, however, fall in love with a dress from Rent the Runway. I ordered it (they send two sizes to ensure a good fit), but it'll only arrive two days before my party, so I'm pretty nervous about that. I'm still searching for a backup dress just in case. You’ll get to see what I choose when I post pictures from the party!

Brides love choosing unique dates for their weddings. Last year, 10/11/12 and 12/12/12 were popular choices and this year, the frontrunner is, hands down, 11-12-13 according to the David’s Bridal "What’s on Brides' Minds 2013 Survey." As of July 1, approximately 1,650 brides will be married on that day and you can bet that number will increase as the date nears.

We were curious as to why some of these brides opted for a mid-week wedding (11/12/13 falls on a Tuesday) and reached out to a few of these engaged ladies. All had purchased their gowns at David’s Bridal to wear on this special date. You’ll love their answers and some of the creative ways they’re incorporating the 11-12-13 date into their weddings.

Mona Abdi & Her Fiancé Mark

"We chose this date for a few reasons: We are both finance/accounting people so numbers are our lives! Second, I knew that Mark would never forget the date! We actually got engaged on a Tuesday and will be married in Aruba so the date works in our favor. Guests are flying in that weekend which gives them a few days to relax before the wedding."

When we see an adorable little boy and girl holding hands, declaring that they're going to get married, we usually chuckle and think nothing of it. In fact, decades later, they'd probably roll their eyes when reminded about this memory. But for Jake Kantrowitz and Sarah Truitt, both 26, this childhood fantasy actually came true. They met when they were just three years old, and tied the knot on July 27 this year in Boston.

In honor of their roots, they used a nostalgic photo taken on a carousel for their save-the-date. Off-the-charts cuteness, right? It gets better: The newlyweds recreated the picture on their wedding day! When Levi Albert, their best man, saw the new photo, he was inspired to create a then-and-now composite using Photoshop. "I thought it would be instant karma on Reddit," he told Good Morning America.

It wasn't long before the photo went viral, receiving more than 41,000 "upvotes"  and 1,830 comments on the social media site. One commenter wrote, "I felt goosebumps trying to imagine their happiness. If that's not the cutest thing you've ever seen... I mean come on, what do you say to that?"

I'm getting married in about a month (!) and I keep picturing what those final moments will be like before I become a wife. Will I experience a surge of adrenaline, happiness, trepidation, or all of the above, before the doors of the church swing open and I walk down the aisle clutching my Dad's arm? There's no way to emotionally "prepare" for such a life-altering event, despite all of the hard work, pre-wedding freak-outs and my fiancé's loving support. I won't know until I'm there in the flesh, pinching myself because it's actually happening.

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When you’re planning your wedding, you have to make one decision after another. What are my colors? Band or DJ? Chicken or fish? Worrying about what your bridesmaids are going to wear is just another series of decisions...and this time, there’s the added pressure of keeping your closest friends happy. Is this dress too expensive? Will this look good on everyone? Will these shoes be comfortable? Here are some things that you can consider delegating to your bridesmaids. We've included advantages and disadvantages for each to help you decide what works best for you.

Our trainer Bonne Marcus made some suggestions and modifications to my eating plan; I am cutting out starchy carbs, eliminating all sweets and sugar, and minimizing my alcohol intake. I'm going go try this new plan for at least the next three weeks, leading up to my engagement party, to see how it goes. The toughest part — cutting out fruit! I can eat raw nuts, though, which I’ll substitute for a little snack.

After work one day this week, I went with Rene to the new gym he joined, LA Fitness. They just opened up a new one near our apartment, and it is amazing. It's literally as big as a mall, with two sparkly clean floors and more fitness equipment I've ever seen in my whole life. The spin room had over 60 brand new bikes, which got me so excited! I’m not a big fan of my current gym, as they don’t offer classes, so I’m definitely considering switching over to this one. They offer a 5:45 a.m. spin class on weekdays, which works perfectly with my schedule.

Once I got over the initial shock of how cool it was, I spent a half hour on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the treadmill, sweated my butt off, and burned over 700 calories. I’d say that was a successful workout!

Photo Credit: Britt Chudleigh on Snippet and Ink via Lover.ly

Q: My fiancé and I are providing the alcohol for our wedding. With 75 guests, how many bottles of red and white wine and champagne should we purchase?