October 3, 2009, was the best day of my life. I know it’s a cliché to say that your wedding day was the happiest day of your life, but I can assure you there’s nothing tired or boring about being surrounded by the people you love most in the world. From the moment my mom woke me up in the morning—singing “Get Me to the Church on Time” at top volume—to our final dance, every part of my wedding day was exactly as I had hoped it’d be and much, much more.

Now that I’m a wise married woman, I feel I can offer future brides just a few words of advice.

Erin and Randy, doing the dip.

My fiancé is a man’s man. He loves football, cars, beer, and anything you can cook on a grill. So when I first approached him with the idea of taking a dance lesson to prepare for our wedding, I was sure he’d be against it.

Surprisingly, he agreed with minimal groaning. Neither of us wants to look silly or awkward during our first dance as husband and wife, so we definitely needed help. We didn’t want a series of ballroom-dance lessons, but we needed to practice dancing to our song so that we aren’t simply swaying back and forth for four minutes while our friends and family look on.

I got in touch with Penny Cupina, a well-known personality among Washington brides. Penny has been a dancer and choreographer for 25 years. A few years ago, her daughter was planning a wedding and noticed on a message board that a local bride wanted to take one dance lesson before her big day. Penny has a dance studio in her basement, so her daughter asked her if she’d be willing to give a lesson. Penny agreed, and a flourishing business was born.

I contacted Penny a few months ago, and she told me to wear a dress that moved similarly to my wedding dress and to wear the shoes I’d be wearing on my wedding day. Randy was to wear dress shoes as well—no sneakers. We also had to bring a CD with our song on it.

Today, we get to hear from groom-to-be Randy on what he thinks of the wedding planning process.

What’s today, the 14th? It’s hard to believe that September is half over, and that means our wedding day is right around the corner. When Erin and I got engaged in June 2008, we thought we’d have all the time in the world to plan our wedding. Sixteen months is probably on the long side for an engagement, after all. When Erin started making plans and visiting venues last fall, I thought she was nuts, to be honest. But sure enough, with less than three weeks to go, we’re still putting things together—and will be right up until the last minute.

Randy and I are getting married in just a few weeks, and everyday is filled with appointments and plans. When we get home from work everyday, there’s something waiting for us in the mail: response cards and gifts from friends and family. It’s more fun than ever to go to the mailbox!

Most people are concerned with what to give the bride and groom to help them begin their lives together. I’m more concerned with what to give the special people in our lives—our parents and our bridal party—to thank them for all of the support they’ve given us. It’s difficult to decide on the best gift to give your parents. I think of all of the things—both tangible and intangible—that my parents have given me in my life, and I become overwhelmed. How could I ever give them something that would let them know how much their love and guidance has meant to me?

One morning about a month ago, I breathlessly turned to Randy and blurted out, “I need your help with the wedding invitations.” A little confused, he said, “Sure, honey. What do you need me to do?” I explained to him, step by step, what we needed to do to get the invitations printed, stuffed, addressed, and mailed within the next few weeks. It was a big undertaking. We were planning to send about 130 invitations with a reception card, a directions card, and an RSVP card with a return envelope. All of these pieces would be placed in a pocketfold envelope and inserted into a larger envelope, which would have to be addressed and stamped with the correct postage. Just thinking about it made my heart race. I knew I’d need help, and asking for it was easy. Accepting it was a little more difficult.

One of my bridesmaids, Stephanie, designed the invitations. We went back and forth for weeks on the wording and layout. The hardest part was the directions card. Our ceremony will be held at Georgetown University, and I’m concerned that our guests will get lost. I spent one evening driving to Georgetown from several directions so I could get the instructions exactly right. Stephanie illustrated a map so guests would be able to find their way to the chapel once they reached campus. When we were confident that we had each piece just right, Stephanie sent me an image of each file. Now I just had to figure out how to print them.

Randy and Erin sample the wares during their wedding food taste-testing.

With our wedding just weeks away, Randy and I headed to the Westin Alexandria to sample options for our dinner. Our reception agreement with the hotel includes four passed hors d’oeuvres during our cocktail hour as well as a salad and entrée for our seated meal, but it was up to us to select the specific dishes. We both had light lunches in preparation for our feast and arrived at the Westin ready to sample six kinds of hors d’oeuvres, two salads, one soup, and three entrées.

We were shown to a table in the Westin’s restaurant, Jamieson Grille, and found a personalized menu waiting for us on our plates. The menu had our names at the top and listed each of the items we were about to taste. We ordered cocktails to set the mood and then began trying the appetizers. We liked almost everything, but we had to narrow the list down to four hors d’oeuvres, and we wanted to offer our guests a variety. After some discussion, we chose coconut-crusted chicken with spicy-mustard sauce, Maryland crabcakes (for a little local flavor), crostini with roasted portobello mushrooms, and onion-and-Gruyère tart.

Erin gets a trial run on her wedding hairstyle at the Andre Chreky salon.

Most brides want to feel like a princess on their wedding day. Not me. Princesses are so 1981. I want to feel like a celebrity. I had my first opportunity to feel just a teensy bit like a movie star this past Friday when I visited Andre Chreky salon for my hair-and-makeup trial.

I chose Andre Chreky based on the recommendation of one of my friends and the glowing reviews I found on DCKnottieReview.com, a collection of vendor reviews from hundreds of women who have gotten married in the Washington area. I’ve found it very helpful in researching local vendors. The first step was visiting the salon’s Web site, taking a look at its list of services and pricing, and then submitting a request for more information. Shortly after that, the salon’s bridal coordinator got in touch with me to schedule a trial.

Some salons will do a hair-and-makeup trial for free, but Andre Chreky charges a pretty sizeable fee: $200. It was worth it to me, though, because I want to look great on my wedding day and I don’t want to leave anything to chance—I’ve had a couple of bad experiences having my hair styled as a bridesmaid in friends’ weddings. I hate the feeling of sitting in the stylist’s chair, watching with growing panic as my hair is styled into something gigantic and poofy. I needed to know well in advance of my wedding day if I could trust the stylist at Andre Chreky to do a great job on my hair.