We're loving these personalized cake forks from Etsy seller Beach House Living. They're a fun and whimsical touch to your wedding, and at only $13 for the set, an affordable memento to remember your day. They'd also make a cute addition to a bridal shower gift, tied to the top of the box with ribbon.

The B-List is an association of the most influential wedding bloggers worldwide and will be holding its annual conference in Washington, DC on April 16th-18th. While the conference is invitation-only in order to discuss off-the-record issues related to the wedding blogging industry, there is a cocktail reception on Friday, April 16th that is open to everyone.

If you are a wedding vendor, this event is a great opportunity to meet and chat with all your favorite wedding bloggers in one place. The cocktail reception will be at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia from 7 - 10 pm (and it is being planned by Maria Cooke at Ritzy Bee, so you know it will be fabulous). For more information on registering to attend please click here. We hope to see you in DC next Friday!

You can also follow The B List on Twitter here!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the new Ritz Carlton at Dove Mountain for a meeting. I know, my job is really hard, but we all have our crosses to bear.



The Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain is about an hour and a half South of Phoenix and about thirty minutes from Tucson. It's nestled in the mountains, making it the perfect destination wedding spot. It you're looking for a place for your East Coast guests to relax, experience desert life (perhaps with a Prickly Pear margarita in hand) yet still have luxury, then this new venue was made to order for you.

I've talked about the plus/plus rate and the hidden costs in wedding budgets on this wedding blog before, but in case you missed that post, plus/plus, in a nutshell, stands for plus tax, plus service charge. These figures are in addition to the cost your venue or caterer will quote you for your wedding.

In order to help you figure out what your real costs will be for your wedding location, I've created a Wedding Venue Cost Calculator. The calculator is an excel spreadsheet that you can download for free. Don't let the word spreadsheet intimidate you: all of the instructions (it's pretty easy) are included.  The calculator also has space for you to compare the cost of three different venues so you can see at a glance which is the better deal.

If you have any trouble downloading the calculator, try right clicking and selecting "save target as" and then opening after it's saved.

I realize that talking money and calculators isn't the most glamorous or inspirational part of wedding planning, but having a grasp on all the logistical details will help your day run smoothly.

Download your free wedding venue cost calculator here.



Image above and ebook illustrations by Laura Hooper.

Here are some of the lovely things that caught our eye this week among all the wedding and design blogs:

*I have been against getting an iPhone case for so long for purely shallow reasons: they are just SO ugly. These could change my mind. I'm wishing the Kate Spade version was made for more than just the iPod Touch. (Thanks to Christy at Junebug Weddings for tweeting about these!)

*Love this bright and cheerful color palette for a beachside wedding featured on My Kate Parker Wedding.

*Junebug Weddings released their Best from the Best list featuring the best wedding images of 2009.
Tough to choose a favorite, but number 9 completely moved me.

*If you're looking for real wedding inspiration from real couples, check out the Real Weddings Library on The Bride's Cafe. There are tons of photos and stories from couples who have recently tied the knot.

What are some of your fave finds on the blogs this week?

Here's a quick wedding decor tip: if you're planning on having votives, tealights or another type of candle on your wedding reception tables, opt for the unscented kind. Scented candles often clash with the aromas of your dinner menu and can quickly cause an unpleasant experience for your guests.




Photo by Katie Stoops of Open Air Photography, table design by Janie Medley of JM Flora and Courtney Spencer of Merriment Events. You can view more photos from this event at Snippet and Ink and The Bride's Cafe.

If you're newly engaged, congrats! Luckily for you, this is 2010 and there are tons of great wedding blogs full of inspirational photos and ideas to make your wedding completely unique and reflective of you and your fiance (you can check out some of our favorite wedding blogs listed on the right hand side of this site or check out The B-List for a more comprehensive list of the best bridal blogs). The wedding industry is also full of super talented wedding professionals who can take your ideas and bring them to life and choosing those vendors is one of the more important tasks you'll cross off on your to-do list.

In your search for the best wedding vendors, I recommend reading through our Wedding Vendor Hiring Guide. Okay, I admit I am completely biased here because I wrote it, however it is chock-full of questions to ask and things to keep in mind as you hire the wedding vendors you'll be working closely with over the course of your engagement. The guide is free and downloadable as a PDF so that you can print it out and stick it in your wedding planning notebook to take with you to appointments.

 Happy planning!



All wedding calligraphy illustrations in the Wedding Vendor Hiring Guide are copyrighted to Laura Hooper.