Here come all your friends and relatives, driving or flying in from far and near to spend the weekend celebrating your wedding, and many of those flying in will be renting cars and venturing into unfamiliar territory. They'll have to find their way to their hotel from the airport, and that's just the beginning. They'll need to find a number of places over the course of the weekend.

Weddingmapper.com has partnered with Google maps to make creating a detailed map full of important information incredibly simple. You just input your names, wedding date and the city in which you're to be married. Wedding Mapper escorts you through all the steps, adding icons at all the locations your guests need to find--hotel, rehearsal dinner, your parents' home, ceremony venue, wedding reception, Sunday brunch, restaurants, attractions, etc. There's a "Search" feature that lets you pinpoint addresses. There are drag, zoom and satellite-view options. You can add photos, descriptions and comments at each location. Say you want to include a favorite restaurant. Give it an icon and tell why it's your favorite! When you've completed your map, send it to your guests so they can become familiar with the area and make plans before they arrive.

You can even carry the cool map theme into your wedding favors with "On Top of the World" Frosted-Glass Photo/Place Card Coasters--meaningful in so many ways. And another wonderful wedding favor that's perfect for welcome bags when your guests get to the hotel is the "Miles of Memories" Suitcase Favor Tins. The moving wheels, retractable handle and travel stickers are as delightful as the tasty goodies you put inside! They'll love it--and your creativity!

Be sure to check out WeddingMapper.com--It's the fun way to tell your guests where to go!

Who says the celebrating needs to stop when your wedding reception ends? Since weddings, and especially elegant wedding receptions, are usually steeped in tradition (they're often called "the parents' party,") the "after party"--when the bride and groom can show more of their own personal style--is quickly becoming the hottest new trend in weddings!

More and more, couples are extending their wedding celebrations far into the night, and sometimes to the next day. With so many couples marrying later in life or living together before marriage, the "wedding night" isn't the long-awaited thrill it once was. An "after" party gives the bride and groom a chance to spend time in a relaxed atmosphere with family and friends they don't see often.

Creativity and just having a blast drive the planning. Perhaps a sleigh ride, bonfire, roasting marshmallows and drinking hot toddies and cocoa after a winter wedding in Montana? How about a moonlight barbecue with music and dancing after a wedding in the Southwest? Make your coastal New England "after" party an authentic champagne clambake on the beach!

Your "after party" doesn't even have to be right after the reception. Wait until the next day if you think you'll be too wired or tired to party on. You might want to have a DJ, do some decorating and, to save your strength for the honeymoon, hire a caterer. Now that we know an "after party" is in your future, let's talk favors!

A Favor Before And AFTER!

The absolute perfect favor (and it can be personalized, too!) for the outdoor "after party" following your winter wedding is the "Heart Warmer" Mini Heart-Shaped Hand Warmer. Not only will your guests stay comfy cozy, they'll have a heartwarming reminder of your distinctly different wedding celebration.










That southwestern barbecue will be downhome and delicious! The favor for this fiesta is the "Hot! Hot! Hot! Chili Peppers Magnet. Not only does it make a great keepsake of a wild and wonderful "after party," it also tells your guests a little more about your relationship and adds just the right amount of spice to the festivities.

Your champagne clambake will be a smashing way to end an ideal wedding weekend, so have a camera handy to take photos of everyone as they enjoy your first hours as husband and wife with you. Favor them all with a "Flip-Flop" Photo Frame and its flower accent. When you return from your honeymoon, send them their photo to put in the frame. They'll never forget the fun that went into "extra innings!"

Don't you just love this trend? It gives new meaning to the term "wedding party," and you'll have the time of your life before you head off to your happily ever "after!"

I happily admit my husband of more than two decades and I eloped. We headed to one of my favorite cities in the US--Savannah, GA--and got married. A quick ceremony, a romantic walk on the beach, and we're still in love.

We eloped because neither of us felt like a big wedding was necessary. I didn't want my parents to go into debt so I could get married, and it just wasn't our style. People elope for lots of reasons. Some people are uncomfortable doing things in front of a crowd. Others would rather spend the wedding money on a quick Vegas wedding and a weekend of gambling. Whatever the reason, eloping is still a viable option for marriage-bound couples. Apparently, it happens more than we think. A bakery in Sedona, AZ makes elopement wedding cakes like the one in the photo on the right!

Is eloping right for you? iVillage has a "Should You Elope? quiz on their Web site. Perhaps the two biggest drawbacks to elopement are the potential hurt feelings of family and friends, and later in life you may miss the photo memories of an actual wedding and reception. If you do decide to elope, don't just take off. Make sure you've taken care of a few essentials. According to eHow, you'll need the following:

Marriage license
Plane tickets
Witnesses
Chapel or venue
Hotel
Minister, Judge or Justice of the Peace

Remember what's important--weddings are nice, but it's your marriage that needs serious and thorough planning before you say "I do." A spectacular million-dollar wedding with the limos, the Vera Wang gown and the extraordinary wedding favors becomes a bitter memory when the couple divorces two years later. Enough said. See you on the beach--or at the craps table!

Hi, everyone! Sue here with my TWIST (The Way I See Things,) and I'm about to kindly disagree with a fellow journalist--the highly respected Miss Manners, whose syndicated advice column on ettiquette in polite society is well respected and, usually, sensible. In a recent column, however, dear Miss Manners gave an opinion with which I must take exception. Here's an excerpt of the reader's question and Miss Manners' response:

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I will be getting married in a few months and have been having a hard time picking out wedding favors within our budget that will make it further than the garbage can once our guests return home. We have allotted $1 to $2 per guest. Our gift budget does not lack as a result of money being improperly allocated; we have needed to find many ways to cut corners.

GENTLE READER: Who told you that you had to give out wedding favors? Etiquette has never thought of weddings as comparable to birthday parties for children, where the guests might need consolation for not being the center of attention.

Here, then, is my rebuttal to Miss Manners' kind, but somewhat dated advice:

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Normally, I find your advice well-thought-out and pertinent to today's lifestyle. In your above response, however, I believe you may be a bit out of touch with current trends, not only in weddings, but in wedding favors as well. Wedding favors are not meant as "consolation" prizes, but as a small "thank you" to guests, many of whom have come a long way to celebrate with the happy couple. Wedding favors have also come a long way in recent years, with designers creating wedding favors that are both practical and lovely enough to enhance the table settings at the reception.

The wedding favor shown in the upper-left-hand corner is a beautiful photo frame that serves as a place card holder at the reception and a photo frame in the guest's home. Far from winding up in the garbage can, this favor remains a reminder of the bride and groom's special day. There are hundreds of practical--and edible!--wedding favor designs available today that guests can take home and enjoy. MyWeddingFavors.com features wine bottle stoppers, glass coasters, kitchen timers, an olive oil dispenser, luggage tags--even a heart-shaped calculator, a pizza cutter and salt-and-pepper shakers--all creatively designed and gift packaged to enhance table decor and make memories for the bride and groom and the guests. What's more, every bride can easily find wedding favors to fit, not just her color scheme and theme, but also within her budget.

It's my hope that you, dear Miss Manners, rethink your outmoded opinion of wedding favors by discovering the meaning and practicality of today's wedding favors. I remain, as ever,

Your Gentle Fan

Don't gain weight, show up on time, coordinate your hair color and get a tan--but no tan lines can show! According to FOX news, these are just a few of the demands bridemaids must meet in the "prenuptial" agreements some controlling brides are asking their friends and family members to sign. Why? As far as I'm concerned, it's so the vain, self-absorbed bride can have her picture-perfect wedding. "I can always get more friends, but I'm only having one wedding. So girls, it's pay to play. Failure to adhere to these rules will result in your dismissal from the bridesmaids' party for wonderful me."

Many of the more intelligent bridesmaids-to-be, rather than signing on the dotted lline, are saying "thanks, but no thanks." Can't say as I blame them. If Bridezilla the Hun is this power-crazed relatively early in her march to the altar, what abuse awaits them down the road? Jeez! If I were her husband-to-be (and we can only imagine what she's putting him through,) I'd be having second--and even third!--thoughts about binding myself to this woman for all eternity.

When did it become all about the wedding? What about the marriage? Isn't that the more important reason for the day? With a 50% divorce rate staring every bride in the face, I'd be channeling my tyrannical behavior toward any counseling or knowledge that will give my marriage a better-than-even chance of succeeding. And why would you want to insult and hurt women so dear to you that you've asked them to be an honored participant in the happiest day of your life? Instead, you choose to give them stress-inducing ultimatums preparing for what should be a happy day for everyone? Step back, woman, and reconnect with your heart--the one that would turn black the minute you told your dearest friend she's out for gaining five pounds.

Let me suggest a few thoughtful bridesmaids gifts the controlling bride may want to consider. We'll start with the "Bridesmaids Essentials" Survival Kit. It's got a lots of necessaries, like a hairbrush, stain remover, deodorant wipe and emery boards to make sure those fingernails are at the mandated length. Although true survival may depend on something the kit is not licensed to supply.

How about this wonderfully unique Brag Bag? Great for cosmetics, hair accessories and cash, you can personalize it with a photo of your and your bridesmaids. Of course, if you're not careful, it may just be you in the photo, wondering where the rest of your attendants went. Treat them with dignity, and your swill truly be a wedding you'll all want to brag about!

A Reminder for All Brides-To-Be

As you plan for the day you've dreamed of all your life, please don't forget what it's really about--UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Not just for the man you're going to marry, but for all the wonderful family and friends in your life that saw you through to this day. It may be that you DO only get married once--and that's just one day out of many days and years that it took to build the bonds of family and friendship. To risk destroying those relationships for the sake of perfection is incredibly short-sighted--especially since the perfect wedding is a really a state of mind and not something you can force with a piece of paper. No matter what happens, Perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. If it's a day you want to remember, let it be about love.