Dave and I received a wedding invitation last week and in the lower left corner the phrase “Black Tie” was printed. So we took Dave’s tuxedo to the cleaner and I started to see if I have a formal gown to wear.

Then, yesterday Dave saw some of the other guests and somehow the wedding came up in conversation. He mentioned that he found a tuxedo in the back of the closet, and was relieved that he didn’t need to rent or buy one.  To which one guy replied, “You don’t need to wear a tuxedo.” It turns out his girlfriend called the bride and asked if a tux was mandatory, and she was told (by the bride) that a black suit was fine. A tuxedo was not mandatory.

After hearing this, Dave’s friend said that they should have printed “Black Tie Optional” so guests knew that they could wear a suit instead of a tux.  (I have to admit, I was impressed that he knew this bit of wedding info.)

My point: Before you print your wedding invitation really think about what type of attire you want your guests in—Tuxedos (Black Tie), tuxedos or suits (Black Tie Optional), suits (don’t print anything)—and have the appropriate phrase printed, or left blank, on your wedding invitation.

I went to a concert last night and as soon as the music started all these lights popped up on the ground level in front of the stage. I pointed them out to Dave and commented how weird I thought it was that so many people brought lighters with them to a concert – you know the image of waving the flame in the air – and he looked at me and said, “Those aren’t lighters. They’re camera phones.”

I guess I haven’t been to a concert in a while, unless you count Barry Manilow with my grandmothers earlier this year – which was awesome by the way.

And of course I thought of a great wedding tip – forgive me if you’ve heard this from me before – you do not need to buy disposable cameras for your wedding. Most of the pictures taken with a disposable camera are blurry or only show part of somone's face. 9 times out of 10 they are not useable in any album.

Your guests will come with their own cameras – or camera phones – and e-mail you a link to the pictures they take as soon as they upload them to snapfish, flickr or another photo service they use. The cost of buying disposable cameras and developing the film can be put to better use – favors, invites, your dress, food.

I received hundreds of photos that friends and family took with their digital cameras on my computer and they didn’t cost me a thing!

Save-the-Date cards are a lot of fun to shop for because they can be very creative and informal. There are so many great designs out there, but I really like magnet save-the-dates because they help organize my cluttered refrigerator. I have magnet save-the-dates from years ago that are holding up this week’s grocery list.

I got very excited the other day becasue I came across a company that designs really cool looking save-the-date magnets.

Cluu Cards has a great collection of designs you can choose from, including “fairytale” and “Vegas Baby” featured above. You can also customize a design that fits your theme and personalities. There are destination themed and calendar magnets in the collection on her website.

Designer, Cindy Luu, also has a great selection of bridal shower invites that your ‘maids can order for your shower. With a magnet invite, no one will forget where to be and when!

Wedding Planning Tip: Remember that if you send a save-the-date card to someone, you HAVE to invite that person to your wedding, so review your mailing list a few times with your fiancé and parents before mailing them out.

There are always a few guests who forget to take the directions card with them, or get lost on the way to the wedding. But why should the bride, groom or their parents have to worry about manning the phones on the big day.

Dial DIR-ECT-IONS allows brides to post their wedding directions for free and guests can call DIR-ECT-IONS (347-328-4667) for directions to the wedding from wherever they are. The directions are sent via a text message to the caller’s phone, so they don’t even need a pen and paper to write them down! (Standard phone and text message rates apply.)

The service is available in every city throughout the continental United States.

Wedding Note: If you are printing your own directions card, and not using one the venue gives you, make sure to test-drive them before printing them. You don’t want to be the reason everyone gets lost, and late to your wedding.

If you have guests coming in from out of town it's customary to leave a guest room gift for them at their hotel.

A guest room gift can be a simple or elaborate package depending on how much you want to spend and how many items you want to include. Your guests will appreciate anything you have waiting for them so don't think you need to spend a fortune.

In addition to information on weekend events - the rehearsal dinner, golf outings, post-wedding brunch - you should also include a welcome note from the bride and groom and a small token gift.

When trying to decide what the gift the should be, remember that food is always a favorite. You can choose something you and your fiance enjoy, a local treat or a food or beverage that compliments the wedding location. Here are a few ideas:

Atlanta - Peaches
Arizona - Arizona Ice Tea
Atlantic City - Taffy
New York City - "Big Apple" Cookies
San Francisco - Ghirardelli Chocolates
Ski Resort - Hot Cocoa Mix and Marshmallows

The caramels pictured above are from Route 29 Napa, and at $5 a box they are not only delicious but affordable too.

What are you planning for your guest room gift? We gave guests chocolates in the shape of stars to go with our moon and stars theme.