Are you looking for a unique place to register for wedding gifts?  You may want to check out Branch.  This home store, specializing in eco-friendly products, sells everything including tabletop, furniture and items for the bedroom, bath and garden. 

Their products are very modern, and I have to say, I absolutely loved so many things I had to stop myself from clicking “add to cart.”

Branch has a registry section so you can easily register for items and add a link to it on your wed-site.

The coaster/trivet set featured above is one of my favorite items.  I think they’re great for entertaining and flat enough to store easily.

Remember wedding movie week back in January?  Well, it’s back – sort of.  There are two wedding film-related events taking place next week that I want to share with you, and one of them is accompanied by some expert tips from the industry’s most celebrated vendors.

So here’s the first wedding movie post.  It’s an event that you may be interested in attending if you’re still looking for your wedding dress.

27 Dresses, with Katherine Heigl, will be available on DVD on April 29^th.  To celebrate, a fashion show and contest will take place in Central Park, and one lucky bride will win a $10,000 wedding dress from Kleinfeld Bridal, plus a few other fabulous prizes.

Interested?  Here’s how you can enter the contest.  First you have to decide if you have worn one of the world’s ugliest bridesmaid dresses.  If so, and you still have it hanging in your closet, register at 27dressesdvd.com/event and then bring your dress and a lot of courage to the Central Park Boathouse – East 72^nd Street and Park Drive North – at 7am, Monday, April 28^th.

If you are one of the lucky brides-to-be to be chosen as having the ugliest  bridesmaid dress, you will model it to a panel of judges – Malin Akerman (she plays Katherin Heigel’s sister in the movie), fashion designer Randolph Duke and “Project Runway” finalist Chris March – in fashion show style at 10am Monday morning.

And just a reminder, if you do have some unwanted bridesmaid dresses hanging in your closet you can do a good thing, and get a tax deduction, by donating your unwanted dresses to The Princess Project who collects evening gowns and gives them to high school students who can't afford a prom dress.

A few weeks ago I received a press release that this week is National Parks Week, and I thought to myself, how fabulous would it be to get married in a park!

I did a little research on the subject and found out that ARAMARK Park & Resorts, in addition to providing concessions for a number of national parks, also hosts weddings.  From visiting the company’s Web site, I found some amazing US destinations in almost every state in the Union.  I personally like the Denali Park Resorts, Denali National Park & Preserve and Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  At Lake Powell you can get married lake side (see photo above) or on a  luxury yacht. 

Wherever you are planning – or dreaming – of getting married you may want to check out the national parks in your area.  And remember yesterday’s tip on outdoor wedding locations:  Make sure that the outdoor space has an indoor alternative in case it rains on your wedding day.

One of your first tasks as a bride is to find the perfect location, which will help set the tone for your wedding.  When you start searching for your ceremony and reception site keep a few things in mind:

• Your guest list.  You don’t need the final list, but you should have a rough estimate.
• Your budget.  Having an idea of what your wedding budget is before you go looking will ensure that you’ll find a location you can afford.  You don’t want to fall in love with a space that’s over $250 a head, if your budget will only allow $75 a head. 
• Your wedding’s look and feel.  Do you want to get married outdoors?  At home?  In a church?  By knowing what you want, you’ll be able to narrow down the spaces you schedule appointments at, and won’t waste time looking at spaces you’ll never book.

I originally wanted to get married at my grandparent’s home, where my parents were married.  Unfortunately, the space wasn’t big enough to accommodate all of our guests, and my grandmother refused to cut down a large tree in the middle of the yard.  (We ended up having the rehearsal dinner, a BBQ, in the yard.)  When we went searching for locations, I insisted that we find a site that had some outdoor space.  In one weekend, we visited a dozen spaces - country clubs, mansions you can rent, hotels - and of course at the last space we went to was the perfect spot:  a synagogue with a beautiful ballroom (in our color palette, pastels) and a small garden in the middle of the building for photos and cocktail hour.  Needless to say, it was a rainy day in June, and while we did get to take some photos outside, we didn’t get to use the garden. 

Anyway, the lesson is: if you are looking for an outdoor space for your wedding, make sure you have a rain plan - either a facility on the property where you can hold your ceremony and/or reception if it’s raining, or reserve some tents and a few days before the wedding have them installed so you’re covered, literally, in case the weatherman predicts rain.

For the rest of this week, I thought I’d highlight some unique locations you may want to consider for your wedding, so I may post more than once a day if I come across some other interesting tips and products.  And if you know of a great space for a wedding, please post a comment with a link to it for other brides to see.

Remember my post sometime ago about getting married or honeymooning in Disney World?  Well, here's your chance to get a FREE honeymoon at the Magic Kingdom. Get Married (the TV show on Lifetime) is giving couples a chance to win a honeymoon at Walt Disney World!   Here’s what you have to do:

Create a 30-second to 2-minute video telling why you and your Prince Charming deserve this magical honeymoon.  Register to enter and submit your video on GetMarried.com before May 26, 2008. 

The week-long honeymoon prize includes round trip airfare for two, limousine transportation to and from the airport, two 7-day Magic Your Way Park Hopper tickets, 6-nights at a Disney Resort Hotel, which includes one night at the Cinderella Castle Suite.

If you are chosen as the lucky bride and groom, I highly recommend you get tickets to the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review.  They have delicious food and a very entertaining show.  We went in 1997, but I'm sure it's just as good now as it was then.

iVillage is not a sponsor and is not responsible for the administration of the contest on GetMarried.com.  For additional information, including the official rules, please visit their site at www.GetMarried.com.

So I couldn’t sleep last night.  And we still haven’t gotten our couch so I couldn’t lay down, watch TV and just zone out.  I just thought and thought and thought some more.  What did I think about?  Everything!  When the couch would arrive, how we were going to pull off 2 Seders in our apartment this weekend, how I was going to explain the new home office furniture I just ordered.  (Dave:  I promise it was on sale.)

You know how things just roll around in your head.  Well, I got to thinking.  When I was planning my wedding, I would be up for hours just thinking of all the things I had to do and coming up with ideas for the wedding.  I think that’s when Dave suggested I leave a notepad and pen on my nightstand so I could write ideas that came to me in the night.

But I didn’t need a notepad.  I needed to get rid of all the stress.

A few days ago I got an email on how to de-stress using a few simple yoga techniques, and I thought I’d share them with you:   

• Shoulder Shrugs

Sit on a cushion and shrug shoulders up as you inhale through your nose, and let shoulders relax as you exhale through your mouth, letting out a big sigh. Repeat 5-10 times. We hold a lot of tension in our shoulders, neck and upper back. This will help relax those muscles.

• Cat/Dog

On hands and knees in table position, extend spine by letting belly, ribs and chest move toward the ground while lifting head and tailbone as you inhale. Then draw navel in, rounding the back and tucking head and tail under as you exhale. Repeat five times. This will help move tension out of your back and neck.

• Child’s Pose

From table position, open knees wide, and sit back toward heels, resting forehead on the floor, stretching arms on the floor in front of you. Take 5-10 deep, three-part breaths into your belly, ribs, chest, and back, continuing to draw navel in at the end of your exhales. Forward bends help us retreat, take a break, and restore our energy.

These yoga technique tips are from Noel Schroeder, creator of Kandalaya Yoga and an instructor at The Sports Club/LA in Boston.

Hope this helps you unwind.  As soon as I get a few photos from an event I went to on Tuesday, I'll give you another great idea on how you can let go of your planning stress and get in shape for the big day.

I went to a really fun event last night – well, actually I went to 2, but I’ll write about the other one tomorrow or Friday.  I’m waiting for pictures to arrive.  Anyway, I went to this fabulous event last night for OxiClean.  You know the guy with the beard that yells at you through the TV that OxiClean can clean anything.

Well, they were showcasing their complete line of cleaning products and had a demo to show us how easy and well the product works.  And it really does work, just like in the commercials!   But I had to ask: How can OxiClean help brides?

And here’s the answer:  OxiClean Spray-A-Way Instant Stain Remover.  This travel size bottle ($2.99 in drugstores) is the perfect addition to your wedding day emergency kit.  Now, I’m NOT saying that you should spray OxiClean on the front of your wedding dress, because I don’t know how the fabric of your dress with beading and embroidery will respond, but I think it’s great to have on hand for your groom and groomsmen’s suits and dress shirts, as well as for your bridesmaids and children in the wedding.

If you’re making a hospitality basket for the bathroom, this would be a great addition to it.  (Unless you’re afraid a guest will take it as their wedding favor.)  Or you could throw it in with your luggage for your honeymoon, so you won’t have to worry about finding a laundromat on the exotic island you’ll be staying on.

The photo above is of me and Clinton Kelly, from TLC’s show What Not to Wear.  Clinton was at the event giving us his top styling tips.  Here's my favorite one:  Adopt a European Sensibility to Dressing.  Stop buying in bulk and invest in a few quality pieces that can be mixed and matched with other existing pieces in your wardrobe.  (Excellent honeymoon wardrobe advice.)

This past weekend was Bridal Market, where designers show off their latest collection of wedding gowns, headpieces, veils, bags and shoes.

Unfortunately, I was under the weather and unable to attend most of the shows this season, but I have been able to get a quick glimpse at some of the fabulous frocks that were shown through Brides.com's new wedding blog, Wedded Bits.

Click the link above to get a sneak peak at what styles will be hitting bridal salons next fall, and as I start getting photos from designers I'll upload them here.

Mindy Weiss is well-known for the unbelievable weddings she has planned for Hollywood’s brightest stars, including: Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey, Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale and Heidi Klum and Seal.  And now you can have Mindy help plan your wedding, because she has written one of the most thorough wedding planning books I have ever seen.

From planning advice to a glossary of terms and helpful worksheets, you pretty much have an expert wedding planner (and I mean a person) in the palm of your hands.

The Wedding Book is available at bookstores nationwide, or you can click here and buy it at Amazon.com.  Below is Mindy’s book tour schedule, so you can get a signed copy of Mindy’s book, and ask her detailed questions about your own wedding.