Your Sticky Situations--Solved!

Problem: "My friends are starting to lose interest in my wedding plans, and I'm very disappointed. At the same time I know that I've bombarded them with too many details. How do I share my plans without turning them off?"

Solution: Don't spend every minute of your time with friends talking about your wedding. Kadison suggests: "Ask yourself if you're remembering your friends' needs and are concerned about their lives. Or are you involved 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with wedding planning? If so, you should reevaluate." Make time to go to movies or concerts with friends and be sure to talk about things that have nothing to do with your wedding. You can keep your friends updated by starting your own Web blog. "Ask each of them individually if they would like to be included in a daily or weekly e-mail update," suggests Kadison. Most brides-to-be have one person—Mom, for example—who will definitely take an interest in every detail of the planning process. Lean on her—she'll love it!

Problem: "I'm prepared to budget more money for our wedding than my fiancé is. In fact, he wants to cut corners on certain items, like the photography, that I feel are very important. I'm concerned not only about how to handle this situation effectively but also about whether our disagreements are a glimpse of money differences we'll experience in the future. What can I do?"

Solution: Treat wedding planning as the first major opportunity for the two of you to learn how to deal with money issues. In fact, if you can learn to compromise now, you're setting a great precedent for the future. "Say things to him like, ‘If you don't mind paying this much money for photography, I'll cut down on the cost of the flowers,' " suggests Rev. Brockway. Whenever there is a disagreement about spending money on a particular item—whether it's your wedding photography now or a new car later—both of you need to ask yourselves, "Can I live without it?" and "Can I live with it?" "If one of you can't live with it or without it, that's when it's time to compromise," she says. And your ability to do so will pay off in a happier relationship in the long run.