One of the first major wedding tasks that I tackled with my fiancé, Jesse, was the guest list. As a wedding planner, I knew how important it was to start with this step! The guest list has the single largest impact on the wedding budget, from the size of your venue to the meal you serve to how many table centerpieces you'll need.

Here are some helpful questions we asked ourselves throughout this process to help make it as easy as possible:

1. What is your ideal guest count range?
Jesse and I decided that we would like to have around 100 to 150 guests. We want our big day to have an intimate vibe, but we also realized that since we have larger extended families, those relatives would take up the majority of the seats if we tried to stay under 100, so we bumped it up to 150!

2. Where do you want to draw the line with extended family?
After compiling a list of all our relatives we plan on inviting, we ran it by our parents and grandparents to make sure there wasn't someone we were missing who should be included. We also wanted to get their feedback on whether we cut off our invites at an acceptable place since our relatives may go to them first with questions.

For my dad's family with eight living siblings, it was my aunts and uncles, with the exception of a few cousins that I see on a regular basis for holidays. If we would have gone much further than that, then our list would have had 75 people from his side alone! My mom's side was easy — she only has four sisters and I have grown up with all of my cousins so we kept it to aunts and cousins. 

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Bold prints — including chevrons, florals, and world patterns — are one of the hottest fashion trends of 2014. The look has definitely migrated to the wedding world, and we especially love the increased presence of floral patterns at this year’s fêtes. Take your print game to the next level with these floral-inspired wedding ideas.

1. Set the tone for your floral-themed affair with the perfect invitation.

It’s a given that guests always look forward to indulging in fabulous food at a wedding. At the many I’ve attended, I’m always amazed at the presentation, the quantity and the taste of the food, from cocktail hour to reception dinner. Long after the big day, your family and friends will probably regale you with how much they ate and what dishes they loved!

As the busy summer wedding season approaches, we spoke with caterer Jeannette Maier of Fancy Girl Table, a catering and event design company, for tips on how to plan a unique summer menu. Jeannette only uses ingredients from local farms and can create options for every type of celebration (barn wedding, summer picnic, rooftop party), as well as for every type of wedding guest, whether they’re vegan, vegetarian or a meat lover.

Here, a few of her suggestions for sure-to-please summer menus:

Summer Barn Party Menu

Hors d’oeuvres:
Grilled Sourdough Spelt Pizza with Potatoes, Summer Herbs, Aged Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions & Truffle Oil:

Squash Blossoms with Smoked Ricotta:

Planning an out-of-state wedding hasn't been exactly what I envisioned. Yes, looking for places to tie the knot has been fun, but the fact that my fiancé Chris and I have to do everything separately sucks, quite frankly. There are plenty of couples who have way worse problems than a long-distance engagement, so I'm trying to be grateful and slap a smile on my face. I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel and my logical side tells me that we'll still get to live happily ever after in the long run.

But if I can be honest with you all, I've been struggling to see the positive side of being apart. We haven't lived together yet because of my job (I work as the evening anchor at San Diego 6 News). Halfway into our relationship, I moved to Reno while Chris was in Sacramento, then I left Reno to be with him in Sacramento, but within one week, I got the position in San Diego, so I had to leave again. 

Here's a fun pic of my co-anchor and I.

Chris is working on moving here but he still needs to sell his house and get a job before we can move in together, so in the meantime, I've been living with my mom, which has actually been super nice. She's been my partner-in-crime throughout my entire wedding journey and we had so much fun scouting wedding venues together.

Photo Credit: Rachel Pearlman Photography

As a wedding guest, one of the most challenging parts is figuring out exactly how much to spend on a wedding gift. Do you base it on your relationship to the newlyweds? Does the formality of the wedding matter (the old “cover your plate rule”)? Do you have to match what they gave you for your wedding, even if you really can’t afford it?

The good news: According to a recent survey by American Express, the average person spends about $100 on a wedding gift — seems pretty manageable, right? It’s not quite that easy. Here, we’ll break down the most commonly asked questions about gifts.

What should you give?