Marriage

At the beginning of a marriage, everyone and their mother seems to have advice for you. What sage and ageless advice will serve you well when you're past the honeymoon phase of marriage? Read on to find out.

Know the Risks

Some marriages are more likely to fail than others. For example marriages where the couple wed young or one of the partners comes from a divorced home. Even without those factors, a union can begin to unravel over time. For instance, something as simple as negative body language or eye rolling can set the stage for trouble.  Take this quiz to assess your risk of splitting

Reignite the Flame

Maybe your union isn't doomed for Divorceville, but it's still lacking luster. One key piece of advice to inject mojo back into your marriage is to replace the remote control with a romantic candle, according to Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and author. Dr. Ablow's advice to reenergize your marriage is to make time and spend money to create a nice space in the bedroom. Make it a place to make love, not watch TV or do a crossword...

When you picture your wedding day, it's natural to imagine yourself in the most beautiful location you can find -- on the waterfront at sunset, in a rustic mountain lodge surrounded by snow -- whatever paradise means to you. The trouble is, not many people actually live in paradise, so if you want the picture-perfect wedding of your dreams, you might have to plan the ceremony someplace far from home. Maybe it's time to consider a destination wedding.

As with all the decisions you'll have to make about your wedding, there are pros and cons to having a destination wedding. How you weigh them is up to you, but here are some helpful things to consider when deciding whether and where to have a destination wedding:

Cons

-- Destination weddings, especially at high-end resorts, mean more travel time and more expenses for your guests. A large percentage of your invitees will probably decline, either because the expense is too much, or they can't get away from home or work easily.

-- It can be difficult to plan a wedding when you're not there to see where everything will go beforehand. Unless you plan to travel to your wedding site a few times before the big day, you will have to put your trust in an on-site wedding planner.

-- Traveling with a wedding dress will be a giant hassle. Traveling back home with a truckload of wedding gifts will be even more fun. Definitely request that gifts be shipped to your home and not...

Before you pick the wedding party, the dress, the invitations, and all the fun little details of your wedding, you'll need to decide on a banquet hall. You can't set a date until you know there's a space available, and you won't know how many guests you can handle until you've made your selection. That's why the banquet hall is the very first thing you should choose -- second thing, if you count your bride or groom.

When shopping for a banquet hall, start by thinking about the size of your wedding reception. You want a room that's big enough to seat everyone comfortably, but not so large that it feels empty even when all your guests are there. For most weddings, you can expect about a 60% turnout -- that is, 60% of the people you invite will show up. If your banquet hall seats 100, you can get away with inviting a few more than that. Not everyone will be able to make it, so you have some wiggle room here.

When you ask about prices, you need to think about more than just the cost of renting the space. What's the banquet hall's catering policy? Do they provide their own staff, and what kind of fees are there? Some banquet halls allow no outside food or drink, so you'd have to order all beverages, meals, and wedding cakes from their catering service. Do you get the space all night, or do you have to evacuate by a certain time? Is parking convenient? Is it easy to find? Is there a good dance floor? What kind of lighting will the banquet...

When your wedding day is over, the cake will be eaten, the guests will go home, and you'll probably never wear that dress again. If you want to remember all the special details for years to come, wedding albums are great, but a wedding video is an even more complete and vivid record of the happiest day of your life. Consider hiring a wedding videographer instead of, or in addition to, your wedding photographer.

Unless you're a film pro, you probably don't know much about the technical details behind filming a wedding. Don't sweat it -- you don't have to enroll in film school to be able to pick the best wedding videographer. Word of mouth is the best place to start -- ask other couples about their wedding videographers, and talk to the other professionals like your wedding planner, caterer, or wedding deejay. These people know everyone in the local wedding biz, and they can give you a great idea of where to start your hunt for a videographer.

When you meet with potential wedding videographers, start by asking about their experience and the types of weddings they've filmed. If your wedding is outdoors, for example, you want to be sure your videographer has experience with that. The best equipment will work without too many accessories like extra lights or microphones -- if a wedding videographer tells you they'll need to set up lots of lights, that's a sign that their equipment may be outdated. Think about all the different lighting scenarios on your wedding...

Having a theme wedding can make your planning a lot easier. You start by picking a theme that you really love -- a time period, a style of dress, a certain color combination, a specific design idea, whatever you want! -- and then you can plan your whole wedding around that theme. Having a theme will narrow down the millions of choices every bride and groom have to make for their wedding, and it will keep every element of your wedding day coordinated.

Tiffany Theme Wedding Wonderful things come in little blue boxes! A Tiffany theme wedding will focus on those iconic light blue boxes with the perfect white bows. You can get candles, favors, and even wedding cakes made to look like a Tiffany ring box, and dress your bridesmaids in Tiffany blue dresses with white bows. Find more ideas for your Tiffany theme wedding at AisleDash.

Winter Wonderland Theme Wedding Some people dream of white Christmases, but maybe you're dreaming of a white wedding -- a snowy one, that is! Think snowflakes, crystals, and of course lots of white. Put these snowflake candle holders all over every table!

Roaring '20s Theme Wedding What's not to love about the Roaring '20s? This is the kind of theme wedding where you can get your guests to dress the part as well. Flapper dresses, zoot suits, hip

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