wedding

As someone who just celebrated his first wedding anniversary, I know what it takes to plan a wedding. Everything from the venue to flowers must be accounted for. It's no easy task.

Realizing that, I thought I'd use this space to make it a little easier for those planning a wedding. We have included some well-known resources as well as some sites you might not have heard about before but that could help you save some cash--or stress.

Before we get started, I should note that there are a ton of wedding resources on the Web. This isn't an exhaustive collection of resources, but it is a collection of some of the best.

Flowers

1-800-Flowers: 1-800-Flowers is best known for providing users with delivered floral arrangements, but the site is also a fine resource for those who want to get flowers for their wedding.

1-800-Flowers' wedding page lists several flower arrangements, ranging from centerpieces to bouquets for the bride. It even offers boutonnieres for the men in the bridal party. Although flower pricing varies in different areas around the U.S., I do know that 1-800-Flowers' pricing is far better than those in my area. Even better, the flowers are available on the same day the order is placed.

Grower's Box: Grower's Box is an online wholesale flower retailer that provides a slew of wedding packages. It's a fine resource for anyone looking to find flowers for their wedding.

When you first get to Grower's Box, you'll see several listings available to help you find the flowers you might be looking for. When you click the Wedding option, you'll see a listing of several "Weddings in a box." Those items include the ability to buy everything from bunches of roses, lilies, sunflowers, or just about any other kind of flower the bride might prefer. Even better, they're priced well, since you're only paying the wholesale price. In many cases the Grower's Box beats local floral shops by a wide margin, according to one bride-to-be I know who checked pricing in my area. Grower's Box has a slew of packages to choose from. The site even has a wedding guide if you want some ideas. If you're looking to compare flower pricing, Grower's Box is a great place to start.… Read more

Wedding Album Maker Gold is an intuitive way to create custom slideshows and save them in a variety of formats. Although it's not the most sophisticated program we've ever seen, it's easy to use, and is a good choice for users that aren't too picky.

The program's interface is very intuitive, allowing us to create our first album in a matter of minutes. The program walks users through the process of selecting photos, adjusting transition effects, adding music, selecting a template and menu, and selecting the proper output format. The interface isn't particularly slick-looking, … Read more

Last week, at this here mental-research facility, we asked the question, YouTube, how much are you making off Jill and Kevin's wedding? And those fine boffins over at the Tube have decided to answer--kind of, at least.

In an announcement entitled, "I now pronounce you monetized: a YouTube video case study," posted by Chris LaRosa, technical account manager, and Ali Sandler, music partner manager, the Tubers' hoops are cocked at the joy of the video's success (now more than 12 million views).

They also were rather happy with the performance of "Forever," the Chris … Read more

MB Numerology Marriage Vibration lets users analyze their wedding day to get information about their marriage. Although we cannot vouch for how accurate it is, the program did provide a brief analysis of each date we entered.

As is the case with all Mystic Board programs, the first screen is a cluttered mess of advertising for Mystic Board. Once users get past that, they enter their name and wedding day (or potential wedding day) to get their analysis. The program assigns a "marriage vibration number," but gives no indication what that number means or how it's derived. … Read more

It's lifted up those who have been dumped by their one-eyed lovers.

It's made married couples turn to each other and think: "Why in the blessed blazes did I marry you?"

One can even imagine it will inspire those who are about to embark on one of life's more treacherous paths to reassess their mode of transport.

Am I talking about the new health care bill? No, I'm talking about the latest and perhaps most inspirational video to have graced YouTube's library of life.

When Jill Peterson and Kevin Hines set their wedding … Read more

I am very fond of love. It makes people do silly things, giddy things, and, sometimes, very strange things indeed.

However, I am full of vicarious admiration for Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan, a Brooklyn couple who decided to do silly, strange, and giddy all together for their wedding on Saturday. Terrestrial weddings were far too mundane for their refined sci-fi tastes.

So they thought they'd space out.

They hired a 727 from a company called Zero Gravity Corp. and floated off not so much into the sunset, but toward the sun. And then suddenly away from it.

Their … Read more

Relationships are difficult. They have their ups. They have their downs. And they have their outs.

As was recently discovered by Antonio M., that rare Italian with a romantic streak. Antonio has a Facebook page. He is proud of that page. So much so that he posted a picture of himself in partying mode.

Atlas liked to party with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Antonio's partying mode, on the other hand, seems to include staring at a camera while two naked breasts are placed on his head.

Now it isn't for me to judge how … Read more

This has shades of Cabbage Patch and Chucky going for it. LittleIsland's Wedding Robot, mainly supposed to be used in place of a welcome board at weddings, just gives me the spooks since the choice of a bridal costume calls to mind the jilted and tragic Miss Haversham in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations."

Nor do you need a scorned bride to spill secrets. This custom-made bot (198,000 yen, $2,500) will apparently respond to voices and, according to the site literature, freely share secrets of the groom to liven up the party. And don't think … Read more

Back from the weekend, Justin watches "Watchmen" again, Wilson catches "Coraline" in 3D, and Jeff tries to kill himself when his parents and soon-to-be parents-in-law spend the weekend picking a place to get married and the font of the invitation envelopes.

Speaking of "Caroline" in 3D, it gave Wilson a massive headache. The film was incredibly imaginative and creative yet the story was a bit lacking. Reminds Wilson of "Alice in Wonderland."

In actual stories today, we talk mostly about Twitter. Jason Calacanis wants to pay the company $250,000 so that he can be at the top of suggested followers list. While we think suggested followers is a halfway decent idea (especially if they personalize the list), we don't especially think we want to follow Calacanis all day long. Also, Twitter may have caused a mistrial in a case where a juror tweeted the jury's finding. Twitter! Haven't you caused enough damage to people's lives!?!?

Tomorrow, we have Dr. Michael Breus, the Sleep Doctor, on the show. So please call into the show with all your questions about sleep. While it may sounds like a "snoozer"--Ha, get it?!?!--we promise the Sleep Doctor has never failed to entertain. Also, on the show on Wednesday is debbiefromtoronto, probably the hottest Canandian blonde fan of The 404. And ending the week is the composer of "Still Alive" from The Orange Box, Jonathan Coulton. As usually, the number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). We need callbacks for the show. You know the part where we go, "Hey this is Jeff Bakalar from Hoboken, New Jersey, and you're listening to The 404, the show where [INSERT WITTY COMMENT]."