When you’re in the midst of planning a wedding, it’s hard to find time to do the things you used to do in your “regular” life.  It’s also tough to keep the different pieces of your life organized, from work to the gym to your guest list and RSVPs.

I’ve found the perfect solution and it’s already been placed at the top of my Christmas list.  (So, friends and family out there, you better be paying attention!).  Check out this life-altering gym bag from lululemon, the maker of yoga-inspired athletic apparel (try their pants, they are SO flattering!).

Not only is this bag super stylish, it has compartments for your water bottle, shoes, makeup, office supplies and paperwork, cell phone, iPod and keys.  On those days when I know I’m heading straight to the gym from work, this completely eliminates the need for a handbag and allows me to take everything I need in one package.

These are available in stores in a variety of styles and colors.  Locate the lululemon store nearest you today!

Each and every year the unavoidable rolls around–birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas–endless reasons for your sweetie to go on a search for the perfect gift.  Since shopping is not usually second nature for the men in our life,  a little guidance can go a long way.

Enter The Little Pink Card, a perfect solution to the age-old problem of the men in our lives not buying the right size, brand or item.  You can order a customized card with vital stats like dress size, anniversary date, favorite brand, shoe size and more.  The little card will fit perfectly in your guy’s wallet, and will always be there to offer a helping hand when he finds himself alone in Bloomies!

If you’re planning a wedding on a budget or simply want a coffee table keepsake from your wedding, check out Blurb.com.  As a partner of Wedding Paper Divas and our parent site, Tiny Prints, Blurb is offering our readers a special promotion.  Use the code tinyprints08 to get $10 off orders of $29.95 or more.  This code expires 11/30/08, so get your orders in before it’s too late!

Need some ideas for the best ways to utilize Blurb for your wedding?  Check out our idea bank below, or use the comments section to add your own!

-Put together a Blurb Guest Book using your Engagement photos or a collection of candid photos from you and your fiance’s past.  Guests will love leafing through the book, compelling them to sign!

-Instead of paying your photography for an insanely expensive Album, make your own wedding photo album on Blurb (just make sure you have the high resolution photo files from your photographer!).  The quality will be amazing and you can customize just as you want it.

-Put together a memory book of your entire wedding planning process, from engagement to bridal shower, rehearsal dinner to wedding day.  This will make a great Christmas gift for mother or mother-in-law!

-Log on to Blurb with your honeymoon photos and upload them all to a photo book.  You’ll have a great coffee table book that holds precious memories!

-Make a princess/prince fairytale using photos from your wedding.  If you have young children in your life, they will love having such a personal storybook, both now and in the years to come!

If you’re looking for a special gift for your sweetie this Christmas, consider purchasing an Experience Gift.  Through a number of different website, customers can purchase the gift of cooking classes, wine tastings or even flying a fighter jet!  Check out the links below to find the perfect Experience Gift for your love:

-XPerience Days offers gifts in locations all over the country.  Search their extensive listings and you may end up joining your partner as you sky dive over the San Diego Wine Country!

-Gifty Box packages your experience in to a box set based on category.  A “Classes” Gifty Box includes 1 Gift Pass to the class out of your choice (out of hundreds!), $80 of savings to additional classes, and a 116-page guide book.

-Visit Cloud9Living and you’ll find a great selection of Experience Gifts.  Plus, visit their Gift Registry to add a unique touch to your wedding registry list!

-Excitations offers Gifts of Choice.  Simply purchase a Gift of Choice for your recipient and they can choose one of any number of Experience Gifts from Excitations!

Every soon-to-be-married couple quickly learns that all the hype is true–weddings really ARE as expensive as people say they are.  If you’re a savvy bride, you’ve already begun looking for ways to cut the cost of your wedding day and any activities leading up to it.  To help you out, Diva Dialogue has collected the best bargains online in to one money-saving post!

-Wine.Woot (a division of Woot.com) is a great place to find deals if you are looking for a special bottle of wine to celebrate your engagement.  Each day, Wine.woot will feature one quality wine at a bargain price.  Once it’s gone, it’s gone, so make sure you jump on it!

-  Bluefly.com now has an entire section of their website dedicated to wedding clothing.  In Wedding 2.0, you can find gorgeous designer dresses at discount prices according to your position in the wedding, or select “I’m Invited” to find the perfect outfit to wear to a wedding you’re attending.

-I will never buy shoes in a store again.  Both Endless.com Bridal and Zappos.com Bridal offer free overnight shipping and returns on a massive selection of shoes, so you are risk free and you get great discount pricing!

-Overstock.com has an entire section devoted to Wedding Planning, Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Gift Ideas and Wedding Attire.  With amazing customer service and quality merchandise, you can’t go wrong purchasing wedding essentials from Overstock.

-Last but not least, Target’s online Bridal department has something for everyone, including gorgeous wedding gowns, tuxedos,  chic bridesmaid dresses and more.

As a child, I was surrounded by beautiful artwork and creative people.  My parents love the art deco period, and collect paintings, drawings and furniture from that time in history.  My mother and aunt were also fashion designers with their own local company, allowing me to wallow in the beautiful fabrics and designs that were a part of my every day life.

Although my dream of becoming a fashion designer died with my lack of drawing skills, I still admire the work of designers, both on the runway and on paper.  I think fashion sketches can be so beautiful and take a certain talent to produce.

Enter Brooke Hagel, an amazing artist that uses photos taken of you on your wedding day to produce beautiful paintings that remind me of the fashion sketches that I so adore. I will definitely be investing in one of the pieces as a way to preserve my wedding dress in a unique and special way.  Finding an old picture of my mother or grandmother and doing the same could be even more amazing.  Visit Brooke’s Etsy store to secure your own piece of art, which could also make a fabulous holiday gift for someone special!

Whether you’re celebrating 1 year or 25, every anniversary should be special. While we were on our honeymoon, my husband and I ran into another couple celebrating their 1 year by traveling all through Italy. What a wonderful way to begin many anniversaries to come. Here are some things you might want to have when planning your wedding anniversary.

Give out mini bottles of sparkling cider so that everyone will have something sweet and sparkling to celebrate your anniversary with. And this Forever Yours Anniversary Party Invitation is perfect for couples with simply modern taste.

I’m not sure if this couple’s genealogy tree counts as “paper,” a traditional 1st wedding anniversary gift, but it’s beautiful, practical and sure to be a winner!

Get out your old cake topper. It’ll look brand new when atop a vintage inspired cake like this one from Martha Stewart.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and with all of the great stuff to help the cause, it’s easier than ever to make a difference. These pink and stylish products can be added to your wedding registry, used on your wedding day, honeymoon or to complete your new home as newlyweds.

1. Pink Ribbon embroidered silk passport holder from the breast cancer site safely holds your passports on your way to honeymoon heaven.

2. Make at statement on your wedding day with M&M’s Promise Blend, a delicious mix of dark pink and white milk chocolate m&m’s.

3. The Special Edition Oreck XL Power Team Vacuum cleaner makes cleaning beautiful.

4. The couple that cooks together stays together. KitchenAid’s Cook for the Cure program offers a variety of pink cooking products to help the cause. Blend up your margaritas with the KitchenAid Cook for the Cure 5 Speed Blender w/ Poly Jar.

Bold colors pop and are making their debut in this year’s fall fashion finds. Here are a few that I love.

These jewel toned accessories are sure to captivate you, your bridesmaids and guests with modern style and charm. Hobo International Dawn clutch wallet in amethyst and Bettye Midler Muller Oxford in raisin and teal, both from Piperlime make a striking statement.

When I got married last year, I had a lot on my plate.  I was planning a wedding from 2500 miles away, not to mention trying to accommodate our huge guest list that consisted of about 50% out of town guests.  I wanted these people to know that they were appreciated for taking the time to travel, rent a car and book a hotel for our wedding.  However, with a hefty out of town list of well over 120 people, I had to find a way to do this without breaking the bank.

Since my wedding was held in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, I wanted to show the out-of-towners that Michigan, and especially Detroit, Michigan, could actually be a pretty cool and beautiful place to visit, despite its poor reputation.  To do this, I put together some very personal, hometown gift bags for my guests, without spending a ton of money.

To start, I bought the bags themselves from Oriental Trading to match our wedding colors.  Buying in bulk saved a ton of money, and you can even have the bags personalized (although I printed my own labels).  Next, I headed to Costco and purchased bottled water and small bags of local Better-Made chips emblazoned with the Detroit Tiger’s Logo (a lucky find!).  I also ordered Mackinac Island Fudge in bulk to please our guest’s sweet tooth.  Finally, by contacting my state’s Travel and Tourism department, I was able to get 120 state and local maps for free.  I also put together my own list of “things to do” with specific foods, features and places that my fiancee and I loved in the area.

As a final touch, I purchased some locally-grown Michigan Cherries and Apples at Costco so the guests would have something healthy to munch on.  Because almost everything was purchased in bulk, I was able to spend a little and give a lot.  And, using hometown goodies made everything really personal.  Do you have any ideas of your own for hotel gift bags?