It all makes sense to me now; all of the pain and heartache that I have had to endure in my life. It all led me to the man that I want to spend the rest of my life with. In all my past relationships, including the one following The Bachelorette, I always had questions on whether I would spend the rest of my life with "that person". All of my friends who are happily married always said, "When you know...you'll just know". I never understood that statement because I never felt one hundred percent about any guy I've ever dated. Come on, we all know that I have openly wanted my "fairy tale ending" for so long now. But, with all the reality shows and all the relationships that spawned from them, none of the relationships felt right....until now.

I am so excited to tell you all that I am crazy in love!!! I met this wonderful man over the summer and have fallen head over heals in love with him!! I now understand the statement, "when you know, you know". I have never been so sure about any one thing in my entire life before...other than this man and this relationship. I am going to marry him. I am going to spend the rest of my life with him. I am going to have a beautiful family with the man of my dreams. I am finally getting my fairy tale ending....

His name is Stephen Stagliano. He is the twin brother of Michael Stagliano from the last season of The Bachelorette...who coincidentally dates my best friend, Holly Durst. Weird web we weave, huh?!?!!?

Me, Stephen, Michael and Holly

We all coincidentally met through The Bachelorette. Funny how I didn't find true love a year ago on the show but, because of the show I have been led to my one true love. Stephen is a high school teacher who loves to dance and sing, loves to play golf with me, and loves to try new things. He is so smart, so genuine, so honest, and has a truly loving heart. For the first time in my life, I feel myself with the man that I am with. He is everything that I have searched for...for so long. This statement is true: when I stopped looking, it happened. Just when I was feeling down and thinking that this "love" thing would never work out for me, Stephen walked right into my life and swept me away! He makes me want to be a better woman and he has brought love back into my life! I adore him...I adore the man that he is and the man he will be.

I am so happy right now. I am glad to finally be in the best place in my life with the man that I love. I give it 6 months...6 months before I will need all of your help to plan my very own wedding!!! ;)

The other night I was at one my friend's house and guess what was on the coffee table....the Get Married magazine! I was so excited, I literally screamed.

My friend told me she loved the magazine and has been utilizing all the unique features. One of her favorite features is the Microsoft Tag technology.  The Tag application offers instant entertainment and connection to videos, websites, photos and info on your mobile phone. There is even a video of yours truly explaining my page in the magazine.

My friend was also a huge fan of the "love it, buy it" stickers. She used these stickers to flag all of her fabulous finds and faves in the Get Marriedmagazine. She had Colin Cowie's page tagged because she loves the Reem Acra wedding gown. She had my page tagged, because she loves the Banana Republic chandelier earrings.  She also had the "On The Rocks" page tagged because she loves all the bling and the magazine makes it so convenient for you by telling you where you can find each product.

The Get Married magazine has been a huge hit and I know everyone at Get Married is so proud of it. The first issue is filled with fabulous tips, products and advice. The magazine is a chic bride's dream come true. I can't wait to see the next issue.

View the magazine online: http://www.getmarried.com/magazine/view/

To order a FREE copy of the magazine: http://www.getmarried.com/magazine/

Hello Blogger Brides. I am back home safely from another tour to visit our troops. This time I was in Afghanistan with some wonderful actors including; Kelly Carlson, DW Moffett, Vanessa Branch and Greg Germann. I was a little nervous about going with these well known actors but they were all so kind and we had a wonderful time together. Once again, I was lucky enough to make some great new friends.

The trip was incredible, we visited several bases and met a ton of soldiers. All of the soldiers seem to be in great spirits and the overall morale is very positive; although they all miss their loved ones, especially their significant others. It was extremely empowering to talk to the soldiers and hear their stories. A majority of them believe that they are making a difference which to me is absolutely wonderful. I truly support these courageous men and women.

I am so proud and honored to continuously visit these soldiers during the war. I want to thank each of them for being so gracious and for opening up their world to us. Each base is filled with members from the Army, Marines, Navy and Airforce and they were all generous with their time and stories. I am so thankful for them all. They are all always in my thoughts and prayers. May God bring them all home safely. Check out my video from my trip.

We all know I love a good love story and a beautiful wedding. Well 2009 has been packed with some really great celebrity weddings. A few of my favorite celebrity weddings from this year include: Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom, Reina Guarini and Justin Guarini, Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari, Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham, and Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum.

Celebrities know how to throw gorgeous weddings and fabulous parties. From the flowers to the Vera Wang gowns, they sure are lavish events. No matter if the wedding is small, like Mark and Rhea's or large and lavish like Khloe and Lamar's, each of us can take at least one thing from each event and envision it in our own wedding.

No matter how lavish the event is or how small the event may be, remember what you want. Keep photos or magazine clippings as inspiration for your big day. You can always alter your vision to fit your budget and taste.

Just because we aren't celebrities doesn't mean we can't have a wedding like one. At least that's what I keep telling myself, I have my own little wish book for my big day (whenever it happens).

Hey everyone. I'm finally back from Afghanistan. The trip was wonderful, I will be posting pictures and video very soon.

First and foremost, I want to send out a very big CONGRATULATIONS to my dear friends Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney!! 

I am sure you all remember Jason from my season of The Bachelorette. He was one of the final two guys and went on to get his own show. Even though Jason and I did not end up together we have stayed very good friends along the way!

He is well known for famously proposing to Melissa Rycroft on his finale and then later breaking up with her on national television while asking Molly for a second chance. Well, everything happens for a reason because Jason and Molly were supposed to end up together. Jason took Molly back to New Zealand for a romantic week-long vacation and to propose to the woman that he should have promised forever to in the first place.

They are such a beautiful couple and they are so in love. They are  wonderful people and they truly deserve to be happy together. Congratulations on their engagement and all the planning ahead for their big day!

Hello everyone! In my last blog post I mentioned that I was going to Boston to visit my friend Melissa and help her register for her wedding. Well I am back from Boston and my trip was a huge success.

Although my trip was short, I was able to squeeze in quality time with one of my dearest friends, have magnificent dinners with her and her fiancé and get her registered! As I mentioned before, Melissa and her fiancé were apprehensive about registering, however, once we got to Target they were animals on a mission. Once they got going there was no stopping them. They went from having no registry to registering for everything in the home department. I was thrilled because now their loved ones and guests will have plenty of choices to choose from when buying their wedding gift.

Melissa and her fiance playing with the registry guns


The cute couple at Target

Check out the video of us registering.

I have been to several weddings and I can tell you that your guests will probably spend most of their time together at the reception tables. Therefore I think seating is extremely important. When creating your seating assignments I think it is important to encourage comfortable conversation and to honor your special guests.

From past experience I would say to try and sit "like" people together. For example, if you have college buddies coming to your wedding, sit them with other college buddies. Sit your aunts, uncles, and cousins together and sit your work colleagues together. Even if your guests don't know each other they will have you and your fiancé in common as well as the common knowledge of knowing ya'll from work or school.

I have also noticed that a lot of brides group the tables by age. For example, sit all of your younger cousins at the same table or all the families with kids at the same table.

I am all about having the bride and groom play "matchmaker" at weddings! If you've have an old college friend that is coming alone and you think he would hit it off with a friend from work, then sit them at the same table. Just don't make the mistake of sitting all the single ladies or all the single men at the same table. Ladies, I've been the single girl at all of my friends weddings for a long time and trust me it is not fun being pointed out as the girl who is almost 28 and STILL SINGLE!!

Even though it is your wedding you still want your guests to be comfortable so they can have a wonderful time while they help you celebrate your big day!

Hey everyone. My friend, Melissa recently got engaged and is getting married in October. While, she is deep in the wedding planning process she has yet to register. She isn't even sure she is going to register! I yelled at her and told her that I thought she should give her guests options to choose from for their wedding gift. I told her there are several traditional and nontraditional places to register.

So, if you are someone like my dear friend, Melissa, here are some nontraditional places for you to register:

*Electronic stores

*Wine shops

*Honeymoon registries

*Mutual funds

*General websites like, Amazon.com

*Furniture Stores

*Donating to your favorite charity

*Sporting goods stores

*Home improvement stores such as Home Depot or Lowe's

I hope these idea's help you out. I am flying to Boston to see Melissa this weekend and I'm going to take her out and force her to register for some gifts. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

Welcome to September and the beginning of fall. Fall weddings are gorgeous! There is something about fall colors that just warm my heart. I love burnt orange, red, and brown together. They make a great color scheme for a fall wedding.

I like when brides pair these colors with lush fabrics like silks and velvets to add an autumn feel. It really gives the wedding a textured, "fall" look.

 
Some brides even make "fall" the entire theme of their wedding by incorporating fall colors into their programs and placement cards.
 
A new trend that I love is giving bridesmaids different colored bouquets, While each bouquet is composed of the same type of flowers, each bridesmaid is given a different color to coordinate with the bride's wedding theme.
 
One last idea that I like to spice up your fall wedding is to add pumpkins to the décor.

While weddings are beautiful and emotional, they can also be very stressful! The honeymoon is a great way to relax and enjoy being newlyweds. For those of you that choose a tropical honeymoon, I have found the perfect swimsuits for you.

My good friend, Bettina Bell, has designed a swimsuit line called Bettinis. You all may remember Bettina from my season of The Bachelor, with Brad Womack. Bettina has been designing swimsuits since our season of The Bachelor ended. Her swimsuits are perfect for honeymoons! There are a ton of different styles and colors to choose from. Here are some pictures of my favorite pieces that I think are perfectly suited for a new bride on her honeymoon.

For more information please visit www.Bettinis.com. I think you will like what you see. Let me know your thoughts.