I hope everyone has enjoyed and benefitted from the Advice Series Posts! Today's posts, Advice Series Posts 6 & 7 (make sure you scroll down!), feature TWO brides - they're actually two of my dearest friends and because it's Friday, I figured why not overwhelm all of you with wonderful advice and STUNNING pictures from photographers Ray Santana and Lara Rios? Both weddings were completely different - Nicole's resembled elegant, classy, old-glam Hollywood - the venue and her stunning Vera Wang dress fit the look perfectly. Michelle's wedding was sleek, modern, clean - her venue and her stunning Vera Wang fit her look perfectly (crazy how a dress designer can design two completely different styles of dresses and still manage to make them both stunning). Both dresses from Ever After Miami.

Bride and Groom: Michelle and Jorge Corzo
Wedding Date: March 10, 2012
Venue: The Epic Hotel, Miami, Florida

1. How you felt when you got engaged.

I felt excited! Emotional and eager to get started with the planning. I remember I couldn't sleep that night.

2. Step One - what you did first and what you would have done differently, if anything.

First thing I did was think about what month I wanted to get married in and from there the planning started - after I picked the month, we checked with my church to see the dates they had available in March. I wouldn't have done anything differently - it was easiest to focus on the venue and church and from there fill in the details.

3. What was most overwhelming about the process?

The guest list and the seating chart! I do not miss this AT ALL. We had a fairly big wedding and trying to minimize the guest list AND strategically sit people at different tables (who talks to whom, who is friends with whom, etc.) was somewhat close to a nightmare. I swear I would have paid someone to do this for me!

4. Your wedding look - how did you get to the final result, i.e., how you picked your linens, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, color scheme, venue, etc. What sources or people helped and what was their advice?

I was going for a clean, sleek, simple, modern look. I wanted white and silver to be my main colors so I based all of my details off of that. I had the help of my mom and my sisters for ideas and vendor sources because they had already done it once for my sister's wedding. I also worked off of the advice of my married friends.

5. Do you feel like a company like HOL, which focuses on event design and vendor referrals, would have been beneficial with respect to your answer in No. 4 above?

Absolutely! I did a lot of asking around and meeting different vendors to find the right one, which was VERY time consuming. Having a company like HOL would have definitely cut down my having to interview so many vendors - it really was an overwhelming process.

6. What you found most helpful during planning, whether a wedding planner, a parent, a friend, certain vendors.

I had a day-of wedding planner, which really started helping me and my mom the month before the wedding. She was god-sent. I recommend everyone have at least a day-of wedding planner that can confirm your wedding vendors, take care of wedding day logistics, and make you feel sane.

7. What you found most difficult during planning.

I am very laid back! So, except for the venue searching and the amount of vendors out there, I didn't think anything was particularly difficult. I know, unheard of!

8. How you found your vendors and how you feel like HOL would've helped and facilitated the planning (including for your wedding planner).

Again, this goes back to weeding out vendors. It's really overwhelming when different people refer you to different vendors and you really have no clue who is going to work best for you and your wedding day. This is where HOL works perfectly because that entire process makes wedding planning really frustrating. And it's supposed to be a happy time!

9. Looking back, you would have done this differently (in general):

Not getting a videographer!!! Brides, hire a videographer. Reliving your wedding day via video is so different from pictures. Trust me, i wish i would have done it!

10. Your advice to any bride planning a wedding is:

RELAX, enjoy the planning and try not to stress. Really, it's all about you and your future hubby that day - do not let anything get to you, even if something goes wrong. Live in the moment!

11. Your favorite moments during the whole planning process were:

Finding my wedding dress!! Wish I could rewind back to that day over two years ago.