I ran my first 5k over the weekend in Long Beach! I started running before my wedding as my wedding fitness plan and I haven't stopped. There are also some great wedding venues in Long Beach that I was able to check out while there. Two year goal: Half Marathon!

Here comes beauty and the ring! The last week has been all about publicizing and getting our name out there. I feel like I am a bride again, searching every website out there. Here is a short list of great websites to check out if you are actively planing and how I am working to get noticed by those brides. 

Wedding Bee classifieds is a great place to find pre-owned wedding items as well as some vendors (even though they don't like us advertising there). The blog is always updating with great ideas and useful wedding tips.

Craigslist, yes craigslist. There is never too much publicity right? I have yet to discover where all the brides "hang out" and I remember searching the abyss of stuff once or twice when I was a bride myself. 

Facebook is the ultimate social media hub and our page is created and linked to the website. Now for figuring out the advertising capabilities.

The Knot and Wedding Wire both charge to actually get placed where brides can find you and I want to have more material to share before I go that route. You have to put in to get out but as excited as I am to have hundreds of clients I also know it is going to take time and slow and steady is the way to go. 

Here Comes the Guide is going to be my dream post. They require 15 client and 15 vendor references and are intent on evaluating all of them. If you are a bride this is amazing and I highly recommend the site. I used venue searching almost exclusively when researching. As a new business this will be a long term goal. 

Let me know if you have a favorite website that really helped you when you were planning.