When you're planning a wedding there are a lot of situations that arise which you never think about until you're in the middle of them. The bride's and groom's families  always have to figure out who will be paying for what parts of the reception and other wedding-related events.

Sometimes that idea of who's responsible for certain things isn't clear, though. Laura Price of the Times-Dispatch Celebrations section noted that occasionally the bride's family doesn't plan on placing an engagement announcement in the paper, but the groom's fanily still wants to do one. This is her advice if that kind of situation arises:

"In this day and age, I must say that anything goes! If you wish to share your family’s happy news by announcing your son’s engagement, then feel free to do so.

"However, when it comes to weddings, ruffled feathers and hurt feelings cause undue distress, so you might wish to make a friendly phone call to tell the parents of the bride that you wish to proceed with an announcement. If it is something that you feel is important for your family, friends and associates, I am certain they would allow you to publish an announcement. This may be a tradition that is not part of the bride’s family."

Happy Valentine's Day! First of all, best wishes to all of the ladies who will be proposed to (or do the proposing!) today.

Valentine's Day usually brings a new wave of brides to the market, so I have a little advice for you newly-proposed-to brides.

Don't wait too long to start hiring your wedding professionals.

I'm not saying that you need to rush out in a panic and hire the first people you talk to. That's not a good idea. But you don't want to be a Valentine's Day shopper even if you're a Valentine's Day bride.

I was at Walmart around 7:30 this morning, and the place was overrun with men who were obviously shopping for their Valentine's Day gifts. Flowers, cards, chocolate, the works. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, guys! There were also a fair number of frazzled-looking moms dragging little kids who were buying Valentines for the preschool class at the last minute.

I had to laugh, though, because I used to work at a store that was right off of the train line in Boston. On Valentine's Day we had a constant stream of men coming off the train after work and frantically running into the store looking for cards. The best was when they'd get mad at us for not having "any good" cards in stock. I never felt bad about giving them a lecture about how if they hadn't waited until the last minute they'd have more of a selection to choose from, either.

That's the problem with waiting until the last minute to buy things for important dates, like your wedding. The earlier you purchase, the more selection you'll have. Especially on dates that are popular (which in the case of weddings in Richmond would be any weekend between April and October), you don't want to wait until really close to the date to start hiring people.

Many wedding magazines tell brides to wait until close to the date to hire vendors, because we'll be so desperate for the business we'll hand out all kinds of discounts. In my experience, this isn't true. The only thing that you'll accomplish by waiting is to make it less likely that you'll be able to hire the vendors who you want to hire. The best professionals usually book up far in advance of the date for popular wedding months, so don't wait.

I've written several articles about this on my blog, and they all kind of come down to the fact that it all depends on how fast the other brides are. If you love a business that you just met with, but you take too much time to decide, they might be booked by the time you decide to put a deposit down.

My advice would be to do your research BEFORE you meet with people, so that you know that they're reliable BEFORE you meet with them. Then, if you like what you see during your appointment, you can book them immediately and know that you're hiring someone who will do a good job.

(One way to make sure they'll do a good job is to check out our list of members, since RBA screens businesses before we allow them to join.)

So basically, don't be the shopper who's running around desperately right before the big day trying to hire whoever is still available. Do your research, make appointments with the people who pass muster, then hire them if you like them. You'll end up with the professionals you really want, and you won't be so stressed out trying to put things into place right before your wedding date.

Kara Buntin owns A Cake To Remember LLC, custom wedding cakes in Richmond VA. She is currently serving as the President of the Richmond Bridal Association.