The best bet would probably be to ask the people in the wedding. Some extended families may have feelings about it either way, and I think the best way to be respectful is to find out what they'd expect in the context. It's also important to know what events you're actually attending, and they'd be able to give you…

Honestly, if you just say somewhere, "in lieu of gifts, consider a donation to x" you will end up getting a lot of cash. That's what ended up happening for me. We had an enclosure in the invitation envelop that listed a few NGOs we supported. I think the subtext of "we don't need stuff!" registered, and then a lot of…

I'm hesitant to share my experience here, because wedding posts seem to bring out the nasty side of Jezebel. So I'm just going to say "this is what happened for us" and please note, I'm not saying it's better or worse than what anyone else wants or does not want to do. Straight-up vitriol will get dismissed.

You've got to love the way the Supreme Court has been stepping up to challenge Harper and giving the First Nations even more power in light of all this.

Oh yeah, it isn't a new government that's going to shut this down. And while I think it'd be great if a new government did, I think the message will be a lot more powerful coming from the First Nations communities.

I'm thinking: you register your favourite bottle of wine and your credit card at a local store. If you meet your fitness goals, they deliver a bottle to your door. I might be motivated to get on an elliptical...

Well, that would be vain. I think it would have to be a photo snapped from across the room without your consent while you look contemplative and deeply understanding of male insecurities...

The thing with the photos is bizarre. He hates people who have the majority of their photos from weddings, he hates people who use photos of their travels or hobbies... but you damn well better have pictures that are RECENT! Yeesh.

I sympathize. I had a roommate in university who got in a horrible bike accident. He was in a coma for a week and had a life changing TBI, and he would have had a broken arm and some cuts and bruises if he'd been wearing his stupid helmet.

If you're not getting married until October 2015, you are laughing. It's a non-peak time for a wedding, which means you will be in the position to shop around for vendors. I got married in March, and, instead of trying to outbid other couples for a photographer for a weekend in July, I had 3 different photographers…

So booking the venue is a really important first step. After you've done some general thinking about the size/vibe you want for your wedding, and have figured out cost, booking a venue will help you make the next decisions. If they do weddings a lot, they will often have a planner who is included in the venue price…

People seem to feel free to dump all over different wedding approaches on the internet, but they will rarely say anything to your face.

If you're worried about someone actually making a comment to you day of, I highly encourage you to find someone in your wedding party who is not adverse to confrontation and deputize…

I think unlimited beer/wine is more than okay. That's what we did at ours, and we were at another wedding this weekend that provided beer and wine as well. At ours, we just had beer and wine, at last weekend's they had hard bar available for purchase.

Ah, the "what's your theme" question. Whenever anyone asked, I said, "My theme is 'we're spending the majority of our budget on the band and the booze.' I don't have the funds to add another theme on top of that." And after the wedding, everyone saw where I was coming from.

I have been to so many weddings this season that the only thing I need to do to get a blackout bingo is hit an aggressively themed courthouse elopement. If anyone here is planning to hit the courthouse done up like a Sith lord, help a sister out and send an invite?

I'm pretty sure the prize for blackout bingo on this…

I honestly think Doc Stockton is going to be asking for proof of pertussis vax before he allows family and friends near the (hypothetical at this point) baby.

Wow, I wish the school districts here worked like this. New student enrolment vaccination rates are hovering around 60% and it scares my soon-to-be-reproducing hubby and I to no end.

Can I ask about the things that you factor into your predictions? This season is chock full of weddings for me, a few of which I'd be willing to take odds on in terms of the duration of the nuptials...

I don't think that's "bad teacher experiences" filtering in. I'm a teacher myself, and I'm FURIOUS that happened. I mean, seriously, how bad at your job do you have to be to not realize how devastating that would be to a child?

When I was reading the Globe and Mail on Saturday, I actually announcing to my living room, "Fuck, I hate Margaret Wente."