She's old enough to start thinking for herself, and I hope she starts to...maybe at college. Then maybe again she'll put on blackface for a watermelon-and-fried chicken party. I like to think that the public shaming of these morons is a good punishment though - at least when a future employer googles them they'll know…

It sounds lovely. If you're not going to go deep into debt, and it's what you want, then screw the haters. Well, don't ACTUALLY screw them. Just forget to send their invitations. Have a lovely day that you want to have - don't get too stressed about details. It'll all be fine :)

Ah thank you - I missed that!

I think some states offer different prices on marriage licenses if you've taken some kind of pre-marital counseling. That seems a little more reasonable. If you're already asking the government to officially endorse your union by providing you a marriage license, it's not unreasonable for it to say "we prefer you do…

I hear ya. I had this image of just immediate family and a few friends, and next thing you know the people we HAVE to invite is already 70 people. OK. We can deal with that. But food that people actually want to eat and alcohol is EXPENSIVE. Not to mention the taxes and fees and all the shit they tack onto that. I'll…

That $26,000 figure is skewed - it's based on self-selecting respondents who are already buying into the wedding industry - those who are reading bridal magazines, etc. It's not an accurate figure because it doesn't take into account those couples who go to the courthouse to get married, or brides like me who have…

Why wouldn't you insure it? I'm planning a wedding in the DC area for under $10k (no small feat, mind you) and I insured it. I insure international trips that cost under $3k - same idea. Things happen - parents have heart attacks, freak storms delay everyone, someone spills coffee on your wedding dress. Why would…

Holy hell, he has a section on his webpage about volunteering to help on 9/11. No. Just no.

I regretted buying the 6-month membership because I found my guy within a couple weeks.

I clarify that I love to travel, but I'd rather be New Delhi or Muscat than Europe any day of the week.

My words of encouragement: quality guys like a woman with self confidence. It's what I looked for in a guy. Own it. Don't apologize for it. You are what you are, and you'd better love that.

My advice:

For what it's worth, what I looked for most in a guy was someone who had interests/passions in SOMETHING. Didn't have to be the same things I have passion about, but something needs to get them excited. That's more important to me than just about anything else, and it's surprisingly rare.

I love my pit bull. So does my boyfriend who I met online.

Yes, precisely. I mentioned elsewhere that I specifically searched for guys 5'8" and under because they're the ignored sector of the online dating market and I thought I might find some hidden gems there (totally did - great strategy). If my now-boyfriend had lied about his height I might have never found him.

My thinking was: I want someone who puts some effort into this. My now-boyfriend clearly put some thought into his profile, it told me what I needed to know, it wasn't cliche or trying-too-hard, and his pictures had amazing captions. His first message to me was clear that he read my profile and he asked interesting…

Yep. You're going to find out these things about them sooner or later. Might as well lay it out there up front than waste anyone's time.

Hot damn. I just made a jezebel account a few minutes ago for the first time and my first internet exchange was pleasant! What vortex did I fall through?

I used Match. I figured free sites are good, but I want a guy who's taking this finding-a-girl thing seriously enough to plunk down some cash.

Did you message guys or just wait for them to message you? I did a targeted search and messaged people who sounded interesting. I know, I know, what kind of a hussy makes the first move! This one.