We love help from our favorite vendors.  Today, it's Kathy from Your Dream Day and Your Dream Day Cafe! Planning a wedding can be very stressful. Stick to these rules and you'll do fine! For weekly tips, real weddings and information about promotions from the area's top wedding professionals, sign up for Your Dream Day's free newsletter.

1) Set a date and a budget and stick to it. There is a perfect wedding vendor for every price range.

2) Ask for referrals from vendors you've booked, friends or family. Check with the BBB and read reviews from TheKnot.com/Cincinnati or WeddingWire.com about a vendor's history. If names are given to you by a wedding vendor, ask them how they got on that list. Some paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to be on that list, or they provide the venue a 'kickback' (like $50 or $100 for their own pocket) for referring you to them!

3) Coordinating a friend, their own or their daughter's wedding doesn't make someone a professional wedding coordinator. She may have done other events like corporate, birthdays, or church events though, so that qualifies her to execute your wedding day to perfection, right? GUESS AGAIN!! Your Dream Day offers a two-hour class April 23 and August 13, 2014 in Cincinnati ($39 for two people, the schedule on http://yourdreamday.eventbrite.com or http://www.facebook.com/yourdreamdaycafe that will help the couples and their 'friend' prepare the timeline, things they need to do and accomplish, how to handle curve balls that they never expected, how to coordinate a rehearsal and what they need to know to jump into this role and be prepared for the big day. As a ten year veteran having planned more than 160 weddings in southwestOhio, I can tell you exactly what to expect from your vendor team, bridal party, family members and guests. One person can only be in so many places at one time, right?!?

4) Set a timeline of tasks that you need to take care of. For example, you should book your reception hall 12 to 18 months out; your photographer 9 to 12 months out; etc.

5) The number on the guest list will increase or decrease your budget the most dramatically. A good rule of thumb is that if you won't be friends with them five years from now, don't invite them! However, you do want to invite your boss, appropriate colleagues, close friends and family. There will be family that your parents will request you invite and you'll need to accommodate those requests.

6) Invitations should go out 12 to 16 weeks before the wedding. DO NOT PUT YOUR REGISTRY INFORMATION IN YOUR INVITATION. This is an etiquette no-no. Instead, direct your guests to view your website for more information. Sending electronic invitations for the shower or bachelor / bachelorette party is okay.

7) IF YOU BOOK A BAND: Get them to add a clause to their contract which states that they will not drink alcohol at your event. This can be handwritten and initialed by both parties.

8) Take a break from the planning. Have a quality date night with your fiancé where you don't talk about the wedding at all. You can even win a free one when you register with Your Dream Day Cafe!

9) The rehearsal dinner should only be the people participating in the actual ceremony and their date. However, you will have guests arriving a day early for your wedding and you can extend them an invitation to the rehearsal dinner in advance.

10) Have an emergency kit the day of the wedding. A basic kit should have a needle and thread, stain remover, glue, nail polish, nylons, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, hair pins, hairspray, double sided tape, comb and safety pins at minimum. A wedding planner will have a more complete kit to prepare you for anything that will go wrong. (And something will!)

11) Eat! Eat! Eat! on your wedding day. Schedule feeding times on your day-of schedule.

12) Relax and enjoy the process and the event. Stop to smell the roses throughout the day, because it will be done in a blink of an eye! A wedding is not supposed to be stressful, it's a celebration of the love you and your fiancé share. This is where a wedding coordinator can come in handy. You only get married once -- we do this for a living! We know how to keep you calm, collected, under control and enjoying the process.