Engaged Magazine Bridal Showcase

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PHOTO: Inbal Dror 2015 Bridal Collection courtesy of Inbal Dror

Irrespective of my hesitations and pauses in the dating game, the one constant feature of my dating life -- perhaps the scariest feature for any man in a woman -- is the idea I clung to as a young child to be a "Princess Bride" of sorts and have a huge blow-out of a wedding. I would have a wedding to rival Princess Diana's! A fifteen foot train! Flowers! Candles! Cake! An unending stream of wine and champagne!

Of course, I determinedly knew my handsome, intelligent, caring man would come as well, or at the very least hoped for that as well, so he could propose and I could buy a gorgeous dress like the Inbal Dror one above. After all a wedding isn't about all the other "stuff" but about a union between two people who love each other.

Still ... a glorious wedding is something to dream about and having spent too much time thinking about what kind of wedding I would have, what I have come to realize is a wedding seems to be less about two people who love each other getting married but rather a stressful, never-ending stream of seemingly ENDLESS choices. My friends who have gotten married are the most stressed out people I know and are always fighting over the choices to be made for a wedding. What kind of flowers? What color place setting? What kind of DJ? What kind of food? Seriously, anyone who can pull together all these choices in a coherent menu deserves a medal.

Into this chasm for the people getting married in Washington, D.C. is ENGAGED Magazine. Their annual wedding showcase is a fun time for girls -- men are welcome too but do men really want to come? -- to see what the latest trends are in the wedding industry and to help narrow down some of the fantasty wedding choices Pinterest has made all-too-easy to obsess over.

While I will be out-of-town for this year's event on March 1st, think about heading over to the Willard Continental or the St. Regis for displays from the vendors listed below. If nothing else, its free food and drink. Tickets are $65 and will not be sold at the door! Tickets must be purchased in advance at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engaged-in-washington-luxury-wedding-event-2015-tickets-15366330107?ref=estw

Bloomingdales Bridal Registry

Bowen Films

Edge Floral

Elan Artists

Freed Photography

HJ Planners

Red Door Spas

Reston Limousine

Riziks

Steve Canning Photography

Terri Bergman Events

The Dandelion Patch