I’m not a gardener. I’ve never been one for decorating with flowers. And a single rose from the fiancé does just as much as a dozen in my eyes.

Now, I’m supposed to figure out what to carry down the aisle and decorate our tables. And it’s low on my budget priority list, right there with the fancy cake I feel we can do without.

But my father likes sweets, so we’re going to do something cake-related. And I guess a bouquet will complete my elegant and classic church bride look.

I’m not quite sure this has ever happened before. Six women agreed on one dress. And it didn’t take all day.

Bridesmaids dress shopping was painless, and dare I say, fun. I picked out at least 20 dresses I liked and stuck a number of them in the fitting rooms. My maids each came out in one and we eliminated the rejects. The dresses we liked were rotated in the other fitting rooms so we could see it on the different body types — all slender, but ranging from 5-foot on the dot to nearly 6.

So I’m apparently a particular bride.

I felt way ahead of the game. Church and venue booked (with college alumni discount) Save the dates in the mail. Photographer, entertainment and videographer all contracted with 11 months to go.

Then the photographer suggested by my future mother-in-law (NOTE: I’m not knocking her recommendation at all, I actually made that decision) sent me an e-mail saying he couldn’t do what we contracted him to do.

Finding the right wedding gown for the woman who takes months to decide on new glasses that her closes co-worker didn’t notice the change shouldn’t have been this easy.

People told me I’d just know the dress was right for me. I was fairly doubtful until it happened for me. I put on the designer couture label dress I couldn’t afford and didn’t want to take it off for hours.

My mom in tears, my maid of honor, too. I just knew. So the budget for the wedding dress has multiplied, but I’m still in search for discount accessories to level the cost of the ensemble.

The cynic and the skeptic, otherwise known as my fiancé and I, spent a large chunk of the weekend completing the Catholic church’s required preparation and counseling.

As you can tell from the descriptors I used for us, I don’t think either one of us was expecting to get much out of this session, aimed at learning about each other as a couple.

What more did we need to learn? In our courtship we’ve dealt together with deaths of close family, some ridiculous job situations and letting go of our Ohio lives. We’ve got handling the rough situations down.

April 18, 2009.

I have more than a year to plan, so I have more than a year to look for the best deals. We’ve decided on our native Ohio. That means a white dress to match the probable falling white snow.

Here’s a little about the wedding we’re envisioning -- yes Billy has a vision and a role in planning our wedding.

It’s really easy to forget you’re planning a wedding. For the past two weeks, I let the wedding just sit there: date on hold for the reception site, no church agreeing to marry us the weekend after a Holy Day.

Saturday, I thought I’d be productive. I started writing in my awesome wedding organizer binder from Target. In it I found all these helpful checklists —- each more overwhelming than the next.

There are way too many details that go into a wedding. I’m officially overwhelmed, and I love details. Any ideas to tackle all these tasks?

Fellow Herald reporter Jessica Schonberg encouraged me to just go try on dresses to get the feel for what I want to walk down the aisle in. Wedding magazines have decorated my coffee table for months, so I know what I like. Just not what I like on me.

We went to one of those chain bridals stores known for it’s cheap dress sales. It was an interesting experience, and nothing like I’ve watched in “Say Yes to the Dress” -- also on my beloved Style channel.

Tip No. 1: Craig’s List

I swear by Craig’s List. I’ve found pets, hair salons, Panthers tickets under $5 and even recommendations on where to live from this remarkable marketplace. So it makes sense that it’s the first place I look for wedding help.

No other single moment has changed my life as dramatically as the moment he put a princess cut diamond on my left ring finger.

Billy and I discussed marriage in detail before we moved from central Ohio to the Carolinas — but the ring changes everything.

In the three weeks since I said yes to marrying another journalist, I’ve switched from spending my nights on the couch watching “Law and Order” to DVR-ing wedding shows on the Style channel while on the Internet searching for the perfect location, dress style and best prices.