By Kelly Wiley

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.

Those may be the famous last words out of a bride’s mouth before she walks down the aisle, but leading up to the big day it can be a little more stressful for some.

Jacki Allen, a wedding planner in Central Kentucky, said some of the stress may be pre-wedding jitters, but some of it may be due to trying to make the appointments and meet with everyone necessary to pull off a memorable wedding.

“The planning process can be quite overwhelming,” Allen, who also produces the Kentucky Bride Bridal Show, said. “We give (brides) the opportunity to visit with over 90 exhibitors within a five hour span. They couldn’t do that if they tried to make appointments.”

The Kentucky Bride Bridal Show is being held Saturday at the Lexington Convention Center. Being a wedding planner, Allen knows that a venue with unlimited wedding resources under one roof is like “one-stop shopping” for brides to be.

She said of all the planning that goes into a wedding, finding a place for the wedding reception can be the most stressful.

“In this area of Central Kentucky we have a shortage of reception sites and that is why we have a lot of outdoor weddings,” Allen said. “If you want to book a church or a site they will probably have to do that nine months to a year in advance.”

Although Allen did say bridal shows cater to any budget, if you are a college student trying to stick to a low-budget wedding there are helpful tips that other college students recommend.

Leah Tucker, an interdisciplinary early childhood education senior, said she and her husband, Brian, who were married over the summer, set a $6,000 budget and stuck to it. They simply used the resources around them and decided to skip the bridal shows in order to save a little bit for the more important things, Tucker said.

“I just got my ideas from walking around and looking online,” she said.

Tucker said she would also recommend theknot.com, which is a social network for brides and it is free.

She said the Web site is like your own personal wedding planner. Brides can log on and edit information that will help them stay organized by making a wedding checklist, budgeter, Web page and guest list.

Some college brides might find it stressful trying to plan and save for a wedding while taking classes, but for Tucker it was a piece of cake.

“You can have a simple wedding and still have fun with it; it doesn’t have to be stressful,” she said.

Along with Tucker, communication disorders senior Anna Katherine Kline, who was married in December, said the whole wedding experience was a breeze, more because of her mothers help.

Kline said growing up she was never the kind of girl who fantasized about her wedding day; it was more about who she would be meeting at the end of the aisle.

“Always remember that it is not about the wedding; it is about who you are marrying,” Kline said. “My wedding was over in a flash of an eye, and actually I didn’t have that much fun. But afterwards (my husband and I) were just so grateful to be married.”

Allen said bridal shows are good for brides, but are not for every bride, and may not be for the groom either. If the groom says he doesn’t want to come, Allen said brides should listen and leave them be.

“I think (grooms) are becoming more involved. They love to taste the cake; they love to taste the food,” Allen said. “Every groom has the right not to get involved and if a groom gets that way then she needs to respect that he hasn’t been planning for this his entire life.”

Yes, he popped the question and he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, but the details may be unimportant, Allen said.

In the end, Allen had one bit of advice to offer couples heading down the aisle.

“One of the main things I think some couples forget is they forget to plan for the marriage,” Allen said.

The Kentucky Bride Bridal Show will be from noon to 5 p.m. and Allen said booths range from photo to florists with many other vendors in between. There will also be various door prizes and other grand prizes.

“Every bride no matter what her budget should be able to have the best wedding and the wedding of their dreams,” Allen said.