Congratulations, you’re getting hitched in 2012! It’s hard enough finding balance in every day life, but now that you’re engaged you have a lot more to juggle. Most importantly: finding the right balance between your own personal style and what’s hot and current. This is especially true when it comes to your wedding dress. But don’t stress. Here’s the plan:

First, knead out those knots of stress with a wedding planning massage. (We insist!)

Then, narrow down the gazillion wedding dress options by knowing the top trends of the season, as told by The Knot.

Here’s a glimpse at what’s timeless yet modern – check out the top 10 wedding dress trends for 2012, according to theknot.com.

1. Sheer Lace Capes

Alfred Angelo

Last season it was all about long sleeves a la Kate Middleton, but the latest craze is gracefully draped capes. Try this trend for a modest, traditional look on your big day.

2. A Hint of Tint

Rivini

Peach, champagne, cotton candy, sorbet, lavender and mint – you’ve seen stars like Gwen Stefani and Portia de Rossi rock partially-tinted wedding dresses and brides like Kholé Kardashian and Reese Witherspoon add colorful accents to their gowns in the past, but this year the runway is totally dipped and dyed with a rainbow of feminine and romantic hues.  This trend is definitively not for the faint of heart.

3. Embellished Bodices

Anne Bowen

It’s all eyes on you with a glitzy bodice paired with a soft and simple skirt. This style option is great for pear figures who want to enhance their chest, cinch their waist and hide curvy hips.

4. Illusion Necklines

Ines Di Santo

According to The Knot, “Sheer bateau necklines continue to be all the rage on the bridal runways, and this season, crystal and pearl appliques give these see-through styles a more glamorous vibe.” This style is perfect for showing off toned shoulders, arms and back.

5. Hi-Low Hemlines

Oscar de la Renta

Often refereed to as a “mullet dress,” this style of gown is incredibly fashion-forward and edgy (and all business in the front, party in the back, ha!) ; perfect for a beach or outdoor wedding. Plus, the peekaboo hemline is the chicest way to show off amazing wedding shoes.

6. Romantic Ruffles

Pronovias

Use ruffles and ruching to your advantage! Fluffy fabric and cascading frills – when used properly – can accentuate or diminish curves where needed, in order to create a perfectly flattering shape for your individual body type. Plus, they will add the perfect amount of fairytale drama to your special day.

7. Cap Sleeves

Reem Aarca

By opting for a dress with cap sleeves, the eyes are drawn upwards towards the face, elongating your appearance and creating a flattering balance between the lower and upper halves of the body. Depending on the style, cap sleeves can also mask a bra stap, if you need the extra support.

8. Voluminous Ball Gowns

Maggie Sottero

For a traditional, princess-themed event, the bigger the ballgown skirt the better. This style is great if you’re a confident, all-eyes-on-me bride who wants to accentuate that tiny waist you worked for during your engagement. Show it off, girl!

9. Soaring Slits

Monique Lhuillier

Try this sexy trend if you are on the taller side and/or have great gams. Sky-high slits are great for adding drama to fashion-forward or old-Hollywood themed weddings. Want to try the trend but apprehensive about baring so much skin at the service? Save the slit for your reception dress and dance the night away with the freedom to shake a leg.

10. Cold Shoulders

Marchesa

Off-the-shoulder gowns can help you get the look of a strapless neckline and show off those collarbones without the awkwardness of always having to pull up your top. This style is perfect for larger busted brides.

Images via

For upcoming nuptials with British person with messy hair, Russell Brand, songstress Katy Perry may opt for the I Dream of Jeannie of wedding dresses: a spangly two-piece displaying her abs and torso as she walks down the aisle.

Reportedly Perry, like most brides, wants to have a traditional dress with a long train in the back and a Vegas showgirl look going on in the front. It’s not so much that Perry has always dreamed of sashaying to matrimony dressed up like an ice dancer – rather, she’s not ignorant of the entertainment value her wedding will command, and wants to create buzz. She has told friends and reporters that she realizes her wedding pictures will be picked up by magazines, blogs, and tabloids all around the world. Maybe a little cynical to commodify your wedding but eh, you can’t say the girl doesn’t have a head on her shoulders. And it is her day, after all.

She also tells the press, humorously, that Russell Brand is a bit of a wedding micromanager and has developed a startling addiction to bridal magazines.

We hear that finding the perfect wedding dress can be a little like the proverbial needle in a haystack. Only in this version of the fable, the needle will cost thousands of dollars when you do finally find it! Yay!

All joking aside, if you’re at a loss and need some help narrowing down your dress options, try the knot’s interactive photo dress search. Whether your perfect dress is long-sleeved, short-sleeved, or no-sleeved, you can filter through a host of dress options to find the one that calls your name.

Search by designer, or by silhouette, or neckline – or the all-important price range. It’s a little idea, but it’s an overdue one!

Our friends over at The Knot are running a promotion that will land one lucky couple with a wedding worth $150,000 and a luxury honeymoon in Hawaii. All you have to do is…win a golf tournament.

That’s right – in order to win the wedding of their dreams, 6 lucky couples will be selected to play nine holes of golf at the new TPC San Antonia and the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. The golf tournament will include plenty of twists and turns, and the couple that emerges will enjoy the wedding of a lifetime and that honeymoon in Hawaii!

It’s easy to enter – head over to the Knot’s contest page to tell them why you deserve to play in the tournament.

It’s a little late to plan a holiday wedding for this year (never fear, there is still time to plan a holiday eloping) but the timing is just about right to begin planning for your 2010 holiday wedding! Whether you’re looking for a wassail-filled, red and green Christmas celebration or an icy, snow, silk-and-pearls winter wonderland, we want to point you in the right direction to kickstart your planning.

Check with our friends over at The Knot for their holiday wedding resource guide to pore over dozens and dozens of inspirational pictures and ideas. Their photos of holiday cakes and reception food are particularly good! Here are some of our favorites:

Courtesy of The Knot

Courtesy of The Knot

Courtesy of The Knot

For more food, wine, and cake ideas for a holiday wedding, head over to The Knot!

Did you have a holiday wedding? Do you like the idea? What would be on your ideal menu?