Personally I find most places in Italy too touristy, but still worth checking out - particularly on honeymoon. I have attached a link to some cheap accomodations in southern Germany. This is actually where I am from and whenever I go back I'll get an apartment there. You'll find it is a lot cheaper than going with a hotel - usually you get a one or two bedroom apartment with bathroom and kitchen. No roomservice, though. However, you get to shop and cook at home - and it is quite cheap. This place is only 40 min from the Austrian border, so you could make this your main stay and adventure from there. At least that is what I always do. I definitely would recommend a car. You don't want to be stuck in big cities only, but rather explore the countryside. If you are dependent on public transportation - it is possible - but, definitely not convenient and or enjoyable. You want to stay flexible. http://www.kochel.de/tourismus/html/englisch.html Once you are at the link, choose "Unterkunft" which means accomodations and it will show you a lot of options. Let us know what you'll decide. And, yes, I agree with the ones who said plan to do less than you think you can. Otherwise, you'll be exhausted coming back, needing a vacation :) Marie

Hmm, that's very strange to hear as their roses are very good quality and well grown. But, here is a question for you. Do you find that you have that problem only with K&M roses or with roses on Fortuniana in general? I find that fortuniana is a slightly finicky root stock that has a tendency to either "take" or "not take". It takes a long time to become established (at least 2 years) and needs extra care during that time. Its not like Dr. H. After that time, the rose becomes basically indestructible, but many don't make it to that point if you treat it as if it were grafted on Dr. H. It is also NOT COLD HARDY. It is only suitable for the south. I'm not sure the zones but I'd say no colder than zone 7 unless you are very good at protecting them in winter. Another thing I've noticed with Fortuniana root stock is that it does not like to be planted in the hottest time of the year. You're better off leaving it in its pot until fall (in zones 9-10), I've had better luck with them then. Fortuniana forms a wide root system with deep anchor roots but rather shallow, spreading, feeder roots. These feeder roots can stay close to the surface and get damaged by intense heat in the first few months of planting so its best to mulch them well (but don't let the mulch touch the graft) and it helps to plant them in the cooler months to let them become more established before the heat sets in. Now if the problem is strictly with K&M grafted roses then I'd really be curious. I have had a few of their roses fail, but no more than any other vendor both grafted or own root and almost always depends more on the variety and its health/vigor than the actual vendor. Let me know your experiences, I'm super curious.

I think close family members do get asked about gifts so I can understand why you'd be involved :) Weddings are tough - speaking as a gift-giver, I really do think the best gift for a young couple is cash. They will likely (based on my experience) own a lot of their household goods and may be struggling to pay for the wedding (in my circle parents do not pay for weddings). A lot of young couples also don't want a lot of stuff. I now give only cash or perhaps cash and a thoughtful small token such as a craft piece or restaurant gift certificate I think the couple will like. And I understand that gifts are Not to be Mentioned by the couple but let's be real...almost everybody brings a gift. And I'd rather it be a gift the couple wants and can use. None of us want to waste our money on something that will not be used. We set up a registry with the food bank for our wedding and it was a big hit, but we were also getting some help from our parents with the wedding (we paid for most of it ourselves however). I understand the best approach etiquette-wise is still to set up a registry of any sort (household, honeymoon) and close family members will only mention it when asked, or mention cash when asked. I believe most somewhat youngish people that I know around here (40 and under) bring cash to weddings. This may be because a lot of our friends are from cash giving cultures (I have received two wedding invitations that stated No Box Gifts!)

First marriage was very simple because we'd decided to get married and set a date for 5 weeks later. No engagement parties, no plans, we just wanted to leave the place we were living and move to L.A. but my parents wouldn't support that idea if we weren't married, so we did it. Many people thought it was a shot gun marriage-it wasn't-we just wanted out of the tiny, rural place that the Reagan Era economy had killed so we could get jobs and move from that tiny town back to my hometown in L.A. I was just 20-he was 22, and our parents lived on adjoining properties in rural Oregon. Got married in a darling little church in a rural setting in the woods. Mom made my dress and the 2 bridesmaid dresses. Reception was at my parent's house-mom made turkey tettrazinni to try to stretch to feed the 50 or so guests. SIL made the cake and I used the preserved frosting cake topper my mom had had at her bridal shower as the cake topper. We made it six years (and 3 kids) before I left him. Next marriage was again hasitly arranged. We went to the courthouse at lunch time. I wore a beautiful pale green silk dress loaned from a friend. Our kids from our previous marriages were our attendants. The boys wanted to wear boutonnieres and ties, so we made them and the girls each had tiny nosegay bouquets we made from flowers bought at a nearby flower shop. About a dozen friends and family came and we had a lovely ceremony in the judges chambers. We brought a boombox and played "The First Time Ever I saw Your Face" during the ceremony. The judge remarked that he'd done hundreds of weddings but that was the first time he'd ever performed one to music, Afterward we all went to have pizza. The next day-Labor Day-we took the kids to the State Fair for a family honeymoon. We'd been living together for 9 years and the kids really wanted us to get married. I needed to get DH on my health insurance so we finally decided to pull the trigger.