I cooked for many years on an electric coil range and now have a smoothtop. Used many different sizes and types of well seasoned cast iron both on top and in the oven for most of my cooking. Also used non-stick for eggs and things that did better with it. I only had to get rid of one cast iron that didn't work on the smoothtop, the others are ok. Before and during a small kitchen remodel, I purchased some Calphalon hard anodized cookware pieces on sale and also a SS disk bottom stock/soup pot from TJ Maxx and some new non-stick including Calphalon commercial from Amazon. I am not that thrilled with the Calphalon but have never tried the Calphalon One. Gave one hard anodized away and replaced it with SS. I listened to the advice about not buying a set, but after getting my smoothtop, I had to replace all my saucepans, a midsize stock pot and some frypans as they were old and rocked on the glasstop. Costco had a Sitram set, Profisserie I think, on sale online and it had sizes I needed and the price was good. So I purchased it and have used most of the pieces. It cooks well. I think BB&B has Emerilware, Calphalon and also Cuisinart, plus various non-stick and other brands. I have some Cuisinart and like it although just one pan and think they have discontinued that line. I have some Calphalon tri-ply that has worked well. Also have some individual SS & non-stick pieces I have picked up, most from TJ Maxx and Amazon. Decide if you would like glass or metal lids. The glass is nice to see through, but I think I prefer metal for how it affects the cooking process. Watch for sales and go to various stores and just handle, lift and move around the pots and pans. Find what feels good in your hand and how the pan is balanced etc. how long the handles are (that affects what fits in my oven). A disk bottom or copper or aluminum sealed inside the bottom of the pan will cook better. All clad or tri-ply or more is not necessary, but nice for when you do want it. A plain cheaper aluminum stock pot works good for boiling water, pasta etc. That said, I love the disk bottom 6qt pot I picked up at TJ Maxx that has curved shaped sides and nice handles and can go well from stove to table. Good luck and congratulations on the upcoming wedding!

I just went to Amazon.com and saw lots of empty blocks, as well as filled ones, on sale. Use the search term, "knife block."

The best bang for the buck in kitchen knives is the Victorinox Forschner line, available at Amazon and elsewhere. These are high quality stainless steel knives with slim blades, good balance, and ergonomic Fibrox (non-slip black plastic) handles. Regularly top rated by Cooks Illustrated. They are made for professional cooks and you'll often see them in a restaurant or butcher. I've had some for 20 plus years and I like them better than my Henckels and similar. The blades are made in Switzerland and will hold a 20 degree per side edge. There are a couple of different sets, which are nicely selected because they include useful and decently large knives. Most sets have a bunch of useless little knives, paring knives and short slicers and so on. I helped a friend pick a set for his wife last Xmas, plus a block to fit, the whole thing cost about $140 and she loves them. We added a 10" chefs which is the most useful knife of the bunch, so make sure your block has enough large slots. Or you could get one of the roll sets and a magnetic holder. These are not the very best knives, but they are better than any knife for up to 3-4X their price. And far better than the knives sold by Wusthof, Henckels, etc (and certainly KitchenAid) for a similar price, which are made in China with clunky thick blades of indifferent steel. The exception to that last sentence is the Dexter Russell knives sold in restaurant supply stores, which are made in the USA and also intended for professionals. I prefer the Victorinox but the Dexters would be my second choice. Whatever knives you get, get a steel and learn how to use it, and get a sharpening machine or learn to use sharpening rods or stones. I'd personally go to a cutlery store and have them show you a rod system suitable for a 10" chefs knife.

I have 3 Wusthof Classics: a large chef knive, a long serrated bread knife, and another long knive that is like a chef's knife, but it's not as wide; it might be called a carving knife. Sorry, I don't know the exact names or mesaurements. I also have a serrated knife that was given to me. It says Wustof Grand Prix on it. It's smaller than a bread knife (about 6" long blade), and so useful for just about everything. I use it every day. In addition to those, I have 3 Henkles paring knives that were very inexpensive. They have colored handles (red, yellow and green), go in the DW and are sold in a set of 3. I use those a lot too. I agree with not getting a whole set. If I had to choose only a few knives to start with I'd get a Wustof Classic chef's knife and bread knife, and then a cheaper set of paring knives like the set I mentioned. I do love that serrated knife, so if you are buying 3 of the Wustof's I'd go for that too. Also, if you want a knife block you can find them in thrift stores. I just brought one to our local thrift because I store my knives in a drawer now - and I found my drawer block at the same thrift store.