We were looking for wedding books. We figured we can look for a wedding planning guide. Maybe something to walk us through the typical steps, include a checklist or two. So, off to Borders we went. How many do you think they had? Well, try entering the word "wedding" in a book search at Amazon.com. Yea, 5,649 results! No, our local Borders didn't have that many, but it might as well have been. Talk about overwhelming!
This is a funny phenomenon. When faced with too many choices, people often simply freeze up and choose none. Researchers have found that one of the reasons people don't participate in their 401k, is the feeling of being overwhelmed by the number of choices. This is exactly what happened to us at Borders. I'll bet that if we walked in, found one, and only one wedding book, we would have said, "I guess this is what we came for..." with a shrug, and headed for the check out counter.
I'll tell you what I found encouraging. There was a pretty good selection of books specifically about doing a wedding on a budget. Some claimed $5,000 weddings, others were $10,000. Some didn't give a dollar amount, but had the words, "budget," "frugal," or "cheap" in the title. Again, which one?!
I know that there are a number of Personal Finance Bloggers among us who are currently planning a wedding or have recently wed. I thought I would come here for advice. Did you find any particular book or resource that you found indispensable?
Thanks!
Try out www.theknot.com, it's free(or at least is was) and has a ton of cool tools like a planner, budget helper and so forth. My wife really used it a lot when we were planning our wedding.
Best of luck with the planning.
Posted by: thatedeguy | April 02, 2006 at 09:10 PM
Yes - the book below is a great source! This is my first visit to your site, so I'm not sure how frugal you are. My sister checked this book out from the library and it was so good that she went and bought her own copy.
Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget
by Denise Fields, Alan Fields - Windsor Peak Press
Posted by: calgirlfinance | April 02, 2006 at 09:11 PM
Unless you want it as a momento, I think the planner books aren't all that useful. You can find most info online. If you need a place to get your ideas,contracts, etc together, get an accordion file that you don't mind taking around with you as you meet potential vendors.
Posted by: bella | April 02, 2006 at 11:17 PM
I'll tell you most of the books for a budget will easily be something you could really do yourself without much knowledge needed for planning. Let your inner artist come out. Watch the wedding shows they'll really inspire you. So you could go through thousands and thousands of books or you could get a little visual aid.
Posted by: James | April 03, 2006 at 01:11 AM
Honestly, no book can do what www.theknot.com can! I've used it to plan and manage our entire wedding - guest list to budget to creating to do lists - it's the best and totally free.
Posted by: Amanda | April 03, 2006 at 10:11 AM
Thanks everyone. Sounds like theknot.com is the clear favorite. I have seen that site, but also weddingchannel.com and I'm sure plenty of others. I'll spend some time digging around theknot.com.
Posted by: lamoneyguy | April 03, 2006 at 02:33 PM
good luck.... sucker. :)
Posted by: jim | April 04, 2006 at 05:31 AM
What the hell are you doing trying to plan a wedding? Are you trying to get killed? Just grab a beer and let your fiancee do the work.
Just kidding, but do check out theknot.com.
Posted by: Him (Make Love, Not Debt) | April 04, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Two tips--
1. avoid theknot.com like the plague; it's basically a shrine to conspicuous (and gaudy, usually) consumption
2. read this article
Posted by: Susan | July 20, 2006 at 08:22 AM
This is what I use:
http://www.elegantwedding.ca/flipbook/wedding_planner/index.php#topAnchor
Its downloadable and free planner.
Posted by: Tasso | September 12, 2007 at 10:46 AM
I have a wonderful tip for everyone on where to get a great wedding gown at an inexpensive price. They were wonderful to deal with!
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