Bridal Title 5: 'Dream Wedding on a Dime; 7 Secrets for the Budget-Savvy Bride‏' by Bobette Kyle

Official Summary:

Getting married is like buying a house; it's a major milestone in life, and almost always, there is initial sticker shock. ("It costs how much?") Dream Wedding on a Dime; 7 Secrets for the Budget-Savvy Bride is for those who cannot afford the average cost of a wedding or want to spend less.

Review: 

I think the only other reviewer of this title on Amazon is missing the point completely. Having tied the knot myself only a few months ago I can tell you first hand that yes, you might be able to stumble on these techniques on the wedding websites and yeah, you might have a friend or two that's a veteran of the process and willing to share a few tips with you, but is all that searching around necessary when you can spend a few dollars on a title like this one and have all the tricks in one place?

Not only is this a well organized book that I could see being easy to reference when needed, but the tips Bobette shares are well articulated and the positives and negatives of each are explained in easy to understand language that you probably won't find in that hastily written Top Ten Ways to Save on Blah article you just googled. She also helps the hectic bride save time by including the links to the websites she mentions directly in the eBook text, something that many other titles I've explored in this category sorely lacked.

Bottom Line: The tips in 'Dream Wedding on a Dime' might sometimes border on the common knowledge of someone whose already been through the process, but to a newbie this reference would make an excellent starting point that would get even the most clueless among us up to speed quickly. If you've spent the last six months buried in wedding info than this title probably isn't for you, but if you're just starting out, or looking for a gift for someone who recently got engaged, this one definitely deserves your attention.

'Dream Wedding on a Dime; 7 Secrets for the Budget-Savvy Bride‏' by Bobette Kyle was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Bridal Title #4: '51 Ways to Save Money and Still Have a Chic and Fabulous Wedding!' by Laura Pepper

Official Summary:

There are plenty of ways to save money on your wedding day. But chic and tasteful ones? '51 Ways to Save Money and Still Have a Chic and Fabulous Wedding!' introduces these to you in this entertaining how-to guide. There's nothing tacky or distasteful here: just good old fashioned money saving tricks that you might not have thought of before. You'll save the price of this book, plus much much more! If you want a chic and fabulous wedding, and still enter marriage with enough money to enjoy newly wed life, then this guide is for you!

Review:

When I downloaded this title the last thing I felt like I needed to do was check the page count, but at $2.99 for a forty-two page book - that with all the extra tall "section headers" and double spacing it end up being less than 20 pages of actual information - I couldn't help but feel ripped off. But that's both a blessing and a curse in this particular instance.

On one hand the it would have been nice to have the longer, more in-depth explanations of her money saving tips. Things like "23. Serve Wedding Cake as Dessert. ‘Cos who really needs two desserts anyway?" were as curtly delivered as they were offensive in their numb obviousness. While we're on the topic of Laura's tips, most of them fall into the category of 'DUH' teetering on the edge of 'WTF?'. Nothing struck me as being chic and/or fabulous and every last one of them could have been copied directly out of any wedding forum anywhere on the internet. But don't just take my word on it, go take a quick spin on Google and search 'Wedding Money Saving Tips', and if you don't find an army of people suggesting you hold your big day in a friend or family members back yard, making your own flower arrangement, having your wedding on an off day (or season), avoiding any holidays or borrowing, begging and stealing anything and everything you can possibly get your hands on than I'll eat my hat.. well, A hat anyway. And at the end of the day I guarantee that the advise you get from that one quick web search will be more thoughtful and useful than the quick one- to two-paragraph quips that Pepper gives in this guide.

On the other hand, at least the title only took about 15 minutes of my time to read - so not the worst experience I guess.

Bottom Line: A rip off of epic proportions that says absolutely nothing insightful about how you can save money on your big day. Do yourself a favor and keep to the forums and the $2.99.

Bridal Title 3: 'A Practical Wedding' by Meg Keene

Official Summary: 

Getting engaged is exhilarating…until it sets in that a wedding costs three times what you thought, and takes five to ten times the effort it reasonably should. And then there are the expectations: from calligraphy invitations to satin chair-covers, all those things that Must Be Done or everyone will be Horribly Offended. Or will they?

A Practical Wedding helps you create the wedding you want—without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day, what you’ll remember ‘til you’re old and gray, is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship.

The Review:

Sometimes I wish it was enough to say that a title was awesome - because 'A Practical Wedding' was exactly that - and move on with my day. Truthfully, reviews would go up a lot faster if I could keep it to a one word opinion* (and whats more to the point than that)? But there's no fun in a quipped, one word opinion for either of us... besides, there's a whole lot more truth to the saying "Anything worth doing is worth doing well" so, what's the deal with this month's Bridal Title?

Well, on the back flap, author Meg Keene promises this title will share:

• The real purpose of engagement (hint: it’s not just about the planning)
• How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner
• DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy?
• Affording a wedding without having to cut your guest list
• How to communicate decisions with your family
• Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it

 And I've got to say that not only does it cover these points thoroughly, but it manages to maintain a friendly, conversational tone that didn't once dip into the condescending, demeaning (and sometimes downright offensive) language found in the previous bridal titles I've reviewed. After a few months in wedding planning trenches myself this alone is a breath of fresh air!

'A Practical Wedding: Creative Ideas for Planning a Beautiful, Affordable, and Meaningful Celebration' is brimming with valuable, must-read advice on time, prioritization and people management that you just can't find in any one place on the web (except maybe the author's own wedding blog). What you won't find are any concrete money saving tips - but really, take a deep breath and let me assure you that it's really and truly okay! Once you start reading it's easy to see how the sanity saving know-how gained here will translate into money saving later.   

Bottom Line: If you're getting married and more than half a dozen people are going to be there to witness your big day you'll want to read this title. Heck - have your husband to be, mother in law, parents and maid of honor read it too - it really is that helpful.

*So there's an idea! Start looking out for 'Awesome', 'Meh', and 'betterthannothing' in addition to the 'Must' & 'DNR' categories in the post labels. Look at it this way: it's my gift to you - coupled with the traffic light indicator the labels should give you a good picture of what to expect without even reading whatever gibberish I've concocted.  

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