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.  

Like what you see? Don't miss a beat by subscribing using the links to the right or click here!

Bridal Title 2: 'Wedding Planning Like A Pro: Confession of an Ex-Wedding Planner' by Tammy J. Beatty

This title takes the cake as one of the worst I've ever had the displeasure of coming across. Filled with poorly written, snooty and pushy 'advice', bad jokes and terrible tips, 'Wedding Planning Like a Pro: Confessions of an Ex-Wedding Planner' is the new heavyweight champion of the D.N.R. collection.

To save you from an egregious waste of time, here are just a few of Tammy Beatty's words of wisdom along with my comments.

•  Her advice: Have an iPod wedding! It's cheaper to rent a $1,000 set of speakers from Rent-a-Center and buy an iPod than to hire a DJ. You'll also have 100% control!

My advice? Cough up the cash and hire a DJ. Not only is it going to cost just about as much as renting those lousy speakers from a Rent-a-Center it will save you time and countless hours of frustration both before and during your wedding. DJ's are more than just glorified MP3 players. They help to coordinate important moments like your first dance, your best man's speech, cake cutting, and the wedding party entrance. Not only that but you're running the risk of the music getting commandeered and something really really REALLY embarrassing being played. Fork out the extra couple hundred dollars (if even) and get a reputable DJ for the evening.

• Her advice: To save up money for your wedding, give up your daily Starbucks! You'll save about $1,000 over the course of a year!

Oh wow - $1,000! Golly, that's worth an entire year of self-punishment. Than there was her other stellar piece of money saving sage-ism: Move in together because you'll need to figure it out eventually. News flash for you Ms. Beatty - if the couple is getting married and they haven't moved in together there's probably a good reason for it. Might be religious or moral but seeing 'advice' like this in a book is borderline patronizing.

• Her advice: Check out the following websites because they're packed with totally awesome ideas and advice: The Knot and Wedding Wire!

Did you seriously recommend that I go to two websites that any moron with an internet connection and a Google search bar can find by face rolling the keyboard? To add insult to injury she doesn't list any website during the entire book that someone couldn't, wouldn't or hasn't found on their own through any level of preliminary investigation.

• Her advice: Buy your own flowers and look at this online guide. Isn't making your own floral arrangements fun and easy?

Are you insane Tammy? You've got to be because this isn't something everyone can do. I wouldn't even say 10% of brides could pull this off especially if all they've got to go on is this meager level of explanation. Floral arrangements are hard. Heck - I have a hard enough time jamming flowers from my fiance into a vase and having them look even remotely pretty... and that's after a florist had taken the time to arrange them into a bouquet. Never mind trying to become an overnight florist and make my own bridal bouquet. Maybe it's me, but this one stinks too.

• Her advice: You'll want pictures of your vows, so only hire a professional photographer for the ceremony. For the reception you'll be more interested in getting pictures of your drunk guests from none other than your drunk guest so who needs a professional! Partition them on Facebook afterwards and have them send you there favorites!

So while I plan on reaching out to friends and family after the event for their favorite photos they might have snapped on their phones or personal point-and-shoots there is no way in hell I'm going to depend on a room full of people that are half (or wholly) in the bag by the end of the festivities to capture all of my most important memories of the event. Terrible assertion here and Tammy should be ashamed of herself for suggestion this as an option.

The Bottom Line: If you're planning a small, backyard affair some of these tips might be worth pursuing but with the book feeling more like an aggregate for some of the internet's worst pieces of wedding advice its no wonder that the author Tammy Beatty is, in fact, an ex-wedding planner.

Bridal Title 1: 'Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing A Fantastic Wedding On A Realistic Budget' by Denise and Alan Fields

A few days before Christmas I went from girlfriend to fiance and like every other bride-to-be once my head stopped swimming reality set in. I now had a party to plan. A big, expensive, 130 people on the guest list party.

Right.

I'm not going to try and kid myself here. While I've planned corporate parties for 300, I've never planned this kind of party and never, ever when my own credit card was involved. I wanted... no needed some info to help prepare me for the battles ahead. Enter 'Bridal Bargains' as my first choice read.

The author's summary promises money saving hints and tips in addition to guidance on navigating the rocky, pariah ridden landscape that is wedding planning. Good stuff if they deliver even better when it's laid out in a fun, functional way.

So let's say this is good stuff that falls just short of great. As my first, and so far only, bridal title, I really appreciated the conversational, honest tone that the author's have. It just oozes confident experience. And the cost saving hints are actually things that seem both reasonable and executable. No previous experience necessary - this one is perfect for us novices.

Where this title falls short is that while the cost saving hints are great, they get repeated over and over again. With the repetition I feel as though the book could have been about a third shorter. The repetition also makes it an interesting adventure to find the tip you're looking for. Nothing bothers me more about a book designed to be used as an informative handbook that you need to dig through. I'm not a fan of playing detective and if it weren't for the search function gained through my Kindle, well, after the first read this book would have been pretty useless. That said, with bookmarks and keyword searches, this reference title is absolutely awesome.

Bottom line: If you don't have a clue where to start your planning and you'd like to build a good, cost saving baseline this one is for you. If you're independently wealthy and don't care about surprise fees, flower costs, or are thinking about picking this one up in print, walk on by.