Bridal Bargains: A review

I know I said I wasn't going to use this blog as "advice" for wedding planning, but, hey, like I said in my parameters post, sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

I just finished reading Bridal Bargains (9th ed) by Denise and Alan Fields. Let me just say, I'm going to classify this as a "must read" for all people planning a wedding, planning to plan a wedding or just plain interesting in weddings and the wedding industry.

The book is separated into two main sections: Your wedding and Your reception. Within those sections are chapters in apparel (this is the scariest section, be forewarned), ceremony sites, flowers, cake, music, invitations, reception sites, catering, photography, rings, transportation, consultants, registries, honeymoons...the list goes on. In each chapter, you are given TONS of information.

What I like about the book is how the authors don't just tell you "this is what you need to do", but they tell you how to do it, why you should be doing it, and what questions you should be asking. In addition, they also explain why you should be asking these questions. For a lot of brides, it's really easy to get caught up in the hype of the wedding checklists and time lines provided by most wedding websites (*cough* theknot.com *coughcough*). I always look at them and say, "Well, that's great and all, I know I'm supposed to buy flowers, but I don't know how to do this!" And you know if you go to a florist/baker/stationer/seamstress/etc, God only knows what kind of biased, wedding mark-up information you are going to get.

The authors also describe what it is you are buying, which is nice, because a lot of wedding planning and money goes to items that are intangible for quite some time, like the reception space, photography, etc. Eventually, all these items yield some sort of tangible item (a room, food, pictures), but when you are plopping down hundreds or thousands of dollars on a "deposit", you really don't know what the heck you're getting.

Not only do the Fields do a good job at explaining all the various things that go into a wedding, but they also do a great job at troubleshooting. The main theme in the book is "People aren't perfect. Neither are weddings." (sound familiar?) Each chapter has "pitfalls to avoid" where they give you real life scenarios and what you can do should they happen to you. I found this section to be particularly helpful.

The authors describe this book as the book the wedding industry doesn't want you to read, and I believe it. It contains money saving tips, myths I'm sure wedding peeps DON'T want busted, and then they actually rank various vendors! They tell the good, the bad and the ugly about various vendors and sellers.

A word to the wise though, this book will scare the crap out of brides-to-be. When I put it down yesterday, I felt overwhelmed and a little like crying my eyes out. I would suggest taking it chapter by chapter as you need it. For instance, read the chapter on bridal apparel before you start shopping for the dress, then read the chapter on cakes before you do that. That way it's not so much, "THIS IS HOW THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF AND EVERYTHING THAT COULD EVER POSSIBLY GO WRONG OMG" all at once, but more like, "Hey, here are some things we think could help you before you belly-flop into the proverbial wedding pool."

For what it's worth, I highly recommend Bridal Bargains as an excellent resource in wedding planning. I enjoyed writing this review so much, I think I may review EVERY wedding book I read. Well, maybe not every, but the ones that deserve it.