Reviews for Wedding Planning For Dummies

The average rating for Wedding Planning For Dummies based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-04-13 00:00:00 Diana Fogle Should be called Wedding Planning for Rich Dummies because most of the book focuses on the more expensive options for everything and the author often made me feel like if you don't do this and don't do that, then you're basically hosting a cheap classless wedding. The author, Marcy Blum, is a wedding planner to the stars and I feel she and the Dummies series editors were out of touch with what the average book buyer for this series is looking for in a wedding planning book, something at least mildly budget conscious. This book really propagates the whole wedding-industry money-spending complex. I don't mind that expensive options are talked about. But most people can't afford a bar carved out of ice or even the "cheaper" suggestion of a large ice sculpture at their bar. When focusing on a topic, like invitations, I would have liked an expensive/all-out option, a medium priced option, and a thrifty option (that does't make you feel awful for being budget conscious). I think that should have been the structure of the book for all major areas. It's all a big bummer because the author actually had A LOT of great advice for every situation you could possibly think of in between all the extravagance. Very through and covers a lot of wedding styles/religions/cultures. The section on vows was the star of the book for me as it gave about ten of the most common vows for weddings and I really felt like I could find/mash together from a few of the versions, the perfect vows for my wedding. You can definitely tell that she's been in the industry a long time and knows how to host a traditional/upper-crust/formal affair. She's very clear about social etiquette and do's and don't's, which is great because no one wants to offend someone because they didn't know the proper etiquette for wedding invitations or seating arrangements. She also does have budget-saving advice, but I feel that considering the amount of space it got in the book, that part feels more like an after-thought, edited in so the book would be more marketable. She also talks lot about avoiding wedding/family conflict, which is great if that's a problem, but it made me think that most weddings are as dramatic as an episode of The Real Housewives (although she does do celebrity weddings, lol). I think for the average wedding most people can be civil for one day for the bride and groom even if that means that divorcees might have to sit within ear-shot of each other at their child's wedding. I would say buy the book for the hard advice, use it as a technical reference for details like how to format invitations, and then take some of her extravagant advice with a grain of salt. Poll your friends and family on what they think is acceptable or tacky and ignore the pressure from the book to host that open bar or decorate every little thing at the reception if that's not what you can afford. I really liked the Everything Wedding Organizer. I suggest checking that out before this book.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-03-15 00:00:00 Bridget Appel A joke present from my future father-in-law that I couldn't resist reading. Some useful advice accompanied by a lot of extraordinarily expensive ideas and a preachy tone. I found it rather out of step with modern weddings, but maybe that's because I've spent a lot of time reading Offbeat Bride (infinitely more inspirational). As an actual resource, not overly helpful, unless I was looking for MORE tiny details and questions of etiquette to stress over. As an amusing engagement gift, priceless.