Wedding reviews

1. Monica Said, EDITORIAL REVIEW: If you're hesitant to buy the Amazing Wedding Planning guide because you suspect it may turn out to be one of those flimsy 30-page, ridiculously over priced information products out there, you can stop worrying right now. The Amazing Wedding Planning e-book is almost 200 pages long and actually provides a very valuable overview on organizing a wedding as well as for saving quite a bit of money in the process. That said, "slashing up to 80% of your wedding costs" should be taken for what it is - an effective sales pitch. The advice for saving money given in the book is definitely good, but how much you will save percentage wise will naturally vary depending on where in the world you live, how much you planned on spending in the first place etc. The main e-book is split into 3 parts: a step-by-step "countdown" to the wedding, money saving secrets and an appendix. The last mentioned one provides some useful forms and worksheets as well as summary pages of some of the important points made in the book, such as "common expensive mistakes". Perhaps intended to print out, laminate and stick on the wall while planning your wedding? It's actually about wedding planning In the beginning of the book Erica advices not to read the book cover to cover right away, but to instead repeatedly refer back to it as your wedding plans progress. Part one of the book is actually way more than a guide to save money, as it provides a very complete and organized overview about the various planning stages right up to your special day. Erica Yoon recommends that you start off by choosing the theme you want for your wedding, and only then start working on the budget. Using the tips and strategies outlined later in the book you can afford to pull off any theme she claims. Naturally she isn't considering themes like flying the whole family to the Caribbean for and under water wedding or something like that. Each chapter starts off by listing the things you will have accomplished by the end of the chapter, and then it proceeds by going through each aspect in great detail. Step 8 for example, called "this and that", walks you through everything from ordering your ring to getting a marriage licence. As I have personally seen many brides to be be completely overwhelmed by the task of planning a wedding, I think part one in this book really could prove invaluable to many brides and grooms. It can very well be used as a road map for the entire planning process. I also like the way Erica writes, she sounds like a warm and sincere person and frequently drops in the occasional anecdote from her own experiences. Some of this information can certainly be had for free in some shape or form in many other places, on this very portal for example, but having everything served to you this well organized is certainly a huge time saver and I think most people have something to learn about Erica's romantic but still very realistic wedding attitude. Tips for saving money Those who get really "sold" by the sales letter over at Erica's website, will no doubt quickly scroll down to part two of the book - the money saving secrets. As I was very curious to find out what the fuss was all about, this is what I did as well. And at first I was a bit disillusioned to learn that the first big secret was to buy stuff from Ebay! I mean, that is not exactly a big secret and it is not entirely unheard of for people to get scammed when they thought they had made the deal of their lifetime using this auction site. Still, as I read on I was relieved to find that what is presented really is a great guide on how to shop safely on Ebay, particularly from the point of buying things you need for weddings. She really explains very clearly who to trust and why, as well as what wedding items in particular you can get very good deals on using Ebay (as well as items not to touch with a ten foot mouse cable!). She also gets rid of the common perception that Ebay is only for buying used stuff (which it definitely isn't) right from the start. How much could you save using this method? Well, how about a fabulous wedding dress for only $50 dollars! It takes a certain strategy to pull that off to be sure, but the instructions in the book sound perfectly feasible, and I know several brides who have actually managed to pull off very similar deals. As buying clothing online indeed has many inherent challenges the book also provides a lot of valuable advice for getting the measurements exactly right and the step-by-step dealing you will have with the online merchant. This second part of the book was not in the original e-book and has been added later on, and overall Erica Yoon draws the conclusion that buying things online is one of the best ways to save a lot of money. Where possible she also provides links to trusted merchants (both on and outside of Ebay) that she feels provide particularly great deals as well as reliable service. Sadly for any European reader, the merchants are all located in the US and may as such not be the best choice. Compared to the clothing section in part two the advice on other, more offline, aspects off the wedding isn't quite as wordy. But there certainly is advice on everything from not getting talked into buying the wrong (and much to expensive!) things and avoiding scams to transportation, getting the various wedding foods and ordering flowers. All in all - every major aspect is covered and very real money saving methods are presented. Naturally you may not, for one reason or another, be able to implement all the ideas. But if you can use even a fraction of the advice given, you should definitely be able to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on the kind of wedding you are having. Bonuses Among the first things Erica recommends you get yourself is a decent wedding planning software. Although the book talks about getting 50% off on the Amazing Wedding Planner software Erica is selling separately on another website, you actually get this software for free with your purchase of the Amazing Planning e-book. I have put up a few screens showing how the software looks in the product description area above. There are many similar small pieces of software out there that you can buy for anywhere between 10 and 50 dollars. You could also keep track of the same things by creating your own Excel (or Open Office etc.) spreadsheets. The Amazing Wedding Planner is easy enough to use though, and will fill your basic needs very nicely. There is an integrated help section that will walk you through using the various aspects of the software, keeping track of things like budget, vendors, guests and important dates. The only drawback is that it is a Windows only application, meaning Mac-users can't use it without running a Windows emulator. When I purchased the guide there was also a couple of unadvertised bonus guides included in the package, one about wedding favors and another one on honeymoons. These are written by other people and are not as good as Erica's own guide. They are certainly worth browsing through by all means. Conclusion Although I was rather sceptical to begin with, I must say I am very impressed with Erica Yoon's Amazing Wedding Planning. The e-book really has an aptly chosen title, as it can indeed help you immensely in planning your own wedding. If you where to pry the same amount of information out of a professional wedding consultant you'd be paying the price of this guide many, many times over. All the advice in the book is practical and clearly explained. As an added bonus the book will also stimulate your own creativity, and you may be able to come up with many additional ideas of your own - both for saving money and for designing your dream wedding. As this is an e-book provided as a direct download it can easily be bought by anyone anywhere in the world. It should be noted however, that much of the recommended stores and resources are selected for a US audience. Still, even if you live outside the US, many of the basic ideas still apply and you can of course still find great deals on places like Ebay. But in finding European online and offline wedding vendors you are going to have to do some additional research. If you are going to spend more than a few hundred bucks on your wedding, Amazing Wedding Planning is definitely recommended reading. To me it would have been a great read even without all the money saving tips. What I really like: + Conveys a healthy wedding planning attitude + Practical advice, well explained + Covers all major aspects of a wedding + Wedding planning software included + Authors personal writing style What I didn't like: - Software only for Windows PC's - People outside the US may find it less useful - Sales letter puts undue emphasize on the "saving money part"
   
   

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