Rating: 
Summary: THE BEST!!!
Review: I was the excited "bride to be".....I bought all the books, magazines, etc. I went to the shows. I rushed out and picked my gown in the first two weeks of our engagment. Then I bought Bridal Bargains. WOW!!! This book is packed with helpful info. I'm paying for part of my wedding and was trying to save money. This book helped immensely. It helped me see that buying my headpiece in the shop that I got my dress in wasn't "the only way"!!! I ended up buying it from a floral shop that had a bridal section for about 1/4 of the price of a bridal store!!! I learned what invitations SHOULD cost as well as what I needed to buy for them and what I did not. The book teaches average costs of things. It tells you what to ask of a photographer and a florist... I could go on and on. This book is a MUST for every new "bride to be".
Rating:
Summary: Bridal Bargains - A Great Gift for the Bride-to-be!!!
Review: "Bridal Bargains" was the best wedding book I ever read. The advice was practical and helpful. Since reading it while I was getting married, I have given the book as a gift to my sister-in-law and niece for their upcoming weddings. I would recommend it to anyone getting married. It's not just for people who want to have a "cheap" wedding, but for people who want to have a quality wedding for the price they are spending. A lot of people commented that the book might scare brides-to-be with its emphasis on wedding industry scams. This did not make me feel intimidated at all but instead I felt prepared to deal with wedding professionals. I was glad to know what questions to ask a caterer or DJ - how would an average person know anything about cake cutting fees and couture gowns? This book really prepared me for the interviews with vendors and helped me to find places where I could negotiate in price. On a final note, I didn't agree with all of their advice, for example I wanted real flowers rather than silk, because the silk flowers looked so fake to me. I know this was a good money saving option, but I decided real flowers were more important to me than saving some money. This is true of any advice in the book - if you don't want to do it - don't! I don't think the author's want to substitute their own judgment in place of yours - you're the one who has to experience your wedding day - it should be the kind of day you want without emptying your bank account! This book is A+ and I would recommend it to anyone getting married!
Rating:
Summary: The Only Book You Will Need or Want
Review: This is the first and only wedding book I've needed. I read about the reviews and heard that it was an Oprah book club book, and had to have it. These authors are the watchdogs of wedding business trickery, so they can really be trusted. I found the David's Bridal dress I wanted on eBay for $91.00! Being afraid about it's Karma, I happened to find out the dress was only used in a photo shoot for a major wedding magazine in the midwest, and had the Photographers pictures as proof. The dress was as is, meaning no alterations done. What a find. They even threw in the veil. I've learned so much about doing things, or some things yourself to save money. I often look back at it as a refresher. I am going to probably use their flower grower connections they've listed in the book. I took their advise and read 2 books on diamonds, so I feel educated on the subject. It gave me good insight to put things on credit cards in order to utilize fraud protection for unsatisfactory services. It gave me insight on what questions to ask vendors, such as Photographers, etc. It also give helpful saving hints on invitations, and so much more. For those of you who think that this book will give advise on making your event cheap, don't be fooled. The word is inexpensive (never cheap). This book can help you save on some areas, and frees up your money to spend on other areas if you'd like. It doesn't mean you have to go low budget on everything --- it's up to you. Don't let the size of this book fool you, as it's FULL of very valuable information. Enjoy and Congrats!
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any bride!
Review: I picked up this book out of sheer curiousity at a trip to a local bookstore. It claims that if it can't save you $500 or more on your wedding then you can send it back for a refund of the book, no questions asked. I thought, well, if I don't like it, then I can always send it back. Well, I no longer think that. "Bridal Bargains" has helped me out so much with planning my wedding. It tells you tons of tips on how to save, as well as reviewing dress designers, online florists, invitation companies, and much more. In the back of the book is a punch out list of questions for all the vendors to take with you so you won't forget to ask an important question. If you are planning a wedding or know someone who is, this book is a definite must. I won't be sending "Bridal Bargains" back; I'm going to pass it on to another bride so she can learn how to save money on her big day too.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for overall planning, not just saving money.
Review: I just got engaged a few months ago, and another bride-to-be recommended this book. I've already found it to be extremely helpful in my planning, as the book thoroughly reviews your options for various aspects of the wedding such as bride/bridesmaids dresses, invitations, photography, etc. I particularly liked the lists of suggested questions for vendors--when I emailed one photographer with some of the questions in the book, he wrote back and said "you couldn't have asked better questions if I had given them to you myself!" I've actually found the book to be less helpful in the area of saving money. This might be partly due to the fact that we're having a pretty small wedding--we only expect about 40 guests to attend, and we're not having a bridal party. Another minor negative is that when I tried some of the websites in the book, the URLs were no longer valid; although they talked about use of the internet in planning quite a bit, I wish they had addressed this area even more, especially use of email to get information from potential vendors. Overall, however, this is a great book that you definitely will use frequently in your planning--I find myself referring to my copy again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: It was Okay
Review: I've read a lot of these books. Each one seems to have a few usable ideas. For the money, this one is the best I've found, since it offers more specifics on exactly where to shop online, etc. Any bride with an ounce of logic gets the idea before buying the book: "shop around for the best prices and service", "get it in writing down to the last detail", and "you may have to sacrifice on certain, unimportant things to stay within your budget". Not sure I needed the book to tell me that. I already know where eBay is, and know how to find creative ideas online. It's not a bad book if you're completely lost and don't know how to surf the internet.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST!!!
Review: I was the excited "bride to be".....I bought all the books, magazines, etc. I went to the shows. I rushed out and picked my gown in the first two weeks of our engagment. Then I bought Bridal Bargains. WOW!!! This book is packed with helpful info. I'm paying for part of my wedding and was trying to save money. This book helped immensely. It helped me see that buying my headpiece in the shop that I got my dress in wasn't "the only way"!!! I ended up buying it from a floral shop that had a bridal section for about 1/4 of the price of a bridal store!!! I learned what invitations SHOULD cost as well as what I needed to buy for them and what I did not. The book teaches average costs of things. It tells you what to ask of a photographer and a florist... I could go on and on. This book is a MUST for every new "bride to be".
Rating:
Summary: this book is very informative
Review: I got this book right at the begining of my wedding planning process and it has helped me out a great deal. I see a lot of people think some of the suggestions are tacky... well I've seen a lot of books about how to save money while planning a wedding and they ALL have a "tacky" suggestion here and there. Granted, the suggestion by one reader published in this book to rent a limo from a funeral home was certainly odd & unique, but a limo is a limo. Get over it. Needless to say, this book provided me with knowledge and pointers on how to handle vendors, bridal salons, etc. etc. by telling me what to look for and what to ask. There are parts of the book that are a bit paranoid, but if you want to keep from getting scammed you *have* to be a bit paranoid. I wish I had known about this book a year ago so I could have given it to a good friend of mine who was recently married. I will recommend this book to anyone I know planning a wedding. Excellent work Denise & Alan Fields, thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the not-so-fouffy bride
Review: I'm not your typical BRIDE magazine reader. I live in Las Vegas, and I would have been happy to get married at the drive-thru wedding chapel on the back of my fiance's motorcycle. Believe it or not, HE wanted a regular wedding back east, and I agreed. Having heard just enough about the shark-infested waters of the bridal industry to fill me with dread, I was very unwilling to be its victim. This book made me feel much more confident in my ability to defend myself against the rip-offs. It saved me a lot of wasted time trying to figure out (probably unsuccessfully) how to find the best bargains myself. I knew what to expect and was able to decide which items or services I felt were worth the money. I am actually starting to enjoy the whole wedding planning process thanks to this book. It was the only wedding book I found with realistic money saving advice besides the blatantly obvious suggestions like "make your own decorations." This book is to weddings what Consumer Reports' dealer cost reports are to car buying. Buy it
Rating:
Summary: An excellent research guide!
Review: I am currently in the planning process. This book has given me the information I need to plan my wedding exactly the way that I want. I've been able to avoid the industry wedding invitation trap by using book tips and the internet. I found the dress that I wanted, with the help of the designer reviews section. I've been able to avoid several large additional fees from the caterer that I've hired and the reception venue, because those fees were explained very clearly in this book. I noticed that there were several reviewers that did not like the short-cuts and money-saving tips that the authors recommended. There were a few tips that were not ethical, but most of them help the reader deal with retailers who are just out to make a buck, at your expense. I'm sure that it would be nice, in a sad, self-indulgent way, to expect your middle class parents to foot the bill for your gala, $100,000 wedding event-the one that society seems to think is necessary. But the bottom line is, most brides (and their families) can't afford to do that, don't feel the need to, or don't want that type of wedding. And this book is exactly the resource needed to have a beautiful wedding that fits your ideals and your budget. It's the only wedding book that has been useful in my planning process.
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