Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget (Bridal Bargains, 6th Ed)

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Summary: Terrific!!! Very helpful!
Review: This book was exactly what I was hoping for when I bought it. As an only child, I do not have sisters or other family members to share their horror stories or advice with me about the scams and secrets that are out there to achieving an affordable wedding. This book has helped me immensely. I especially liked the wedding dress section. That section provided me with a lot of insight and assistance that I would have otherwise never received. And this book is so affordable for all of the money you will save! It is direct, to-the-point, and does not sugar-coat the advice that it gives to the bride-to-be. A must-read selection for anyone planning a wedding!

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Summary: Real book for real brides
Review: Colin Cowie and Martha Stewart should take this frugal approach on their books. Highly recommended for all brides out there who doesen't want to start their new lives with a negative balance on their checking account.

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Summary: If you are planning a wedding this is the best book out!
Review: I don't usually take the time to write reviews but this book was so helpful I was compelled to. I bought several budget wedding books and this one was the only one I really used. I read it cover to cover and got lots of USEFUL information. If you are planning a wedding this is the only one you need!

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Summary: A must-have for anyone planning a wedding!
Review: I stumbled upon _Bridal Bargains_ at the local bookstore and my fiance and I thought it was great. Not only did it contain USEFUL information (unlike a great many of those picture-intensive etiquette books) I thought it had a lot of good advice for avoiding the many scams of the wedding industry. It's a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to have a memorable wedding without going into debt for it, and it can point you in many directions for everything from wedding dresses to where to order flowers.

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Summary: A great book for learning how to choose the RIGHT vendors
Review: When we were planning our wedding, we weren't necessarily aiming for the dirt cheapest deals we could find....but it was very deeply important to us that the people we did business with were ethical and reliable. This book, once you get past the tongue-in-cheek banter that some reviewers found offensive, does a wonderful job of rapid and honest education on how each aspect of the bridal industry works, and how it works at its best. We followed this book's advice and were rewarded with a flawlessly orchestrated, fairly priced, traditional formal wedding that owed much of its success to the reputable vendors we picked by following the advice of this book. One of the vendors, in fact, has become a good friend of ours long after the wedding. Make sure this book is your very first wedding expense!

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Summary: The Ralph Nader/Consumers Reports of Weddings!
Review: The Fields really are the best consumer-advocates a bride & groom could ask for! They uncover all the dirt about wedding vendors and give tons of great tips on how to save money without having a cheesy wedding. This book will save you money on literally everything about the wedding. A very practical, realistic resource for real people!

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Summary: Should Be Called "Avoid Bridal Scams"
Review: This book was a wonderful help to me as I was planning my wedding... but what saved you money (thus the Bargains part of the title) was how if helped me avoid common snags and scams that come from the bridal industry.

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Summary: Excellent! Great reality check about wedding vendors.
Review: Excellent guide. The best advice any bride-to-be will find. You'll save literally thousands $$$$ by buying this book. The most important point the books Bridal Bargains and the Bridal Gown Guide disclose is that many Bridal shops rip out the tags in the bridal gowns which reveals the manufacturer of the gown. Therefore, you cannot comparison shop. Fields guides you through what quality details to look for in a dress, and to avoid the unscrupulous shops who do this. After realizing this, I went to a reputable shop and saved over $1500. The book gives great practical advice about the questions you should ask when selecting a florist, band, photographer, and wise suggestions for what should be included in contracts. It's a savvy guide, best one I've seen.

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Summary: FANTASTIC
Review: This is the first reference book that I have read Cover to Cover and back again. Since I have purchased "Bridal Bargains" it has not left my side. It helped me immensely when it came to looking for and buying my wedding gown. It has many great ideas to help cut the costs of a wedding without sounding "cheesey". I can't believe the amount of information this book contains, and I don't think they left out a detail. It even gives a number of online sites that you can research for a greater wealth of knowledge. "Bridal Bargains" has really been a lifesaver.

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Summary: If you want a NEGATIVE look at weddings, buy this book!
Review: I'm probably the only person who's read Bridal Bargains and am not impressed by it. I first bought The Fields' book, Bridal Gown Guide, and thought it was WONDERFUL - informative, witty, refreshing to the old blue book type etiquette books. So I thought Bridal Bargains must have been at least equally informative. However, when I read Bridal Bargains, I was extremely disappointed. It's very kind of the Fields to let us know about the scams in the wedding industry - but they punch it home so bad that it makes the bride, looking forward the most beautiful day of their life, so paranoid that it's hard to trust any of their vendors. The point is well-taken but overextended. As for saving money, it's not really a wedding planner - it's more of a stab at the wedding industry as a whole. I'm just a regular bride trying to find a decent guide to saving some money - but not as naive as the Fields think - and I think most frugal brides are too. Their sarcasm and disdain for the bridal industry was very irritating. And to rent a limo from a funeral parlor?! Sorry, but that's way too creepy for me. I'd rather spend the extra $100 with a regular company. My advice - buy Bridal Gown Guide, but pass on Bridal Bargains.