There are many wedding planner options out there today to help plan your dream wedding with out the expensive person to take your hard earned money. When I found out that I was engaged I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get things started. When I booked my reception at the Hawthorne Hotel they informed me that a wedding coordinator is included in this package. I could not have been any happier because I was relieved that I can still talk to someone if I am confused as to what I should be doing. Since December of last year (2008) I have not used the wedding coordinator to help with my planning. I plan on utilizing this person when in comes closer to my wedding date. I plan on having this person help me with seating arrangements, the rehearsal, the set up of the room the day of the wedding, etc.
With all that being said I scoured the Internet for help on the “to-do’s” of wedding planning. My favorite site that I utilize all the time is www.theknot.com. This website has so many great tools for the bride to be. I ordered my favors from this website, set up a countdown for my wedding, read about what the bridal party should be doing and when, looked at dress options for myself and my bridal party, looked at hair up dos, looked at flower options, signature drinks to offer. The site just has so much to offer a bride to be. I love the countdown colander because it actually tells me what days I should have certain tasks completed by. I thought this was fantastic because I have no idea the etiquette of weddings because I HAVE NEVER BEEN MARRIED!!!! So I shouldn’t have a clue as to what I am doing.
Throughout my search for DIY wedding planning I did find several other sites that seem to be extremely helpful also. I have been using www.Maweddingguide.com to also help me prepare. This site is great because I live in Massachusetts and it gives all sorts of planning tips for each season that you are going to plan your wedding in the area. It also gives you local vendors to choose as well as the wedding planning to do checklist on a day-to-day basis. They also have e-mails that inform you of new creative wedding ideas and party ideas. www.wedplan.com has some useful worksheets if you like to have hard copies of everything. I like to do all of my planning online so this site was not for me.
There are also several sites that talk to you (videos) and help you with your planning so it is almost like you are with someone. This video http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/5041779 is a great video on the introduction of wedding planning. The makers of this video write that they have a whole series of wedding planning videos that can be watched for free online. This is great once again so it makes you feel as though you are working with someone knowledgeable if you do not want to pay for someone to do this.
I also have one of those Martha Stewart wedding planning books. My mom bought this for me when she found out I was engaged because someone she knew said that she could not have done her planning without this book. I am indifferent on the book. It is nice because it has a folder for each topic of the wedding, so you can store paperwork and whatnot. It is a big read though. Even though everything is in order by topic it still is not my favorite wedding planning tool, I do like the fact that if my internet is not working I can use this book, but most of the information in the book (which cost over $40) I had already found on the internet for free
