Rating: 
Summary: A good book for some good ideas
Review: Although this is not the best bridal budget book, its still, all in all, a good book with some good ideas. It does stress getting everyone involved, which for some, is welcoming. If you're a bride who has a family who's always giving you their 2 cents worth, this may be the budget planning book for you. It will get everyone involved in planning, helping and setting up for your wedding. If not, there are a few tips you can still use. Diane Warner has many books worth reading and I think she's knowledgeable in her ideas. This book is much better than Denise and Alan Fields' "Bridal Bargains". The book itself is more comfortable to read and hold (it's a standard size book with dark, large print, which "Bridal Bargains" is definetly not!) Besides, Diane Warner has some very original ideas which are legal and "Bridal Bargains" tells you some not so "authorized by law" ideas. Compare the two and I'm sure you'll agree, Diane Warner's "Big Wedding on a Small Budget" is much better! Just glimpse through and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Rating: 
Summary: Very comforting.
Review: Boy, some really mean-spirited reviewers below! I bought the first edition of this book in 1990 when I was overwhelmed with planning my own wedding, and every other planning guide just assumed my family would jump at the chance to spend $10K (then the average wedding cost) on a one-day event. I thought then and still think this book was one of the best purchases I made that year, not because the ideas were so wonderful but because Warner's tone was so very encouraging -- you CAN have a classy wedding on a budget, even if you've never planned a large scale event before. I think so highly of it, I've recommended it to several friends. I found the organization suggestions particularly helpful. Yes, many of the ideas are found in other books, but how many wedding planning guides are you going to buy? This is a wedding, not the invasion of Normandy. The best aspect of this book is that it makes you think creatively of ways you can save money on your special day -- if you don't want to rent chairs from the local funeral home, maybe you can rent them from some other community organization. True, not everybody does have a cutting garden at their disposal, but I plan an annual event for 300 people at the height of the Maryland azalea season where people regularly "donate" cuttings from their bushes. If a suggestion isn't appropriate for your situation, move on. Just think creatively. And buy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Wide variety of ideas
Review: I bought this book last year early in my wedding planning process. I was determined to have the wedding my fiance and I wanted and not what everyone else wanted or what other people expected. There are so many great ideas in here, though I might agree that some of them may not be my taste. My fiance and I were paying for our entire wedding ourselves and wanted to save some money for a downpayment on a house. With the ideas in here, we did just that, and even more than we expected. You obviously won't use every idea in this book but it really opens your eyes to other possibilities. You do yourself what you can handle, don't be afraid to ask for help, decide what you don't mind spending a little extra on (for us that was the photography) and you can have a ceremony, reception and honeymoon for an amount you are able to afford. People still tell me, nearly a year later, how beautiful our wedding was and how it really reflected *us*. This book gave us the ideas to do that within our budget.
Rating: 
Summary: Pass this book up!!
Review: I seriously doubt whether or not Diane Warner has planned anyone's wedding except her daughter's. Some of her "brilliant" money-saving ideas are just plain laughable. Can't afford a big cake? Make one out of Styrofoam and have someone stand behind it, serving a regular sheet cake. Can't afford a honeymoon? Tell everyone you know you're going to the Bahamas and stay at home for a week. Give me a break. Sometimes, cutting corners cuts good taste right in half.
Rating:
Summary: A big help
Review: Lots of practical advice and good tidibts. It's not one of those "out there" books, but spoke to our present needs in understandable ways. My daughter did her wedding on a TIGHT budget. We're talking TIGHT. None of this, "we can only spend $10,000," but she was counting the nickels and dimes. This book was a great resource and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Save your money: don't buy this book.
Review: Luckily this book was given to me as an engagement present. I had purchased Bridal Bargains and had gotten a lot of really great ideas and Websites links. So, when I began reading this one I naively assumed that all money-saving books were of the same caliber. Yaaaah, no.
Less than a chapter into it I had to look at the Copyright date to see how long ago it had been written. I'm sure she's a lovely person (I kinda feel bad for writing a bad review), but this book is really outdated. If you want to save some money, pass this puppy up and buy Bridal Bargains by Denise & Alan Fields: it's more comprehensive, practical, and up-to-date.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother With This Book
Review: This book is pretty much everything your friends and family suggested to you when you spoke of having a small budget for your wedding. The author herself seems a lovely person, but frankly, some of the advice is insultingly simple minded. The best book to but is "Bridal Bargains".
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother With This Book
Review: This book is pretty much everything your friends and family suggested to you when you spoke of having a small budget for your wedding. The author herself seems a lovely person, but frankly, some of the advice is insultingly simple minded. The best book to but is "Bridal Bargains".
Rating:
Summary: A must for the creative, hands-on bride!
Review: This book, and the planner that goes with it, were lifesaversfor me! I had no idea what I was getting into when I began planning mywedding and this book took me through the process step by step, providing wonderfully creative ideas along the way. If you are not willing to do some things yourself, her innovative ideas may not be practical for you. But let's face it, if you don't have a mint to spend on a one day event, you have to be willing to be a little creative, do some things for yourself, and ask for help from your friends and family. You will be amazed when this book helps you realize all of the (non-financial) resources they can provide to make your day special! With the help of this book, I managed to have a church wedding and dinner reception for 150 people, for just over $2500! I love knowing I had a hand in every aspect of planning my special day. I got so much out of this one that I also ended up getting her Honeymoon and Gifts and Decorations books, and have passed them all on to at least five other brides since then.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money: don't buy this book.
Review: When we announced our engagement, all of our recently married friends gave us the books they used during their wedding planning and this book ended up with us. The title spoke to our needs since we are paying for the event ourselves yet would like to have a fancy affair. I agree with an earlier post which suggested that the author has most likely never planned a wedding other than her daughter's. She speaks of the specific budget cutting steps her family took and expects that they would work for everyone. She tries (but fails) to come across as an expert, but I found myself hesitant to trust her ideas. The amount of money in the various budgets she suggested were rediculously low to the point where I am sure she was making them up - she couldn't have honestly found these prices anywhere (believe me - I have tried). Some of her suggestions were just sad and I found myself wanting to hear from her daughter to see if she had really been happy with her wedding because I could not imagine including some of these very cheesy suggestions in my wedding. A much more helpful book is Bridal Bargains.
Good luck with the plans!
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