Customer Reviews

Conscious Bride's Wedding Planner

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My fiancé and I have been together for nearly eight years. In that time, we've attended and been in more weddings than we can count. While we've loved being part of our friends' celebrations, we've also seen stressed-out grooms and tearful brides, and have heard plenty of, "Our families are making us crazy. This doesn't even seem like our wedding. We should have eloped!" So when we recently decided to marry, that's exactly what we wanted to do.

We are now planning to marry abroad in a tiny, informal civil ceremony, and therefore hardly needed a great big "white wedding" type of planner. But although our ceremony will be small and informal, we want it 1) to go smoothly, and 2) (and most importantly) be meaningful. So, like most brides, I started doing some research. I looked through many wedding planners for tips and suggestions on how to be organized and how to keep the whole process meaningful. Obviously, weddings planners by definition are meant to help you plan, stay on track, be organized, etc., but I didn't get much real help on keeping it meaningful until I got to The Conscious Bride's Wedding Planner.

Now, this book covers many practical topics (in fact, many more than my fiancé and I needed for our plans), but I found it very valuable for a different reason: it focused on so much MORE than wedding planning tasks. The Conscious Bride's Wedding Planner helps guide you through not only the planning, but also your personal and emotional journey. While I won't be wearing a big poofy white dress or having 200 guests in a church wedding, I'm still on a personal and emotional journey toward marriage--and The Conscious Bride's Wedding Planner has helped me along that journey. It addresses the emotions that so many of us go through in preparing to marry and also provides terrific advice on how to incorporate what's really important as you plan.

For example, one suggestion in the book that particularly resonated with me was the idea of writing personal letters to family members and friends before the wedding. What a beautiful way to let these important people know how you have appreciated them, and that you understand things might be different once you are married, but you will continue to cherish their love and support.

The bottom line is this: although many wedding planners can help keep you organized, The Conscious Bride's Wedding Planner goes a step further. It addresses your emotions, your fears and how to incorporate what's most important to you as you plan for your marriage. Thank you, Sheryl Paul, for a terrific wedding resource!

Sheryl's book is thoughtful and comprehensive. It allows a bride to consider everything in preparation for her wedding; the flowers, the guests, and most importantly, her emotions. The book gives exercises for the bride and her future beloved to use to explore how best to make a wedding that reflects them. As a minister, I will reccomend this wedding planner to all of the couples who work with me as a way to feel truly ready when the day comes to walk down the aisle. I give this book 5 stars!!

I loved this book- it is great at helping you remain centered throughout the process of getting engaged and then married. It focuses on the emotional side of the process and has many excerises to work through, relating many of the aspects of the planing process to emotional events in your life, such as letting go of past relationships and lost loved ones, and asserting yourself (in creating and limiting your guest list). While it does have sections for everything from flowers and food to dress and location, it might not be the definitive planner in terms of planning a really traditional, detail-oriented wedding. However, if what you are looking for is a companion to guide you through the wedding planning process and keep you sane and grounded, this is really an excellent choice. Lots of excercises, worksheets and more, and a companion website- highly recommended!

If you already have Sheryl Paul's The Conscious Bride (a must-have, really), this planner may be a bit redundant. While the information is very helpful, it's basically the same information as The Conscious Bride, and it doesn't provide as many of the organizing resources as other planners. Most brides would do well with either the original book or this planner, but both may be emotional overkill.

The Conscious Bride wedding planner is an insightful, organized and invaluable resource for any bride. It covers the deeper areas of preparation for your wedding day with just the right touch. It helped me clarify my intention for marriage and create just the right feeling and look for my wedding that was uniquely my own. I would have never been so prepared or calm or joyful without having worked through this planner.

If I were a millionaire, I would keep a case of these in my car trunk and hand them out to any women I met who were getting married. I do give a copy to friends and family members who get engaged.

When I got engaged a few years ago, I went looking for a wedding planner book and was discouraged by the total focus on the superficial elements of the wedding in every book I found. When I discovered this one it was like a gift. Because of its suggestions I was emotionally prepared for my wedding and my marriage in a way I certainly would not otherwise have been. I am tremendously grateful to Paul for putting the focus of a wedding back where it should be, on the relationship between the two people joining their lives.

I only found this book about two weeks before my wedding, but it transformed my experience. The planning and participating in all the logistics absolutely had me in tailspin. I knew that I wanted to be FEELING the experience, to be present with it, but amidst all the chaos with flowers and registeries and RSVPs I couldn't hook into how. This book may have been the most significant contributor to my spiritually and emotionally absorbing my wedding after my husband and my family's presence. It is honest, deeply empathic, and really creative. Suggestions like "write a goodbye letter to your single self" or create a pie diagram of your emotions about the wedding/getting married, really brought out what I was feeling. Some of the parts were not relevant, so I skipped those. Overall, the book resonated deeply with me. I give it to everyone I know as an engagement present.

This planner is perfect! It helps you to stay focused on what your wedding is really about by discussing not just the practical but also the emotional aspects of wedding planning. It acknowledges that a wedding is a rite of passage and just the beginning. This book will help you arrive at your wedding day feeling calm and ready with simple reminders like, "It's not about the dress!" This is a great book for every bride who wants a marriage and not just a wedding.

What a great book. Just what my fiance and I needed to keep our heads on straight. Has all the traditional wedding planning tools, with the emotional and practical advice to go with it. Helped me plan the most beautiful wedding that fit my budget, thrilled my parents, and most of all reflected our style as a couple. The written exercises you do as a couple are great. I'll treasure this book for a long time.

I absolutely love this book. I bought it for my sister-in-law. I had the typical wedding planner and covered some of this in my pre-marital counseling, but this is what I needed. As I began to help her plan her wedding, I was looking for something to help her really prepare for the marriage not just the wedding itself. I also bought her What no one tells the bride which I have given to several brides-to-be. Now I will include this planner.
It asks great questions to help prepare you for living with someone else and really making it work. Some examples are "what does marriage mean to you" "who is this wedding for" "separating from friends and family" "what are your/your fiances expectations for wedding night"?
I recommend this for all those getting married and anyone looking for an engagement present!