180 of 185 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
How could a site like the Knot put out a book this bad?, April 30, 2005
This review is from: The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner: Worksheets, Checklists, Etiquette, Calendars, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (Paperback)
I bought this book the day after I got engaged, and the sentimental value the book has is really all that it has to offer. I don't understand how a website so complete like "The Knot" could manage to put out a book like this.
The information inside the book is vague and in reality, mostly meaningless. Take the "Invitations" section, for example. The chapter is 7 pages long, and out of those 7 pages, 5 1/2 of them are worksheets. Advice on how to word the invitations? This is what the book has to say: "Spend some time familiarizing yourself with all of the (frighteningly) specific wording conventions and addressing rules - if only to understand what others will expect. (We don't go into minute detail here.)" That last part isn't an understatement, since there are no pages that contain sample layouts of invites or suggested wording or phrasing for invitations. How can a wedding planner consider itself complete if it doesn't even offer one suggestion for wedding invitation phrasing?
I wish I had gone through this book better before buying it, since all this book has to offer is mediocre lists and worksheets, which, again, you could get better versions of if you went to "The Knot" website. I also have to say that the information inside is surprisingly inaccurate with some questionable etiquette outlines. If you are planning a wedding that is anything other than the conventional wedding, like a destination wedding, you'll find this book next to useless since it doesn't spend any time discussing how to arrange destination, theme, or double weddings. Another thing this book doesn't have that all books of this nature should is a back index... So there is no fast way to look up specific information.
When it comes to this book, pass. Save the $16 and just get all the info off their website. I give this book 2 stars for the quantity of worksheets it has (even though they are highly basic), and because I'm sure that everybody will find a couple of items of interest in the book, but that's about it.
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207 of 215 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unreasonable, August 14, 2006
This review is from: The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner: Worksheets, Checklists, Etiquette, Calendars, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (Paperback)
I've read three different wedding planning books, and this one is absolutely the worst. I actually took this book quite seriously when I first began planning my wedding, but then after going through all the different tasks involved with planning the wedding, I re-read the book to see if I missed anything or could do anything better. After spending a few hours re-reading this book, I was shocked at all the misleading information in it... not to mention the snobbiness of the person/people who wrote it! I was so mad I almost threw this useless book straight in the garbage!
For example, the "average" costs and price ranges of nearly every item they list is WAY off. I think they must assume that every bride is going to spend $100,000 to get hitched... and that mommy and daddy are paying for everything (they even give you a "tip" advising you to "act" grateful for your parents' money).
The tips they give for couples on a budget are the most harmful and misleading part. We are planning a wedding on a budget, as are most brides and grooms now-a-days who aren't the children of millionaires. For example, in response to one of the questions asking if it is okay to have a cash bar at the reception, they advise you to NEVER EVER EVER have a cash bar, and, if it is absolutely necessary to save money, limit the number of hours your guests can get alcoholic beverages. HUH? So a bride and groom, trying to save money, will now think they are bad hosts because The Knot told them they have to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars they do not have just so their guests can get drunk.
Another thing, as I mentioned before, is that their price estimates are way off. For example, they lists wedding gowns as being between $700 and $15,000. While that can certainly be true, you can find a WIDE selection of wonderfully beautiful wedding dresses for FAR less than $700! In fact, there are entire chains of wedding stores in which almost every dress is under $500! The problem with this is that some poor unsuspecting bride is probably going to pay way more for her dress (a dress she will only wear once, mind you) than she needs to, just because this book told her the low range for a wedding gown is $700. (Just so you are aware, future brides, I bought my wedding gown, a Gloria Vanderbuilt a-line gown with a five-foot train, all lace above the waist and along the hem of the dress, for $250 at David's Bridal. Do NOT be fooled by the price ranges in this book! You CAN and WILL get a beautiful dress that everyone will love for FAR less than this book estimates!)
Also, they are missing important information in the photography section... the digital revolution. They talk about black-and-white film... FORGET FILM!!! Nearly every photographer now uses both film and digital, and oftentimes a digital camera will give you as-good or BETTER quality than film. Plus, you can choose from black-and-white, full color, partial color, or sepia on any photo taken. Also, in the video department, practically no one puts their wedding footage on videotape anymore. This book is completely out-of-date.
Wedding invitations do NOT have to be done by a professional. While it's nice to have beautiful-looking invitations, you CAN get this by making them at home. Invitation kits can be purchased for very little money, but they have everything you need to create beautiful invitations in a very short amount of time with very little effort on your part. You can do this for a large, formal affair, not just a "small or less formal affair" like this book suggests. And with the number of fonts you have on modern computers, and people's tendency to have bad handwriting in an age where everything is typed, why on EARTH would you hand-write a hundred and fifty address envelopes, like this book advises?!? Like I said, out-of-date.
Honestly, you'd be better off figuring it out yourself than listening to anything written in this book. There are VERY few actually useful tips in here and most of it is common sense (if you're not an idiot, that is). This book is written by snobs who think that every wedding must be a fairytale wedding that costs tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands) and provide horrible advise for brides who have no experience with organizing a wedding and are trying to do so without going bankrupt before they even begin their lives together with their new husbands. AVOID!
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45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wasn't impressed at all, May 21, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner: Worksheets, Checklists, Etiquette, Calendars, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (Paperback)
If you don't have online access, then this could be a good resource for you. However, most of the information in this book can be found online at sites like theknot, weddingchannel and ultimatewedding. I was hoping for some new information and insight, but this just seemed like a recycled version of their online website.
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