The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings [Paperback]

Carley Roney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 29, 1998

Planning for the big day? Here are the most up-to-date answers to all your questions in the first book from the editors of The Knot, the largest online wedding resource.

Overwhelmed by the countless questions and details that planning your wedding entails? Don't despair! The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings helps you make all the critical decisions and takes you step-by-step from your engagement to the big day, from the reception to the honeymoon.  Inside you'll find checklists, worksheets, true tales, insider advice, and in-depth sections on:

How to personalize your wedding
Updated wedding etiquette
Creating a realistic budget
Choosing a great location
Shopping for The Perfect Dress
Tips for working with florists, caterers, officiants, and others
Sneaky cost-trimming tricks
Invitation wording
Ethnic wedding customs
Vows and ceremony details

Plus: Coping with stressful family situations, dealing with interfaith issues, and maintaining strength, sanity, and romance through it all.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Promoting the idea that "there's only one thing that really matters: that you have the wedding you want, not a nervous breakdown," Carley Roney and the editors of The Knot Web site have compiled all the information any modern bride and groom may need to plan and execute their dream wedding. Equal parts wedding consultant, marriage counselor, best friend, and cyberresource, this is not the guide your grandmother--or mother, for that matter--used to plan her wedding. Much of The Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World is culled from the experiences and questions that users of their successful Web site, www.theknot.com, have written in about. This interactivity gives the guide credibility for the engaged couple of the '90s. Readers will find the Web site a useful accessory to the book.

In a humorous, hip, and engaging style, Roney runs down the basics of betrothal starting with the engagement and ending with the honeymoon and postwedding "reentry." In between, we get specific instructions on details like budgeting essentials, selecting locations, arranging the ceremony and reception, hiring photographers and musicians, and registering for gifts. Roney also presents a "Sticky Subjects" section that covers the more sober side of weddings: what to do when your families' religious or political beliefs collide, how to keep the physical side of a relationship alive during the turmoil of wedding planning, the potentially explosive issues of money and wedding budgeting, what to do when your friends or family disapprove of your intended, and even "Top Ten Family 911s."

Snapshots of actual weddings and their budget breakdowns, comprehensive checklists and worksheets, and extensive information on wedding resources with phone numbers, addresses, and Internet addresses (when available) will both help you untangle the knots that can come with getting hitched and make your day one that brings tears of happiness, not dismay. --Stefanie Durbin

From Library Journal

These three books offer all the up-to-date advice on weddings that this year's crop of couples might need. Going to the Chapel, compiled by the editors of Signature Bride magazine, is aimed at black couples and includes ways to add African elements to a "traditional" wedding or to use authentic African customs throughout. Included are Yoruba and Christian Nigerian suggestions as well as Muslim practices. One of the most popular sites on the World Wide Web is theknot.com, which serves over 250,000 visitors per month. Its editorial staff has put together a print guidebook to all the nuances of wedding and honeymoon planning. This guide includes everything that Emily Post ever mentioned but will be more appealing to the cybergeneration. McCoy concentrates on getting the most for your wedding dollar. Her book is concise and well organized, with worksheets, resource lists, and even wedding cake recipes. Her chapter on selecting diamonds is outstanding. Any of these titles will be a good choice for public libraries. Those serving a large, diverse population will want them all. Those that can only manage one or two will have to consider their current collections and the needs of their particular clientele.?Susan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (December 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767902467
• ISBN-13: 978-0767902465
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,240,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carley Roney is at the helm of the world's favorite wedding brand as editor in chief of TheKnot.com and its sister sites, TheNest.com (for newlyweds) and TheBump.com (for first-time parents). She appears regularly on national television shows, including Oprah, Today and The View. She is the author of several popular wedding and home decor books from The Knot and The Nest and will be releasing a highly anticipated baby book, "The Baby Bump". "The Baby Bump" will feature expert and real mom advice on everything future moms really want to know.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A truly useful guide!, July 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings (Paperback)

This is the most realistic wedding planners that I have run across. I just got married 3 weeks ago and this book made the wedding planning process so much easier.

The advice on selecting vendors was practical and helpful. She also offers advice on relaxing during those tense weeks beforehand.

Some of the best features are on suggested photographer shots, realistic ways to budget and save money, and incorporating cultural traditions.

This guide should be the first on every brides list!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book for MODERN couples, not those stuck in the 50s!, July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings (Paperback)

Finally, a wedding book that doesn't rehash tired cliches and convoluted, out-dated ettiquette rules! The Knot's book has the same hip, fun, mostly egalitarian attitude that the website does. But the book's easier to navigate & has a ton more detail than the site (plus, no slow downloads ;-). This book makes very few assumptions about your wedding -- it *doesn't* dictate prescribed wedding roles & formats. Instead, this book offers examples and options for a variety of wedding scenarios (with lots of personalization) and gives advice that is flexible and modern (without hurting anyones feelings). Highly recommended!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars helpful for the GROOM, too!, January 5, 2001

By 

Benjamin K. Potter "loyal reader/writer" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings (Paperback)

I'm getting married next August, and I got this book for my fiancee, but I really got it so I could read it, too. If you don't know a whole lot about weddings, but your fiancee wants the "best of the best," then you are like I am.

Grooms, this message is particularly for you. A good groom WANTS to help, but he has no idea HOW. This is the book you can use to "catch up." Any way, a wedding takes lots of planning from lots of people, and every day I give thanks to having a book like this so I can read up on what's supposed to be going on.

As I have said, most weddings require much planning, and you're going to need a book like this to walk you through everything. Wouldn't you rather have a more classy book like this one that is extremely helpful no matter if your wedding is in two years or two weeks - or would you rather have one of those "cutesy" and condescending books like "Marraige for Dummies"???