iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But 'Net [Paperback]

Christa Terry (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 10, 2008

The days of leisurely planning are long gone.

Few brides can afford to stroll from bridal boutique to bridal boutique.

Most of us have to sneak our wedding planning into those tiny slivers

of free time between work, play, food, and sleep. Lucky for us, however,

there's one friend who will never let us down: the Internet.

From venues to videographers, from bouquets to boutonnieres, Christa Terry has put together a treasure trove of resources that give you the freedom to plan a wedding from anywhere, at any time, using your computer. This guide is much more than a list of links, though. Christa Terry also shows the bride-to-be:

• Where to find wedding software and downloadable worksheets that do more than just calculate costs
• Why creating a personal wedding website is one of the best gifts she can give her guests
• When to order invitations, favors, and, yes, even gowns to avoid crunch-time stress
• How to keep the MOB (mother of the bride) and the MOG (mother of the groom) happy...and still speaking to each other!

With all the choices out there, planning a wedding has never been more complicated. Let iDo be your guide to simplifying your wedding with just a click of the mouse. Have the wedding of your dreams...all you lose is the stress.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christa Terry is the editor of the popular nuptial fashion, wedding etiquette, and bridal accessory website, Manolo for the Brides at www.manolobrides.com. Christa lives, works, and spends inordinate amounts of time thinking about other people's weddings in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Original edition (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416578544
• ISBN-13: 978-1416578543
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CHRISTA TERRY is the author of iDo: Planning Your Wedding With Nothing But 'Net and editor of the popular nuptial fashion, wedding etiquette, and bridal accessory web site, Manolo for the Brides (Manolobrides.com), which receives more than 18,000 visitors per week.

Christa's writing has appeared in numerous weekly newspapers and trade magazines throughout the northeastern United States, as well as several web sites and literary magazines such as Rhapsoidia Magazine and the Mochila Review.

For three years, she was a contributing writer at the Daily OM, an online community that boasts more than 350,000 subscribers and offers readers daily tidbits of inspiration, natural health advice, and spiritual succor. She currently serves on the board of directors of Ninepatch, a non-profit co-operative journal of spirituality published monthly, and is developing content for a new lifestyle web site, Manolo for the Home.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great guide to planning your wedding YOUR way July 31, 2008

By M. Graff

Format:Paperback

Having just gotten engaged two months ago (yay!), I've been scouring bookstores and the Internet for advice on planning a simple yet elegant wedding on a shoestring budget (yikes!). I had already set two rules for my wedding: (1) no one will go into debt for it, and (2) no one will dress like a fairy princess (unless they want to). Unfortunately, most of the books I read were aimed at the women who had expensive, fairy-princess weddings in mind and were written as if anyone planning a wedding was willing to take on the year-long equivalent of a part-time job.

Enter Christa Terry's iDo. I'd read Christa's writing on the popular blog "Manolo for the Brides" and, impressed by her ingenuity, decided to take a chance on ordering this book. It has two advantages that put it head and shoulders above every other wedding guidebook I've read so far. First, as the title promises, the book presents online tools to find almost every wedding resource you could ever need. Christa has combed the Internet and come up with sources for planning timelines, budget calculators, party equipment suppliers, photographers, even videos to teach you how to do the foxtrot for your first dance. Like a good teacher, Christa does not tell you what to do but shows you how to find the information to make your own decisions.

This leads me to the second great strength of the book: it encourages personalization and emphasizes the individual, rather than the "traditional" (a loaded word) element of weddings. Unlike the guides that make assumptions--often expensive ones--about the size and style of your wedding, iDo takes a "blank slate" approach. Christa points out the difference between the necessary and the optional and in so doing challenges many of the expectations exploited by the billion-dollar wedding industry.

There are a only couple of things that I wish iDo had done differently. The first is the format in which URLs are presented. For pages that are deeply embedded within Web sites, the book simply copies entire URLs and presents them, in all their incomprehensible glory, on the pager. This leads to the printing of some lengthy URLs that would be impossible to retype without some serious back-and-forthing between page and screen. Why not just list the homepage and give directions on how to navigate to the subpage?

Second, I occasionally found the sheer volume of information overwhelming. I'm sure that some of this is the inevitable result of the topic matter and the intent of the book. However, from a book that often points its readers to search engines in one form or another, I would have liked a little more guidance on how to filter data and craft useful search parameters.

Bear in mind that these criticisms are very mild in relation to the overall excellence and usefulness of this book. It is not--and does not claim to be--the only resource you'll need. As far as printed wedding planning guides go, however, it very well may be the only one you need to buy. Happy hunting!

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide If You Can Find the Time to Read It October 23, 2009

By S. Rippe

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would recommend this book highly, however I would note that you should focus on the chapters that pertain to what you need specifically otherwise you will lose the motivation to continue reading. I paired this book with another book "Bargain Brides" or something to that effect, these books together have helped me alot.

5.0 out of 5 stars Not like other wedding books August 31, 2009

By DarkBunny

Format:Paperback

I was pleased to discover that this book is not a rehash of the same information contained in every other wedding book on the planet (though it does direct you to websites where you can find exactly that, if you want it).

What it IS is a fabulous resource. It has URLs for lots of websites on each topic, so you can find what's right for you; it covers the essential non-glamourous-but-very-important info like making it legal, changing your name (or not), and what should be in a vendor contact.

Perhaps the best part, though, is the tone of the book; throughout, Terry encrouages staying sane, sticking to your budget, and planning the wedding you want, not the wedding everyone else says you are supposed to have.