Customer Reviews

iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But 'Net

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

 

 

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!

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.

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.

I bought this book for my niece as a shower gift because she and her fiancé are paying for their own ceremony and reception. I flipped through it before giving it to her and I was amazed at how much information the author managed to fit into one book. The chapters seem like they can stand on their own even without the lists of URLs at the end of each chapter, but my niece really liked the feature. So far she's gotten a lot of great ideas from this book and she's already startedbuying things for her wedding (online, of course!)

iDo is the book I wish I had had for my own wedding... Christa Terry does a great job covering all the bases of planning a real live wedding using the huge and sometimes bewildering array of options available online these days. The book is rooted in real world experience, both the author's as well as the some other couples who agreed to act as case studies.

Like most things wedding-related, the packaging and marketing is aimed at women, but there's a lot of stuff for grooms in there as well. The whole thing is written in a funny and down-to-earth style and is a good read on its own.

Thorough, on-point, and sensitive, this book contains all the information an engaged couple would need to plan their perfect wedding. Whether your budget is $100 or $100,000, whether you want to buck tradition or savor it, and whether you have two months or two years to plan, the advice in this book will help you immensely. Every chapter is loaded with links to help you find what you're looking for; vignettes from women who used the advice given; historical background on the traditions in question, and ideas for alternatives to those traditions; and the basics on etiquette surrounding the concepts themselves.

The writing style is accessible *and* enjoyable, with a happy and light-hearted tone -- and rightfully so! I've read too many wedding-planning guides that were forceful, intense, and loaded with unrealistic expectations of the happy couple. This one is genuinely HAPPY for the reader, and lets you know right in the beginning that every section is flexible to the point of optional, so that you feel comfortable using anything, everything, or nothing of each idea.

All in all, I would (and have already done so!) highly recommend this book to any engaged couple. By the time they're done reading it, they'll have already saved 10% of their wedding budget by not needing a wedding coordinator!