tips & advice
Book Review: Do It for Less Weddings
BOOK REVIEW: Do It for Less Weddings by Denise Vivaldo
Touted as a resource to "Create your dream wedding without breaking the bank," this guide contains some good tips...IF you happen to be having a small (12 to 75 guests) wedding AND you are SUPER creative with many talents AND you have VERY helpful friends and family members. Written by an event planner, this book seems to be more of a "do it yourself" guide than a "do it for less" guide. Each chapter features different ways that you can save money by basically providing your own wedding services instead of hiring professionals. Everything from baking the cake, to constructing the centerpieces, to catering the dinner seems to fall to the bride, her impressively talented family and impossibly attentive friends. A survey at the beginning of the book will help brides determine if they really have what it takes to "Do it for Less."
Reading Do It for Less Weddings far in advance of your wedding day can be helpful as you gauge which items to do yourself and garner ideas for
them, but also for throwing all the little parties in between. Whether you’re going to be in charge or just helping a mom or maid of honor, this book contains some great menus and cake ideas that would be perfect for such minor occasions as the engagement party, bridal shower, or bachelorette party. And, if you were thinking of attempting to cater your own wedding or make your own cake, these events provide the perfect opportunity to test the recipes out and make sure your skills are up to par beforehand.
If you do happen to have a creative talent and the confidence to create your own invitations, favors, or whatever else, this book is certainly a good place to get ideas and formulate a plan for those activities. Tips like having a mini-party to assemble invitations can save hours of work and lots of dollars. With any wedding there are gobs of items to think about in preparing for the big day. The best tactic may be to weed through those gobs and figure out just what you are capable of doing yourself and what you would feel best having a professional do. Consider which parts of the event are most important to you and focus a larger chunk of your budget there while scrimping a bit in the areas that you don’t feel as passionate about. For example, if you’ve dreamed of having a beautiful cake with a fountain of chocolate flowing through the middle; don’t spoil your dreams by attempting to create that masterpiece on your own (unless you’re a culinary expert already). Different brides have different talents, so everyone will get something different out of this book. The key is to know your limits and stick by them. You don’t want your wedding to break the bank, but you do want it to be a day full of pleasant memories and free of anxiety.
While tips in this guide may cost less money than alternatives, something to consider strongly is your sanity. If you save a few hundred dollars but are too tired to enjoy your wedding, you’ve still spent too much. If you have beautiful centerpieces, but your bridesmaids won’t talk to you anymore, you’ve still spent too much. Your once-in-a-lifetime day shouldn’t be one where you are concerned about the demi-glaze on the ham, or spending the morning frantically finishing your hand-made veil. All of your attentions should be focused on the reason for the event in the first place, marrying the love of your life. Spending a few dollars will seem irrelevant in the long run if you can look back on your wedding day with joyful memories instead of woulda-coula-shoulda regrets.
With tips that range from good, cost-cutting ideas like limiting the bar to ones that may seem tacky and cheap like borrowing tables and flatware from family members, there is certainly something for every taste and budget. All in all, take Do It for Less Weddings with a grain of salt, use it as a resource for ideas and when it comes right down to it, do your wedding for love regardless of cost.