From the author of The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World, a thoroughly modern, must-have workbook to help you pull off the perfect wedding.
With so many nerve-wracking details to tend to, planning the perfect wedding can seem an impossible task. Now The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner guides you step-by-step through the countless stages of planning your big day. Packed with easy-to-follow checklists and worksheets, and the hip, insightful wisdom that has made theknot.com an indispensable resource for millions of couples worldwide, The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner provides:
A one-year calendar with monthly and weekly to-do lists leading up to the moment of marriage Worksheets to help you:
Organize the attendants, the guest list, and the invitations
Design the ceremony—from the site and officiant to the dress Arrange the reception—from the cake and caterer to the music and the photographer
Checklists to keep track of finances, contracts, and post-marriage legalities Money-saving tips and answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Operating Instructions
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Producing a wedding involves endless details, pressing deadlines, family drama, and — far too often — enough stress to kill any prenuptial honeymoon period. The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner is a couple's secret weapon against such insanity. It's your cheat sheet — telling you what you need to know and do, and when. It's your insiders guide — giving you TheKnot.com's most essential expert advice in bite-size pieces. It's your security blanket — the next best thing to a guarantee that you'll have a memorable wedding without losing your mind.
Here's how to get he most out of these jam-packed pages:
Don't Leave Home Without It
You never know when someone will mention this amazing caterer or you'll remeber a must-not-forget-name for your guest list. Take this book with you everywhere. Jot down all your wedding notes in one place (use the inside covers if you run out of room in the notes areas). Must-have accessories include a pen, a small spiral-bound notebook, and a heavyweight two-pocket folder — label one side Research and the other Completed Contracts. (Since we're all on the go, we aren't fans of the fifteen-pound planner, but if you think you'll be tearing out tons of magazine pages and collecting piles of brochures, you may want a three-ring binder or accordion file.)
Use Your Imagination
Before you get overwhelmed by all the minutiae, sit down together and read Chapter 2, "Getting Started." It's meant to get your juices flowing with a worksheet to help you envision exactly what kind of wedding you want to have. Keep an open mind and have some fun with it; your answers will inform future detail decisions. You'll also need to finalize a budget before you spend a dime — our easy worksheet will help you do it.
Stay on Schedule
Chapter 1 is an overall wedding-planning calendar and checklist that lays out the entire process and tells you what to do when. Read it all the way through before you begin to get a sense of the timing involved. To personalize it, backtrack from your wedding date and fill in the actual deadlines: one month before, two months before, and so on. The calendar refers you to the chapters in this book that get into detail on specific topics.
Do Your Homework
The worksheets at the start of each chapter will help you focus your thoughts and create a vision for each aspect of your wedding. Have everyone involved in the decision making help with these exercises to make sure you're all on the same page before you begin. Once you have an idea of what you're looking for, you'll need to find a professional to handle the task. Don't hire anyone until you've asked each and every question on the lists in each chapter. The answers will clue you in to how professionals approach their work — and to whether their approach is appropriate for your wedding.
Take Our Advice
In each chapter we share out most essential Knot Knowledge — what we've learned in our years of experience talking to wedding professionals and hundreds of thousands of brides and grooms. Read these essential tips and money-saving tricks; the peruse the "Ask Carley" sections for up-to-date answers to the most frequently asked questions in each category before you make any final decisions. For our comprehensive advice — and unlimited ideas — be sure to get a copy of our companion reference, the 450-page The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World, and, of course, log on to our highly acclaimed Web site at www.the-knot.com (AOL keyword: Knot).
Delve into Detail
The latter part of each chapter gets into the specifics of executing your plan. Use our checklists to make sure your contracts with each vendor are complete. Fill in the contact cheat sheet for each professional you hire — you'll need easy access to their information as other vendors request it or when it's needed in an emergency. (Hint: Staple business cards to each vendor's contact page. it will halp you to turn to them easily.)
Have It Your Way
This book is about realistic guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. Feel free to personalize the process according to your own priorities. If photography means everything to you, by all means, secure your photographer and spend 10 percent of your budget on your package instead of the suggested 8 percent (just make sure it all still adds up to 100 percent). Same goes for etiquette: We give you the guidelines, but you need to judge your own situation.
Enjoy the Ride
Okay, we admit it: planning a wedding can be a roller-coaster ride. But considering this is likely to be the most extravagant party you'll ever throw in your lives, you'd better have a blast — from your first hour brainstorming right through the last five seconds of your reception. We'll help, of course, but you're ultimately responsible for delighting in every up and riding out every down. Some general advice: Don't drive yourself insane over every detail. Declare some days wedding-fee zones. And, most of all, maintain your sense of humor. Laughter will go a long way toward keeping th love bug alive throughout the planning process.
Anonymous
Posted January 25, 2007
i got this i love it. i have no clue were to start and it lays it out all for u. has a section for everything a guest list spot how to narrow down decisions and advice.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 28, 2009
I Also Recommend:
I love the book, but I did get a lot more information from other sources - two other books (Bridal Bargains for very creative money-saving strategies and The Wedding Book for more comprehensive coverage). However, it reads easily and it is hard to quit. It makes me excited to plan a wedding while the other two made me a bit apprehensive!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 5, 2010
I am planning a wedding for next summer, and I like to be organized with my job taking up most of my time I need to. Though many of the items do not pertain to what I plan to use and most are common sense - having everything timed out when you should do things and check lists which I love!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 28, 2009
just what i needed to keep everything in order
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.brides-mom
Posted April 11, 2010
This is just what I needed to get organized!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 15, 2009
This book has a lot of great details that are significant in every wedding around. It is very helpful with checklists and budget worksheets. A great book for all weddings.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 13, 2010
My wedding isn't until mid 2011, but so far this book has helped me be organized in what I need to do and when I should do it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 7, 2009
hi.. this aint really a review but i wanted to know if u ship to dubai, UAE as well.. and if yes, how much does it cost.. and is it possible for me to see a few pages in this book as i have no idea what it must be like.. thanks a lot.
0 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 10, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted January 15, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted July 4, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted January 9, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 26, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted January 27, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted January 7, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted October 12, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted April 15, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 29, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted April 21, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 2, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
From the author of The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World, a thoroughly modern, must-have workbook to help you pull off the perfect wedding.
With so many nerve-wracking details to tend to, planning the perfect wedding can seem an impossible task. Now The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner guides you step-by-step through the countless stages of planning your big day. Packed with easy-to-follow checklists and worksheets, and the hip, insightful wisdom that has made ...