How to choose a wedding planning book

Have you ever looked at the wedding planner section of a bookstore? There are so many options it is overwhelming! The book store I was in is a large chain and they had over 40 different wedding planning books to choose from. I enjoy having a choice, but the fact I had to decide which one will help keep me on track for my whole wedding was a daunting task.

So, how did I pick one? Other than closing my eyes, twirling in a circle with my finger pointed and choosing the book I stopped at… I had another idea. I sat on the floor of the bookstore and went through as many books as I could. Thirty minutes later I discovered that many of the books were almost the exact same – and I literally mean the exact same wording and everything! The main differences seemed to be the size and shape of the book.

Before you look for a wedding planner book, you should decide how you will be using it.

• Do you want a quick reference guide to help keep you on track?
• Do you want a file folder system to keep all of your pamphlets and receipts?
• Do you want lots of advice and tips?
• Do you need a lot of room to write notes?
• Do you need suggestions on what to ask different vendors?

Here are my tips to quickly find a wedding planner book that will be the most useful:

• Timeline. If it doesn’t have a timeline of what should get done when, then forget it. 
• Checklists. Having a lot of checklists is great, and gives you an overall view on how you are doing with the planning process.
• Budget. Make sure it shows what percent of your budget should go to each area of your wedding, and has a lot of spots to write prices down for your vendors.
• Pockets. Sure you can make your own accordion file folder style receipt holder, but in the end that’s one extra thing to manage and possibly misplace.
• Advice. Look for an advice section of the book. There are many different situations that may occur and having a go-to-guide is nice. Remember, if you can’t find a book with this section, don’t worry. The internet is a great source of information also.
• Writing space. It’s nice to have lots of room to write your own notes.

I chose The Ultimate Wedding Planning Kit  By Elizabeth Lluch and Alex Lluch from WS Publishing Group. It includes all of the above, cost $29.99 plus tax and actually came in a briefcase style with a handle. It will help me keep my book, pocket guide and file folder all in one place and be a great keepsake! The only thing I would add is a business card holder – but for now I staple any business cards onto the brochures so they don’t get lost in the folders.

Let me know how you chose your wedding planner book using the comment section below. 

To have and to hold,

Elizabeth Honey