Cyberbride: The Complete Online Guide to Planning Your Wedding

while net-savvy brides and grooms would probably be able to find most of these sites on their own, anyone who's not too familiar with the web will love this book. The authors review and give summaries of sites for shopping, planning, honeymoons, community, etiquette and more. Even if you've casually looked at wedding sites, this book will show you in a nutshell which sites to go to for specific information and which ones are a waste of time. The authors give no-holds-barred reviews of the sites, including information such as white websites have too much advertising, which ones are outdated and which ones are unorganized. An excellent reference for any bride wanting to use the 'net for her wedding.

Yes, this book has information that might cause a "net savvy" bride to yawn, but reading this book all the way through AND following some of the links will save you money or at the very least a savings in time.I found that a local gown retailer is unauthorized to sell gowns from a designer I was interested in - even though they advertised that they carried that designer's gowns. I thankfully followed Cyberbride's advice and found an authorized retailer on the designer's web site.I found a flower grower that sells direct to the consumer. I got 14 bunches of roses (twenty five per bunch - really nice ones) for around $350. This included shipping. Try to beat that at your local florist.I found an invitation retailer that sells the same invitations in the stores at 25 to 35% off. Yes, there were pages spent on some of the big bridal websites, which I had already visisted. But I did get more information on links that I hadn't yet perused. Bottom line: well worth the money!

I would never have bought this book myself, but we received it as an engagement gift. I'm an experienced internet user, so this is exactly the kind of book that I would bypass because I would assume that I could find this information on my own. What I wouldn't think of is how nice it is to have a complete listing of the big sites and information about what they do - this saves a lot of effort trying to determine for myself whether a website is worthwhile or not. This is especially true of the planning features of the big wedding sites. To even see examples of most of that stuff, you have to give most of the websites a lot of information about yourself and undoubtedly end up on bunches of mailing lists as a result. Who needs more spam when someone has already done most of the work for you? While I am happy to have this book and have found their opinions about websites to be on the mark, I still don't think I would have spend the money on this book. Also, I was annoyed by their constant explanations of basic internet terminology. If you're buying this book, do they really believe that you do not know that e-mail stands for "electronic mail"? If you're not an experienced internet user or if you want to save a lot of time and effort checking out all the website features yourself, check this book out. It definitely has it's uses, but it won't be helpful enough to justify the cost for everyone.

After reading and re-reading Denise and Alan Fields' other wedding-related books (Bridal Bargains and Bridal Gown Guide) and logging countless hours on both of their websites, I wasn't sure if their latest offering would provide enough NEW information to be helpful to me. I have to say, after previewing the sample chapter available online, I was convinced and ready to purchase the book. CyberBride provides a wonderful resource for web-friendly wedding prep. It lists all those websites I forgot to bookmark months ago as I surfed the web (and subsequently couldn't find later when I needed them.) It also explains specific helpful features of many large wedding-related websites. Although I was already familiar with a lot of these sites, I had not realized (or been taking advantage of) all they have to offer.This book would be really helpful for the newly engaged web-savy person or couple who prefers to do the bulk of their wedding planning from the comfort of their home or office and at their own convenience. It will also save them the hours on end I spent trying to find good wedding services on the net. CyberBride will continue to be a helpful wedding resource (I'm sure) right up to the big day.