It seems the minute a gal gets engaged, she runs straight to her compute and goes to the Knot or Wedding Wire to start planning her big day. But there are tons of other Wedding Blogs out there that can offer a lot of information and those are the ones I want to review and concentrate on. My wedding was last year and I will start with some of the ones I found most helpful and then move on to ones I wish I had known about during my planning process. Here are the wedding websites or blogs that I like the best:
1. Here Comes the Guide – The first thing I did was run out to a bookstore and spend an hour comparing all the wedding guides out there and buying three large books (one with its own holder) and then never really using them. They were clumsy and awkward and not easy to use. I ended up making my own spreadsheet with formulas to plug-in due dates and budgets (I am willing to email it to any bride who wants to use it) and using a lot of the guides on this site. I would print out one before meeting with each wedding professional and ask the questions on the guide and it helped me make my decisions. The site seems to have changed since I used it last – but I found the PDF’s were still there. There is a guide for pretty much all the categories such as photographer, invitations, and venue. They also can lead to vendors in your state but not too many because they have to be “guide” certified: Their goal is to represent only the best event professionals in the industry. In order to do this, we require that each vendor go through a rigorous reference check in order to be Certified By The Guide. A vendor has to have been in business long enough to provide them with a list of 15 wedding industry trade references (that means other event professionals and not one-time clients) plus at least 15 recent couples to even be considered. Good vetting but you might miss out on some newer vendors who are willing to work very hard to make you happy. My biggest suggestion to them is to make it more user-friendly, have a section just for all the guides. Rating B+
2. Wed Me Pretty – A nice, simple straightforward blog that is easy to use and read – all blogs are sorted by categories such as “Wedding Dresses” or “Green Weddings”. They also have a neat “Ask an Expert Feature” where you can submit your questions.
3. Wed Over Heels – WedOverHeels is a wedding social network where happily engaged couples & helpful wedding pros connect to create fun & fabulous weddings! It is packed with tons of stuff including Bride/Groom “wed”site (check ours out), free blogs for both couples and vendors, real weddings, vendor directory by category and state and a community board that everyone can participate in. It is fun, interesting and all about love and finding inspiration for your wedding. Started by a married couple (they just celebrated 11 happy years), it works a bit like a Facebook page. My only suggestion? Add a search button! Rating A-
4. Sweet Violet Bride – This website’s point of difference is it is for Brides looking for a Nature Inspired Wedding Theme. Even the vendors have to have some Nature Driven items to be included. Rustic Venues, ethereal gowns, natural beauty, vintage decor, organic blooms, country chic gorgeousness, great love stories…and more can be found on their website, blogs and soon in their new twice annual Wedding Magazine. It is very organized and easy to use and showcases real nature inspired weddings. If you are looking for inspiration for your outdoor wedding, this is the site for you. Rating A-
5. WeClickd – A social network for weddings, this one is very easy to use. You can search for the word purple for example and everything purple will come up. There is a section where you can ask a professional a question, another for “trending” topics that works like a Facebook page so you can post comments and vendors have webpages so you can search for products. My favorite thing is the “Frame it ” button that you can add to your toolbar so that when you see something you like ANYWHERE on web you can click that button and it saves the picture to your WeClicked page. Rating A
One reason to check out these smaller sites is that they have more unique content and work with the vendors to promote their services so you will learn about vendors you won’t find on the larger sites whose vendors have to pay to advertise.
Happy Wedding Planning – check us out when you need your Save the Dates and Invitations!