Doing it in Vegas means that the chapel package deals with flowers, etc etc etc. So I don’t have a whole lot to keep track of other than whatever we end up deciding to do for catering.

Although we are throwing a shindig back here, and I might need more help planning that. To the bookstore!

So far I’m making due with a lot of spreadsheets, one hilarious book on etiquette, and an accordion folder for all the various data I’ve collected that’s not online (like the brochure for our chapel).

There are also several wedding guides on the market directed at the bride who wants to do a lot of the work simply and inexpensively for herself. A glance in your local bookstore or on Amazon should turn up half a dozen useful books on the subject.

But for the bride who wants it all, Bria, I think it’s great that there’s a free bridal guide out there to help you pull it all together so efficiently. I hope you’ll let us all know how it is to work with.

Meg: For something like that (which is basically what I’m all about - simplicity and doing things my own way), I think a simple excel spreadsheet or any blank spreadsheet would make a dandy wedding planning device because you can write in whatever catagories and things you like! But I’m going to look into the guides out there and see if I can find one that’s more alternative.

It’s great if you’re planning a traditional wedding with a full complement of catering, bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc etc etc. All sorts of calendar sheets and vendor comparison sheets and the like.

If you’re going a more low-key route, it’s kind of overkill.

What I really need is a bridal guide for the “so you’re doing it all yourself and you don’t actually give a damn about flowers, cake, or anything else but who stands with you, and that people get fed” type.

I couldn’t have imagined turning the reins over to someone else. Then again, from an early date I started figuring out all the things I could do myself or ask a friend to do for me. In the end, I only hired a very few people. The sort of wedding I wanted wouldn’t have gained much from having a professional wedding planner involved. I think the only professional I hired without knowing him in advance was the county clerk who performed the ceremony. Oh, and the guy I rented the space from. But I knew several people who had been married in the same place, and nobody had ever complained about the setup, so I figured I was on solid ground there.