Cyber Bride: Using Technology to Plan Your Wedding
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Beyond IM’ing your maid-of-honor, there are lots of cool ways to use the internet to help you plan your wedding. Here are some terrific online resources that will simplify your life and make wedding planning, shopping and registering a breeze – all just a click away.
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When you think of wedding coordinators, you might think about Jennifer Lopez in “The Wedding Planner,” calm, cool and with every detail perfectly handled. You might also think of Franck from the Steve Martin re-make of “Father of the Bride,” eccentric, out of control, and over the top. These Hollywood caricatures of the wedding coordinator can make you wonder "What’s this going to be like?" when you start thinking about hiring a pro to help you create your perfect wedding.
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The Wedding Planner
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From interactive worksheets and checklists to etiquette advice and vendor recommendations, today’s wedding websites offer brides-to-be a full range of helpful services. It’s easy to be your own wedding planner with powerful high-tech tools at your disposal.
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Registry Resources
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Every quality retailer offers a convenient online registry, simplifying things for the bride and the guests. Advanced sites like www.bedbathandbeyond.com let you create and update your registry online as well as monitor its progress. Bedbathandbeyond.com also offers valuable advice and product information to help you choose exactly the right house wares for your lifestyle.
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Shop ‘Til You Drop – Without Leaving Home
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No need to trawl the mall for the latest in wedding accessories, favors, invitations or gifts. Save valuable time by shopping online for all your wedding essentials. Added benefit: online shopping allows you to compare prices and styles at the touch of a button.
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With This Ring
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Many fine jewelry sites have features that let you build your dream engagement ring and calculate how much it will cost. You can also use these sites to find matching wedding bands.
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Money Matters
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One of the most challenging aspects of planning is figuring out your budget. Many websites offer interactive budget tools that allow you to compute and track all of your wedding expenses.
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Bride to Bride
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Bridal chat rooms and message boards are an awesome way to get practical advice from the experts and other brides-to-be. Log on to discuss your ideas on everything from etiquette to flowers to favors.
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Virtual Tour
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Finding the ultimate reception site can be quite a challenge. Before you visit in person, make sure to take a virtual tour to help you select the venue that suit your needs.
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A Site to Call Your Own
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Many couples are choosing to create customized wedding websites with wedding details, photo galleries, guest books and more. It’s a great way to document your wedding and keep your guests informed. For the truly tech savvy, consider sending your guests an e-mailed invitations instead of a traditional invitation. It will save you lots of money and make tracking RSVP’s a snap.
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Gallery Guide
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The best bridal websites have extensive photo galleries of dress styles, hairstyles, flowers, reception ideas and much more. What a tremendous way to check out all your options.
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Music to Your Ears
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Wedding bands often have full-service websites that include their playlists, member bios and even downloadable songs so you’ll know exactly how they sound. Being able to try out a band online saves tons of time and effort.
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Travel Savvy
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Choose your destination and plan your honeymoon with the touch of a button. You can book your flight, hotel and activities through the multitude of discount travel sites, hotel and airline websites and online travel agents. The internet allows you to plan the trip of a lifetime in no time, often at a significant savings.
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Photo Finish
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Talk about instant gratification: online photo services will let you download photos directly from your digital camera and send them to all your friends and family in seconds. Many professional photographers also provide a similar service and allow your guests to view and purchase photographs directly from them.
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Toastmaster
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Tongue-tied? Check out websites that will help you compose a serious or humorous toast or speech for your wedding or rehearsal dinner. You can also look up a romantic quote or poem on many sites.
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Going Once …
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Believe it or not, online auction sites are awesome wedding resources. Log on to find everything from couture wedding gowns to shoes, jewelry, accessories and more. Plus if you’re not the sentimental type, you can auction off all your wedding gear after the big day – the proceeds might pay for your honeymoon.
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Embracing new technology can help in the wedding planning process. Not only can it save you time and money, but it’s also very convenient.
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