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The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings

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From the #1 wedding website, this completely revised and updated edition of the classic wedding planning bible answers all of your questions, with all the latest information and tools a bride could want. 

Overwhelmed by the countless questions and details your wedding entails? Don't despair! The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings takes you step-by-step from your engagement to the big day, from the reception to the honeymoon. Inside you'll find checklists, worksheets, insider advice, and in-depth sections on:

How to personalize your wedding
Updated wedding etiquette
Creating a realistic budget
Sneaky cost-cutting tips
Dress shopping advice
Tips for working with florists, caterers, officiants, and others
Invitation wording
Vows and ceremony details
Unique Wedding customs

ALL NEW SECTIONS ON: Planning Online and Destination Weddings, and a color-coded section with over 100 vibrant photographs


From the Trade Paperback edition.

905 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

60 people are currently reading
68 people want to read

About the author

Carley Roney

55 books6 followers

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5 stars
57 (32%)
4 stars
50 (28%)
3 stars
50 (28%)
2 stars
15 (8%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
9 reviews
March 29, 2025
Amazing book no notes... well actually a lot of notes, and highlights, and post-it notes.
Profile Image for Caitlin.
1,822 reviews52 followers
May 9, 2021
I found a few other books more helpful than this one but it’s still informative and goes down to the minute details. If you don’t have a budget, or you have a big one, this would work well. So as someone who is on a tight budget, I mostly just used it as an overall review of my choices.
Profile Image for Jen.
947 reviews
March 24, 2023
This is...comprehensive. While I am not having a huge bash like much of the book is focused on planning for, it was a great resource to help me think about what I might not know to think of. I definitely took away one or two nuggets. That said, it is a 400-plus page book and very reiterative because things are presented in paragraph and checklist format. I can absolutely see the value and it really felt like reading a book on my profession, project management, because that's essentially exactly what you're doing even if you're not calling it that. The etiquette may be a bit outdated being 25-years old but there were a lot of links to The Knot and that did keep a lot of the relevance. If you're planning a wedding, I'd definitely check this out.
Profile Image for Parnian.
115 reviews3 followers
January 8, 2019
Very American-centric but still a very helpful guide for a semi-ethnic wedding

We held a semi-western style wedding fused with Perdian and we found it a very helpful guide. You have to ignore some of the "oh my gosh your beautiful day is coming" cliche vocabulary and attitudes in the book. But the general advice is sound. I would say they could drastically improve the book by learning and incorporating more from other cultures with different marriage practices.
Profile Image for Laura.
296 reviews3 followers
January 23, 2013
Ok, I'm not a prospective bride but I checked this out at the library because back in the early 2000s I helped my mom plan my sisters wedding long distance on a minimal budget & remember using this website as a source of ideas. A dear cousin is getting married & if asked or called to contribute advice I wanted to be in the know.

Perhaps the website is still a good resource but the chicks who wrote this guide have got to be out of their minds. The basic wedding they are planning is $30,000!!! Yikes!

I don't even know a person who has spent that much on a vehicle much less a party.

I ended up skimming most of it. I will say if you have paid vendors involved in your wedding the info on contracts & marriage insurance is excellent. I guess even if costco is doing your cake & the men are renting formal wear these chapters could be useful, but the same info is probably on the web site.
Profile Image for Jazzmin.
121 reviews
November 15, 2009
This book is definately a know-it-all guide. Anyone getting married or anyone remotely interested in weddings should not only read and retain this book, but keep it. So far, covering everything from the invitations to the honeymoon, this guide is brilliantly written and I would definitely recommend it.
Profile Image for Shanna.
597 reviews11 followers
November 14, 2014
This is the first book I read to help me prepare for my wedding. It was helpful and served as a good guide in the beginning. The most useful part of any bridal books I have read has always been the checklist of what needs to be done when. I recommend this as a good starter book for a newly engaged bride.
Profile Image for Ben Murray.
65 reviews3 followers
December 18, 2022
3.5 stars, truly. This is a serviceable book for planning a wedding. Helpful parts include the checklists and any section offering advice on communicating with vendors - the most helpful part for me! - and guests. Unhelpful parts include assuming that a "budget" wedding will cost $30k and will involve much of the wedding-industrial-complex.
73 reviews3 followers
April 22, 2015
This book is useful for planning and is full of information. Most of it can be found on the website, but having the book lets me take notes, write in margins, and fill in all the helpful forms and time tables.
Profile Image for Jessica.
413 reviews7 followers
September 10, 2013
This book really helped me through the planning stages of my wedding. I found this one to be more helpful than some of the others that I read.
Profile Image for Sarah.
155 reviews
January 14, 2014
Great book for wedding planning. Lots of great lists and timelines that I found very helpful.
Profile Image for A. B.
105 reviews
February 28, 2015
Complete guide to planning, essential if you are planning it yourself.
Great information and detailed.
Best suited for traditional american same gendered couples.
Profile Image for Diana Davis.
438 reviews
March 18, 2016
Great tips for planning a wedding. I just wish I had had the "average" wedding budget! LOL
Profile Image for Christine.
1,356 reviews15 followers
December 3, 2016
This book is intended for people who have huge wedding budgets, which is not me. I don't need half of the stuff they talked about. Moving on to other wedding advice books.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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