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Wedding Hacks: 500+ Ways to Stick to Your Budget, Stay Stress-Free, and Plan the Best Wedding Ever!
Take control of your wedding planning (and budget) with over 500 easy hacks to help your wedding go as smoothly as possible—from preventing wardrobe malfunctions to making an adjustable seating chart.
Congratulations—you’re engaged! But, now what? As you start to share the news with your family and friends, you might start feeling slightly stressed about the amount of planning you suddenly have to do. But wedding planning can actually be easier than you think!
With Wedding Hacks you’ll find solutions to all your wedding planning worries and prevent any problems that you might not have seen coming. From finding cheaper prices online to dealing with difficult relatives, this book has everything you need to know to make your wedding day one you’ll never forget (all while keeping your sanity intact)!
Congratulations—you’re engaged! But, now what? As you start to share the news with your family and friends, you might start feeling slightly stressed about the amount of planning you suddenly have to do. But wedding planning can actually be easier than you think!
With Wedding Hacks you’ll find solutions to all your wedding planning worries and prevent any problems that you might not have seen coming. From finding cheaper prices online to dealing with difficult relatives, this book has everything you need to know to make your wedding day one you’ll never forget (all while keeping your sanity intact)!
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 17, 2020
78 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
dnf-did-not-finish
February 19, 2023DNF I’m a big wedding planning person, (Don’t ask me why. I just love it!) I had seen this one around and was excited for all the hacks. However, less than 30 hacks in and we’ve already had around a dozen lgbtq hacks. I expected there would be some just not this many, and after flipping through it looks like there is a lot. This was far to progressive and Agendy for me, so it’s a DNF. On in unrelated note, most of the “Hacks” look like pretty common knowledge, and not the type of book where you’ll learn much, but again I didn’t read the whole thing.
May 24, 2022
This is truly the best book on wedding planning I could get my paws on. It’s a list of more than 500 tips, but each one is given a mere paragraph or two of explanation. It breaks down budgets, traditions, and the aftermath, like how to change your name and not lose your rings while on your honeymoon.
From Mint to Be: Wedding Books, from Planning Guides to Romance Novels at Book Riot.
From Mint to Be: Wedding Books, from Planning Guides to Romance Novels at Book Riot.
October 17, 2020
This cover is in a classic cream, ivory colour brides may choose as a dress shade. It also has lots of wedding themed items bursting out all over the cover. The title says it all “Wedding Hacks” ways of cutting all the extra work you really don’t have to do if you don’t want to.
So, the book begins by introducing the author, Maddie Eisenhart, a maine native, who is a wedding industry veteran who has about a decade of working in wedding planning. Maddie did begin as a photographer and a writer for a wedding website called A Practical Wedding.
I should say before I begin my review that this book does have some American aimed things that perhaps the British bride and groom would not have at their weddings, but we all know that US traditions, or new “things” tend to work their way over to the UK.
Wedding Hacks states that this book is like having a Wedding Planner in your pocket. It contains around 500 tips and lots of practical advice for how to keep your cool in the face of both your own impractical expectations, and the thoughts of those involved with the wedding planning with you along with the almost inevitable family drama, and financial realities.
The book contains information of invitations, vendors, venues, and setting (and sticking to!) your budget. It also states that planning your big day can start to feel more stressful than the exciting adventure you thought it would be. Wedding Hacks reveals ways to prevent planning burnout, along with tips on how to stay organized. It’s all in the book, want to know how to pull off a magical reception? Need help and ideas on how to find the perfect dress, that’s also well within your budget too? Shop “trunk shows” to find discounted dresses from your favourite designer. It also suggests earning air miles to use towards your honeymoon by using a travel credit card to pay for all wedding expenses. I thought the advice about opening an account just purely for the wedding was a great way of not dipping into savings earmarked for other things and ending up over spending.
There are tips for how to have a great reception such as playing the older classic songs first to pack out the dance floor. Then some problem solving, such as having a sweetheart table (just the bride & groom) to prevent the potential aggravation out of choosing who actually sits at the VIP table when dealing with divorced/remarried parents, or large bridal parties etc. A tip to help avoid lines at the bar is giving out cocktails. This book has all this and even more!
Some other tips are to use trainees for things such as hair, make-up, photography and cakes, but I guess it depends on how much risk you want to take on your cake & photographs. I suppose with the hair and make-up you could at least have a trial before the big day. Another option talked about is calling in favours such as an Auntie who does great cakes, or a relative who is great with floristry. Hmm, my opinion on this is it depends on what you are asking them for, as for example a photographer or DJ friend/relative doing you a favour along with being invited to the wedding as a guest means they will actually “working.” I guess its up to you and those you ask the favours of to decide. There are also some tips on doing things yourself on your big day, but do you really want to be rushing around decorating the local town hall, or buttering bread for sandwiches for a buffet on the day of your wedding?
Hopefully with help and ideas from this book/guide you can avoid the family drama, all those unnecessary expenses, and typical wedding mistakes. Wedding Hacks boasts it has everything you need to have the wedding of your dreams!
There is loads of advice that yes, makes sense and is easy enough to read about but harder to put into practice. Such as dropping traditions you personally don’t want. . . .easy to say, but much harder to do, for example, if you have pressure from your parents who are helping to finance your wedding to do a specific tradition. Then there is the don’t overspend, easy to say when you haven’t just seen your dream dress and its more expensive than you really wanted to spend. To be honest organising a wedding can be a literal minefield such as choosing bridesmaids, from both the bride & the groom’s family/friends at the same time as keeping numbers down to save money but not offend anyone that isn’t asked.
My final thoughts about the book are that it does have some really useful tips, but others are kind of obvious. I think it’s worth reading and will certainly have you removing those rose-coloured glasses you are probably wearing, when as a couple you have just decided to get married and are literally in your dream world bubble!
So, the book begins by introducing the author, Maddie Eisenhart, a maine native, who is a wedding industry veteran who has about a decade of working in wedding planning. Maddie did begin as a photographer and a writer for a wedding website called A Practical Wedding.
I should say before I begin my review that this book does have some American aimed things that perhaps the British bride and groom would not have at their weddings, but we all know that US traditions, or new “things” tend to work their way over to the UK.
Wedding Hacks states that this book is like having a Wedding Planner in your pocket. It contains around 500 tips and lots of practical advice for how to keep your cool in the face of both your own impractical expectations, and the thoughts of those involved with the wedding planning with you along with the almost inevitable family drama, and financial realities.
The book contains information of invitations, vendors, venues, and setting (and sticking to!) your budget. It also states that planning your big day can start to feel more stressful than the exciting adventure you thought it would be. Wedding Hacks reveals ways to prevent planning burnout, along with tips on how to stay organized. It’s all in the book, want to know how to pull off a magical reception? Need help and ideas on how to find the perfect dress, that’s also well within your budget too? Shop “trunk shows” to find discounted dresses from your favourite designer. It also suggests earning air miles to use towards your honeymoon by using a travel credit card to pay for all wedding expenses. I thought the advice about opening an account just purely for the wedding was a great way of not dipping into savings earmarked for other things and ending up over spending.
There are tips for how to have a great reception such as playing the older classic songs first to pack out the dance floor. Then some problem solving, such as having a sweetheart table (just the bride & groom) to prevent the potential aggravation out of choosing who actually sits at the VIP table when dealing with divorced/remarried parents, or large bridal parties etc. A tip to help avoid lines at the bar is giving out cocktails. This book has all this and even more!
Some other tips are to use trainees for things such as hair, make-up, photography and cakes, but I guess it depends on how much risk you want to take on your cake & photographs. I suppose with the hair and make-up you could at least have a trial before the big day. Another option talked about is calling in favours such as an Auntie who does great cakes, or a relative who is great with floristry. Hmm, my opinion on this is it depends on what you are asking them for, as for example a photographer or DJ friend/relative doing you a favour along with being invited to the wedding as a guest means they will actually “working.” I guess its up to you and those you ask the favours of to decide. There are also some tips on doing things yourself on your big day, but do you really want to be rushing around decorating the local town hall, or buttering bread for sandwiches for a buffet on the day of your wedding?
Hopefully with help and ideas from this book/guide you can avoid the family drama, all those unnecessary expenses, and typical wedding mistakes. Wedding Hacks boasts it has everything you need to have the wedding of your dreams!
There is loads of advice that yes, makes sense and is easy enough to read about but harder to put into practice. Such as dropping traditions you personally don’t want. . . .easy to say, but much harder to do, for example, if you have pressure from your parents who are helping to finance your wedding to do a specific tradition. Then there is the don’t overspend, easy to say when you haven’t just seen your dream dress and its more expensive than you really wanted to spend. To be honest organising a wedding can be a literal minefield such as choosing bridesmaids, from both the bride & the groom’s family/friends at the same time as keeping numbers down to save money but not offend anyone that isn’t asked.
My final thoughts about the book are that it does have some really useful tips, but others are kind of obvious. I think it’s worth reading and will certainly have you removing those rose-coloured glasses you are probably wearing, when as a couple you have just decided to get married and are literally in your dream world bubble!
September 29, 2022
The first section was a disorganized mess of random, often common-sense tips ("use the Google Drive to stay organized" followed by "have a destination wedding") but the organization and advice got better as it went on. Definitely not a definitive wedding planning guide but useful to flip through while waiting in airports.
August 16, 2022
This is the only wedding book I read that I actually found useful. Every other wedding advice book I picked up was full of lists for six-figure budgets and not practical. These tips could easily be applied to a wedding of any size or type. I'll be buying this for future brides-to-be.
June 21, 2022
I'm dropping most of my fiction books to do wedding research, so my thought process while reading wedding planning books is: it better be worth it.
This one was, in fact, worth it! It's structured as a collection of "hacks" ("tips and tricks" is probably more accurate) and you're sure to find something you haven't thought of.
I also GREATLY appreciated that this book took the time to acknowledge non-heteronormative couples in a variety of ways. An overwhelming majority of the wedding-industrial complex is grossly traditional, and I've been struggling with how to make our wedding acknowledge the reality of our lives and relationship. Even things like "have both your parents walk you down the aisle, or walk yourselves down!" helps with the whole patriarchy stink of the tradition.
4.5 stars, but I have to take off half a star because the author, an experienced wedding planner, assumes you have some knowledge of weddings already... which I kind of don't. A global pandemic happened and a bunch of my friends eloped! Once again, the inclusivity is amazing, but I'm not really sure what I'm "hacking" if I'm not as familiar with how (Western/American) weddings are usually structured. This would've been a great book to read like, second or third, after I established a baseline of what I wanted/did not want.
This one was, in fact, worth it! It's structured as a collection of "hacks" ("tips and tricks" is probably more accurate) and you're sure to find something you haven't thought of.
I also GREATLY appreciated that this book took the time to acknowledge non-heteronormative couples in a variety of ways. An overwhelming majority of the wedding-industrial complex is grossly traditional, and I've been struggling with how to make our wedding acknowledge the reality of our lives and relationship. Even things like "have both your parents walk you down the aisle, or walk yourselves down!" helps with the whole patriarchy stink of the tradition.
4.5 stars, but I have to take off half a star because the author, an experienced wedding planner, assumes you have some knowledge of weddings already... which I kind of don't. A global pandemic happened and a bunch of my friends eloped! Once again, the inclusivity is amazing, but I'm not really sure what I'm "hacking" if I'm not as familiar with how (Western/American) weddings are usually structured. This would've been a great book to read like, second or third, after I established a baseline of what I wanted/did not want.
December 3, 2020
| Read on Reader Fox |
Don't ignore history.
No, I'm not getting married any time soon. But yes, I was curious.
Honestly, I liked Maddie Eisenhart's Wedding Hacks: 500+ Ways to Stick to Your Budget, Stay Stress-Free, and Plan the Best Wedding Ever! Though, between you and me, that title is a bit ridiculous. Still, this was a pretty comprehensive compilation of some very useful tips that I'm sure I will one day return to if and when I do ever get married.
That Said...
So Eisenhart does a fantastic job of providing you with a plethora of tips for how to plan your wedding. She anticipates all the problems and roadblocks that might arise and gives you a variety of suggestions for how to address them. She gives you tips on how to save money, the best websites to use, and more.
All in all, the book was pretty great.
But the formatting was awful.
Organization
The book does have a general organization strategy to it. Various umbrella topics precede all the information surrounding it. But the read-through was rather frustrating.
The whole book is basically just a list that you can read through. 500+ ways means each way is practically bullet-pointed from start to finish. I hated this. It made me feel as though there wasn't a lot of substance to the book and Eisenhart could have just posted this list on a blog page. So...what was the point of the book?
I genuinely feel like there needed to be chapters. And those chapters could have had descriptive tips as well as bullet-pointed asides. That way you can get the quick information while still having detailed sections throughout. Instead of mini paragraphs existing in a bunch of bullet points, you actually have a book.
Still, It's Useful
That said, my complaint doesn't change the fact that this book is incredibly useful. Yeah, it'd be nice if it were better organized and written in a way that didn't make me feel like I was just scrolling through a list of details. I genuinely felt as though the author only did the bare minimum of sorting all her tips to make sure they followed other relevant to the moment tips.
But, I can definitely say I came out of this book having learned. I know more than I used to about how to plan a wedding and I feel confident I'll be able to implement them if I ever have one of my own. So, not bad.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
| Instagram | Twitter | Reader Fox Blog | Bloglovin’ | Facebook |
Don't ignore history.
No, I'm not getting married any time soon. But yes, I was curious.
Honestly, I liked Maddie Eisenhart's Wedding Hacks: 500+ Ways to Stick to Your Budget, Stay Stress-Free, and Plan the Best Wedding Ever! Though, between you and me, that title is a bit ridiculous. Still, this was a pretty comprehensive compilation of some very useful tips that I'm sure I will one day return to if and when I do ever get married.
That Said...
So Eisenhart does a fantastic job of providing you with a plethora of tips for how to plan your wedding. She anticipates all the problems and roadblocks that might arise and gives you a variety of suggestions for how to address them. She gives you tips on how to save money, the best websites to use, and more.
All in all, the book was pretty great.
But the formatting was awful.
Organization
The book does have a general organization strategy to it. Various umbrella topics precede all the information surrounding it. But the read-through was rather frustrating.
The whole book is basically just a list that you can read through. 500+ ways means each way is practically bullet-pointed from start to finish. I hated this. It made me feel as though there wasn't a lot of substance to the book and Eisenhart could have just posted this list on a blog page. So...what was the point of the book?
I genuinely feel like there needed to be chapters. And those chapters could have had descriptive tips as well as bullet-pointed asides. That way you can get the quick information while still having detailed sections throughout. Instead of mini paragraphs existing in a bunch of bullet points, you actually have a book.
Still, It's Useful
That said, my complaint doesn't change the fact that this book is incredibly useful. Yeah, it'd be nice if it were better organized and written in a way that didn't make me feel like I was just scrolling through a list of details. I genuinely felt as though the author only did the bare minimum of sorting all her tips to make sure they followed other relevant to the moment tips.
But, I can definitely say I came out of this book having learned. I know more than I used to about how to plan a wedding and I feel confident I'll be able to implement them if I ever have one of my own. So, not bad.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
| Instagram | Twitter | Reader Fox Blog | Bloglovin’ | Facebook |
November 11, 2020
I honestly didn't expect to get so many great ideas from this book.
There is a lot of knowledge here it feels only an experienced wedding planner has.
There are many ideas about budgeting and also many pieces of advice for DIY weddings that seemed very useful to me. This is a very down to earth approach, down from Pinterest approach :) focused on the couple, their possibilities and wishes.
While there were not many pieces of advice on how to handle difficult guests or navigate difficult relationships between them there are a lot of ideas about sensible matters. There is a great deal of attention given to the couple and to their emotional needs which I really appreciated. There are also a lot of mentions and ideas that could be useful to LGBTQ couples trying to create their perfect day.
These details made me love this book and recommend it wholeheartedly. It's a treasure chest filled with helpful ideas on how to create one's own modern best day
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
There is a lot of knowledge here it feels only an experienced wedding planner has.
There are many ideas about budgeting and also many pieces of advice for DIY weddings that seemed very useful to me. This is a very down to earth approach, down from Pinterest approach :) focused on the couple, their possibilities and wishes.
While there were not many pieces of advice on how to handle difficult guests or navigate difficult relationships between them there are a lot of ideas about sensible matters. There is a great deal of attention given to the couple and to their emotional needs which I really appreciated. There are also a lot of mentions and ideas that could be useful to LGBTQ couples trying to create their perfect day.
These details made me love this book and recommend it wholeheartedly. It's a treasure chest filled with helpful ideas on how to create one's own modern best day
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
February 11, 2021
I'm a professional wedding planner who is naturally dubious of anything with the word "hacks" in it but I really enjoyed this book! I found the author's advice to be inclusive, kind, and realistic. I would recommend this book to both couples planning weddings and to wedding vendors looking for a valuable resource as they do their work. Thank you, Maddie!
November 2, 2025
Haven’t had the wedding yet, so maybe it’s not fair to judge this one right now, but here I am. This book had some notable positives — it was inclusivity-minded (in everything from price to sexuality), there was a wide range of advice, and there were things in there that definitely felt like they came straight from a wedding planner. On the other hand, “hacks” is very misleading — these were tips and tricks, many of which felt very repetitive. I also felt like while it was organized fine, it could’ve been organized/categorized better to make it easier for readers to find the advice that applies to them and discard the advice that doesn’t. For what it’s worth, I read it all.
I do think this is worth reading for folks planning their weddings. It has advice for the entire wedding planning process but I’d say that it’s thin on how to actually start planning. For that reason, I would read it when the planning process is already underway.
I do think this is worth reading for folks planning their weddings. It has advice for the entire wedding planning process but I’d say that it’s thin on how to actually start planning. For that reason, I would read it when the planning process is already underway.
October 8, 2023
This was an excellent book. It was formatted as a bunch of tips compiled into sections so that the tips were loosely grouped and interspersed among the sections were lists of ten that were more specifically focused (Things your photographer should know, for example). All in all it was chock full of great tips, many that echoed sentiments I've already come across in other wedding advice books. It's recent enough that it should speak to the modern wedding needs but covers some of the traditional matters of etiquette as well. It was pretty quick to get through too. I would highly recommend it for anyone planning a wedding.
January 27, 2024
This book was really really cute and everything in it was totally valid but- I had to give it three stars. I felt that this book would be great for the coffee table of a wedding planner and no one else. The amount of 'hacks' in this book are overwhelming, there are 540. Most were repetitive and the advice just wasn't for one person with one type of wedding in mind and ended up being a bunch of time spent reading information I didn't need or already knew, "don't invite your second cousin's friend's uncle," "whatever, just elope," and such.
October 3, 2020
4/5 stars!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book is full of helpful tips and is a very good guide for a practical wedding. I loved all the tips and insights from the author, and I low-key felt excited to be wed while reading this book. It's also very inclusive to LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book is full of helpful tips and is a very good guide for a practical wedding. I loved all the tips and insights from the author, and I low-key felt excited to be wed while reading this book. It's also very inclusive to LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities.
August 6, 2023
Short and sweet - the headers are bolded, quick summaries with additional details below, so you can skip anything that is irrelevant to your event. Some of these are fairly common nowadays and would be found on any blog, Google search, Pinterest board. There were a small handful of tips that I wrote down.
August 14, 2021
a simple, informative read you can easily digest in one sitting. it’s broken down into categories easy flip-through. while some of the information may be deemed common sense, coming from someone with NO prior wedding planning knowledge, I finished this book with a page of notes and a clearer mind!
April 7, 2022
Really interesting and fun book! A great complement to The Knot Book of Wedding Lists. A lot of great ideas that we used, with WAY less gender bias. Some of the tips were obvious and others kind of silly, but with over 500 tips it couldn't have been perfect :P
March 19, 2023
I like that the author is very inclusive and aware of diversity. I think this'd be most useful for people who are either in the US (which I'm not) and/or planning an 'all-the-trimmings' event (which I'm not).
May 23, 2021
This was a super helpful book full of great “hacks”. I borrowed it from the library but it’s really worth purchasing if you’re getting married.
June 4, 2021
Some great tips/hints that I never would have thought of.
December 17, 2021
Very helpful tips on does and don'ts
February 19, 2022
Definitely some good tips in there!
February 3, 2023
It had a lot of great tips and advices but many are only applicable and easily accessible to US.
April 6, 2023
Very helpful tips. The author tried to please everyone (big and small budgets). Therefore not everything applied. However, I would check out this book from the library’s again to learn more.
December 18, 2023
Helpful in many areas.
December 20, 2023
Definitely included some helpful tips for anyone planning a wedding. I wish I had this before I even began planning!
February 25, 2024
Great tips, took lots of notes
August 30, 2024
Great tips and insight!
Want to read
April 17, 2025A
November 30, 2025
Quick read. Great tips
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews