Wedding Sites: the Good, Bad and the Laughable
Spend a couple of hours with your intended trying to plan your wedding via the Internet, and you’ll either be headed for elopement or splitsville. There’s little romance in trying to visit what must be thousands of wedding-related sites.
Without the pressure of impending nuptials--some of us got married in the dark ages of the ‘80s, when a phone book and the advice of friends worked quite well, thank you--we tried to winnow the field to a few noteworthy webbing sites. (Love that Internet humor.)
The simple selection criteria: Does the site help move the couple down the aisle? Most included here provide links, or direct access, to information or services elsewhere on the Net that could elevate or ease the experience. (Note: The term “vendors” refers to just about anybody you’d need to hire to stage a wedding.)
Ratings:
(Heart) A modest proposal
(Heart) (Heart) Engaging
(Heart) (Heart) (Heart) One-carat diamond
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Bridal Net: https://www.bridalnet.com
Notable features: bridal fashion service with links to vendors offering gowns at up to 40% off retail; a form for creating a computer-accessible gift registry; ability to search by region for vendors; reports on such trends as blowing bubbles in lieu of throwing rice.
Overall impression: lives up to its hyperbole as “the largest online bridal site committed to providing you with the latest information on the bridal industry.” Plus, it’s budget-conscious.
Visit for: search of 30 collections encompassing 2,500 gowns.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart) (Heart)
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The Bridal Showroom: https://www.ramnetsys.com/apparel/bridal
Notable features: great browsability; fun visuals of wedding fashion victims; locator service tells which dress designers sell where.
Overall impression: a good source for general fashion browsing, but no sign of any discounts.
Visit for: a picture of what you should--and shouldn’t--dress the wedding party in.
Rating: (Heart)
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iBRIDE: https://www.ibride.com
Notable features: search for vendors by city; “Enjoying Your Registry” (who wouldn’t?); easy-to-follow feature on handmade invitations.
Overall impression: You’re better off taking one of the site’s recommended planning books and a couple of friends to the beach. The honeymoon site is typically unimaginative, suggesting a Caribbean spot.
Visit for: the vendors’ guide, but beware--more than once, we couldn’t access it.
Rating: (Heart)
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I Thee Web: https://www.itheeweb.com/honeymoon.html
Notable features: online honeymoon info; links to four cruise lines; landlubber getaways too.
Overall impression: Connects you to potentially helpful information without trying to make you book your vacation.
Visit for: the cute name.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart)
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The Knot: Keyword: the knot on America Online.
Notable features: detailed planning advice; hotline for wedding traumas; link to Riunite’s $50,000 dream wedding giveaway.
Overall impression: feels like a bridal magazine (too bad we can’t read it in the tub); hip design masks an absence of information that actually leads somewhere.
Visit for: the online gift-buying guide; to register at Bloomies.
Overall rating: (Heart)
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Neighborhood Online Wedding Guide: https://www.wedguide.com
Notable features: vendor listings include referrals only; lengthy bios of vendors.
Overall impression: lacks depth; with only two bridal consultants and three caterers from the L.A. area listed, perhaps the referral system isn’t working.
Visit for: vendor services.
Rating: (Heart)
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Web Wedding Wonders: https://www.web-wedding.com
Notable features: “Planners, Guides and Directories”; links to 20-plus other sites; things-to-do work sheets for the bride and all her minions.
Overall impression: great resource for the newly engaged; you won’t create your wedding here, but you’ll get to sites that will help.
Visit for: its ability to point you to a variety of services.
Overall rating: (Heart) (Heart)
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Weddingbells: https://www.weddingbells.com
Notable features: “help” sites for wedding party members, plus guests; “Gallery of Inspirations,” with stylish do-it-yourself decorating ideas for The Big Day; reports on trends and traditions; a running list of ideas to steal.
Overall impression: Of all the cyberspace locales, this one stood out for its meticulous organization. Fresh and fun.
Visit for: answers to FAQs (frequently asked questions), such as: “Why don’t bridal salons like walk-in customers?” or to create new traditions, such as having guests bring their own framed wedding pictures for a display table at the reception.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart) (Heart)
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Wedding Circle: https://www.weddingcircle.com
Notable features: multicultural advice, including Chinese, Jewish, African American traditions; tips on putting together a wedding Web page; “Music for Your Wedding,” which helps select and locate music.
Overall impression: The “Way Cool Wedding of the Week,” like, wasn’t, but the detailed music section, compiled by the University of Virginia, was.
Visit for: a chance to listen to music excerpts.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart)
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Wedding Invitation Services: https://www.sandscripts.com
Notable features: interactive custom invitation service; 20% discounts on eight manufacturers’ designs.
Overall impression: Would designing a custom invitation via the Web really save time? And it seems like you’d want to finger the card stock.
Visit for: the list of style categories, including “Cutesy.”
Rating: (Heart) (Heart)
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The Wedding Web: https://www.weddingweb.com
Notable features: lists of L.A.-area vendors and venues, with visuals; downloadable wedding planners.
Overall impression: Yellow Pages approach potentially helpful in pointing out some less traveled, albeit pricey, locales, such as L.A.’s Greystone Mansion or Adamson House in Malibu.
Visit for: the L.A. lists; to see a business pitch for releasing butterflies instead of tossing rice.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart)
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Yahoo’s Society and Culture: Weddings: https://www.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/weddings
Notable features: links to more than 30 sites; multicultural fair (including elements of a Filipino wedding); in-depth music planning that includes downloadable audio files along with composer bios.
Overall impression: very helpful in narrowing the search for wedding-related services.
Visit for: “Ideas for Planning a Wedding,” an earnest site put together by a newlywed that includes Bible readings and song ideas.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart) (Heart)
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The Cheap Church. https://www.seattleu.edu/ ~ mrhon/church.htm
Notable features: In some states, including California, you can legally tie the knot in real time, online; a student-run, noncommercial service; ministers ordained in Universal Life Church.
Overall impression: If planning The Big Day via the Web gets to you, consider eloping in cyberspace. Here, “Love and union have no price tag.”
Visit for: the chance to daydream about how crazy it would drive your parents if you staged a compu-wedding.
Rating: (Heart) (Heart)
