The internet can help you with your wedding—from finding a few pictures—to a beginning-to-end plan.  But what happens when you type “wedding planning” into your search box and “gazillions” of results pop up?  There are some ways to narrow down the information to get what you need and help you keep you stay sane.

First, you may want to visit the website homes of popular wedding publications such as: Grace Ormonde Wedding Style (weddingstylemagazine.com), and Brides Magazine (Brides.com).  Besides showcasing wonderful wedding attire, these sites have real weddings from around the world.  This can give you tips from actual couples who made their wedding choices.  You can also get advice about wedding dilemmas and insight on how to stay focused (even at work) and living your everyday life.

Joining a bride-to-bride group can be especially useful.  Lansing Area Brides—run by the Lansing Bridal Association—is a great place where you can start a discussion about your wedding and find vendors to service all of your wedding needs.  A Bride-to-be (or former bride) who joins Lansing Area Brides can buy, sell, and trade on various wedding-related items too!  Since many are checking Facebook, and other social media sites regularly; you can keep in touch easily.  This is great if your time and/or distance away from friends and family does not allow you to meet personally.  Some words of caution though; social media can present other issues to deal with concerning [photo] copyrights and privacy.  Unfortunately, there may be those who are not so happy for you.  Overly-critical—poorly-worded opinions could dampen your excitement and cause unnecessary online skirmishes.  Weddingideasmag.com has an article worth reading on this subject.

The LBA features a coveted gathering of wedding professionals presenting exciting bridal shows.  At the shows, your wedding party, family, and friends can meet with vendors face-to-face (even if you have already).  You can see actual bridal fashions displayed on a runway and hands-on presentations.  There may be vendors there that offer other information such as: financial soundness and home improvement.  This can be an immensely fun event to see, taste, and touch wedding selections—(and discover new ones)!  You may even win a valuable door prize!

Finally, for those who are not “internet savvy,” or “computer inclined,”—there is the option of hiring a professional wedding planner.  You can use the internet to gather pictures and other ideas, or perhaps create a “vision board” on a piece of poster paper (or another medium).  Then you can present it to the planner who will bring all of your wonderful ideas together.

Whatever you choose, the internet can help a little or a lot.

Author Bio:
Cheryl Jiminez, LBA Intern, is a former bridal seamstress and consultant.  She recently graduated from Lansing Community College where she majored in Writing and General Studies.