Hello lovely readers! I got to ask Sharon Naylor, author to
1.) Of all the wedding related things you have written about, what is your favorite topic and why?
As much fun as it is to write about gown design, florals and the artistry of wedding cakes, I love to write about the relationships between the bride and groom, and everyone around them. My philosophy has always been prepare for the marriage, not just the wedding. As couples are busy planning the big day, they can sometimes forget that their relationship is the #1 priority, with #2 being establishing great, healthy relationships with the in-laws for a more harmonious future. When money and emotion are so much a part of the wedding plans, and everyone wants to participate in the planning by contributing their own ideas – maybe even being pushy about it! – the pressure mounts, anger builds and pretty soon everyone is at war. So in all of my books, I’ve always emphasized the importance of communication, and connecting with your groom, your future in-laws, and friends to keep your relationships at the forefront, plan no-wedding-talk outings like dinners and meeting up for cocktails…just to connect as you, not as the bride (or groom). You don’t want anyone to feel taken for granted or that they’re not heard. That’s why I love working with Nokia, since their fun new Nokia 7205 Intrigue gives the couple a stylish tool with which to both organize wedding-planning messages from all participants AND easily connect and make plans with everyone in your life. You really have to keep a wedding/life balance, as I write in my other newest book The Bride’s Survival Guide . Communication with people on a positive, uplifting level keeps everyone’s stress and resentments down, and you can plan more happily with them. Not to mention the fact that you want your groom to see you as you, with your great sense of humor, and keep dating even while planning the wedding. During my own recent wedding plans, my husband and I would text little love notes to each other, which is one of the best ways to keep your perspective during the whirlwind of wedding planning.
2.) There are tons of wedding books out there. How can we know that a book is worth purchasing (meaning how can we tell the content is something we haven’t read before)?
If it has my name on it, you’re going to get fresh material! There are certainly tons of wedding books and blogs and websites out there – and some are wonderful, while some are filled with ultra-basic and not very helpful information. Some contain outdated material, which is understandable considering how quickly the wedding industry changes from year to year. Hunting for the newest trends and planning secrets is what keeps me energized in writing over 35 wedding books. I know what’s out there online, so I know what readers really want from the voids in current wedding reporting. Readers need to understand, though, that as a journalist I have to include some of the more basic advice, since there is a great number of engaged couples out there who have very little exposure to wedding world and are hobbled by the advice they’re getting from parents and friends who are still operating on 1960s etiquette rules of ‘how things are done.’ I wish I could say that reviews online were the best source of assessing how useful a wedding book is, but at least some of those reviews are written by competing authors and writers who want to boost their projects’ sales, and many people are more motivated to write a review when they didn’t find the ‘magic bullets’ they expected than they are to write a review when they loved the book. It’s just something you get used to as an author. I advise future brides and grooms to go to bookstores, pick up the wedding books, take a quick flip through, see if you like the author’s tone and authority on the topics, and buy from there. Large and small bookstores will order books for you if they don’t have certain titles in stock, as will libraries.
3.) Are there any trends you are noticing in the wedding book business (ie budget books, etiquette, etc.) and if so, what are they?
There’s a lot more interest in breaking with traditions, not having the same wedding your mother (or even your sister!) had, choosing a fun theme, personalizing the day to contain your favorite interests, songs, and values [such as planning a green wedding if that’s your lifestyle], and finding ways to ‘tweak’ many of those expected traditions to make the day truly your own. It’s a two-pronged interest: wedding couples want a day that’s designed by them, personalized to their love story, AND they want their guests to have the best time they’ve ever had in their lives. After all, we are a global society, we don’t all live in the same hometown anymore, a big chunk of guests are traveling in for the wedding at great expense…so the bride and groom are looking for ways to give their guests an unforgettable experience during the entire wedding weekend. They want everyone to laugh, dance, have great food, show off their kids [yes, more kids are invited to wedding weekend events like day-before picnics if not to the wedding itself!], introduce their own spouses and partners, share fun activities in their hometown or in their chosen locations if it’s a destination wedding. We’re seeing less in the way of drunken bachelor and bachelorette parties and more wholesome group activities like going to a ballgame or to a spa. Pre-wedding events are definitely ‘classed-up’ and planned on a budget without the savings showing. Again, since connecting with and planning fun weekend events for friends and family is such a big priority, technology has become a huge part of wedding planning – as well as for both budget-friendly tasks and partnership on making the wedding plans. So my wedding books over the past few years have included more fun websites for DIY options, wedding weekend events suitable for all kinds of wedding guests with much of the inviting and planning done online. Finally, a big trend in wedding books is knowing that the bride and groom are ultra-busy, so we get right to the point and share our favorite wedding websites and blogs that might not have a billion dollars behind them. You get to find the best of what’s out there because I’m saving you – and your groom! – lots of hunting time by doing the research for you and delivering the gems.
4.) Please give us some more tips you have for couples planning weddings or wedding industry professionals!
For couples planning weddings, talk at the start of the planning about your top priorities for the wedding – the cake, the catering, the music – and also talk about what’s lower on your priority list – like a big dessert buffet, a limousine, etc. So when you talk with your parents about their participation, you already have certain wishes and plans set in stone, and you’re not thrown into a whirlwind of their ideas and pressures. You’re a united front, just like you will be in the marriage, and you’re able to show parents exactly what you would like. I use my Nokia 7205 Intrigue to take pictures of sites and gardens that I love, even wedding cakes I see at ballrooms, dresses, and more, to send to my contacts…and the bride and groom can do the same while they’re off in their busy day, but they chance upon the perfect location. They just take a picture, message it to their partner and their parents, and they might be able to book the perfect location or order the perfect cake design for half the price! Brides, grooms and parents should never just book something without getting the partner’s or payers’ approval, so this fun tool gives you both the benefits of showing respect to your wedding planning partners and snagging that last date in April for 1/3 the price! And sign up for mailing lists at gown shops, tux shops, jewelers, department stores and your favorite designers so that you get early, VIP notice about sales and members-only trunk sales that might be texted to you at 4pm on a Friday for a 5pm-8pm sale you would have found out about too late! Being reachable and being on the list can save you 60% – 80% on everything! Again, communication is key to good planning – and smart shoppers are getting price quotes from up to ten vendors in each category – so you have to invest plenty of time on the research leg of your planning! You’re getting good practice for the kinds of smart consumer strategies that help protect your new marriage from money stress when one’s an impulsive shopper and the other likes to research. Consider wedding shopping to be your Masters course in money management together!
5.) Tell me about your partnership with Nokia? What is so great about this Nokia phone in regards to wedding planning?
I’m so happy to be working with Nokia to spread the word about how technology can now save you thousands of dollars off of your wedding bills AND keep you organized and connected to your groom, friends and family – making you a more confident bride who works well with her team and has a life outside of the wedding plans! And the minute I saw the sleek designs of the Nokia 7205 Intrigue phones (available at Verizon Wireless)– available in black and silver and black and pink fade with flower petal keypad– I knew I had to tell my wedding audience about the stylish design. But looks aside, the phone has a priceless capability that brides and grooms will LOVE: Using the Habitat mode, the Nokia 7205 Intrigue automatically reorganizes your calls and messages logs of your social circle– and that allows you lightning-fast access to your phone’s well-kept records of who texted to say they’re not bringing the date they said they would bring [so a quick call to the caterer will save you $150!], who still has to send a deposit for the gown, and – ultra-awesome! – you have a record right there for when a vendor says you never paid the second deposit of $2,000!. There! Not only can you get online to check with your bank, you can show that disorganized vendor that you not only paid the bill, but here’s her text thanking you for it! So you, unlike so many other brides and grooms out there who have to take a lot of steps to find proof of that payment or even waste $2,000 paying it again!!, just solved the problem in an instant, you’re not fuming while driving home, and you eliminate the stress and resulting tension in your future planning with the vendor. Again, it’s all about relationships, and this particular phone allows you to organize and access your social circle. I also love to use mine to send thank you’s to people who are helping me out with a big project, which is always nice to do when planning a wedding. When brides and grooms are using Twitter and Facebook to share the fun and funny planning details with their friends, they just have to share their pictures and stories right from the phone. Not a totally new concept, I know, but the Nokia 7205 Intrigue’s Habitat mode assigns fabulous little nature icons to each of your contacts – and you can customize that – so if you’re an eco-bride, you’ll love that. It’s just a fantastic, modern, sleek and stylist tool that both you and your groom can use to share your wedding planning tasks…because we all know that neither of you want to carry around a huge wedding binder! Technology has made grooms very happy as well…they’re excited to participate in any way that’s fun, quick and efficient, and this phone lets them get whatever task the bride wants them to do done in a snap, because everything’s organized in their cell phone. Visit www.techsavvybride.com to win the His and Hers Nokia 7205 Intrigue phones and a week’s honeymoon to Jamaica!
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