GeekSugar

Seven Wedding Websites to Explore

GeekSugar — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:00:29 PDT

With Wedding Season kicking off across the entire Sugar network, I decided to cover the basics right off the bat, which include How to Make a Wedding Website and a list of wedding websites to help you with ideas, planning and everything else in between. Take a look at seven of my favorite wedding websites!

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Website of the Day: Muse

GeekSugar — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:00:00 PDT

You're getting married, and are tired of browsing the plethora of wedding websites out there, finding all the same ideas that get regurgitated over and over again. You want something fresh, new, and original for your big day.

If this sounds like you, you might want to check out Muse – a new social community where you can find and share tips, ideas, and experiences with other brides-to-be that are looking for something more than the run-of-the-mill wedding favor or cake design.

Not only can you bounce ideas off of other women who are getting ready to say "I Do," but you can plan your wedding from A to Z with the help of budget calculators, idea books, and calendars to keep you on track. Plus Muse's design is way cooler than any other that I've seen lately, so you'll feel right at home. Cause you're cool, too.

Need more ideas for your wedding? Check out the rest of our coverage on I Do Sugar!

Wedding Websites to Help You Get Ready For the Big Day

GeekSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:00:14 PDT

Now that you've announced your engagement and have started creating your own wedding site, it's time to get planning! Thanks to Mr. Internets and his handy online tools, you're already well on your way to being a wedding planner extraordinaire! There are waaay too many wedding websites to count, so I've compiled a list of a few of my favorites below to help you cross your t's and dot your i's for the big day!

Bridalocity.com Bridalocity is a great wedding planning site with loads of wedding resources including free wedding planning guide that is available for download. The site has everything related to weddings including fashion, wedding resources, local planning, online planning, shopping online, and planning a wedding on a budget.

For four more sites,

The Knot.com The Knot can be your very own personal wedding planner. Feeling overwhelmed about planning preparations? The Knot will help you get organized so planning won't be a daunting task. With a checklist to get you started and an extensive amount of search tools, The Knot will help you step by step. There is also an online community so you can get advice and tips from others about their big day!
ewedding.com If you want to create your own wedding website, ewedding allows you to sign up for a free wedding website, add content to any beautiful theme, and share your website. You can also have online RSVP, collect best wishes in your own guestbook, upload unlimited photos, post events, dates, directions, and much more.
Wedding Channel.com If you just got engaged, the Wedding Channel will give you all the assistance you need to plan your dream wedding. With answers to all your wedding questions, this site includes free planning tools such as wedding website info, a planning checklist, a budget calculator, a guest list manager, a scrapbook, and a save-the-date option. The Wedding Channel also provides some free templates for creating a wedding website.
Brides.com Brides.com can help you with your fashion and beauty planning, and honeymoon planning as well. There are guides with getting-started tips like shopping for wedding dresses, cakes, and signing on to registries.

Websites To Help You Plan A Wedding

GeekSugar — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:01:44 PDT

So you made it through the engagement and now everyone is asking 'when is the big day?' No need to get stressed out, because with the help of the Internet, you can be an expert wedding planner- right from the comfort of your own home! There are thousands of wedding websites online with great reference tools, checklists and info to help you get your planning started. I've compiled a few of my favorites below for you to explore. Enjoy and happy planning!

ewedding.com If you are wanting to create your own wedding website, ewedding allows you to sign up for a free wedding website, add content to any beautiful theme and share your website. You can also have online RSVP, collect best wishes in your own guestbook, upload unlimited photos, post events, dates, directions and much more.
The Knot.com The Knot can be your very own personal wedding planner. Feeling overwhelmed about planning preparations? The Knot will help you get organized so planning won't be a daunting task. With a checklist to get you started and an extensive amount of search tools, The Knot will help you step by step. There is also an online community so you can get advice and tips from others about their big day!
Wedding Channel.com If you just got engaged, the Wedding Channel will give you all the assistance you need to plan your dream wedding. With answers to all your wedding questions, this site includes free planning tools such as wedding website info, a planning checklist, a budget calculator, a guest list manager, a scrapbook and a save the date option. The Wedding Channel also provides some free templates for creating a wedding website.

For two more sites,

Bridalocity.com Bridalocity is a great wedding planning guide with loads of wedding resources including free wedding planning guide resources available for download. The site has everything related to weddings including fashion, wedding resources, local planning, online planning, shopping online and planning a wedding on a budget.
Brides.com Brides.com can help you with your fashion and beauty planning, and honeymoon planning as well. There are guides with getting-started tips like shopping for wedding dresses, cakes and signing on to registries.

7 Reasons Why You Need a Wedding Website

GeekSugar — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:07:20 PDT

How do you feel about wedding websites? Some people find them a good outlet for narcissism, while others find them to be a helpful guide during modern digital times. Sure, tossing 600 photos of yourself on your wedding website with an accompanying story about how you met is a little extreme (and totally unhelpful), building a simple site to share important event details and anecdotes from your relationship is not. Here, 7 reasons why you need a wedding website, and what your site should include to be at maximum benefit for your guests.

Save on printing costs. If you're having invites printed, you know how quickly the price will rise by just adding another piece of paper to the mix. By directing everyone to your site in any engagement party, shower, or wedding correspondence, you'll save time, money, and effort on printing costs.
Easy registry access. You're probably already refreshing your gift registry to see which items have been purchased; why not give guests easy online access, too? In most cases, you can link directly to your registry info, which makes it easy for guests.

Keep reading for more reasons you should create a wedding website

When and When Not to Use a Travel Agent to Save Money

LearnVest — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:02:20 PDT

Will using a travel agent help you save money for your upcoming trip? LearnVest has the answer.

Are travel agents back?

This question, posed by The New York Times, got us thinking. According to the piece, nearly one in three leisure travel agencies is hiring, and in 2011 travel agencies experienced a second consecutive year of growth; in fact, their bookings accounted for a third of the $284 billion US travel market.

Silly us, we thought travel agents had become passé.

But if the travel agent business is thriving, we started wondering - is there something to this? Could using an old-school travel agent actually save us money on travel?

To find out, we consulted Barbara Vong, a travel agent with Wright Travel Agency, the 2011 winner of the Best of the Best Globe Award from Travel Impressions.

Globe Award From Travel Impressions.

The first thing we learned? Travel agents usually don't charge customers for their services! Their payment actually comes through the hotels and wholesalers, meaning that we can simply tap into a free service. That also means using a travel agent should never be more expensive than booking by yourself online . . . and these are experts well-versed in where to find the best deals.

Of course, booking your flights in 30 seconds with a few clicks sounds a lot easier than playing phone tag with a live person, so it pays to know when a travel agent can help the most, and when you might as well DIY it. Vong let us in on the best times to call an agent, and some money-saving travel tips she's picked up in her line of work:

Use a Travel Agent If . . .

You're Traveling With a Group

For group bookings that involve coordinating travel for multiple people, it's always easier to use a travel agent, says Vong. “I just had a bride call me because one of the groomsmen booked his own trip through a discount travel site, and he wanted to add someone to the room,” says Vong. "The customer service representative from the travel site he used told him they couldn't do it, but they were probably just being lazy. This is a great example of when you’d rather hand the responsibility of changing that booking to a travel agent, rather than trying to fix it on your own."

Read on for more.

Expert Tips to Declutter Your Home and Other Savvy Hits of the Week!

Emily Co — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:15:23 PDT

The only 2 tips you need to declutter your home.
Ways adults can save by buying kiddie stuff.
Money mistakes women often make.
Lies you shouldn't tell the interviewer.
10 items you should not buy in bulk.
When to stash or trash important documents.
Creative ways to brighten your May, even if you're chained to the desk.
Websites and apps that will keep every part of your life organized.
Unprofessional email faux pas you should avoid.
How to survive an expensive wedding season if you're a guest or part of the bridal party.
8 flexible careers that would be perfect for moms.

5 Ways to Live Stream a Wedding

Anna Monette Roberts — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:34:02 PDT

When a loved one can't attend your wedding, consider live streaming any part of the ceremony or festivities so far away guests can still celebrate practically in person. From video calling to live video channels, these five services enable you to live stream a wedding:

Skype: One of the most well-known video-calling services, Skype is a great free option if you are just trying to include one person. To include more people, sign up for Skype Premium ($9.99 per month), which allows group chats with up to 10 people.
Ustream: The video website enables you to broadcast live video content. It even developed a UStream Broadcaster app, so you can easily stream live HD video from your mobile phone.
iPhone FaceTime: Via FaceTime, you can quickly call a friend who has an iPhone, iPad 2, iPod touch, or even a Mac computer. Since the iPhone 4S is equipped with a front and back camera, simply tap the camera swap button on the bottom right hand side of the screen to share the ceremony.
YouTube Live Stream: With an on-site webcam and WiFi, you can schedule and stream the event live on YouTube. Google offers simple and clear instructions on how to set up, test, and manage your live stream so everything runs smoothly.
I Do Stream: The company provides all the equipment you need (camcorder, tripod, etc.) to seamlessly broadcast your wedding ceremony online. You can even rent a laptop with built-in broadband wireless in case the ceremony grounds don't have an Internet connection.

Are Money Clubs the New Book Clubs?

LearnVest — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:15:41 PDT

Money clubs are a great and fun way to stay on top of your finances. With friends supporting you, you can conquer the world and money issues! LearnVest shares how you can start one.

Thea, 31, a lawyer, lives in Brooklyn, NY. Although her friends are, in her own words, “bright, savvy, awesome women,” many felt lost financially - much like she did. “In fact, almost all of them knew someone else who was in the same financially adrift boat,” she says.

That’s when she got the idea to start a money group.

“The first meeting was held in my studio apartment in Brooklyn,” she told LearnVest. She served pizza and Diet Coke as the group of women took turns airing their money issues and goals.

The women’s issues ranged from needing to pay down credit card debt after an amazing wedding to wondering how to invest in a 403(b) retirement account that she’d left empty for years. “We left that meeting,” she says, “with the same sense of empowerment we often feel in other areas of our lives, but that was usually missing when it came to our financial life.”

Although the women are still working through their money issues and goals, it is, as Thea puts it, “easier to take a journey with a group of amazing friends.”

Are Money Clubs the New Book Clubs?

There’s a reason Thea’s personal experience was so meaningful. Just like book clubs or wine clubs - or book clubs that double as wine clubs - money clubs are groups in which you can learn interesting stuff, discuss it, and get support from like-minded friends. And maybe even add alcohol to put people at ease.

In fact, while they’re now becoming popular again, money clubs have actually been around for a long time. Many groups of women in cities across the US meet up informally, but Candace Bahr, founder of the Women’s Institute For Financial Education, or WIFE, formalized the money club concept, creating the organization’s trademarked version back in 2004.

Read on for more.

9 Things to Consider When Choosing a Wedding Planner

Laura Marie Given — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:00:00 PDT

You've decided to hire a wedding planner - but how do you know which person is right for you and your big day? Thanks to a growing industry and what seems like a million different wedding blogs, it's not always easy to sift through the hundreds of event coordinators out there. Not sure where to start? Ask yourself these nine important questions as you search for the perfect wedding planner:

Where is she located? It's smart to find someone who's located in the region where your wedding will take place, if only because she's sure to have plenty of connections. Plus, if your planner is near the venue, chances are she's worked there before and may be familiar with some of the regular vendors.
How many years of experience? Time doesn't say everything, but it certainly speaks to some measure of success. Look for someone with a reputation, not only because it will give you peace of mind, but also because you want to work with someone who's respected within the community.
Who are her frequent collaborators? Most wedding coordinators work with the same vendors over and over again, so do a bit of research to find out who her friends are in the business. You'll get a great sense of her taste and those are most likely the people she'd refer you to in the future.
Would I ask her to grab coffee? You'll be talking to this person very, very often throughout your engagement, so be sure that you genuinely like her. If she seems a bit cold, elitist, or argumentative, just remember that you'll be trusting this person with the most special day of your life - not to mention your dollars and cents.

Keep reading for more smart questions to ask yourself.