Do you believe it is possible to buy everything for your wedding from eBay?

Well according to a book called “"How to Buy Everything for Your Wedding on eBay... and Save a Fortune! at Amazon.com" and Amazon.co.uk written by Dennis L. Prince, and newlyweds Sarah Manongdo and Dan Joya this is definitely possible. You only have to look at table 3-1 on page 52 to see conclusive proof of how Sarah and Dan (pictured below) made a grand saving of 79.8% off retail prices. To be exact they spent $1335.42 (including $285.33 for shipping) on eBay, a saving of $5282.58 compared to retail prices. More importantly they aren’t the only ones making huge saving on their weddings, as verified by the list of eBay bride success stories displayed on page 50. For those couples on a budget (and lets face it, who isn't!), reading this book will definitely save you money.

You may remember that I recently mentioned this great book in an article called "Brand New Wedding Dresses Up For Grabs On eBay", which includes my top ten tips for buying a new wedding dress from eBay’s online wedding store at a discount price. I went onto outline how the book teaches you strategies for searching for and bidding for wedding items on eBay, how to resell items after the wedding and advice from 60 plus eBay wedding Power Sellers on how to bag the best wedding bargains on eBay. Following a second reading, I would now like to express even further why this is definitely a must read.

"How to Buy Everything for Your Wedding on eBay and Save a Fortune" doesn’t just stop at how to make savings on your big day, you can also discover such secrets as how to plan a fabulous honeymoon within your means. I was fascinated to read the 14 money saving tips for booking the honeymoon of your dreams on pages 34 – 36. In addition it also carefully explains how you can supplement your wedding registry through eBay after your wedding day and how couples can consolidate joint belongings and sell the rest on eBay. I also loved reading how to deal with duplicate gifts and understanding the etiquette of auctioning unneeded wedding gifts.

Starting to save a fortune

The book begins by running through the basics of planning a wedding and in particular there is one of the most comprehensive wedding calendars I have seen on pages 15 to 18. Key sections include “Setting a wedding budget and sticking to it” on page 19 and “Planning a beautiful ceremony on a budget” on page 21. The latter gives easy tips on how to decrease your ceremony expenses, including ceremony site fees, officiant fees / donations to the church, the fee for ceremony musicians, ceremony decorations and flowers, personal flowers, ceremony programs, photography, videography and transportation.

Planning your reception without breaking the bank

The reception is a large percentage of any couple’s budget and therefore the section named “Planning an elegant reception without breaking the bank” is thoroughly recommended. This is broken down into the specific pros and of hotels, country clubs, church hall, cathedral, your home, public parks, restaurant and definitely worth a read!

Learning from the eBay power sellers

Everyone wants to get the best value for your wedding dollar and for this I recommend you take time reading the chapter titled “The eBay Approach to an Affordably Elegant Wedding: Lessons from the Power Sellers". This is an excellent read where eBay wedding sellers offer specific advice to brides on wedding gowns, veils, jewelry, flowers, and honeymoons.

The pros and cons of shopping online

Sarah and Dan clearly show us that shopping online isn't a bed of roses, there are of course ups and downs to buying wedding goods online. The authors allow you to weigh up the benefits, there are 10 listed on page 54 and 5 tips on the cons of online shopping on page 56.

At over 230 pages and 15 chapters there are so many sections in this book that offer real money saving advice. Unfortuantely I can't list them all here! I have though made a small list of pages I loved reading and return to often and I'm sure you will too - just to whet your appetite!

* A great list of Recommended Power sellers. Pages 62 – 64
* General resources for Wedding Research. Page 67
* How to find the eBay “Wedding Dresses Finder”. Page 112
* eBay Tips on Using the “Vacations Packages Finder” Page 153
* Anniversary Year List – fun eBay gift ideas for each year. Page 159

Final words

The book quite rightly says:

“The key to successful wedding planning and shopping is creating a realistic wedding budget, and then sticking to it.”

Without doubt if you have this book by your side you stand an excellent chance of ensuring your wedding is on budget! Buy it today!