Have you written Praise Letters?

Imagine hearing from your boss that a client was SO happy with your work that they took the time to write in to the company, singing your praises. That would do SO much for your job security and your esteem in the boss's eyes. You might get a raise or a promotion because you reflect so well on the company.

That's exactly what I'm proposing you do for your wedding vendors' staff, assistants, and the vendors themselves. It only takes a few minutes to write up a note saying, "Sheila did such a wonderful job with our wedding decor -- she really created exactly what we had in mind, and we're so thrilled that we got to work with her. We'll be sure to recommend her -- and your company -- to all of our engaged friends!" and e-mail it in to Sheila's boss.

It's a feel-good task, and since Sheila worked so hard on your behalf, it's such a generous thing to write a Praise letter at any point during your planning stage or after the wedding.

Real brides and grooms offering vendor referrals

Now this is a good one!

We all know that the best way to find outstanding wedding vendors, and to find the best wedding sites, is to ask recently-married friends and relatives who they used, who they would recommend, and who they didn't like.

But what if no one you know has gotten married recently? What if you've just moved to a new area and don't have a big circle of friends to consult with yet? Are you out of luck? No, there's a great resource called Wedding Mapper that not only lets you build a fun map for your guests' use in finding the hotel, ceremony and reception sites; it shows you Real Life wedding couples in your area, who they used, how they rated them, what they had to say about them AND you can e-mail those couples to ask any additional questions you have.

It's a fabulous extra tool in your research, to get you the best of everything on a budget that's right for you. Joe and I used this site when we were planning our wedding, and we loved it. I've recommended it in the past as a fun budget-saving way to do the directions thing, but I also wanted you to know about the 'inside scoop' element!