Andri Benson has kindly written a review of  Wedding Wisdom by Mary Dann-Mcnamee with Leila Khalil

‘Wedding Wisdom ‘An Insightful Approach to Wedding Planning and Life’ is written by Mary Dann-Mcnamee a US wedding planner that has over 20 year experience in the industry, she is also a trained marriage and family therapist which makes this book a little different from the other  how to be a wedding planner books.

The book is split into three parts:

• Foundation of Wisdom: Balance
• Wedding Wisdom for the Planner
• Wedding Wisdom for the Bride and Planner

Parts 2 and 3 contain useful advice and helpful tips on setting up a wedding planning business, how to attract clients and deal with challenging ones and on planning weddings including timelines  and examples of various forms

For me the first part looking at the ‘Foundation of Wisdom’ was really valuable as it looked at how to keep your business and personal life in balance and relate it to your brides. The four elements of balance discussed are Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Emotional; in the midst of a busy wedding season these areas can be easily overlooked so by being aware of the signals that show we are out of balance and learning to act on them we can be better planners and have a more balanced life. 

Wedding Wisdom is a handy little book giving advice not only about how to plan a wedding but about keeping a healthy outlook in life and business.  Though clearly aimed at aspiring planners and brides planning their own weddings the advice given about balance and wellbeing in our lives and their impact on our business can be useful whatever stage of your career you are at.

On an additional note Leila Khahil who wrote this with Mary Dann-McNamee is a wedding PR guru and her blog Inspired By This often provides some very useful information regarding the wedding industry and PR.

There are a number of inspirational quotes throughout the book:

“Take small steps to chip away at your tasks and then recognise your accomplishments”

“Being the best at what you do means doing one thing at a time and accepting with a sense of peace that it will get done and that you can do it.”

“Birthing a “wedding day” feels somewhat similar to birthing a baby. It is very personal, very special and very exciting!”