Thwarting Bridezilla: Speaker offers tips on keeping wedding in control

The couple is in love. The ring has been given. The wedding date set.

Stress is in the air.

"Every bride stresses. I don't care who it is," said wedding professional Linda Zec of Orland Park.

But while stress may inevitable, it can be reduced to levels that don't turn the bride into the catty caricatures portrayed in the new movie, "Bride Wars." Zec gives advice how to organize the wedding without going broke at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, at 95th Street Library, 3015 S. Cedar Glade Drive, Naperville.

Zec estimates that an average wedding costs between $16,000 and $20,000 in Illinois, but she warns that a lot of that money can be wasted.

"I wish the brides and grooms of today would respect the economy we're in," she said. "A lot of them don't even know how to do a budget for a wedding and I give them tools how to do that."

Zec, who owns an international personalized stationery company in which most of her business is wedding invitations, said one of the money-wasters is ordering over-the-top invitations. A company that wants your business shouldn't ask you to pay for samples, she added.

Brides, of course, want to be beautiful. But choosing the wedding gown and ordering the flowers are two aspects of the wedding that produce the most stress and often cost more than necessary, she said.

Zec also recommends that the couple make a donation to a charity and put that information on a handwritten note at each place setting rather than purchasing wedding favors.

"I can't stand them," she said. "People don't keep the wedding favors unless they're your mother or grandmother."

Zec said many wedding vendors are honest and helpful, but couples should be aware of those who prey on the emotions that go into planning a wedding and the desire to have everything perfect.

"Be careful of who you are dealing with and how you feel about this person," she said.

Zec, who is listed in several books and magazines on wedding planning including the seventh and eighth editions of "Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget," said she started giving her "Preventing Bridezilla" presentation about two years ago in response to questions she was asked.

"It just came to be because I get a lot of brides calling me for advice," she said.

The PowerPoint presentation spiced with humor typically brings many more questions at the end, Zec said.

"I get a lot of people who want to pick my brains," she said.

Just don't ask Zec where to hold your wedding reception.

"I don't recommend businesses," she said.

For details on Zec's business, visit invitations4sale.com.

<p class="factboxheadblack">'Preventing Bridezilla'</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7 p.m. Jan. 22</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> 95th Street Library, 3015 Cedar Glade Drive, Naperville</p> <p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> Free</p> <p class="News"><b>Register:</b> <a href="http://www.naperville-lib.org" target="new">naperville-lib.org</a> or at any Naperville public library</p>