Do Your Own Wedding; Dream Wedding/Boda De Sueno

Chris Forth is the narrator for Do Your Own Wedding, a top-notch "how-to" for people planning a traditional wedding that offers money-saving tips in several areas. Separated into chapters, the tape offers the sobering statistic that the average wedding costs about $15,000, and then follows the fictional wedding of Kelly and Michael who have an elegant and affordable wedding at considerably less cost. The program is separated into ten chapters: ceremony, reception, wedding attire, invitations, flowers and decorations, food and beverages, photography and video, transportation, music, and bridal beauty. Some of the ideas presented in the program are quite clever, such as using a "plastic" silver tray for a serving dish rather than a real silver tray, or renting a luxury car rather than a limo for transporting the bridal party. Others are a little strange: for instance, you can send an invitation to the President and Mrs. Bush, and you'll receive a signed card to add to your wedding book (it's doubtful that they will actually attend). There is one glaring omission on the tape--the subject of bridal registry is never broached--but other than that this program is excellent in all respects. Dream Weddings/Boda de Sueno, on the other hand, presents a wedding that will cost you through the nose, and is fairly drenched with commercial content. Available in both English and Spanish, the tape covers the same subjects as those listed above for Do Your Own Wedding, and includes a section on bridal registry. Hostess Yolando Miro introduces the program which basically consists of straightforward narration while still or action shots always remind us that we are at Beverly Hills Bridal, or seeing Teleflora flowers, or any of a number of commercial establishments in Southern California. The section on bridal beauty is the most obnoxious. Since Max Factor sponsored the program, it's no surprise that the bride needs 12, count 'em, 12 Max Factor products--all named and shown--in order to look her best on the big day. Do Your Own Wedding, which offers straight information, attractively presented, with no brand names on display, is highly recommended. Dream Weddings/Boda de Sueno, which is basically one extended commercial for Southern California bridal-related establishments (and Max Factor) is not recommended. (Do Your Own Wedding is available from most distributors.) (Dream Weddings/Boda de Sueno is available from: Professional Media Services Corp., 19122 S. Vermont Ave., Gardena, CA 90248; 1-800-223-7672.)