When you're planning your wedding, the Web can be your best friend. Certainly a better friend than all the people -- me included -- that keep trying to give you advice.

Not only can the Web link you to chat rooms filled with fellow sufferers, which provide a forum for you to kvetch about how much your fiance/mother/sister/bridesmaid/dog sucks, it can provide you with a money-saving bonanza.

So says a writer from Beverly, Mass., who authored "I Do," which gives you a bunch of ways to save a little cash and uses the Internet a whole bunch.

One of the most valuable things the Internet can do is provide you with the ability to search far and wide for the best price. For example, I ordered my Save the Date cards from Wisconsin. A woman designing out of her home could offer me a much better deal, even with shipping costs, than more established stationary stores. The best part? I didn't have to make a bunch of phone calls to get prices.

I also found the Internet was a great place to find reception venues that were a little offbeat. Ed and I are getting married in an Irish pub in Portland, Maine. A year ago, I didn't even know such a place existed.

A year ago, I was a quivering mass of jelly hiding in my closet, trying to avoid the idea that all reception venues were boring, traditional and $100 a plate. Don't get me wrong, it took a lot of time and research to come up with the perfect place -- about five months -- but it was definitely made easier by the fact that I could get pictures of venues online and download menu and pricing options. I could also go further afield, finding venues not listed in the local telephone book.

The same goes for my dressmaker. It took about a month, but I was eventually -- again through Google -- able to find a great seamstress at a reasonable price. If left to the phone book, I probably would have spent $2,000 more for my wedding dress.

So don't be afraid to use the Internet. While nothing beats meeting your caterer in person, and I definitely recommend you do so before signing on the dotted line, you can often hook up with someone you otherwise wouldn't have found.

Mashable social networking site offers 30 great sites to help you plan your wedding. Some of their top choices:

OffbeatBride.com - Find unique ideas.

WikiWeddings.org - A Wikipedia of all things wedding.

MapYourWedding.com - The Telegraph's very own, very local wedding site. Okay, so it's not listed, but check it out!