"Do It For Less! Wedding: How to Create Your Dream Wedding Without Breaking the Bank" by Denise Vivaldo (Sellers, $19.95).

When you're thinking of choosing a wedding planner, remember Denise Vivaldo. She may not be as chatty as most candidates, but don't let that fool you. She has plenty to say — 272 pages worth.

The Los Angeles-based caterer and event coordinator, whose book you would be perusing in lieu of an in-person interview, has planned more than 10,000 parties — including many star-studded galas — and already authored "Do It For Less! Parties." Her "Do It For Less! Wedding" is packed with more helpful step-by-step information than you are likely to find elsewhere.

A lengthy primer contains a master timeline, which goes from 9 to 12 months prior to right through the "Big Day," and detailed advice on budgeting as well as a worksheet. As with virtually everything in this "Less" book, there's always more. Her "Twenty Cost-Cutting Tips" include suggestions such as hiring a photographer who will provide you with high-resolution images on a disk, so you can make your own prints.

Another of the many great recommendations: "Use an old caterer's trick and have two wedding cakes. Showcase a small, but beautiful wedding cake on the dessert table and serve slices form a sheet cake in the back. The 'hero' wedding cake doesn't even have to be real; it can be made from a Styrofoam base and decorated like a traditional cake."

After advice on picking locations and developing your menu, Vivaldo provides many fully fleshed-out themes with specifics on invitations, decorations, flowers as well as accompanying recipes, all given in yields of 12, 25, 50 and 75 servings. They also include timesaving, money-saving and presentation tips.

Vivaldo truly does think of everything, such as her presentation tip for multicolored cherry tomatoes filled with a rich, creamy blue cheese mixture: "Serve on a bed of mache (a watercresslike green with small, pretty leaves), frisee or curly endive for a really beautiful presentation, and, if you set the tomatoes on a bed of greens for a cushion, you won't have to bother slicing off the bottoms for balance."

Recipes, which come with shopping lists for both weeks and days before and include color photographs, are straightforward and easy to follow — whether for sophisticated fare like "His and Hers Beef Wellingtons," or a simple Mango, Pineapple and Kiwi Salad dotted with green onions and black sesame seeds. If you decide to build your own cake, fresh-flower-topped varieties and other specialties abound.

Here are a few tasty bites for you to try, even if your connection will be nothing more than giving this lifesaver as a holiday or engagement gift to a lucky — and soon to be organized and cost-efficient — couple.

CAVIAR-STUFFED EGGS

12 large eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) black lumpfish caviar (see Note)

3 red radishes, cut in half and thinly sliced

Small dill sprigs, for garnish

Yields 12 servings.

Hard-boil eggs, in batches if needed. Place the eggs in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring the pan to a boil over high heat, then cover the pan and turn off the heat. Let sit for 14 minutes, then rinse the eggs under cool running water to avoid a green ring around the yolk.

Peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks, reserving the hard-boiled white halves. Place the yolks in a bowl and mash with a fork (or use a food processor) until nearly smooth. Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Place the filling in a piping bag, a resealable plastic bag fitted with a large star or round tip. Fill the egg-white halves with the yolk mixture. Refrigerate to keep chilled.

Shortly before serving, top each egg half with a scant 1/8 teaspoon of caviar, two slices of radish and a dill sprig.

Note: To do it for less money, you can use any type of caviar for this recipe that you prefer. Lumpfish caviar is an excellent-tasting, inexpensive choice. Some less expensive caviar may "bleed" a little, but it tastes just fine.

TRUFFLED MASHED POTATOES

3 pounds fresh or frozen store-bought mashed potatoes, thawed in refrigerator if frozen

1 1/2 tablespoons truffle oil

1/4 cup chives, finely chopped

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted (optional)

1/3 cup heavy cream, warmed (optional)

Yields 12 servings.

Heat mashed potatoes in the microwave or on the stovetop, according to package directions. When potatoes are hot, stir in half the truffle oil, the chives and salt and pepper. Taste, and then add more truffle oil, salt and pepper. For creamier potatoes, add the butter and cream, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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