Soon-to-be brides use work time to plan big day

Planning a wedding can be time consuming but many soon-to-be brides are using company time to arrange their big day, according to a new poll.

Almost nine out of 10 women who took part in the survey confessed to using some company time to make wedding plans, but only a third believed that their work was negatively affected by it.

"Everybody loves a wedding and so as long as people aren't overwhelmingly distracted, people are willing to put up with a little bit of a small hit to productivity for love," said Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of TheKnot.com, a wedding planning website.

The survey of 1,000 women by TheKnot.com, WeddingChannel.com and ForbesWoman.com also showed that women spend about 10 hours a week planning their wedding and nearly 30 percent of it is done at work.

Twenty percent of women admitted that more than half of their wedding arrangements were done at work and 41 percent said they did it whenever they could. But only 15 percent said that someone at work had commented about it.

Most women also thought they did more work on the wedding than their partner.

"I bet nine out of 10 brides think they're pulling far more of the wedding planning weight, but in reality they're probably not willing to give up control," said Roney.

And despite the time they spent on planning, 38 percent of the women questioned think being engaged and married has a positive impact on how they are perceived at work.

Roney said lunch time and Mondays are particularly busy times on her website.

"Monday is our peak day of the week. People are getting back from their weekends and diving not only into their work, but into their wedding planning," she explained.

Although planning the wedding may distract them from their work, Roney believes after the wedding women are more focused on their jobs.

"Post wedding, people become much more serious and focused. They are saving for homes, so they're not in the mind of changing jobs as much because they're very focused on what their goals are ahead," said Roney. "There's a new seriousness in which they engage with the business of their life which I think makes them more serious about their work as well."

More than half of the women said that their married or engaged co-workers were more supportive than single colleagues about their wedding planning.

Complete results of the survey can be found on ForbesWoman.com.

- Reuters