Wedding Books

This book contained some great ideas and information for starting your own business. Very helpful, would definitely recommend.

I enjoyed this book and its simplicity, however, found it was a little out of date.

OK for a how to book. It does not give real world experience.

Very informative. It was a quick read, and gave lots of ideas for places to go for more information. Some of the links listed in the book are out of date, but considering how fast information changes on the web, I'm not surprised. A much better value than many of the other consultant books out there, and an excellent starting point for anyone considering this field.

The book goes in great detail of every aspect( financial work,alliances with certain business, all the little odds and ends for your business ) of starting the business, really really informative if you are serious of starting your shop or service.

Jo is a great person with wonderful ideas, now they are availble to us all. If your doing it yourself or just want some ideas, this is a elegant and crative place to start.

Jo Gartin's Weddings is a small book, compared to books by other event planners, such as Colin Cowie or Martha Stewart, but it packs a big punch in its pint size. She offers fresh, creative and inspiring ideas that, for the most part, are very do-able, and will add personal touches to every aspect of the wedding event. She shows several dresses she reworked, and how to do similar things yourself. There are clever ideas for flowers and centerpieces. My favorite part was how gracious her ideas are for welcoming guests, from personalized Seltzer bottles, to baskets with parasols, wired flowers for every guest, and fans doubling as programs. I am planning a destination wedding, and the amount of ideas for welcoming people are abundant. Highly recommended!

As an event planner I am always searching for new and interesting ideas. Well, Jo Garton's book provides just that. Upon first glance her eyeys do see to be in the pricey area (she is a planner/designer to the stars), but her ideas and be scaled down to fit more modest budgets. I loved the pictures and descriptions and the fact she strayed from the path or other books. Great book!

This book really helped in planning my wedding,it was fun and inspirational. There's alot of information on doing things more interesting and unique versus traditional. Out of all the books I acquired for my wedding planning this was by far my favorite.

This book had so many great ideas for making my wedding unique. They are simple and feasible to create, but be prepared to be crafty or have someone you know who is crafty help you.

Thid book was not what I was expecting. I was hoping for a book that showed me lots of different pictures of lovely cakes that my wedding clients could pick from. What I got was a book that shows ugly out-dated cakes that belong in some other time period that rejected them, and then to top it off - how to make these ugly cakes.

Not at all what I was after and nothing like the description made it out to be.

Great condition. Better than I expected and the delivery time was excellent.

I bought this book when I was only a beginner in cake decorating. I remember how disappointed I was when I received this book --- it was beautiful, but not practical at all to me at the time. All the gum paste and fondant work were just too difficult and new to me (and the whole book IS about gum paste and fondant, no buttercream and royal icing whatsoever).

Now that I have completed my gum paste classes and am doing my fondant course, this book became a great reference book! There are indeed some tools that can't be found in any store where I live, but the ideas and designs are amazing!

If you are looking for a book in fondant and sugar art, this book is highly recommaded. But if you are looking for a beginner's tool book or something more practical, I will say Wilton's tool books are a lot better.

This was certainly an excellent purchase - Very inspiring - and good source for instruction.

The designs in this book are exquisite, no doubt about it. But to copy even some of the elements, much less an entire cake, you would need TONS of specialty equipment that could easy set you back hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Unique veiners, cutters, mats, push molds, beadmakers, stencils -- the list goes on and on. And no, you can't duplicate the effects without this equipment. That expense, coupled with the minimum 30-40 hours of decorating work I'd estimate for each cake, puts these designs way out of the reach of all the brides in my area, and probably most of them anywhere. A good book for oohing and aahing, but unless you've got oodles of money and time to burn, not actually useful.

Being new to reading fiction, I just did not know what to expect from this book, but it was much better than I thought it would be. This book is about so much more than just weddings. The women in this story are so real and believable and I found myself relating to certain aspects of all of them. The writing is so well done and the story is told in a fluid and interesting manner. I really enjoyed this book from start to finish.

Readers familiar with Beth Webb Hart will have no trouble recalling her previous titles, GRACE AT LOW TIDE and ADELAIDE PIPER. Both books made Booklist's top 10 Christian fiction books in 2006, and with good reason: Hart's writing style was utterly exquisite, and her skill as a storyteller matched her style.

THE WEDDING MACHINE represents something of a departure from her previous works, centered as they were on the interior lives of two young women. Make no mistake, the setting is still the South Carolina Low Country, and Hart's Southern sensibilities emerge once again in her descriptions of both the social structure of a small town in the South and the low country itself. But here the focus is on a group of four longtime female friends, now in middle age with daughters to marry off.

Hilda, Ray, Sis and Kitty B. have inherited from their mothers the task of organizing Jasper's weddings, at least within their own social circle and the congregation of All Saints Episcopal Church. Known as the Wedding Guild, the four women have this whole wedding thing down to a science. If anything upsets the proceedings, it won't be due to a lack of planning on their part. Every detail, down to the Krazy Glue in the emergency wedding-day box, has been carefully attended to by the human "wedding machine."

Things get hairy, though, one summer when the machine begins to break down. Hilda, who has been holed up in her house ever since her husband left her nearly two years earlier, makes an appearance just long enough to stir things up before hiding herself away once again. Ray faces a crisis of monumental proportions --- given her Southern upbringing, that is --- when her daughter makes the mistake of her life, to Ray's way of thinking. The never-married Sis, still grieving over the loss of the love of her life decades earlier, struggles with her lack of attraction to the single minister everyone wants to pair her up with. Kitty B. continues to live a life of not-so-quiet exasperation with her chronically ill, apparently hypochondriac husband. And although these women have been best friends their entire adult lives, several harbor deep secrets that they have never shared with each other and that go a long way in explaining their personalities and relationship challenges.

The story itself is among the book's strengths, as is Hart's attention to detail. (One detail could have used a bit of an explanation, though: the frequent references to "shagging." It's clear from the context that it's a dance, but a brief description of the Carolina shag would have helped keep readers' minds from wandering to that other, slangy meaning of shag; think "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.") However, I found the introduction of so many characters so early on to be confusing. By the middle of the book, the four main characters had settled into their distinctive personalities, and at that point the storyline did become easier to follow. Another problem, though, was the juxtaposition of flashbacks and the current storyline. For whatever reason --- perhaps the layout method used to distinguish now from then --- I found it difficult to keep my bearings with regard to the various time periods.

Even with those flaws, THE WEDDING MACHINE surpasses many of its cousins in Christian fiction. Readers of Southern fiction --- or anyone who has lived in the "real" South --- will no doubt enjoy this glimpse into the lives of four women thoroughly entrenched in the ways of the Old South.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

I really enjoyed this book. It stayed with me for a long while after I read it. For those who have had a tough childhood and still pretend to be in a perfect world, it hit home. I could also relate to labors for the church in a behind the scenes way that seems completely senseless but somehow is the glue that binds us to the church and the other ladies doing the same things. It's love. We do it for love and because of something more, a treasure to carry on, get us through life and ultimately all of this helps us to serve and love God. I was comforted by this book.

The most wrenching parts for me were Hilda's struggle with her childhood memories and her not getting any help for herself and also the young soldier who was killed in Viet Nam. Lots of things made me cry in this book and I was amazed at the depth of feeling and the broad knowledge that this author was able to bring to life..

I especially was tickled by the purple people eater church description in a strip mall. Now that was funny. Here in the South, you can see a new church popping up every day with some catchy nondenominational name sometimes in your face names to show you they are NOT like the traditional church. They are everywhere here at the same time traditional churches struggle to keep their members who just want to be a place to honor and worship God without all the hoopla of rock concerts. It will be interesting to see how this all falls out now that we are into the second generation of this sad conflict. Will elderly parishoners still want to rock out when they turn 70? Are these new churches only for the young or the forever young? Frankly, I'm just glad that people are going to church!!!

I loved the book and am going to recommend it to my Altar Guild friends! LOL. It's sort of pep talk for us.

If you are a fan of Hart's other novels, the The Wedding Machine will not disappoint you! Hart delves into the lives of four middle-aged women who are friends since high school. Written from both the past and present, through the perspective of the four main characters, this charming story gives insight into the mini-culture that is southern weddings. The lives of these interesting, endearing characters will make you laugh out loud and cry some too! Don't miss The Wedding Machine!

Beth Webb Hart's mastery of character development and attention to details in describing her characters' environments never fail to capture my imagination--and The Wedding Machine has successfully captured me once again! I have eagerly awaited the next story that this charming Southern author poured out and ever since I have had it in my hands, I have been lapping it up! I see myself and my friends--and my mother and her contemporaries--in these four characters. Beth Webb Hart has once again 'hit the nail on the head' in depicting the intimate details, struggles, joys and challenges that her characters face.

If you aren't from the South and wonder whether her descriptions of people and places and events are accurate, wonder no longer. She knows of what she speaks!

Great book covering a lot of ground and details. I can recommend this book for anyone wanting to get started in
wedding videos to make money. Good business ideas.

This is a very informative book. Well written by a professional of the industry. Has all the information you need from start to finish.

I was rather disappointed in this book. Much of the material was so "generalized" that it was not at all helpful, most was just plain common sense, and some was completely outdated. (Hey Kirk.....High Def IS here!) I would say that maybe 25% of the information was useful. Unfortunately, books covering this category seem to be rather scarce, so there are not too many other options.

Amazing examples, teaching, practicals on more than just filming! This book gives information on how to treat customers, how to market your video business, correct ways to write your disclaimers for jobs, and so much more. I bought the book and have already used several principles taught in the book with an upcoming wedding I have.

Your confidence and your professionalism will increase the minute you start reading. If you are a novice or a professional there is always something new to learn and this book will get you to the next level. With a DVD included in the book you can't go wrong. Also the book is full of recommendations for other websites and materials that will give you even more guidance in this field of videography.

100% amazing book that will really help - don't wait any longer, BUY IT today and see results!!

The advice on structuring contracts alone was worth the cost of the book, which also included practical advice on every aspect I was interested in. Highly recommended. The only downside overall was with UPS (yet again).

Good book- wish I had bought it BEFORE I had gotten my invitations. Not a lot of games, which is what i was really looking for, but a good idea book to get in the initial planning stages.

This is a great book for how to make invitations to planning games and favors for your wedding shower. I plan to use some of the ideas in here for my bridal shower. There are 10 themes to choose from such as 12 hour shower (ideas for different times of day), Spa Bridal Shower, Tis the Season, Victorian, and Hawaiian theme among others. The author gives you all you need for making invitations, favors, and playing games to go along with the themes in the book. However, I do wish she would have made the invitations into full size patterns (adding that would not have been hard--just extra pages at the back) instead of having to enlarge the patterns. You'll also like the recipes included in the book. Have fun planning your shower around one of these themes!

This is a fabulous book for showers or just themed party planning. It will come in handy in the future. The pictures are great and the ideas are complete, from menu, to décor to favors! A great find for the crafty. I also bought Wedding Showers by Adams & Russo and loved it too.

This book is awesome if you like to do crafts. I love doing crafts but I am not as crafty as other people. When me and the other bridesmaid started to do our invitations we thought we were getting in over our heads but the directions were easy and it turned out to be a great success. I posted the photos of our apron invitations on here for people to view. I highly recommend this book to anyone! It has a lot of different themes and beautiful invitations, decorations and ideas for bridal showers.

This book offers great ideas for shower themes, favors, games, menus, etc. including pictures and step-by-step instructions. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some trendy wedding shower ideas.

this is a great, well organized guide. It is a little repetitive, but the lists and charts are very helpful.

This is a step-up from your average beach read and more substantial than chick-lit. History, romance and great food all weave together for a highly enjoyable reading experience... as my Italian grandmother would say, "Try it, you'll like it!"

I picked this up expecting a romance (based on the cover and title)....and my expectations for romances are no longer that high- having read more than my share of them. However, this is a wonderful book that anyone would enjoy- men and women alike.

There is a wonderful love story, but also a lot of humor, and what I like the best- was that you learn so much about conditions in WWII, volcanoes, and Italian food.

In short, very well researched, and very well written- a book I could not put down.

I learned so many new things by reading The Wedding Officer. I learned all about Naples in wartime, Mt. Vesuvius, Italian cooking and I also learned a lot of new words ("damenbinden" being my personal fave--Google it). This book seems to have it all yet, as much as I enjoyed it, something was missing. Kind of like the wonderful dishes Livia whipped up... if all the ingredients weren't present then the recipe falls a little flat, yet still edible. The first half of the book was a bit slow and textbook-ish but the second half was far superior. I wish the author would have told us up front that most of the events that occured in the book really happened...he reveals this in the Acknowledgements at the end. Overall, the premise was excellent but the execution was slightly off the mark. Not off the mark enough to skip this interesting novel, just off enough to keep it from earning 5 stars from me. Overall, I would highly recommend The Wedding Officer.

In Audio really didn't enjoy this story it was too easy to day dream during it when good stories you can't stop listening and you can't leave the room because they are so wonderful. But the Wedding Officer didn't grab me enough. The narrator did his best with the Italian accents. Interesting the ground being fertilised by the Vesuvius erupsion and the produce being really rich from the soil after but other than that sorry 2 stars. I know a lot of reviewers don't give bad reviews only 4 or 5 stars on any book but that is not what this is all about. As Buyer of books or Audios we need honest opinions whether we should or shouldn't spend or waste our money on the particular audio.

Don't waste your money on this Audio.

We picked this selection for our book club last month. The first several chapters were interesting, and I really felt like the characters were going to be very engaging. Then it hit a plateau. The characters lost their charm and fell flat. I'm honestly not much of a feminist, but I soon felt this was a book written by a man with one fantasy in mind: having a woman who does nothing but cooks for him and has sex whenever he pleases. It becomes very tedious after a while.

I absolutly loved this cookbook, though I'm not married I recently had a child and felt that cooking would need to be a nessesity as a mother. All the recipies are easy and might come as a suprise that you accually have the items that u need in the house. I was happy to have recived this book an u would be 2.

not a newlywed but i like to eat. Simple, easy and elegant recipes. Short prep times excellent results the majority of the items most people have already or they are easy to find. Good book for a bad cook.

Recipes are easy to follow and quite good. I have been giving it to all my friends that are getting married. Wish there were pictures in the book, however, to make it more appealing.

I bought this book as a gift for a girlfriend getting married because I loved my copy so much! This is a great book for any newlywed - new to the kitchen or seasoned cooks. Lots of great ideas & recipes in here for everyday and for special occasions. I have found some of the recipes when followed exactly to be "missing something" in taste. My husband and I have experimented and made some the recipes "our own" for this reason. Overall a great book.

This book is great for newlyweds. It has sections for holiday meals, and romantic cooking for 2 meals. Most meals are made to serve 2 people. There are sections about entertaining, hosting a Thanksgiving meal, etc. Great for a couple who are new to living together and are learning how to cook for two. Full color pages. I gave this book as a bridal shower gift to my friend, along with Betty Crocker's Cookbook - Bridal Edition.