Wedding Books

love the files that divide each section. i use them to hold my contracts, business cards, and receipts. love the intro where you can write about your relationship, your proposal, etc. helpful tips as well.

I decided to go to the store to search for a wedding organizer instead of buying from Amazon because I wanted to actually look through the books to see how useful they might be. This organizer is by far and away the greatest. It has tons of places to write things, lots of pertinent questions to ask when searching for various services, lists of things not to forget, suggestions for ways to word things, etc. And, in the back of the book there is an accordian file which contains pockets for the following categories: ceremony, wedding attire, photography, videography, stationery, reception, music, bakery, flowers, transportation, rental items, miscellaneous, honeymoon. The book is hard bound and they've left extra room to let it expand when you fill it up with papers. Don't pay full price like I did...buy this book from Amazon...it's excellent!

This is the best organizer, great tips & I love the accordian file, which is attached.

I liked it because it's more than a workbook. It has elements that make it a memory book too. It's not something you would throw away after using it. The according file attached to it is basically why I bought it.
I highly recommend it.

Planning a marriage can be very stressful, expecially when both of us work and many of the guests are from out of the country. You need the best advice and methods for getting things done quickly and right the first time. We returned many other books that were too vague or had obvious self-evident "ideas". This book though was a keeper. I can say now, after the fact, that this book saved us much time and stress. The detailed checklists were particulary useful. Everything was clear and well written. I recommend this for anyone who wants things to go right.

This book is very well presented. Besides being a companion book for a novel, it is a quilt pattern book.

Was a gift for my sister and future brother-in-law. Had it shipped to them, but it was never received. Sounds like a good book though.

I was hoping the focus would be on planning an outdoor wedding. I am a very detail oriented person and thought this would give me all the details I've established and then the ones I wouldn't even think of, being I've not planned an elegant outdoor event. Unfortunately my own details far surpassed what is written in this book. Most of the advice mentioned in this book is common sense. I would have appreciated a bit more info on seating, on sand, deck, grass, a mountaintop...decor, and what will work where, and what to use in place of candles (being outside can be windy), Outdoor foods, maybe some budget ideas thrown in...a disappointment, sorry

We learned so much from this book! From the insider questions to the solutions to common weather challenges, decor ideas and great secrets about which types of menu items to use and not use...this book saved us a LOT of trouble with our planning, and we now have details that we're confident about. Instead of worrying, we're looking forward to the wedding because we were so well-guided by this book! We especially loved the ideas for planning an outdoor wedding aisle, and those will definitely be a part of the wedding.

Whether you are contemplating a big bash of a celebration, an intimate dinner, or an elegant afternoon party, this book has plenty of inspiration and ideas. I bought it in anticipation of a wedding potentially planned for a barn. We moved the venue, but still borrowed many ideas from the book for refreshments, flowers, lighting and other party particulars.

This book is way short on substance (based on what it's supposed to help you with) and way long on anonymous hype. Don't buy it.

I brought this book to read on a summer vacation and I was so bored and put off by the first 38 pages that I will read no further. The author seems preoccupied with coy cuteness, unimaginative language, and the bathroom habits of dogs. I just couldn't take any more; I usually at least skim a book once I've plunked down my money for it, but I think I'd rather watch my well-behaved dog chase grasshoppers in the front yard than read another page of perky pretentiousness.
Is this how women of faith really write?

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.

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!

A nice little book covering a multitude of subjects. Was more interested in recipes and costumes, but found the other information fascinating. the costume side of things was good.

Pity its so hard to order from overseas

This book is full of great ideas, recipes, clothing, dances and more.I used this as a guide to plan a medieval birthday party and it was fantastic! I would highly recommend this book.

If you are planning a Medieval Celebration of any kind this is a great book to buy. My Fiancee and I have been looking for medieval books to plan our wedding by and I stumbled across this one its been very helpful and I'm sure it will get alot of use. It has many tradations recipes and lots of fun games a must have.

My fiance and I purchased this book as we are planning a medieval wedding. The title and description of this book implied that we would find lots of valuable information on that topic. Well, we found lots of valuable information for feast planning, or putting on a re-enactment (a la Society for Creative Anachronism), and very little concerning period wedding traditions. The most interesting parts were the recipes/redactions and the instructions for medieval dance steps. There are also several pages that contain sheet music for period songs. If you are looking to put on a reenactment or feast, this is the book for you. If you are looking for anything else, I suggest you look elsewhere.

This book "The Wedding Planners Daughter" is where it all starts willa or as her mom named her willafred havisham when she was born she had a dad but then when he gave willa's mom stella a card saying to come to the park on their honeymoon she came and started waiting and waiting then suddenly a police officer came and told her that her husband had died on being on a hot air balloon so since that day willa's mom never wanted to love again. But willa in the other hand wanted a father really bad and so then a poet moved in next door and he was willas english teacher. he seemed extremely nice and on open house he and stella saw each others eyes and willa seemed happy and well to read it more Will the poet "Sam" be willa's dad???

Willa Havisham may be the only twelve-year-old who reads classics, eats cherry cordials, and just so happens to be the worst wisher in the world.

Her glamorous single mother, Stella, plans the most beautiful weddings and is constantly moving the two of them around. When they finally move back to Stella's childhood hometown of Bramble, Cape Cod, Willa begins to think her wishes are coming true. She's made her first-ever best friend, is bonding with her crazy Nana, and, best of all, Stella seems to be falling for Willa's English teacher -- who just happens to be perfect dad material.

But when, after a wedding disaster, Stella is ready to pack up and throw everyone out, how can Willa stop everything from going back to the way it was?

THE WEDDING PLANNER'S DAUGHTER was a book I'd been hearing about for awhile, so when the chance came up to review it, I was excited. It ended up being one of the most hilarious books I've read in quite some time. The characters, Willa especially, were so well-developed and real. I could understand Stella's hesitation but also Willa's determination. Everything in the book was well-thought out and easy to relate to.

I'll definitely be recommending this to my librarian and friends. Now I can't wait to read the sequel!

Reviewed by: Harmony

A very entertaining and fast read. If you have a daughter and want to know what they will experience potentially, I believe this book helps.

Initially, I started reading this book to help my daughter with her book report, but as I started skimming, I really became engrossed and felt like I was watching a movie. I started to care for the characters and really hoped the ending was good and not too tragic. Definitely worth your time. It is written from the perspective of Willa (the wedding planner's daughter) and revolves primarily around her and her relationship with her mom (the wedding planner).

Worth the time and leaves you feeling warm.

This is thwe best book I have evr read n my whole entire life. It is about a girl who moves around alot because her mom is a wedding planner. She has a crush on a guy and she also tries her hardest to get her mom and her teacher, Sam, together. True romance and laughter are revealed in this book you`ll have to read it to find out if Sam and her mom get married and if she ends up with her crush!

The Wedding Planners Daughter
Colleen Murtagh Paratore


12 years old, likes eating cherry cordials, reading classics, and doesn't have a father. That describes Willafred Havisham, but there is one thing she wants to change. Her mother Stella has dragged Willa to seven different towns, because she is afraid of falling in love, and getting her heart broken again. This time, Willa and her mother are in Bramble, Cape Cod. This is where she meets her first best friend Tina, spends time with her cool nana, and she and her mother meet Sam, who is Willa's English teacher and her neighbor. The best part is that Stella is slowly falling for Sam. Will this be the end of Willa's search for a father? Or will Stella pack her bags and drag Willa to a new town?
In my opinion, this is an outstanding book. The Wedding Planners Daughter is now one of my very favorites and this I've read it about three times. As I read farther into it, the more I got into the story. This is something that I am glad that I didn't miss.
I would recommend this book to all girls who are in their preteens or even teens. Trust me you will LOVE this book and you might even read it again more than I did. When you read it, you will be glad that you didn't miss it either!

The most recent offering in the "... From Hell" series of paranormal romance anthologies reminds me a lot of P.N. Elrod's "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding", only in this case, the offerings are four novellas. I'm a sucker for anthologies, since it's like getting a mini-library in one volume, though they often tend to be mixed bags of good and okay stories.

The book starts off on a bang, with Maggie Shayne's "Till Death", in which the heroine of Scottish descent must find a way to break a curse cast on the brides of her clan and save both herself and the man she loves from being the next victims. Wonderfully evocative writing and the heroine is a strong but considerate young lady who values family and seeks its healing for the sake of her kin above all.

The second selection, Jeaniene Frost's "Happily Never After" is my favorite of the lot: on the eve of her unwelcome wedding to a wannabe Mob boss, the unwilling bride finds help from a vampire friend of her plucky Italian grandma. The story deliberately sends up the tropes of Mob literature; it made me giggle out loud in not a few places!

Terri Garey's "Ghouls Night Out" brings us a heroine I'd love to see more of: Nicki Styx (great name!) gets roped into filling in for a missing bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding, but when she gets fitted for the gown that needs a gal in it, she finds herself face to face with the desperate ghost of the former wearer. The story reads a little like a "Ghost Whisperer" fanfiction with the serial numbers carefully filed off, but I'm a big fan of "Ghost Whisperer" and of fanfiction.

The last offering, Kathryn Smith's "The Wedding Knight" features a Victorian vampiric Templar Knight who steps in to prevent the marriage of his ladylove to a craven Knight of a rival order. Of the four stories, this one is the weakest: the dialogue was too modern for its setting (even a headstrong Victorian woman wouldn't have used the term "knocking boots") and the story could have been tightened if one of the love scenes had been edited out.

All in all, this is a fun, airy collection of tales: and isn't the perfect wedding supposed to be delightful and decorous?

Although I usually love these authors this is not really an outstanding anthology. The stories are bland and the first one by Maggie Shayne did not set a very warm example. It is readable if you have nothing else.

Maggie Shayne gives us a curse, placed by an ancestor whose husband was caught with a maid. It was mildly interesting, as soon as she met the lawyer, you knew they would get togather. There was no mystery but there is a twist when the curse is lifted. A so-so story.

Jeaniene Frost gives us a woman forced to marry a mobster to save her brother. However, her grandma calls in a favor from an old love who is undead.

Terri Garey gives us a short Nicky Styx story. It was OK. Nicky winds up a bride's maid for her cousin. The missing bridesmaid turns up as a ghost and talks to Nicky.

Kathryn Smith gives us a story about a Vampire created by the Templars. The woman he loves, and has been trying to forget is getting married.

Each story is OK but none are great.

Got the book, read it--I so wish Maggie had tied her story to the Witch series--the fact that it had a witch in it was misleading!
Loved Kathryn Smith's "Blood Grail Vampire Payne---her story was fantastic.
A new author to me--one I plan to check out soon is Jeannie Frost---the story was very good--I liked it as much as Kathryn's Smith's story
And another author, Terri Garey, who I never heard of before really entertained me with her wit.....

[Till Death by Maggie Shayne] 3.5 stars

My disappointment came in I think because I was wanting this to be another leg to her Witch series--BUT IT WAS NOT--and I almost wish it had been Vampire---It was good, however!

[Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost] 5 stars

[Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey] 3.5 stars

[The Wedding Knight by Kathryn Smith] 5 stars

Overall this was a really enjoyable anthology. I gain interest in a two new authors. I love it that Kathryn Smith's tied in whith her Blood Grail Vampires. Maggie Shayne's story is 9has to be) stand alone--nothing connected with her witch series--and truly far from her Vampire series--no mystery or suspense either. Just a romance-- done in Maggie style.

Four new short stories all revolving loosely around a 'wedding' theme from some hot paranormal authors: some old (long established) some new - now all we need is something borrowed and something blue and we're set to go.

Maggie Shayne's story centers around an ancient Scottish family curse - their spouses' infidelity is deadly for the MacLellan brides. Shayne's a long time favorite of mine (love her vamps) but while the premise and the chemistry between the leads was good, the lightspeed dating was just a bit too fast to be satisfying. There were hints of reincarnation or soul mates but not tied together well enough to make the story really work for me. (3 stars)

Jeaniene Frost's contribution is set in the world of her Night Huntress series and has several brief pop-ins by that series' hero Bones. But the hero vampire Chance is an almost as luscious. As a favor to his sire (Bones), Chance steps in to save the lovely Isabella from a coerced marriage to a would-be B-movie type mafia boss and Chance finds himself attracted to her with an intensity he's never felt before in his very long life. Isabella and Chance are every bit as good as Bones and Cat, Frost does great heroes and competent intelligent heroines well. This was fun but trying to pull Bones in felt forced and a bit hokey to me. (3.5 stars)

Kathryn Smith's entry gives us a vampire romance which is spin off from her regency era Templar series, Brotherhood of the Blood. Smith did a good job with her commitment phobic immortal and the forthright young woman who is deterimined to convince him that living in fear of love is really not living at all. Smith fit alot of steamy stuff into her short space, but this one lost some points for me for a crude word or two. I hate the 'P'word - my problem I know, but it really pulled me out of the scene and since this was a short story there wasn't really time to get back into it. (3.5 stars)

My favorite of the four, terri Garey gives us a little vignette with her series' heroine ghostwhisperer Nicki Styx. Here Nicki's a last minute fill-in for her cousin's wedding - someone has to wear the bridesmaids' dress from hell and Nicki's 'it'. If the banana yellow Carmen Miranda dress isn't bad enough, Nicki ends up having to deal with the ghost of the dead bridesmaid. This one wasn't a romance, even though Nicki's boyfriend is on hand to provide some sweet talking and moral support. Garey's first Nicki Styx book is sitting in my TBR pile, but this story was a well done standalone so that I still enjoyed it even with no knowledge of the series. For you fans, I am sure that it would be even more fun. (4.5 stars)

If you enjoyed these shorts, you'll definitely want to check out the authors' full length novels -- which are even better. Here's a few to get you started.

Jeaniene Frost
Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1)
One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2)

Kathryn Smith (Brotherhood of the Blood - Templar vampires)
Be Mine Tonight (The Brotherhood of Blood, Book 1)
Night of the Huntress (The Brotherhood of Blood, Book 2)
Taken by the Night (The Brotherhood of Blood, Book 3)
Let the Night Begin (The Brotherhood of Blood, Book 4)

Terri Garey
Dead Girls Are Easy (Nicki Styx, Book 1)
A Match Made in Hell

Maggie Shayne
Immortal Desire
Eternal Love (Berkley Sensation)
Demon's Kiss (Wings in the Night, Book 1)

I picked this up because I had recently read Terri Garey's DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY and really like her Nikki Styx character and also because I used to be a big fan of Maggie Shayne's "Wings In the Night" books. I hadn't read Jeaniene Frost or even heard of Kathryn Smith. It ended up being a 50-50 split on how good it was. I thought the Maggie Shayne story was by far the worst. It was so saccharine sweet I was afraid I might barf by the time I got to the end of it! I love her old stuff, this just wasn't up to that standard, IMHO. I wasn't terribly fond of Kathryn Smith's story, but then I'm not a fan of stories that take place in that time period anyway. Terri Garey's story was my favorite. Nikki's been roped into her cousin's wedding and has to deal with the ghost of a dead bridesmaid. I really like this character! And I enjoyed Jeaniene Frost's story so much, I ordered her 2 books. Not a bad way to pass a Saturday afternoon, and if you get lucky enough for half the stories in an anthology like this to be good that's not a bad deal!

This was our first Eloise book. My daughter loves anything about weddings. It was pretty cute but the story seemed a little lacking. I'd buy it again but there are other books that I would chose over this one. Perhaps Eloise is starting to be upstaged by Fancy Nancy.

my daughter Loves everything about Eloise! it gives her the chance to live out things she may never come up with (i hope) though i would have loved to take her for an overnight @ the Plaza Hotel, Eloise Stories are the next best thing to never at all.