Wedding Books

I bought this book for my niece as a shower gift because she and her fiancé are paying for their own ceremony and reception. I flipped through it before giving it to her and I was amazed at how much information the author managed to fit into one book. The chapters seem like they can stand on their own even without the lists of URLs at the end of each chapter, but my niece really liked the feature. So far she's gotten a lot of great ideas from this book and she's already startedbuying things for her wedding (online, of course!)

iDo is the book I wish I had had for my own wedding... Christa Terry does a great job covering all the bases of planning a real live wedding using the huge and sometimes bewildering array of options available online these days. The book is rooted in real world experience, both the author's as well as the some other couples who agreed to act as case studies.

Like most things wedding-related, the packaging and marketing is aimed at women, but there's a lot of stuff for grooms in there as well. The whole thing is written in a funny and down-to-earth style and is a good read on its own.

Thorough, on-point, and sensitive, this book contains all the information an engaged couple would need to plan their perfect wedding. Whether your budget is $100 or $100,000, whether you want to buck tradition or savor it, and whether you have two months or two years to plan, the advice in this book will help you immensely. Every chapter is loaded with links to help you find what you're looking for; vignettes from women who used the advice given; historical background on the traditions in question, and ideas for alternatives to those traditions; and the basics on etiquette surrounding the concepts themselves.

The writing style is accessible *and* enjoyable, with a happy and light-hearted tone -- and rightfully so! I've read too many wedding-planning guides that were forceful, intense, and loaded with unrealistic expectations of the happy couple. This one is genuinely HAPPY for the reader, and lets you know right in the beginning that every section is flexible to the point of optional, so that you feel comfortable using anything, everything, or nothing of each idea.

All in all, I would (and have already done so!) highly recommend this book to any engaged couple. By the time they're done reading it, they'll have already saved 10% of their wedding budget by not needing a wedding coordinator!

Having just gotten engaged two months ago (yay!), I've been scouring bookstores and the Internet for advice on planning a simple yet elegant wedding on a shoestring budget (yikes!). I had already set two rules for my wedding: (1) no one will go into debt for it, and (2) no one will dress like a fairy princess (unless they want to). Unfortunately, most of the books I read were aimed at the women who had expensive, fairy-princess weddings in mind and were written as if anyone planning a wedding was willing to take on the year-long equivalent of a part-time job.

Enter Christa Terry's iDo. I'd read Christa's writing on the popular blog "Manolo for the Brides" and, impressed by her ingenuity, decided to take a chance on ordering this book. It has two advantages that put it head and shoulders above every other wedding guidebook I've read so far. First, as the title promises, the book presents online tools to find almost every wedding resource you could ever need. Christa has combed the Internet and come up with sources for planning timelines, budget calculators, party equipment suppliers, photographers, even videos to teach you how to do the foxtrot for your first dance. Like a good teacher, Christa does not tell you what to do but shows you how to find the information to make your own decisions.

This leads me to the second great strength of the book: it encourages personalization and emphasizes the individual, rather than the "traditional" (a loaded word) element of weddings. Unlike the guides that make assumptions--often expensive ones--about the size and style of your wedding, iDo takes a "blank slate" approach. Christa points out the difference between the necessary and the optional and in so doing challenges many of the expectations exploited by the billion-dollar wedding industry.

There are a only couple of things that I wish iDo had done differently. The first is the format in which URLs are presented. For pages that are deeply embedded within Web sites, the book simply copies entire URLs and presents them, in all their incomprehensible glory, on the pager. This leads to the printing of some lengthy URLs that would be impossible to retype without some serious back-and-forthing between page and screen. Why not just list the homepage and give directions on how to navigate to the subpage?

Second, I occasionally found the sheer volume of information overwhelming. I'm sure that some of this is the inevitable result of the topic matter and the intent of the book. However, from a book that often points its readers to search engines in one form or another, I would have liked a little more guidance on how to filter data and craft useful search parameters.

Bear in mind that these criticisms are very mild in relation to the overall excellence and usefulness of this book. It is not--and does not claim to be--the only resource you'll need. As far as printed wedding planning guides go, however, it very well may be the only one you need to buy. Happy hunting!

In my opinion, it isn't worth paying for this book--all the same information is available, for free, at wedding websites. I bought a ton of wedding books--and never used them becaue I had all I needed online for free. If you aren't a computer-y person, then go for it...but if you know how to browse websites, save your money for the centerpieces, photography, or other wedding detail.

Once My Fiancee and I decided that it was neccessary for us to have a wedding I was overwhelmed by the frenzy involved with putting together such an event.Moreover, being that we live in NY where it BREATHING costs ya, I was even more fearful of the pricetag that would come attached to this memory. So, after breathing into a paper bag while watching Bridezillas and Platinum Weddings, I headed to the bookstore to seek some guidance.

This book confirmed that it was possible to remain the calm, sensible person I am, stay true to who we are as a couple , and have a great wedding on a budget. Unlike Bridal Bargains 8th Edition which seemed slapped together and excessively wordy,Wedding Chic's information is well organized and thoughtfully written from the sane personal perspective of Ms. Willdorf.

This book and the knot's Wedding planner are Wonderfully soothing answers to an industry hell bent on making reasonable women unreasonable and broke in the process.

Buy the Bridal Bargain's 8th edition as a supplement to find cost cutting ideas,( search for local nonprofit venue and write off reception rental as a donation) but DO NOT READ THEIR ADVICE. Unlike Ms. Willdorf who stays consistent (but not repeaitive) in her message, they often talk out of both sides of their mouths.

Wedding books can get so fluffy sometimes that, while fun to read, they are rendered practically useless as far as solid information is concerned. This book is a lot of fun to read but it is also very no nonsense. It's organized very well and is packed with ideas, how-to, and tips! I put a summary of each chapter in my planner and refer to it often. This book has become my planning bible!

I've purchased several wedding planning books, but Nina's is the absolute best. She has a fun, witty writing style and offers great tips for scoring the best prices and trendiest extras for your wedding. Don't hire a wedding planner - buy "Wedding Chic"!

This book really does let you in on some savvy ways to save money. It's also not product driven like bridal bargins is. There are a few names tossed out but it's mostly on letting you know what not to do to let others take advantage of you. The advice on updo's will be followed. Highly recommended!!

This arrived in good shape and in good time. I appreciate it all.

The novel, Cassandra at the Wedding (first published in 1962), starts out simply enough; the first-person narrator, Cassandra Edwards, tells us that the spring semester has ended at Berkeley, California, where she is writing an M.A. thesis on the contemporary French novel; and she's packing a bag to drive to her parents' ranch near Tipton to attend her sister Judith's marriage to a truly lovable man. Not only is Cassandra a budding scholar, she's a talented pianist, and competitive swimmer, and she loves her sister more than anyone--even more than her sister's fiancee--so Cassie thinks. For this is the point: Cassie cannot bear to part with her nearly identical twin sister and will do almost anything to stop their wedding. As Cassie lets us deeper into her thought processes, the reader will find that--as learned and cultured as she is--Cassie isn't aware of the effects she has on others and on herself: Cassie is often cynical, passive aggressive, and wantonly perverse in her refusal to "get it," i.e., to love and let love. Her insolence towards the people she says she loves is an astonishing dismissal of their emotional lives. The fact that Dorothy Dodds Baker makes it easy for us to see Cassie without Cassie seeing herself is testament to the author's mastery of irony and understatement. Without a doubt Baker has created a character who is both infuriating and heroic. In fact, it's Cassie's youth and intelligence that makes her inability to let her sister go such a riveting contemporary drama. Also of note: The NYRB book cover is an appropriate painting by David Park; Deborah Eisenberg's "Afterward" is informative.

You're a twin --- so close to your sister that she moved across the country.

Now she's getting married to a man you've never met and cutting the cord for good.

And you're her only bridesmaid.

In the universe we now inhabit --- the urban chickscape of "Sex and the City" --- Cassandra Edwards would have a posse of smart-talking, Chardonnay-swilling pals to help her through this overwrought moment. They'd gab for hours about her choice of a bridesmaid's dress. They'd speculate about the groom's endowment. And they'd tease Cassandra for her ambivalence about catching the bouquet.

"Cassandra at the Wedding" is a stunning rebuke to that shallow-as-glass sensibility.

More to the point, it's a smart, stylish, disturbing novel --- a book much too good to languish at an Amazon.com ranking of 1,000,000.

But then, Dorothy Baker is not exactly a household name. Young Man with a Horn --- her fictionalized account of the doomed jazz great Bix Beiderbecke --- was published in 1938. It's pure pleasure; I've read it a dozen times since discovering it as a kid. I thought it was her only novel until a Butler reader tipped me to "Cassandra at the Wedding", the last of what turn out to be Baker's three novels.

Like "Young Man with a Horn," this novel begins effortlessly: "I told them I could be free by the twenty-first, and that I'd come home the twenty-second." That makes Cassandra seem chatty and friendly. Well, it doesn't take long for her bitchy side to surface. Example: Her twin's beloved is John Thomas Finch. Cassandra's comment: "Where'd she meet him --- Birdland?"

Soon we see that Cassandra is an inventory of neurosis. She's writing a thesis about French writers rather than be a writer --- her mother wrote plays and novels --- but she's stumbling even in her academic writing. Her biggest issue, naturally, is her twin. She's just obsessed. And with every detail of their lives. She was, she notes, born "two ounces heavier and eleven minutes older than the one named Judith."

As children, they lived on the Northern California ranch where Judith will be married. They came right home after school: "We didn't need people." Now, even though separated, they're so in tune with one another that they have both bought the same dress to wear at the wedding.

To Cassandra, that's one more metaphor for all that's wrong about Judith's wedding --- one more reason she must stop it. She explains this to us at great length, and some readers, wading through these pages, will think this book is just talk talk talk. It's not. Baker is doing something far more subtle and accomplished --- she's presenting a close account of an unraveling personality.

On the wedding day, there's an event. No spoilers here, but it's not the wedding, and it is a shocker. And it leads to more. And, in the end, you feel you've come to know some people at least as complex as you are and as twisted as some people you know.

Oh, there's a twitch I've failed to mention. "With men I feel like a bird in the clutch of a cat, terrified, caught in a nightmare of confinement, wanting nothing but to get free and take a shower," Cassandra tells us. Translation: She's gay. Context: "Cassandra" was published in 1962, so at no point is this ever made explicit. But you can read the entire book without being aware of her sexuality. For me, that's the mark of good writing.

Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family

With "EVERY SINGLE GIRL'S GUIDE", Adryenn Ashley has packaged a necessary lesson for todays' about-to-be-married woman in an easy to read style. With the death rate for first marriages running at approx. 50%, many women will be marrying divorced men. Those men carry a lot of baggage, and step children are, arguably, the least of the lot. There is an ex-wife to consider, and the biases of the family courts, and the child support payments. In a light, sometimes humorous, writing style, Ashley has created a road map through the mine fields of marrying after a divorce. Chapter after chapter covers all the important topics, the financial aspects, the problems you will share with your recently divorced new husband, and the emotional import. Put romance aside while you read for practical effect. A real eye-opener, and a necessary prep before saying, "I DO!"

This book is hilarious and should be mandatory reading for anyone dating a previously married man. It will help you to feel empowered and knowledgeable about the big issues in marriage. As we all know, communication is essential for a healthy relationship and money is one of the most common triggers of fights between spouses (or spouses-to-be). So, here is THE guide to get you talking and laughing at the same time!


Now, if your future husband has children from a previous relationship (and you don't), it would be a good idea to brush up on your safety and read a parenting book or two ;) This can help ease any tension that might creep up with the ex! ;)Care for Kids: The Essential Guide to Preparing Caregivers

Fun book and very easy to read. I have bought several copies and have given them away at my pleasure parties to my brides to be. Plus, I have a gaggle of single girlfriends and have gifted this book to them and they LOVED it, too.

Knowledge is power is my motto. Adryenn teaches you everything you should know before you even think about getting married. Fun read and very sensible advice that you can put to use immediately.

I own this book and found it both fun to read and filled with great tips and must have information for any woman who plans to spnd her life with someone. Whether you're marrying a divorced man, or even just in a long term relationship without marriage plans - like myself - this book will be very helpful to you in planning your relationship strategy.

Adryenn Ashley's book is a clearly written, current, All-in-One, comprehensive guide to creating a marriage financial plan. Don't waste your money buying other books, then try piecing together outdated information.

If you have questions, need help planning your future marriage finances or getting through the legalese, this is the guide for you. Adryenn Ashley's book was written to strengthen marriages through sound and proven financial planning. Every Single Girl's Guide to Her Future Husband's Last Divorce

You know what for a minute i was debating wether to finish reading this book but i'm glad i did, it was a good book the ending for me with both of them suffering was emotional he was turly a great guy.....

Wedding Vow of Revenge by Lucy Monroe
Harlequin Presents # 2526 - March 2006
Bedded by Blackmail theme

Angelo's been plotting revenge for ten years on the man who drove his mother to suicide and stole his family business. Finally he's found the perfect revenge and the opportunity is now. Tara's a former supermodel who had a disastrous affair with a wealthy tycoon, the very same tycoon that ruined Angelo's mother. Now she's earned her MBA and is working for a company that Angelo owns, and when he seeks her out to praise her abilities, she's wary of his intentions.

At first Angelo pursues Tara only as a means of vengeance against his enemy. The attraction between them is intense and leads to marriage. And when his enemy tries to find Tara and tell Tara about her husband's deceit, Angelo fears he'll lose her. Angelo is definitely one of those alpha males and he's got a definite ruthless streak, however, Ms. Monroe made sure that Angelo had a strong sense of fairness and admiration for strength in others. Tara and Angelo make a wonderful couple and I'm very glad I got to read their story.

After the media circus she had been through Tara Peters decided that it will never happen again. She focused on a business career and worked hard to get where she was. Angelo Gordon was looking for revenge against the man that had taken away from him his parents. It so happen that this man was the same that got Tara in a vulnerable place. Angelo decided that he would do anything to get his revenge and protect Tara at the same time, only problem is Tara doesn't see it that way. Lucy has once again weaved a story where the characters have spunk and chemistry. Every time Angelo and Tara are in the same room the heat is enough to trigger the smoke alarm. This is a story about, betrayal, trust and love and how to conquer all the barriers that can come between a couple even if the odds are against them. It's a beautiful story of learning and conquering. Like all her books, this is a keeper.

Wedding Vow Of Revenge is another compelling, sensual tale by Lucy Monroe.

Angelo Gordon is driven to even the score with the man that destroyed his late father's company and drove his mother to take her own life. The perfect plan falls into his lap when his enemy's former lover works at one of Angelo's companies.

Tara Peters has left her life of modeling and disastrous affair behind her when she went to work for Primo Tech. Tara is currently in the management-training program and is floored when the owner Angelo Gordon asks to meet with her. What starts as an all out seduction of Tara gets complicated when Angelo gets to know Tara. Tara didn't want to fall for another powerful businessman but Angelo knocks down all her defenses. Will her love hold when she finds out the truth?

Wedding Vow Of Revenge is a wonderful story of revenge, redemption and the power of love. Lucy Monroe should be on any romance reader's auto buy list.

From the back: The instant Angelo Gordon sees model Tara Peters he's certain she will share his bed. But her beauty isn't the only attraction - he wants vengeance! Tara is not an easy conquest. When she pushes Angelo away he realizes he can only win her over by playing a different game. Angelo will raise the stakes and take the ultimate revenge: marriage!
Very sweet love story by Lucy Monroe with very likeable characters and sizzling chemistry.

All I read were the stories of women who had broken off their engagements or had their engagements broken off. I was unsure if what I was feeling about my own engagement was cold feet or something more serious. I was a little disappointed to find that there wasn't more discussion of how to figure that out--only a few pages.

For me, the last third of the book--putting marriage and engagement in a sociological context--was unnecessary and unhelpful. I imagine that those who do call off their engagements will find the middle section--how to do everything from send back gifts to recall invites--very helpful.

My discussions with my close friends were more insightful than this book. I suppose it was nice to hear stories of other women in similar situations, but I felt that the book was repetitive and could have been summarized in two pages.

For any would-be-bride, this book is a must. Humurous at times, tearful at others, this book helps remind us that calling off the wedding is not the end of the world. A wonderful combination of advice with antecdotal stories from other would-be brides. After cancelling my own wedding 12 days before the event, I was searching high and low for something to help me through the grieving process. The book was IT! A wonderful find.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I found it about 2 weeks after my wedding was called off and a year later, I still get something out of it. If you just called off your wedding, or are thinking about it, this book will let you know that you are not alone in the myriad of emotions. I have recommended this to so many people, even those who went through the end of a serious relationship, not necessarily an engagement. It will sit next to your bed and you will pick it up at 4 in the morning for comfort.

This book is a long-needed resource for would-be and not-sure brides! Ms. Safier reinforces what many women know deep down: That if you have doubts, it's time to walk out before you walk down the aisle. An engagement is easier to get out of than a divorce, and sometimes those uneasy feelings are the nagging of common sense and responsiblity, not "cold feet." She also tells you how to heal afterwards, and how to deal with the well-intentioned but thoughless/spiteful/nosy questions and remarks that you'll inevitably get from acquaintances.

Ladies, read this book before you say "I do" and hold your heads high and know that you ARE doing the mature thing if you decide it's time to say, "I don't."

I still haven't finished it but i find this book awesome!!!

I referred to it after seing Mark Ridout's website. It contains lots of pratical tips about both wedding photography business and wedding photography itself.

Go for it!

I generally like books from the Thomson's digital photography series. Their books are typically lucid, well illustrated, and informative. Karney's book fits well into the Thomson series. He brings his expert, professional knowledge to the craft of wedding photography, focusing primarily on the technical aspects of the profession.

But keep in mind Karney's book is a general guide about wedding photography. If you already have such a book, you probably won't learn too much different in this one. He introduces the basics of choosing camera and software related equipment, setting up and carrying out a wedding shoot, and processing the photos after you've shot the wedding.

Specific chapters include: Equipment Matters, Computers and Software (main focus on PC and Windows users. No Mac examples present), Setting Up a Website, Getting Ready for the Big Day, Making Creative and Fun (this section could be expanded), and Proofing, Selling, and Printing.

He primarily shares and explains the tools he uses, such as iView Media Pro iView MediaPro 3 (Win/Mac) and Photodex ProShow. He doesn't delve into the latest popular software like Adobe Lightroom Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 Win/Mac or Apple's Aperture Apple Aperture 1.5. But the workflow process he introduces could apply to almost any digital management system.

The book is well illustrated and even contains a few useful camera tutorials that every photography should either know about or learn. In fact, it would be great to see Karney write an entire book of these types of tutorials.

Cons: The book is lacking in a few areas. I felt he should have spent more time on photo technique and style. You will certainly need to check out other books on this subject. And many of the photos included in the book, while very nice, don't always illustrate the points he's making on a particular page. For example, all the tutorials could have used photos to illustrate what he is instructing readers to do. I also think he could have included more about how Photoshop actions useful to wedding photographers. PS actions are huge time savers for anyone in the business. And finally, the business aspects wedding photography are not well introduced in this book, but again you can find more information in other books about this topic. Check out Best Business Practices for Photographers

Overall, though, the book is one of many that a serious beginning photographer should read. I've read better ones than this, but I do appreciate the information and experience Karney shares in his book. I highly suggest getting this or a similar book if you're just starting out in the profession and you're looking for ideas and suggestions from a pro.

There is a lot of good information for the beginning photographer getting into the wedding business. I like the way that the wedding day is broken into segments and details what the photographer and crew need to do to stay on top of the event. I would like to see more alternative programs or methods to accomplish the finishing touches. The book compares iview and lightroom and gave good coverage to both. There was limited coverage to the use of the internet to share photos. The mention of fotofusion as an alternative to using photoshop for collage layouts is good advice.
There are some typos in the book but they do not take away from the overall message in the book. I am now just getting back into wedding photography after an absence of several years. The book has been great in detailing how the art of the wedding photographer has changed.
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to get an in depth overview of wedding photography as an occupational choice.

This book was given 3 stars because it was very slow, and the characters always flirted, but it never led anywhere, and the first kiss was chapters further than what I would have thought. Other than those things, the book was good.

When 15-year-old Evelyn interrupts what she takes to be a tryst between Justin and a prominent diplomat's wife, she exacts a note of debt from the ruffled 23-year-old in return for her silence. Ten years later, Evie, who is filling in for her aunt as a society wedding planner, comes calling with her note. She needs Justin's familial estate for the wedding of the season. He agrees reluctantly, complaining it will interfere with his bird-watching he's an ornithologist on the tail of the elusive Bubo Formosa Plorimus (Most Beautiful Owl) but in truth, the nuptials will provide an excellent cover for his espionage activities. Far from the frivolous ladies' man Evie thinks he is, Justin is really a spy, but his latest mission to hide a "diabolical machine" being shipped to him by his handler may put them both in danger.

Oh I Loved this book, it was a nice light read with two worthy people who fall in love. Justin and Evie were splendid together. I loved all the little things in this book that made it so great.

Justin is such a worthy hero. Smart, handsome , slightly dishevled, funny - you get the point.

Evie is just a wonderfull, insecure, sweet, smart and in love with Justin but thinking shes not pretty enough.

I love the scene where they are in the bedroom in front of the mirror and Justin is explaining how ravishing he thinks Evie is.

The the scene at the dinner party where he does not recognize her with her new look. So sweet!

This was a wonderfull book I highley recommend reading it.

This book was so much fun! The verbal sparring between Justin and Evie had me laughing out loud, as well as Justin's misogynistic, ever-suffering butler Beverly. But humor is not the only reason why I appreciate this book as much as I do. I absolutely fell in love with Justin and Evie--they are both such great characters. He is so adorably unwolfish, with his chameleon wit and ability to see beyond Evie's physical defenses. Evie is a wonderful heroine; I think many women can relate to her. She believes herself to be physically unattractive, but she has become a highly-competent, intelligent woman nevertheless through a staunch sense of honesty and strength of character. Justin was truly a hero, in that he finally forced Evie to see past her self-image, and to realize that she has worth beyond being competent and intelligent. And finally, Bubo Formosa Plurimus, Minor...that will always get me, everytime.

I just read "Bridal Favors" back to back with "McClairen's Isle: The Passionate One" - and frankly, I am amazed that the same person wrote them both. McClairen's Isle was so dark and intense; Bridal Favors is full of light and air and cheer. Brockway writes both sorts with, apparently, equal aplomb.

I totally adored Justin and Evelyn. They both stand out as individuals; Justin's glib tongue is endlessly amusing and Evelyn's determination and practicality are so poignantly woven in with her desire to please and vulnerability. They're both fundamentally good people, too, also independent and responsible.

The ensemble is just delightful. Beverly the butler, Merry the dressmaker, Stow the spymaster...there's so much quirk and wit and froth, but at the same time, the plot is never thin and Justin is a pretty believable spy.

This was a *fun* read - I smiled and laughed all through. I have to say, I am quite impressed by Brockway. I think I'm going to have to read all her other books now, too.

Upon reading a book of this caliber, I regret all the 5 stars which have gone before -
Squandering spangles upon novels which have been less decorated that I might fully impress upon you, the reader, this tomes glorious worth!!

Young Evie encounters Justin first at her parents houseparty, launching her older sister. Enterprising lass that she is, upon bumping into him emerging from an older (married) ladies room she strikes a deal of silence which will leave him in her debt.

She makes other unfortunate entrances also at this houseparty, and overhears some unkind ladies disparging her looks to the extent that she feels she must be terribly ugly - golem like in fact. This instance shapes her to the point that when she seeks out Justin 10 years later, Evie has entirely lost interest in her appearance and dresses in most a most utilitarian style.

Calling upon the old IOU, Evie requests usage of Justins ancestral home, in order to host a wedding for a client. (Various strategems are imployed here, to make this necessary - Evie has taken on the family business which pads their modest income).

In a well employed change from the much travelled theme of Regency England, the story is set in late Victorian times, where the glory of nobility has tarnished somewhat and the chaperonage is not quite as strict.

Justin is soon revealed as a secret agent, and there are all sorts of comings and goings in the night which add to the atmosphere and create many an interesting byline.

The delightfully entertaining exchanges between our leads make for delicious banter, whilst the tender love making scenes ought to be an inspiration to all writers. Without being crude, the author graciously depicts wonderfully sensual moments and brings sizzle AND the butterflies to the scenes which for once I find ENHANCE the book rather than bringing the romance down.

The first Connie Brockway novel I have read, and most certainly not the last, I felt it held up to the standards set by Eloisa James, possibly surpassed a Stephanie Laurens, and was a delightful successor to Patricia Veryan and Loretta Chase.

Having most recently read Jo Beverleys My Lady Notorious which had a promising beginning only to sink a great deal with salicious raunchiness midway, Bridal Favors swims and sizzles through challenges which others fail.

kotori 2005

This is one of the best wedding planning books I have come acrossed. It covers everything whether you are having a small to large wedding. Great ideas, do's and don't's, and some check off lists. Save your money and go for this one!!!

This book gives straight-forward, practical advice for the modern bride. Filled with lots of ideas, it also gives a reality check for newly-engaged girls who want to jump right into wedding planning.

Don't waste your money on any other book; this has all the real inside tips and knowledge every bride needs. It's simply the best wedding planner ever. A must have reference book.

I love a good chicklit book every once in awhile, so I was really excited to give Wedding Season a try. From the start, there are entirely too many characters with complicated, not-that-interesting stories, which had me constantly trying to figure out who was engaged/married to who, and understand the complications between characters and their significant others. I do not recommend anyone who believes in the institution of marriage to read this book, because the author obviously does not, and she tries to push this view on the reader as she draws out the story by throwing in several forgettable wedding scenes and ultimately ending the book with the main character suffering the consequences of her stubborn insecurities. Send "Gabe" my way and throw this book in the trash. Ultimately tiresome and frustrating, leaving me in disbelief, wondering "Why in the world did I just waste my time on this?!?"

Like a lot of the posts on here, I agree that this book wasn't great. I read it for a book club and I found the writing and the ending so disappointing. Yes, I think it was good that it was a different twist/ending from what you would usually expect from "chicklit", but it just wasn't done in the right way. It didn't leave me happy, sad, nothing. Just kinda blah. Not worth. Wouldn't read it again.

This is the first book in a while that I've been less than impressed with. I was glad to finish it so I could move on to something else. It is very obvious that this is the author's first work...at times the working is confusing and because of that, it is often unclear who is speaking. There are WAY TOO MANY characters in the book, many with little or no importance to the bigger story. She provides too much detail, it seems the first half of the book was dedicated to building the plot - too much! Ultimately I was quite bored with this one and am glad to be done with it...I won't even mention the less than impressive ending!!

The good points of this book -- good writing in places; interesting descriptions of the various weddings; and a really fascinating job that I wish I'd thought of (an anonymous free-lance writing firm called Invisible Inc). Bad points -- WAY too many characters to keep track of; overly-colorful secondary characters that are so exaggerated they're stereotypes; and an annoying, neurotic heroine. This last is what will probably keep me from attempting this book again. It's impossible to enjoy a book when you have so little sympathy for the main character. It should be possible to be against marriage for whatever reasons without judging other people who are not against it and making their lives totally miserable along with your own.

I have read some of the other reviews of this novel by my fellow readers, and they are right. This is not Jane Austen. It's not Charlotte Bronte. It's not Virginia Wolfe. It is Darcy Cosper.

Wedding Season is a touching, funny, neurotic, playful, satiric and very enveloping tale about a modern woman's relationship to marriage. It's not social criticim. It's not anthropological. It's storytelling of a high caliber. I was captured by Cosper's mind for madness, her fantastic use of metaphor, and detailed creation of delightful characters.

I suggest reading it before the movie comes out in 2009. The richness and detail are sure to be somewhat lost and the written work is too good to miss.