Marriage by design
Books offer options for couples who prefer to go their own way

REVIEWS BY SARAH E. WHITE

Trends come and go in the wedding world, but the trend today is definitely toward more individualized weddings. No longer are couples so tied to tradition that they refuse to allow their personalities to creep into their ceremonies. Instead, contemporary couples are happy to include pieces of their personal stories in their weddings, making for ceremonies and receptions that celebrate the couple as much as the rite of marriage.

Many new books on wedding planning take this go-your-own-way approach, not only telling couples it's fine to do what they want, but also attempting to show them how to achieve it. Diane Meier Delaney's The New American Wedding is a 256-page pep talk on just this subject. It convinces would-be brides and grooms that it's perfectly acceptable to have what some would term a nontraditional wedding and shows that more couples are choosing to do their own thing. From alternative engagements (and jewelry) to different-from-normal vows, ceremony locations, attendants, showers and more, couples are finding that putting their own marks on their special day makes the ceremony and experience of their wedding much more personal and real.

Delaney offers inspiration, stories and examples from her own experience and from other couples who have crafted their own ceremonies and had beautiful, heartfelt weddings as a result. Though the book sometimes reads like an ad for the author's favorite vendors (many of whom she works with in her day job as a marketer), it is helpful to couples who want to do something different but have no idea what their options are.


Floral wonders

For brides who want something unique for their floral design, To Have and to Hold: Magical Wedding Bouquets is an indispensable guide to flowers. This lush book illustrates a wide variety of floral options, arranged by when the flowers are in season for greater economy.

The book is incredibly New York City-centric because that's where authors David Stark and Avi Adler are sought-after event planners. A price guide is offered based on the going rate for blooms in the city, but no suggestions are given for how brides who don't live in big cities might have beautiful flowers without spending a fortune. Still, To Have and to Hold offers valuable tips on selecting flowers (and thinking beyond just flowers) and arranging them for different looks. Some how-tos are included, so a crafty bride could recreate some of these looks herself, and the novel ideas for wrapping flowers will spark readers' imaginations.


High-dollar plans

For brides who want to dream big (with a budget to match), this book from Vogue's favorite wedding coordinator offers many beautiful, modern and stylish ideas. Jo Gartin's Weddings: An Inspiring Guide for the Stylish Bride is basically a portfolio of the author's favorite work for her clients, famous and not. It offers lavish ideas for invitations, dresses, flowers, ceremony décor, welcome gifts, party favors, seating arrangement displays, tiny desserts and towering cakes—and rarely does Gartin suggest that any of the above isn't necessary.

There are a few tips for the budget-conscious (and sewing-savvy) bride as Gartin illustrates dress and shoe makeovers to convert an off-the-rack find to a one-of-a-kind creation, though one wonders how many brides-to-be would be willing to take a pair of scissors to their precious dresses.


Wedding fantasies

One of the first things many women do when they get engaged is pick up wedding magazines. InStyle Weddings takes articles and wedding stories from the magazine of the same name. This richly illustrated tome will help those visual people who want to see the difference between an A-line and an Empire dress before they go shopping or to consider the virtues of a chignon instead of a ponytail in the comfort of their home.

This book offers basic checklists such as the duties of the wedding party and a six-month health regimen. However, InStyle Weddings is more about showing the options than giving advice, including stories from celebrity weddings such as Rob Thomas and Marisol Maldonado's California ranch wedding and Toni Braxton and Keri Lewis' Tiffany-inspired soiree. It's not the most sensible wedding book on the planet, but, hey, a girl can dream.


Real-world planning

For a no-nonsense guide to wedding planning, Countdown to Your Perfect Wedding: From Engagement to Honeymoon, A Week-by-Week Guide to Planning the Happiest Day of Your Life can't be beat. This thoroughly inclusive guide sets out the steps to plan your dream wedding in a year or less.

Written by Joyce Scardina Becker, certified wedding consultant and contributing editor to theKnot.com, Countdown provides a logical framework for someone who likes a structured timeline for everything, and will certainly set Type-A couples down the path to wedding-planning bliss.


Sarah E. White is a freelance writer in Arkansas.

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