Book Reviews

Altered

Edited by Colleen Curran

A Review By Dana Barfield

Many women face their wedding day with strong, often mixed emotions.  Altared is a collection of essays giving voice to many of these emotions and offering a modern day perspective on one of the most momentous occasions of a woman’s life. How do women view weddings today?

Over two dozen entertaining writers take a look at standard wedding recommendations and then provide the rest of the story – the one that unfolds in real life.  What do you do when your divorced parents can’t stand to be in the same room with each other? Farah L. Miller covers the issue in depth as it unfolds at her wedding in the essay, “Going Bridal.”  Janelle Brown questions the true purpose of a bridal registry in “The Registry Strikes Back.” And if you think you’re having trouble committing to the big day or veering dangerously close to becoming a Bridezilla, read Jennifer Armstrong’s “The Best-Laid Wedding Plans.”  Believe me, you won’t feel so bad.

Balancing the wedding budget, preserving your personality while following the rules of etiquette, pleasing everyone - Altared covers it all.  When you find yourself tearing your hair out over invitations and caterers, open up this book, pick an essay and start reading.  In minutes you’ll either be laughing or crying, but at least you’ll know you’re not alone.

 

The Groom’s Secret Handbook:
How Not To Screw Up The Biggest
Day Of Her Life

By Anthony Marsh And Jay Blumenfield

A Review By Dana Barfield

 

The Groom’s Secret Handbook is definitely a book to lighten the sometimes tense and hectic mood of wedding planning.  Although written for the men, it’s not a bad idea for the women pick this one up just to get a little perspective.  As we might imagine, this handy wedding guide, subtitled How Not to Screw Up the Biggest Day of Her Life, is 20 percent guide and 80 percent silliness. However, under the guise of raucous humor, it offers some real help in tricking the groom into thinking about the big day ahead of time and
all it entails.

It’s commonly known that men often don’t think through the consequences of their actions.  The insightful men who wrote this book understand this and supply disastrous scenarios your groom can learn from ahead of time.  There are many, many lists of things not to do and say.  Even the most clueless man will see how totally inappropriate it would be to start the wedding toast with “looking over at my future mother-in-law, I’m reminded that love is indeed blind.”  Or to select a tuxedo shop that “does its best business on Halloween.”  Or to suggest a clergyman who “offers a family discount on embalming.”

A little silly?  Yes.  Everything from choosing the photographer to writing original vows is covered in half page snippets in keeping with the typical male’s attention span where all-things wedding are concerned.  The kind of guidance offered may seem ridiculous to the female mind but goes a long way toward getting the male mind to function in wedding mode.  This semi-serious advice is illustrated with vintage photographs and interspersed with “Fight Breaks,” comical dialogues to which both sexes can easily relate.  However, be warned.  As a woman you will want to read this book with an open mind.