Wedding Week: Inspirational Marriage Material
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I think it’s safe to say that most girls have fantasized about their wedding at some point in their lives. Everything from the engagement to the big day is such a popular subject, it appears in movies, TV series and books all the time. Every self-respecting series needs to have at least one dramatic scene including a proposal or the unison in holy matrimony. In the first episode of Friends, Rachel turned up still wearing her white dress after she ran out on her wedding. After that, we lost track of the number of weddings in the popular show. There was also plenty of wedding action in Sex and the City, apparently continuing in the upcoming SATC movie (will Carrie finally become Mrs. Big?). In more recent series we find a marriage (and divorce on the same day) in the first season of Dirty Sexy Money, and a wedding proposal plus engagement party was in the center of the attention during the very first episode of Cashmere Mafia. There has never been a lack of films based entirely on the marriage theme, either. Think of The Wedding Planner, The Wedding Date, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Best Friend’s Wedding, the more recent 27 Dresses, and the ur-wedding-film Father of the Bride. The list is endless, because the subject never fails to speak to millions of men and (I’m guessing mostly) women, spark their imaginations and have them thinking about their own fantasy wedding to their dream partner.
While these films are ideal for getting inspiration, I recently discovered a book that will provide particularly stylish ideas to brides-to-be. Weddings of Style is published by Assouline, a publishing company known for its delicious coffee table books about fashion and art. Right they are, to include the subject of marriage in their range, right next to an anthology about Chanel or Cartier. The book introduces you to several couples who tied the knot in style, and next to beautiful photographs, it also includes (very brief) descriptions of everything from the invitations to the wedding cake. Also by Assouline is Be My Guest, a glamorous guide to building theme parties. If a traditional wedding isn’t your thing, why wouldn’t you throw an Arabian Nights, Disco Gold or Jungle Fever party? After all, it’s your day!
Further inspiration can be found in a book by the Goddess of the Wedding Dress Vera Wang, Vera Wang on Weddings. It is supposedly full of good advice and anecdotes. And seeing as she procured some of the hottest and most glamorous celebrities and socialites with a dress for their big day, I’m inclined to trust her opinions about and take on elegant weddings. As for the more practical details, such as choosing a cake, I would rely only on Martha Stewart. I’m a big fan of her stylish and understated creativity, and am dying to take a look at her sweet looking book Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes. I think our dear Martha is the best one to trust when it comes to useful advice…
If you don’t find what you’re looking for in these titles, I suggest you take a look on FindThatWeddingBook.com, which will guide you through the existing titles in wedding books, nicely sorted in categories (books for brides, books for bridesmaids, books for fathers of the bride…).
Have fun planning (or, if you’re like me, fantasizing)!
xx Steph
