My friend Amber has been cleaning again. She still blames her x
to some extent, but many of these books are hers/her kids. Thankfully
she loves me and knows I will take as many books as she can find, and
so, here I am, registering another car load of books brought down
from Arvada to my home in Littleton.

Thinking I am gonna keep this book to read -- and the book has seen happier days...pieces of the book seem to have just faded away, not sure how. weird.

Pre-numbered label used for registration.

I did a bit of repair work on the cover...looks pretty good if I do say so myself...


Dated to be sure, but it was fun to read about some of the more unusual weddings.

The author was snarky throughout and I got the feeling that NO wedding would live up to what she expected a wedding to be. When I was reading the Jewish Princess chapter I kept thinking of what our author would think of the Gypsy weddings that are all over TV now....

I did appreciate a part of a chapter being devoted to gay/lesbian weddings -- interesting that we haven't gotten any further on that front 40 years later. In fact, it seems we have even gone backwards a bit...sad.

This book will be traveling on in MaryZee's bookish bookbox.

I'm claiming this from the Biographies of Things bookbox. (I admire the very deft repair-job on the cover!)

Later: Yes, the book is dated (as any pre-internet publication is likely to be these days), but it does include some interesting looks at cultural and regional differences in typical wedding plans in the US. And even the "dated" aspect is amusing; the book opens with a comment about the wedding, like the dodo, is extinct - but the book was written in the '70s, with no knowledge of modern-day reality TV shows like "Bridezillas". Then again, given the behaviors illustrated in that show and too many other places (including Judith Martin's "Miss Manners" etiquette books, where she highlights many of the mind-bendingly awful behaviors of supposedly-blushing brides and their families), perhaps it would have been better for us all if weddings *had* gone the way of the dodo...

On the other hand, so many people had to fight for the right to marry over time - it wasn't *that* long ago that people of different races couldn't legally marry in some states, and of course the right-to-marry for same-sex couples is an ongoing battle - that for their sakes I'm happy to see the institution continue. I can do without the "let's put on a SHOW!" aspect, though; the book focuses on the pricey, production-number weddings since that's mainly what it's against, in the same way that American Way of Death dealt with the excesses of the funeral industry.

One thing that did bug me: in the section on same-sex weddings, the author went to great lengths to describe a heartbroken, sobbing mother of one of the brides, emphasizing what she imagined to be the woman's reaction to the loss of a long-dreamt-of future - though she admits it's her own imagining, not anything she got from interviewing the woman herself. There's also a mention of the couple's choice to dress as bride and groom rather than bride and bride (or groom and groom, or something else entirely) - but while this is an interesting point that comes up in many debates about same-sex marriage, the book ends without going into that in any more depth.

I found this interesting in the same way that old magazines can be - a snapshot of a point in time, for good or ill!

I left this book on the porch of the Cracker Barrel restaurant at around 1; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2014 Valentine challenge, as it's about weddings. ***

*** Released as part of the 2014 Backyard Bird Count challenge, for the embedded "tern" in the title. ***

*** Released as part of the Head Shoulders Knees Toes challenge, for the embedded "chin" in the title. ***