Special Collection
 


Wedding Planning

Did you know that June is the most popular month for weddings in the United States? Well if you are planning for "the big day" in June or in any month, we have compiled a list of resources to help as you make your way toward, then down the aisle!

Gowns

Couture Bridalwear: Pattern Layout and Design by Margot Arendse: A comprehensive guide to making your own couture bridalwear. Dresses, trains, veils, head dresses and the use of decorative techniques are covered with step-by-step diagrams, photographs and detailed instructions.

Vintage Weddings: Resource and Guidebook, 1910s-1950s by Daniela Turudich: A unique title for a bride striving to create a memorable wedding by transporting their guests to another era.

Every Bride Is Beautiful: The Complete Guide to Wedding Beauty from Head to Toe by Deborah Chase: A comprehensive guide focusing on elegance, glamour and the perfect personal look for the big day. This book offers inside advice from the pros who plan America's A-list weddings. Beauty expert Deborah Chase covers every aspect of bridal beauty.

Bridal Gown Guide: Discover the Dress of Your Dreams at a Price You Can Afford by Denise & Alan Fields: The authors include: reviews and ratings for the 75 biggest bridal designers; complete descriptions for all new gowns by these designers, including suggested retail price and style number; information on when and where the gown was advertised; and size charts and how to determine exact size.

Decorations

Forever Yours: Wedding Quilts, Clothing & Keepsakes by Amy Barickman, with project instructions by Margaret F. Cox: This book explains how to personalize all aspects of your wedding, to create elegant one-of-a-kind dresses, decor, accents and keepsakes, to realize the wedding of your dreams.

Handcrafted Weddings: Over 100 Projects & Ideas for Personalizing Your Wedding: Organized by theme, the five sections of this book detail projects involving stationery, bridal party accessories, ceremony accents, reception decor and memorabilia. Each of these sections explains how to achieve exactly the wedding look you want for less than the store-bought price, and you need only a modicum of crafting experience to accomplish most of it.

Shane Connolly's Wedding Flowers with photography by Jan Baldwin: Twenty fresh interpretations of classic, romantic and alternative themes for wedding flowers, with 200 ravishing color photos and a wealth of stylish ideas for bouquets, baskets, headdresses and table arrangements.

Beautiful Wedding Receptions by Donna Kooler: Money-saving, easy ideas to help you plan the perfect party on any budget.

Etiquette and Planning

Diane Warner’s Contemporary Guide to Wedding Etiquette: Advice From America’s Most Trusted Wedding Expert by Diane Warner: This book includes advice for every aspect of the wedding—from the engagement period, the budget, and pre-wedding festivities to the legalities, the rehearsal, and, of course, the ceremony and reception. It also includes practical advice for second-time brides who want to include their children in the ceremony and for those couples wrestling with the pros and cons of prenuptial agreements.

Wonderful Weddings for Cost Conscious Couples by edited by Meredith Books: Foolproof advice from wedding planners featured on For Better or For Worse, the popular TLC television show about wedding preparations on a limited budget and timeframe. Strategies, projects, hints and tips aimed at helping engaged couples save money and have fun planning a spectacular event.

The Couple's Wedding Survival Manual: How to Get Hitched without Becoming Unraveled by Michael R. Perry: A happily married former groom, offers hip, helpful advice for navigating the land of weird wedding stuff you never knew existed.

The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner: Worksheets, Checklists, Etiquette, Calendars & Answers to Frequently Asked Questions by Carley Roney and editors of The Knot: Chapter by chapter, the planner walks the bridal couple through each major step: for example, choosing the reception site, picking a photographer and deciding on a menu.

How to Have a Big Wedding On a Small Budget: Cut Your Wedding Costs in Half! by Diane Warner: This newly revised guide shows how to plan a wedding with all the trimmings but without all the expenses. Warner's dozens of creative ideas are certain to help brides, grooms and their families save money and frustration--and have fun in the process.

Marriage Customs and Rites

A World of Ways to Say “I-Do”: Wedding Vows, Readings, Poems and Customs From Different Traditions and Cultures by Noah BenShea: In this book, couples will discover how others from around the world and across time have chosen to say "I do" as well as the derivatives and customs behind these words.

Irish Wedding Traditions: Using Your Heritage to Create the Perfect Wedding by Shannon McMahon-Lichte, with illustrations by Patricia Brentano: This book is filled with long-forgotten historical and contemporary Irish customs--from vows and rituals, to symbolic flowers, food, spirits and song. Included are Irish inspired ideas for dressing for the occasion, decorating the ceremony and reception with an Irish touch, designing the perfect Irish wedding invitation, as well as suggestions for registering for Irish gifts.

Scottish Tartan Weddings: A Practical Guidebook by Eric Merrill Budd: This book offers a thorough explanation of how to interweave Scottish customs and traditions into every step of the wedding process. Topics include what to wear, selecting and engraving the rings, and dividing the expenses and responsiblities.

African American Wedding Readings editied by Tamara Nikuradse: A beautiful treasury of prose, poetry and song, African-American Wedding Readings offers a complete range of selections for every significant nuptial moment. From the proposal, bridal shower and rehearsal dinner, to the actual ceremony, reception toasts and the honeymoon, excerpts from a wide variety of sources supply the perfect words to express joy, exuberance and romance.

Vivah: Design a Perfect Hindu Wedding by Meenal Atul Pandya: A step by step guide to planning the Hindu wedding with added explanation of the high ideals behind the Hindu ceremony.

Wedding Blessings: Prayers and Poems Celebrating Love, Marriage and Anniversaries by June Cotner: A beautiful collection of poems, prayers and toasts for all marriage celebrations.

CD-ROMs

PC Wedding Kit: Create Wedding Memories With Your Photos and Computer: This software package helps you organize details of your wedding. Plan each festivity leading to the wedding or compile list of guests and print reports. Features also include the ability to print envelopes, labels and place cards.

Emily Post's Complete Guide To Weddings: A complete interactive edition featuring all of the great advice we have come to expect from Ms. Post. This CD-ROM helps you organize your guest list, arrange seating and even pick your music.

Videos

Plan an Elegant Wedding on a Small Budget: This budget-minded approach focuses on the more costly aspects of a wedding and investigates less expensive alternatives.

Help! I'm Getting Married: Engaged couples get a step-by-step guide for planning their own wedding. More than 30 experts and professionals offer advice in categories ranging from bridal gowns to florists, and caterers to registry.

The Brides Video Makeup Guide with Kathleen Malloy: Demonstrations and advice on grooming for the bride-to-be, focusing on make-up, skin care and wardrobe planning.

Planning a Wedding to Remember: A complete guide to planning weddings with a view toward what is possible in every budget range.

Websites

The Knot: The premier site on the Internet for wedding planning has it all. Register for free and create your own website where family and friends can find the latest and greatest details for the big day. You can also post your registry, plus count down to your wedding with your own personal wedding "clock." All this and advice on everything from shoes to etiquette make this site a must-see for all cyber-surfing brides to be.

Similar in content to The Knot, the following sites also offer message boards, chat rooms and lots of great advice for planning your big day!

This Special Multimedia Collection last updated on May 17, 2005.