What’s the preferred way of wording your invitation? How should guests at the wedding dinner be seated? What do you say to people who ask to bring their (uninvited) children to the reception—or, scarier still, to your prospective mother-in-law when she picks out the World’s Ugliest Dress to wear on your big day? Brides-to-be have a lot on their minds, including making sure that everything connected with the wedding is done the “right way.” But nowadays few people are adequately schooled in the do’s and don’ts of proper etiquette—and that’s where Simple Stunning Wedding Etiquette comes to the desperately needed rescue. This newest volume in Karen Bussen’s Simple Stunning Wedding series—whose four previous books total more than 130,000 copies in print—is the perfect marriage between the timeless and the new. Bussen celebrates the beloved rituals (cake-cutting, toasts) that are well worth preserving, while dispensing with outmoded rites (the garter toss) best left by the wayside. And Bussen’s guide goes beyond other wedding etiquette handbooks by dealing sensitively with the sometimes-fraught issues (divorced parents, second marriages, blending religious traditions) so crucial to contemporary wedding planning.

For the 2 million monthly followers of powerhouse wedding blog StyleMePretty.com, the major mainstream hit with serious indie cred (think Domino meets Etsy meets Martha Stewart Weddings), and for all brides looking for fresh new inspiration, editor in chief Abby Larson offers an eagerly awaited, entirely unique, and gorgeously photo-rich wedding resource. Joyful, love-filled weddings are created with the details that make the couple unique. These touches--letter-pressed table cards with a pet bulldog cameo; a chandelier to which the bride and groom tied hundreds of colorful ribbons; a photograph of the bride's grandparents fastened around her bouquet--elevate a beautiful day into a deeply personal, unforgettable celebration. Style Me Pretty has become a go-to destination for planning your own ecstatic wedding. Now, the founder of this beloved site, Abby Larson, offers this gorgeous resource, which includes: • Abby’s step-by step guide to determining your couple style, gathering inspiration, and threading it through each element of the celebration • 17 never-before-seen Real-Life Weddings—with details on all their special and handcrafted touches, and advice from the brides • 5 Style Blueprints to help you custom-craft your own Classic, Rustic, Whimsical, Modern, or Al Fresco wedding, from paper goods to the cake • 15 Do It Yourself projects, such as glittered vases, linen favor bags, and dip-dyed ombré napkins Full of lively and oh-so-lovely ideas, and more than 250 photographs, this swoonworthy volume will help you distill the wide world of wedding inspiration into the most meaningful, utterly original day you can imagine.

The three biggest trends in weddings today are simplicity, personalization, and color. Wedding design expert Karen Bussen highlights these elements as she shows couples how to design their own weddings without going crazy or broke. Simple Stunning Weddings is the first wedding design book to focus on the where of the wedding. Location is the first and most important decision brides and grooms must make: everything else flows from that. Bussen showcases 12 popular wedding settings, including the city loft, country inn, art gallery, botanic garden, and private club, and demonstrates how to make them extraordinary. With the site as the starting point, she creates unifying themes with color, flowers, and personal touches. She explains how to deal with vendors, how to spend the wedding budget, and when it makes sense to hire a specialist. Sharing all her trade secrets, Bussen teaches the power of simplicity and the impact of color, which can be tailored to any budget, always to stunning effect: substituting cotton tablecloths for silk in the same eye-dazzling color combinations, for example, or creating striking flower arrangements using only one or two types of blooms. Whether for a barefoot union on a beach or a formal affair in a hotel ballroom, this fully illustrated, information-filled book is like having Bussen on hand as your personal wedding designer.

In an increasingly global and connected world, marriages between spouses of different countries and cultures are on the rise. Marla Alupoaicei, herself wed to a Romanian, helps couples sort through such issues as food, finances, family, and such “hidden” problems as different understandings of what it means to be “on time.” Marla combines real-life stories with expert perspectives and biblical insight for a helpful guide both for those just starting out on the intercultural adventure – and those in the midst of it. You'll get practical and biblical advice for handling the most common intercultural conflicts, including: Planning your wedding Communication Understanding each other's values Different views of time Agreeing on food Managing finances Intimacy Raising children Handling illness and grief

When her grandmother has a stroke, Dora returns to the small town where she grew up to take over her family's vintage clothing store -- and meets a handsome contractor. Is he interested in Dora? Or is he working from a different blueprint? Dora has always taken the path of least resistance. She went to the college that offered her a scholarship, majoring in "vagueness studies," and wears whatever shows the least dirt. She falls into a job at the college coffee shop and has a crush on her flirty boss, Gary. But just when she's about to test Gary's feelings, Mimi, the grandmother who raised her, suffers a stroke. Dora rushes back to Forsyth, NC, and finds herself running her grandmother's vintage clothing store while her grandmother recovers -- andmeets Mimi's adorable contractor, Conrad. The store has always been a fixture in Dora's life; though she grew up more of a jeans-and-sweatshirt kind of girl, before she even knew how to write, Mimi taught her that a vintage 1920s dress could lift a woman's spirit. But why has Mimi started writing down -- and giving away -- stories of the dresses in her shop? Amidst personal and professional turmoil, can Dora can trade her boring clothes for vintage glamour and her boring life for one she actually wants?

A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

Weddings rarely go off without a hitch, and when ex-spouses, children from previous marriages, and multiple sets of in-laws are involved, couples definitely need brand-new guidelines to politely maneuver their nuptial plans. Whether you are remarrying and attempting to combine two families or a first-time bride or groom dealing with feuding divorced parents, Ex-Etiquette for Weddings helps you navigate a host of emotionally charged situations, such as: how to announce your engagement when your parents are divorced, how to tell your ex and children about your remarriage, how to set the budget when your divorced parents are at odds, how to word invitations for second marriages or marriages of children with divorced parents, how and where to seat ex-relatives at the reception. Recognizing that tension and anxiety are extremely high around weddings, especially when the family situation is complicated, Jann Blackstone-Ford and Sharyl Jupe offer trusted advice for raking a blissful trip down the aisle.