Seven essays celebrating the beauty of the imperfect marriage. We hear plenty about whether or not to get married, but much less about what it takes to stay married. Clichés around marriage—eternal bliss, domestic harmony, soul mates—leave out the real stuff. After marriage you may still want to sleep with other people. Sometimes your partner will bore the hell out of you. And when stuck paying for your spouse’s mistakes, you might miss being single. In Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give, Ada Calhoun presents an unflinching but also loving portrait of her own marriage, opening a long-overdue conversation about the institution as it truly is: not the happy ending of a love story or a relic doomed by high divorce rates, but the beginning of a challenging new chapter of which “the first twenty years are the hardest.” Calhoun’s funny, poignant personal essays explore the bedrooms of modern coupledom for a nuanced discussion of infidelity, existential anxiety, and the many other obstacles to staying together. Both realistic and openhearted, Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give offers a refreshing new way to think about marriage as a brave, tough, creative decision to stay with another person for the rest of your life. “What a burden,” Calhoun calls marriage, “and what a gift.”

Modern weddings are sleek, sophisticated, and refined, typically using a monochromatic color palette, on-trend florals or foliage, geometric lines, and pared-down décor. Oftentimes the venue itself is the visual focus for a modern-style wedding, so other décor elements can be kept clean and simple. So how can make your wedding modern without making the event unrecognizable? Start by looking to the experts for advice. This guide was created to allow you to make the perfect ceremony for any couple. Here you will learn to create ceremonies for your friends and family of any faith and the non-religious people in your life as well. The guide will teach you everything you need to know as quickly as possible.

The secret to planning a deeply personal and meaningful wedding has nothing to do with budget. It’s about creating a celebration that reflects a couple’s core values. Translating those values is the work of Modern Wedding, an information-filled guide with hundreds of creative ideas and beautiful, inspiring photographs for readers to look at and say, “This feels like us.” The book unpacks every element of a wedding—stationery, attire, seating plans, flowers and tablescapes, food and drink, gifts—with examples that will appeal to couples who care about how things are made but are not overly influenced by trends. The emphasis is on natural surroundings, seasonal flowers and food, modern dresses, minimalist ceremony structures, and naked cakes. Photographs of real weddings—“case studies” like a destination fete in Tuscany, a house party in Brooklyn, and a New Agey revel in Kauai—show how all the pieces can come together into a unique and expressive whole. Extensive practical information and resources give readers access to all the help they need for their own unique celebration.

Michael is an editorial photographer for Southern Bride Magazine, and has traveled all over the South, from Florida to New Orleans, and to such destinations as Mexico. His wedding photography style is beautiful and keeps his studio booked year round with weddings. Michael's commercial photography projects have also attracted a lot of attention, he shoots for major companies photographing such celebrity music stars as Lauren Alaina, Dierks Bentley, and many more. He has recently worked on a major shoot with Conde Naste for GQ magazine as an assistant photographer for Sebastion Kim, the worlds top fashion photographer. One of his recent portrait clients includes Leigh Anne Tuohy from the film "Blind Side". This book goes into detail about shooting high end weddings, photography styles, business management, marketing and the gear needed. A perfect book for new photographers that want to gain insights into the editorial side of wedding photography & what it takes to be a successful photographer.(Revised Edition)

Dreaming of having the most beautiful wedding photos? It's important to choose an amazing photographer, but you shouldn't stop there. To have the best wedding photos, you also need wedding plans that are carefully designed with your photography in mind. In this inspirational and practical guide, wedding photographer Cavin Elizabeth teaches you how simple changes and additions to your wedding plans can elevate the beauty of your wedding photography. With sections such as choosing your dream photographer, what to look for in a getting ready room, and how to construct an ideal photography timeline, Cavin Elizabeth's easy-to-follow book will have you planning for a picture perfect wedding.

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life–namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers’ lessons home. The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, “What would a dolphin trainer do?” The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don’t. Rather than appease her mate’s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. “I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,” she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever. What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself. Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland’s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.

SPECIAL PRICE FOR A LIMITED TIME Edward Monkton’s surprisingly philosophical take on all aspects of love, life and happiness have made Monkton’s drawings stylish collectors’ items and a mark of good taste year in, year out. Another offering from the bestselling author.