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.

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.

Here comes the bride! In this latest volume in Karen Bussen’s “Simple Stunning†? series, the most important woman at a wedding takes her rightful place—center stage. Over the years, Bussen has helped hundreds of brides plan weddings that reflect their personal style and express their own best selves. Now, any lady looking forward to her wedding day can benefit from Bussen’s sage advice on matters ranging from the Truly Essential (the venue, the ceremony, the guest list, the caterer, the budget, and, yes, the dress) to the Actually Much Less Essential (what your future mother-in-law will wear). The months and weeks leading up to a wedding are always a whirlwind—sometimes exhilarating, sometimes overwhelming. With Bussen1s level-headed guidance, the bride-to-be will take it all in stride while staying organized, remaining true to her own wishes, and (believe it or not) even managing to enjoy herself. Simple Stunning Bride is filled with gorgeous color photographs of inspiring wedding details—flowers, accessories, dresses, and more.

'Being in charge of your own life, and making decisions based on what you want to do rather than what you have to do, gives you a rare kind of contentment and shows you that every ordinary day offers magnificent opportunities.' Award-winning blogger Rhonda Hetzel shares the day-to-day practicalities of a simple life and shows you how to rediscover the heart of your home. With a year of monthly projects that make household management easier, Rhonda encourages you to set up good systems, make what you need and appreciate what you have. Learn how to stretch money further, safely clean your home and cook from scratch with 40 favourite recipes, including step-by-step guides to baking bread and making cheese. Whether you're part of a family, living alone or thinking about retirement, this is an inspiring, indispensable guide to slowing down, taking stock of your life and finding pleasure and satisfaction at home.

Your best friend is getting married, it's up to you to throw the shower. Now what? Forget the paper plateribbon bouquet. Times have changed and people are delving into tradition with contemporary flair. With four unique party themes, Wedding Showers offers menus, decorating ideas, creative projects, and activities to suit a range of personalities and visions, making it the ideal guide for today's shower host. A traditional afternoon of tea invites guests to a selection of mouthwatering cakes, tarts, and cookies. A tropical cocktail party carries the festivities outside. The day-at-the-beach shower takes a fun and casual approach with its bountiful barbecue and brightly colored canopies. An intimate beauty shower centers around luxuriant home-spa treatments followed by pretty boxed lunches. From making the plans to decorating the venue, the authors breathe new life into the long-standing tradition of the wedding shower.

In the final installment in the 86 Bloomberg Place series, Melody Carlson follows the girls in a crazed competition for bridesmaids, wedding locations, and showers. Newly engaged Lelani has returned from Maui to Bloomberg Place and is trying to book her wedding date. Unfortunately, there are scheduling conflicts for that same weekend. For starters, Megan and Marcus have a family wedding commitment. Anna and Edmond have promised to attend his younger stepbrother's Bar Mitzvah and, to everyone's surprise, Kendall has just accepted her "Maui Man's" proposal of marriage and also wants to be wed on that first weekend in June. Wedding madness ensues at 86 Bloomberg Place, yet at the same time friendships are being forged that will last a lifetime.

Every significant event in the Bible happened because someone said yes to God. Start living the adventure of yes today! In this whimsical yet inspiring book, Shelene tells the stories of real-life paths God took her on to learn some simple truths that changed everything in her life—everything for the better. By loving how our Creator made us to love; skipping comfort and safety to help those who can never repay us; and taking a risk to jump into the epic journey God has for our lives, the reality is we are all just one yes away from changing everything. Don’t miss out on the incredible adventure God has for you. Say yes to God—love, skip, and jump your way to his plans for you!