What About The Groom?

A few weeks ago The Litchfield County Times received the book “How I Planned Your Wedding: The All True Story of a Mother and Daughter Surviving the Happiest Day of Their Lives” (Harlequin, $21.95) by New York Times best-selling author Susan Wiggs and her daughter, Elizabeth Wiggs Maas. My first thought was, “What about the groom? Isn’t it also the groom’s day?”

I didn’t take this book too seriously until last weekend when I saw it on tables at both Borders [See story on the closing of Borders in last  week’s Litchfield County Times] and Barnes and Noble. I thought I might give it a second chance.

The mother-daughter bond is tested more than once as the two collaborate to plan life’s ultimate celebration–a dream wedding. Often poignant, sometimes irreverent and always hilarious, the book is packed with useful advice from both ends of the cupcake tasting table, according to the description on the book jacket. 

I admit I have a low threshold for books with no substance and this book is definitely one of them. I found the daughter to be a spoiled brat and much of the bond between mother and daughter seemed forced. But what bothered me most is that the groom is invisible and it is a typical “chick-lit” book. 

With wedding season in full bloom, this is the perfect book for bridezillas and mothers who believe the “hoopla” is more important than the actual marriage. The question in my mind is, what about the “ever after,” after the rice is thrown and the wedding dress is hung in the closet?

“I was born to be a bride. There are family photographs of me in a bridal gown dating all the way back to age two,” says Elizabeth. The book takes readers from the engagement to the beginning of the couple’s lives. (Oh, by the way, the groom’s name is Dave, but this book is clearly not about him. It’s about the mother and the bride—it’s their day after all.) 

Ms. Wiggs and her daughter tell their intertwined tales from the bridal trenches, sharing lessons gleaned during the sometimes contentious, yet more often magical process of orchestrating life’s ultimate celebration. Readers accompany Elizabeth through the process of planning her day, from choosing and dressing the attendants, working with a wedding planner, deciding on the right approach for various details and much more.

Susan shares her own perspective with other mothers of the bride, suggesting they try to provide a sea of calm and maintain the voice of reason, according to a release.

For those getting married this spring, this may be the perfect light-hearted book needed to get through this often tense time of planning.