Wedding Book Club

The Good Wife Guide: 19 Rules for Keeping a Happy Husband

Everyone knows that a healthy marriage is comprised of several key elements: love, communication, respect, honesty and compromise. Beyond this list of important characteristics of a happy marriage is humor. Life together is a bumpy road for every couple. Anyone who says differently is either sugarcoating the truth or hasn't been married very long. Being able to laugh together is as much a key to success as being able to confide in each other.

Knowing what a roller coaster married life can be, the wife and I like to give funny gifts to newly engaged friends so they can start the laughter early. If you can't chuckle with your partner, the serious stuff can be way too serious. Lately, our go-to gag gifts are The Good Husband Guide: 19 Tips for Domestic Bliss and The Good Wife Guide: 19 Rules for Keeping a Happy Husband, both from Ladies' Homemaker Monthly.

These books are written in the spirit of cheesy, 1950s-era household politics with the doting wife and cardboard cutout ideal husband. They're marital satire at its most hysterical, because the “tips” and “rules” are so outdated they would never fly in a modern couple's home. Read more about The Good Wife Guide: 19 Rules for Keeping a Happy Husband

Save the Date Ideas: 101 Fun and Creative Save the Date Ideas for Weddings

When you're planning your wedding one of a bride's biggest fears is that key guests won't be able to make it for the big day. Sending out save the date cards can be a great way to ensure that those you love have every opportunity to be there for one of the biggest days of your life.

Save the date cards are simple little cards telling your friends and loved ones that your wedding date has been set. It's a way to give them notice in case they need to plan ahead to make arrangements for time off work or saving for travel expenses. It's like a formal heads-up that you hope they'll be attending your wedding.

Many brides who have family that live nearby and are planning smaller local weddings save the postage and forgo the save the date cards, which is totally acceptable. Nobody is going to chastising you for poor wedding etiquette if you don't send them out. However, if you're planning a destination wedding or have a number of guest who will have to travel to make it to the church on time, you might want to consider sending them out. Read more about Save the Date Ideas: 101 Fun and Creative Save the Date Ideas for Weddings

Beautiful Bridal Accessories You Can Make

It's no secret that weddings are expensive affairs. Elegance and romantic touches add to the beauty of the day, but after the basic essentials that are needed for the event, like the dress, entertainment, photographer, venue and food, many bridal couples find that their budget has been drastically depleted, especially if they're paying for the wedding themselves.

Being a budget-conscious bride doesn't mean that you don't want those little extra accessories that every woman wishes for on her big day. And, while you may have to compromise a little on your vision, you shouldn't have to miss out on the special touches that you've always dreamed of.

If your budget is starting to get a little tight, consider finding romantic accessories that speak to you, but can be handmade for a significantly lower cost than if you purchased it from a bridal store. If you or someone you know has even basic sewing skills, you might just find some things that will add elegance without busting your budget. Read more about Beautiful Bridal Accessories You Can Make

Consider a Homemade Bridesmaids Gift

When you're considering what to get your bridesmaids as gifts, think about giving something homemade. Traditional gifts like jewelry and engraved glasses are nice, but they can be very expensive. Why not make them each a small scrapbook of your time together?

If you only have a couple of bridesmaids, you can make individual books for each one. Add pictures and short passages reminiscing about your time together, from when you met through the events and activities that you've done together during your wedding preparations.

If you have a larger number of bridesmaids, you might want to make one book that chronicles your friendships, starting with pictures of you with each of your pals and ending with pictures of all of together. Then, add in some funny stories and heartfelt sentiments to show just how much you love and appreciate them. Read more about Consider a Homemade Bridesmaids Gift

The Bride's Instruction Manual

I've seen a lot of books that are supposedly “complete” how-to guides for brides-to-be, and while most are packed with great suggestions, very few are actually complete AND practical. Planning a wedding is a huge undertaking and unless you're a professional wedding planner, good, unbiased resources are important.

Unbiased is the operative word in the last sentence. I'm sure you've already noticed that since you accepted your Prince Charming's proposal, everyone and their fifth cousin twice removed has been offering you suggestions, advice and opinions about anything and everything that is important—to them.

This very situation ruined my wedding, as my then bride, now wife, was bombarded from every angle under the sun, from how to wear her hair to what songs we should play at our reception. It wound up being a huge mess, and my wife still refuses to talk about our wedding day, which was supposed to be one of the happiest days of our lives. Trust me. You don't want this to happen to you. Read more about The Bride's Instruction Manual

Being the Best Man For Dummies

If you've just received the call that you'll be starring as the best man or maid of honor at your pal's wedding, you might have a lot of questions. What are my responsibilities? How do I put a decent speech together? What does it mean to have such an important role in my friend's wedding? These are all great questions and if you're not sure what standing up for your friend really entails, than it's time to hit the books.

And wouldn't you know it? The popular “For Dummies” series provides the answers to your burning questions. In Dominic Bliss's book, Being the Best Man For Dummies, he delivers a straight-shooting guide to everything you didn't know you need to know about this important responsibility.

When most men are asked to stand up for a friend or family member, two things spring to mind: wearing a tux to look hot for the maid of honor and throwing a bachelor party. Read more about Being the Best Man For Dummies

1001 Questions to Ask Before You Get Married

Dating is fun and exciting. You're getting to know each other, but are ever conscious of how you're presenting yourself and often try to put the best foot forward. You accentuate the positive and omit or downplay the negative.

Engagement is fun and exciting. The “getting to know you” phase morphs into the planning and organizing phase of the relationship. Your focus shifts towards putting your wedding together and preparing for beginning your life together as one.

Marriage is real. It's a lasting commitment that will see you through the good, bad and everything in between. And, along the way, you're astonished to find that you're still getting to know each other. The hidden feelings and truths that didn't find their way into the courtship part of your relationship come out little by little and you might find yourself wondering just how well you actually know your spouse. Read more about 1001 Questions to Ask Before You Get Married

The Everything Groom Book

When I asked my wife to marry me, I thought the extent of my role was little more than choosing a date, chapel, tuxedo and rad DJ. Almost immediately I got a swift wakeup call from my beautiful bride-to-be. She transformed from a level-headed coed to a stressed out bride, seemingly overnight. It quickly became apparent that my soon-to-be wife needed my support, understanding and help with a long list of wedding planning responsibilities. Who knew?

I was the first of my friends to get married, so their help wasn’t exactly helpful—they were as clueless as I was, and my dad wasn’t exactly the wedding planning type, so I had to wing it. I let my bride lead the way and gave support and advice where I could. Looking back, I wish I would have had the same resources that brides have access to. There are so many books, magazines and websites devoted to brides, but what about grooms like me, who didn’t have the first idea of how to help plan a wedding, and more importantly, keep their blushing brides sane during the process?

Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides

"This day isn’t about anyone other than the bride and groom joining their lives together, and it should be done their way."

Every bride is different and has her own vision of what her wedding should be like, but generally there are running similarities from bride to bride. White dresses. Planned, special venues. Elegance—either extreme or simple.

While these common denominators are traditional and widely practiced across the U.S., that doesn’t mean that conventional is exactly what every bride wants. And, it is her day, after all. If she wants to have a zombie wedding or have pink rubber duckies integrated into her centerpieces, that’s totally up to her.

Gorgeous Wedding Hairstyles

As soon as a bride starts shopping for her wedding gown, people start to ask, “How are you wearing your hair?” It's a popular question because it's the main complement to your dress and determines what type of headpiece you'll be wearing. Most brides know right off the bat if they want to wear and their hair up, down or a little of both, but aren't really sure how they want it styled.

There are many different places a bride can research different hairstyles, such as the Internet, bridal magazines and books like Gorgeous Wedding Hairstyles by hairstylist, Eric Mayost. Pour over all sorts of hairdos before making your decision, because you want the perfect look for the occasion. It's not like prom, where you can just walk into a salon and say you want your hair up and curled.