In the Internet’s Wikipedia, a portion of its article on "Wedding Traditions and Customs" defines wedding ceremonies as containing any number of different elements. These may include music, poetry, prayer, scripture, or other traditions.
Experts on personal relationships have come up with a list of books that they recommend to soon-to-be brides to help them prepare for the momentous occasion and the subsequent married life. Here are the top six suggestions:
1. "1001 Questions to Ask Before You Get Married" by Monica Mendez Leahy. Love can be bliss, but marriage takes work. Communication, compromise, and joint-decision making are key ingredients to a successful marriage. Using a variety of fun, interactive formats, including multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, and hypotheticals, relationship expert Monica Mendez Leahy brings to the table these and many other important issues that will arise in marriage – including the ones that may blindside you. This book will help you and your partner explore your common goals and perspectives as well as celebrate your unique differences as you prepare for your life journey together.
2. "Creating Your Perfect Wedding: Stylish Ideas and Step-by-Step Project for a Beautiful Wedding" by Lucinda Ganderton and Sania Pell. This inspiring and beautiful book will ensure that you have the wedding of your dreams – a memorable, stylish and truly personal celebration that’s all about the bride and groom, not their bank balance! It includes 12 stylish yet simple projects to personalize your wedding, beautifully and clearly illustrated with easy-to-follow step-by-step photography. There are also dozens of other beautiful and memorable ideas for bridal and table flowers, cakes, table settings, place cards, candles, wedding favors, confetti, gifts, and wedding keepsakes.
3. "To Have & to Hold: Magical Wedding Bouquets" by David Stark and Avi Adler. One of the anticipated moments of your wedding planning is picking out your bouquet, but when faced with so many seductive choices, which do you choose? A tiny nosegay on an heirloom Bible? A playful gathering of wildflowers loosely tied with a velvet ribbon? A cascade of dazzling peonies in bursts of pink and red? Or should it be a single perfect calla lily? This book is a beautiful and reassuring guide to finding the perfect bouquet to complement your wedding dress, celebration, budget, and most importantly, you.
4. "Not Your Parents’ Marriage: Bold Partnership for a New Generation" by Jerome and Kellie Daley. This book examines God’s dreams for marriage today, based on the scriptures and including honest dialog, fun questionnaires, and space for journaling. It’s time to honor what God has done in the past while unlocking the creativity and passion that are unique to your relationship. Whether you are engaged, married, or somewhere on the way, God wants to do a new thing in your relationship. Are you ready to experience it?
5. "Wedding Showers" by Jennifer Adams. This book gives you everything you need to plan and throw the perfect shower. You’ll find fun and creative ideas for invitations, themes, decorations, games, party favors and more. The book also features 50 recipes that are just right for a wedding shower, whether you are planning a backyard barbecue, a lunch with coworkers, or an evening with friends. Favorites include everything from apple-cinnamon muffins and mandarin chicken salad to half-hearted cookies and black-bottom banana cream pie.
6. "The Feng Shui of Love" by T. Raphael Simons. T. Raphael Simons, America’s leading feng shui expert, teaches readers how to transform their homes to attract, enhance and enrich romantic love in their lives. Based on ancient Taoist secrets that join feng shui and Chinese astrology, Simons’ method is personalized through questionnaires and individualized charts. With this book, you can read your personal horoscope and your astrological compatibilities with others in your life, read your romantic fortune according to your door’s compass direction, discover your personal element, your relationship element, auspicious compass directions for aligning your furniture, and auspicious colors, discover your "yin / yang" style of relating, and many more.
The Wikipedia adds: "A wedding’s particular customs may be varied, mixed, or invented to suit the personalities, interests, and cultural backgrounds of the couple." It is for this reason that experts highly suggest these books to future brides to guide them on the right choices to make and directions to take.