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My Maid of Honour bought this book for me, and it was the best thing she
could have given me. If you don’t plan on having 250 guests at your wedding and looking
out at a sea of faces you don’t recognize as you’re walking down the aisle, then this
book is for you. First, intimate doesn’t have to mean having only 10 guests. Intimate can
be defined as wanting your family and friends there that have supported your
relationship. It also doesn’t mean having a cheap wedding. Inviting fewer guests means
you can splurge on them if you chose to.
This book is an excellent
resource for planning an intimate wedding. It discusses locations for your wedding,
including indoors versus outdoors, pointing out that having a smaller wedding can give
you more options for locations; however, it also states that you may not want to have a
wedding in a huge church if your guests will only fill up the first few pews, and all you
hear are echoes.
The author discusses theme weddings, vow renewals, and
second marriages. Maybe you had to do the big wedding the first time around, and you want
your second wedding or vow renewal to be more your style. Because Friedrichsen
interviewed other brides for this book, as well as using her own intimate wedding
experience, she gives plenty of ideas, tips, and resources. There is even a section of
resources at the back with 170 Web sites and phone numbers where possible – anything from
ordering invitations, and putting your photos online to having a Roaring Twenties themed
wedding, getting married in Las Vegas, or having an interfaith
ceremony.
The author also talks about destination weddings and the
different options you have – do you invite everyone and just see who can make it, or do
you just invite a few close friends and your immediate family? Do you pay for your
guests’ accommodations, or do you have them pay for their own? The author gives possible
locations for your destination wedding and plenty of tips, such as having a wedding
coordinator at the location to check everything out for you. Tips like sending a Save the
Date card to your guests, so they can start saving up for the trip, are also
invaluable.
This book inspired me to explore my creativity and
acknowledged that it’s okay to do my wedding, my way. It is after all, my wedding, no one
else’s. The last chapter in this book talks about keeping your memories alive. It gives
great ideas, such as having a scrapbook instead of a guest book, creating a shadow box
for your wedding memorabilia, and preserving your wedding dress.
The best
part about this book is that there are no rules or proper wedding etiquette to follow. If
you want to walk down the aisle as Glenda from the Wizard of Oz with a roomful of
Scarecrows and Dorothys as your guests, go for it. Friedrichson and the other brides
interviewed give suggestions on how to explain to people why you’re not inviting your
mom’s cousin that hasn’t even met your fiancé in the four years you’ve been together.
So if you want to have your wedding, your way, you should pick up
Intimate Weddings. Remember your wedding is an excellent opportunity to use your
creativity to its fullest and to be yourself.
