I'm likely going to revisit this over the next two years, especially as I have a fiance who dreads wedding planning. A Practical Wedding (both the blog and the book) is like a very reassuring friend who wants to make sure you know 1) it's about the two of you, not necessarily the bells and whistles and ding dongs your friends/family/boss/TLC want you to do and 2) if it does not bring you joy, you can ditch it/don't have to care as much about it (darn straight I'm going to konmari this process).

APW is fairly short, but those are the main points to get across, with examples from real-life married people about their planning process/actual day. A budget breakdown in various cities/scales was helpful, and each chapter concludes with a bulleted summary of main points/takeaways. Beyond *wedding* planning, APW also addresses things to consider in your wedded life planning- have you and your intended discussed long term goals? Finances? # of kids? Faith traditions? And if the partnership just isn't working, it's absolutely okay to call off the wedding- I think they said it like "It's far easier to cancel a wedding than a marriage". And if you are getting married but something goes awry whether it be weather, missing centerpieces, etc.? Chances are it won't ruin your day and will become a colorful story about the wedding in your memories.

Like I said, this book feels like the friend patting you on the back saying, "It's fiiiiiine. You're going to be amazing." ( )

I needed this. For rational yet thoughtful perspective on an event that comes with huge expectations and price tags. ( )

Basically a book of advice on how to get the wedding you want without losing your mind. I may have found this more useful before I chose my wedding planner, but I can definitely recommend it to people with a more DIY/DIT (do it together-one of the more interesting recommendations in the book; I did like the emphasis placed on including the groom) spirit than I and my fiance. I would have liked more info on choosing an officiant, as that appears to be what we're stuck on, but overall I really enjoyed the book. ( )

Highly recommend this book for newly minted brides-to-be. I would have liked to read this as a sort of kick-off to sane wedding planning. But even though I'm pretty far (okay, eighteen months) along into the wedding planning process, it was still good to be reminded about some of the fundamental truths of A Practical Wedding. For instance, nothing is more "traditional" than an at-home wedding with cake and punch, so don't get carried away thinking you have to do X Y or Z because it's Tradition! (And if someone actually gets upset because you flouted the almighty-but-really-just-created-by-the-wedding-industrial-complex Tradition, well, eff 'em!)

I highlighted some passages, found myself nearing tears at others (it's going to be a miracle if I don't burst into hot, happy tears during my vows, y'all!!!!) and have excerpted a sentence or two to keep nearby as the stress escalates -- so all in all, I think I got more than I could reasonably have expected from a pretty basic book on wedding planning. ( )

Keene is definitely in Miss Manners's camp on most things, and so is perhaps inessential if you have read Miss Manners and are only worried about etiquette; they do diverge occasionally, but Keene also gets into the hows of practicality in a way that doesn't end up being exploitive of one's friends, unlike some other books I could name. ( )