Titles from separate title pages; works issued back-to-back and inverted.

A lavish wedding marries two of the most sacred tenets of American culture - romantic love and excessive consumption. This work offers a look at the historical, social and psychological strains that come together to make it the most important cultural ritual in contemporary consumer culture.

Miranda Fairchild has always blended into the background. But she still dreams of finding her fairy-tale prince…. At first glance, her new boss—dangerously charismatic Rafe Knighton—does not fit the bill. Rafe is beginning to see that there's more to Miranda than meets the eye. Will he give this stubborn Cinderella the happy ending she deserves?

Prologue: Tumult at Carnegie Hall -- Tsar and queen -- Magic land -- City of the world -- Missionary to the slums -- Cinderella of the sweatshops -- Distant thunder -- Island paradise -- A tall, shamblefooted man -- By ballot or bullet -- A key to the gates of heaven -- Not the rose I thought she was -- I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier -- Let the guilty be shot at once -- All my life I have been preparing to meet this -- Waves against a cliff -- The springtime of revolution? -- No peaceful tent in no man's land -- Love is always justified.

When the lost glass slipper perfectly fit Cinderella's foot, the Prince knew he had finally found the girl he fell in love with at the royal ball. Now, it's time for the happy couple to plan their wedding! The only problem is...Cinderella has never planned a wedding before. So when Prudence, who runs the household for the King, steps in to help, Prudence's idea of a perfect princess wedding is a far cry from Cinderella's. Will the two be able to see eye-to-eye, or will Cinderella's wedding be ruined? Don't miss this delightful tale about true love and friendship!

"This is a story about darkness and light, about sorrow and joy, about something lost and something found. This is a story about love." Cinderella's story has been told over and over, but never has it been touched by the kind of magic created by the contributors of this book. Mary Blair painted the original pictures for Walt Disney's incomparable animated film, and here her elegant art is gathered together as a picture book. Cynthia Rylant's stories about hardscrabble lives have won not only awards and honors, but hearts. Who better to take a young girl from the darkness of her garret room to the light and brilliance of a ballroom? Together these two great artists have created something quite astonishing: a Cinderella that is breathtaking, heartrending, and joyous, both for those who are coming to the tale for the very first time, and for those who think they know it well.

When Cinderella's mouse friend Gus picks roses from Lady Tremaine's garden for his dear Cinderelly, Cinderella gets in a lot of trouble. She takes Gus into town to replace the rosebush, but forgets that it's the day of the big village fair. Gus gets so excited that he accidentally knocks over a giant cake prepared for the King!

The maid has a secret...and it’s getting harder to hide! Isla McBain is carrying famous hotelier Rafe Angeleri’s baby! No-one can know – she can’t bear for her heart-breaking past to make the headlines. But when Rafe learns about her pregnancy, he’s intent on sweeping her away to Sicily, and marrying her! Isla is drawn by the exquisite temptation of life with Rafe, but dare she step into the spotlight as Mrs Angeleri?

Walt Disney World hosts more than 2,500 weddings each year, and it's one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the world. Whether you're looking for a casual vow renewal on the beach, a designer wedding in the shadow of Cinderella Castle, or a honeymoon with a touch of pixie dust, this book is for you! PassPorter's Disney Weddings & Honeymoons is both a guidebook and a bridal organizer tailored to the unique requirements of planning a wedding, vow renewal, or commitment ceremony at Walt Disney World or on the Disney Cruise Line. It will take you through the entire process, outline your options, offer valuable tips, organize your information, and help you plan your event down to the last detail--including what to say when the umpteenth person asks, "Is Mickey going to officiate?" (Answer: "No, that's Goofy's job!"). We've combined everything you'll want to know about prices, the contract, locations, food, decor, entertainment, photography, and transportation with worksheets that help you capture essential details, compare choices, and record your inspiration. We've also included two chapters full of ideas for making a Walt Disney World or Disney Cruise Line honeymoon extra special. This 280 page volume includes 225+ beautiful black and white photos and includes a full chapter on Disney's brand-new, low-cost Memories Collection for vow renewals and elopements. These intimate ceremonies for groups of six or fewer will be available throughout 2011 as part of Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings' 20th anniversary celebration. We cover everything you need to know including the price, locations, package elements, available upgrades, and booking policies of these and every Disney wedding offering. Also included is complete information on Disney's new Facebook app, My Disney's Fairy Tale Wedding, which serves as a wedding web site, RSVP tracker, room booking engine, and social network for your event.

The fabulous gown, the multitiered cake, abundant flowers, attendants and guests in their finery. The white wedding does more than mark a life passage. It marries two of the most sacred tenets of American culture—romantic love and excessive consumption. For anyone who has ever wondered about the meanings behind a white dress, a diamond ring, rice, and traditions such as cake cutting, bouquet tossing, and honeymooning, this book offers an entertaining and enlightening look at the historical, social, and psychological strains that come together to make the lavish wedding the most important cultural ritual in contemporary consumer culture. With an emphasis on North American society, Cele C. Otnes and Elizabeth H. Pleck show how the elaborate wedding means far more than a mere triumph for the bridal industry. Through interviews, media accounts, and wide-ranging research and analysis, they expose the wedding's reflection—or reproduction—of fundamental aspects of popular consumer culture: its link with romantic love, its promise of magical transformation, its engendering of memories, and its legitimization of consumption as an expression of perfection. As meaningful as any prospective bride might wish, the lavish wedding emerges here as a lens that at once reveals, magnifies, and reveres some of the dearest wishes and darkest impulses at the heart of our culture.