From the #1 wedding brand comes this indispensable resource, completely revised and updated, to help you choose the perfect words, music, and traditions for your ceremony and reception The ceremony is the cornerstone of your wedding celebration. There are countless ways to make it your own, from meaningful poetry readings to the music that plays as you walk down the aisle. The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions is an important resource for brides and grooms. New and expanded topics in this edition include: -Interfaith ceremonies and blending spiritual traditions -Ways to use technology to enhance your ceremony -New online resources for finding the perfect words for your vows, program, and more -Gay marriages and civil unions -Popular song choices that are already considered classics Throughout, you’ll also find a rich and inspiring selection of both classic and original ideas for: -Religious or secular vows and readings -Traditions and symbolic rituals -Speeches and toasts -Music for the processional, recessional, and the special dances at the reception

Your vows are the most important and sacred part of your wedding day so it is vital that you feel comfortable with everything you are saying to your partner. What better way to achieve this than to create the vows yourself and make your special day even more meaningful. Personalized vows can be full of intent and meaning, or can even serve to add a touch of humor to your wedding ceremony. Through original words and extracts from poems and literature both traditional, unconventional, and inspirational, Wedding Vows and Traditions will incite you to write words from the heart and create a truly memorable day for you and your partner. Above us are the stars; below us are the stones As time does pass, remember; Like a star should our love be constant, Like a stone should our love be firm. Adapted from a Native American Blessing Two lives already richly lived, one road still to travel. Let's not regret what might have been, but enjoy what may unravel. Cathy Howes

A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

Every engaged couple wants two things: a meaningful wedding and a lifetime of happiness. This great gift book is a cross-cultural collection of marriage folklore that will help you achieve both. Create your own lucky traditions with nods to each other’s heritage, customs from places you’ve visited together, and auspicious rituals that just feel special. Whether you are just engaged or you’re days away from tying the knot, you’ll gain insight every step of the way. With this book as your guide, you can make your own luck in love.

For the first time wedding resource brand The Knot's famous timelines, tools, and checklists have been compiled in one easy-to-carry book that will travel with you from florist to baker and everywhere in between. The Knot Book of Wedding Lists distills all the great information from The Knot and crafts it into useful, organized lists that will eliminate the stress and make planning a wedding as simple as checking off boxes. Whether you’re planning for twenty or two hundred, a wedding on the beach or in a balloon, this compact guide covers all your planning details for the big day in an easy, organized format, including: • Planning timelines • Contract checklists • Vendor to-do lists • New wedding ideas • Questions to ask the site manager, photographer, florist, and others • Bridesmaid duties • Details about your ceremony • Shopping lists • Wedding-day to-do lists • Reception schedules and much, much more. With the most essential to-do lists in one easily accessible and portable spot, The Knot Book of Wedding Lists is the ultimate organizing tool you’ll turn to at every step of the wedding-planning process—right up to your walk down the aisle.

Brimming with vintage illustrations, this book explores the origins of 100 classic wedding customs in a gorgeous full-color package.

Writing personalized wedding vows is a wonderful way to make the big day that much more special. Packed with ideas, insights, and inspiration, this completely revised third edition helps you declare your love in a uniquely personal way. This book features information on how to develop meaningful, personal wedding vows, incorporate a favorite song or poem, get family members involved, include children, and more! For extra fun, this book also includes celebrity wedding vows and great love lines from the movies. This is the only book you need to create the perfect statement for their new life with their partners.This edition includes completely new material on: ethnic vow traditions from around the world, vows incorporating holidays and nature, and vows for same-sex ceremonies.

Just when the clamor over "traditional" marriage couldn't get any louder, along comes this groundbreaking book to ask, "What tradition?" In Marriage, a History, historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz takes readers from the marital intrigues of ancient Babylon to the torments of Victorian lovers to demonstrate how recent the idea of marrying for love is - and how absurd it would have seemed to most of our ancestors. It was when marriage moved into the emotional sphere in the nineteenth century, she argues, that it suffered as an institution just as it began to thrive as a personal relationship. This enlightening and hugely entertaining book brings intelligence, perspective, and wit to today's marital debate.

In the enchanting legends of Arthur and Guinevere, lovers are united as they "tie the knot" with the magick and mysticism of Celtic handfasting traditions. Handfasting, an Ancient Celtic ceremony inspired by the Greeks, Etruscans, Romans, and Norsemen, is regaining popularity within and beyond the Wiccan community as modern couples seek alternative ways to honour their love-bond. Joy Ferguson's Magickal Weddings is a handbook that helps to bring romantic handfasting traditions from antiquity into modern-day ceremonies. It is also a practical wedding planner from start to finish, filled with charts and worksheets, to help any couple organize their handfasting. This complete guide offers: suggestions for vows; ritual elements; tips on how to choose the right day to handfast; different ways to include and accommodate friends and family members in the ceremony; and the symbolism behind elements like cords, flowers, decorative elements, and gemstones.

Diane Warner's "Complete Book of Wedding Vows" is devoted solely to helping couples prepare and personalize wedding vows that are as unique and special as every other aspect of the wedding.