I Do But I Don't Walking Down the Aisle Without Losing Your Mind

by Wicoff, Kamy

• ISBN13: 9780738210124
• ISBN10: 0738210129
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-05-08
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books

Summary

Why is the stereotypical image of the bride before her wedding day that of a stressed, moody, indecisive, and frustrated woman cracking under pressure and snapping at everyone in sight? Why does being a bride feel like going through a second adolescence? And why, with the rate of couples seeking counseling for wedding-related debt doubling from year to year, do we continue to spend absurd amounts of money on this institution? Examining how the pressure to give into the crowd (mothers, mothers-in-law, caterers, dressmakers, bridesmaids, the groom himself) and the associated traditions (wearing white, being given away, being introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Groom) is sometimes at odds with the "progress" the bride and groom may have made on these issues in private, Kamy Wicoff answers these questions and more in this sure-to-be-talked-about look at the modern bride. Through poignant and funny personal experience, eye-opening conversations with other brides, and scholarly and popular research, she strives to find both the personal and cultural meaning of all the trappings and traditions-from the proposal to the ring, to the dress, and even the bachelorette party. Her insights will blow the roof off the proverbial wedding tent. Her passionate argument for conscious marriage will ring true to the thousands of women planning weddings every day. To keep our sanity, our integrity, and our relationships intact, Wicoff says, "the way we marry matters."

Author Biography

A contributor to Salon.com, Kamy Wicoff lives in New York City. She and her husband have two children.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	ix
one The Proposal, Part One	1	(34)
The Pm-So-Independent" Tap Dance
two The Proposal, Part Two	35	(30)
The Real Thing
three The Ring	65	(34)
My Baptism by Bling-Bling
four Home	99	(34)
Weddings Are Women's Work
five The Dress	133	(32)
My Inner Bride Is Hiding from Me!
six The Part One	165	(22)
The Wedding Consumer
seven The W.C., Part Two	187	(14)
Showers, Scan Guns, and Girly Clothes
eight Beauty Day	201	(30)
Walking the White Carpet
nine My Proposal	231	(4)
At Last
ten "Bachelorette" Is Not a Word	235	(32)
...And Lollipops Are for Chicks
eleven The Wedding	267	(20)
The Rest of My Life Will Never Be Long Enough
EPILOGUE Mysterium Coniunctionis	287	(4)
REFERENCES	291	(6)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	297