Wedding Zen: Calming Wisdom for the Bride

by Susan Elia MacNeal, Rachell Sumpter (Illustrations)

For stressed-out brides-to-be, finally there's an alternative to last-minute elopement: Wedding Zen is an oasis of calm amidst the chaos of planning a wedding. By applying the classic teachings of Zen to time-honored nuptial traditions, this darling book shows that a little namaste can improve The Big Day in a dramatic way. Drawn from Zen teachings such as staying mindful of worldly attachments (remember: it's the thought, not the gift, that counts!) and surrendering the ego (but she's your mother, and you love her), here are dozens of tips for warding off trouble in nirvana. Wedding Zen packs a bouquet of wisdom into a charming, beautifully illustrated volume, making this a perfect bridal shower gift. So when preparations get a little crazy -- or a lot crazy -- relief for the bride, and good karma for the giver, is close at hand.

Genres: Nonfiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published December 2, 2004

About the author

Susan Elia MacNeal is the author of The New York Times, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly and USA Today-bestselling Maggie Hope mystery series, starting with the Edgar Award-nominated and Barry Award-winning MR. CHURCHILL'S SECRETARY, which is now in its 23nd printing. MOTHER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY, her first stand-alone novel, comes out September 20, 2022.

Her books have been nominated for the Edgar, the Macavity, the ITW Thriller, the Barry, the Dilys, the Sue Federer Historical Fiction, and the Bruce Alexander Historical Fiction awards. The Maggie Hope series is sold world-wide in English, and has also been translated into Czech, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Turkish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and Bulgarian.. Warner Bros. has the TV rights.

Susan graduated from Nardin Academy in Buffalo New York, and also cum laude and with honors in English from Wellesley College. She cross-registered for courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and attended the Radcliffe Publishing Course at Harvard University.

Her first job was as the assistant to novelist John Irving in Vermont. She then worked as an editorial assistant at Random House, assistant editor at Viking Penguin, and associate editor and staff writer at Dance Magazine in New York City. As a freelance writer, she wrote two non-fiction books and for the publications of New York City Ballet.

Susan is married and lives with her husband, Noel MacNeal, a television performer, writer and director, and their son in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It's a small book, and I actually carried it around with me in purse for several months before my wedding. It's not a wedding planning book; it's an aide in maintaining one's sanity and joy while planning, anticipating, and taking part in a wedding.

Among other wonderful bits of advice and perspective, this book gave me the following: "Your wedding can't be perfect, but it can be perfectly wonderful." (I'm typing from memory... that first verb might be "won't" or "might not be" or something like that.)

I now send this as an engagement gift on a regular basis. I highly recommend it to all brides-to-be!

[Roxanne]

This book is small, cute, light, fluffy, and heavily illustrated. There's no reason for me not to finish it, except that I don't really want to. I'm rocking the yoga bride thing on my own, I don't need a book to tell me how.

[Laura Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim at a thrift store. Quick read (as in pour a cup of coffee and give yourself an hour), with tips on staying in the moment and breathing during the planing process of your wedding. It wasn't a bad read, but I wouldn't recommend anyone pay full price for it.

[Jacqi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduces the basics of Zen Buddhism.

[Caralee · Rating 5 out of 5]

i got this as a gift and it was great , and it helped with problems that may occur

[Elle]

Funny- I bought this!!!