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The Best Party of Our Lives: Stories of Gay Weddings and True Love to Inspire Us All
This moving collection of true stories about gay weddings shows how LGBT couples have overcome cultural and personal obstacles to their unions, made wedding traditions their own, and what everyone can learn from them.
Told in a series of essays that mimics the course of a traditional wedding, from engagement to walking down the aisle to the honeymoon and beyond, The Best Party of Our Lives invites readers to reflect on what makes their own relationships unique, and the significance of public celebrations of love. With chapters each focusing on a different couple's love story, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned, the book offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of the changing face of marriage. The perspective these trailblazing couples gain by examining and remaking marriage for themselves will inform anyone who is planning a wedding and inspire anyone who has ever been in love.
Told in a series of essays that mimics the course of a traditional wedding, from engagement to walking down the aisle to the honeymoon and beyond, The Best Party of Our Lives invites readers to reflect on what makes their own relationships unique, and the significance of public celebrations of love. With chapters each focusing on a different couple's love story, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned, the book offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of the changing face of marriage. The perspective these trailblazing couples gain by examining and remaking marriage for themselves will inform anyone who is planning a wedding and inspire anyone who has ever been in love.
- GenresNonfictionLGBT
240 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2015
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40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 27, 2015
Sarah Galvin writes in the Afterword that she hopes, "this book will seem dated ten years from now becasue same-sex marriage has become ubiquitours around the world."
She did interviews with 23 couples and wrote about their relationship and how each came to their marriage. The book is broken into sections of a wedding (Engagement, Planning, Cermony, Reception, & the Happily Ever After Party; each of these subdivided), and each story highlights a particular aspect. She is a skilled writer and was able to draw out intimate details that makes each couple shine; her book will move you to laughter and tears.
Sarah lives in Seattle and reading her book is like reading a local who's who! The art scene, the surrounding islands, the chefs, and of course one of the biggest issues of our times, HIV/AIDS. Seattle has been one of the most progressive cities in its approach to HIV/AIDS. We had a needle exchange program through the epidemic, we have a system that ensures insurance benefits. I worked as an AIDS case manager for 18 years and this book includes a couple that were the early founders of Chicken Soup Brigade, and another man who worked at Northwest AIDS Foundation (NWAF) before moving on to Public Health. Even if I don't know the people directly I am familiar with who they are. I live in Seattle, I know Kucera art gallery that is run by Greg, I know the reputation of Kurt who preceeded me at NWAF; I know Rachel's Ginger Beer, the Lake Union Cafe, the Re-bar.
But even if it were not where I live, I would love this book. It is a book of our times, HIV is now a chronic manageable illness, we now have PrEP, marriage is legal in every state, great gains have been made for science and humanity. I would like to see this book become a viable history for our times that will be read by many, even ten years from now, to remember and celebrate.
She did interviews with 23 couples and wrote about their relationship and how each came to their marriage. The book is broken into sections of a wedding (Engagement, Planning, Cermony, Reception, & the Happily Ever After Party; each of these subdivided), and each story highlights a particular aspect. She is a skilled writer and was able to draw out intimate details that makes each couple shine; her book will move you to laughter and tears.
Sarah lives in Seattle and reading her book is like reading a local who's who! The art scene, the surrounding islands, the chefs, and of course one of the biggest issues of our times, HIV/AIDS. Seattle has been one of the most progressive cities in its approach to HIV/AIDS. We had a needle exchange program through the epidemic, we have a system that ensures insurance benefits. I worked as an AIDS case manager for 18 years and this book includes a couple that were the early founders of Chicken Soup Brigade, and another man who worked at Northwest AIDS Foundation (NWAF) before moving on to Public Health. Even if I don't know the people directly I am familiar with who they are. I live in Seattle, I know Kucera art gallery that is run by Greg, I know the reputation of Kurt who preceeded me at NWAF; I know Rachel's Ginger Beer, the Lake Union Cafe, the Re-bar.
But even if it were not where I live, I would love this book. It is a book of our times, HIV is now a chronic manageable illness, we now have PrEP, marriage is legal in every state, great gains have been made for science and humanity. I would like to see this book become a viable history for our times that will be read by many, even ten years from now, to remember and celebrate.
January 15, 2016
Another biased reviewer here who got his copy free as a result of being a subject of the book. But still, I do have to say, a very fun read, even the chapters unfortunate enough to not be about us. A lot of interesting stories of someone-meets-someone, someone-marries-someone, often with the two years apart, as the book intermingles romance with changes in federal law. Recommended!
January 14, 2023
Recently took a class on the competent medical care of the LGBTQ (I love M4 year). One of the modules mentioned how important it is for us as medical practitioners to frame our conversations with our LGBTQ patients; often, their sexuality in a medical context is brought up in terms of what discrepancies or risks they face. Of course, we need to have conversations celebrating their queerness and not just how difficult it is to be queer. The latter is just exhausting and all doom and gloom, when sexuality and loving relationships are things to be celebrated! After all, being queer is just another beautiful variation of the human experience.
Even though the couples in this book are featured because of their gender or sexual identity, it isn't the focus of their stories. Each story highlights a particular aspect of a wedding. I love love, and thinking about my own wedding planning (and ways to replace certain patriarchal traditions).
It was also fun to recognize and picture so many of the Pacific Northwest landmarks featured in each story! The author is from Seattle and many of the couples are from the PNW.
Even though the couples in this book are featured because of their gender or sexual identity, it isn't the focus of their stories. Each story highlights a particular aspect of a wedding. I love love, and thinking about my own wedding planning (and ways to replace certain patriarchal traditions).
It was also fun to recognize and picture so many of the Pacific Northwest landmarks featured in each story! The author is from Seattle and many of the couples are from the PNW.
January 1, 2019
Full of beautiful stories of love. It just gives you this warm feeling and faith of love to those who keep on looking. Also it is full of cool proposing ideas so, of you're in the process of doing so, this is a good choice.
I recommend it to those who want to be remembered that love exists, that it is colorless, genderless, classless, and eternal... (in a very particular way... I do not believe in lifelong commitment and monogamy so...).
I recommend it to those who want to be remembered that love exists, that it is colorless, genderless, classless, and eternal... (in a very particular way... I do not believe in lifelong commitment and monogamy so...).
December 21, 2015
I am in this book so my rating may be tainted.
Sarah Galvin is one hell of an amazing poet and talented writer. She is funny and caring. Her writing helped shape the story of the 23 couples in this book.
Sarah Galvin is one hell of an amazing poet and talented writer. She is funny and caring. Her writing helped shape the story of the 23 couples in this book.
February 12, 2016
Adorable stories of how love comes in every shape and size. ^_^ Inspiring and beautiful.
April 29, 2017
Fun, touching stories that have me rethinking some of my own wedding planning. Especially enjoyable as I know two of the couples featured!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews