The Bride's Instruction Manual: How to Survive and Possibly Even Enjoy the Biggest Day of Your Life

Owner’s/Instruction Manuals #8

by Carrie Denny, Scotty Reifsnyder (Illustrator), Carrie Denny

At Last! A No-Nonsense Guide to Bridal Essentials!
 
Feuding in-laws, rehearsal dinner meltdowns, controlling wedding planners— what’s a gal to do when her Big Day threatens to go down with more drama than a boatload of wedding crashers? Have no fear: The Bride’s Instruction Manual boils it all down to the basics, covering every topic you need to know to march down that aisle with confidence, from setting the date and choosing The Dress to creating your guest list.
 
Chock-full of cheat sheets to keep you on track and on budget, The Bride’s Instruction Manual is the perfect shower gift for every blushing bride-to-be—courtesy of veteran wedding journalist Carrie Denny.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Challenge Category: A book you can finish in a day

This is an awesome guide overall: jam packed with humor and practical advice. I love the illustrations, too. Just a few minor nit-picky complaints: the book includes very little about handling situations with divorced parents. There is a grand total of one reference to divorced parents in the entire book. Also, the book indicates that it is "natural" and "normal" to want to embark on an extensive weight loss program prior to the wedding to "fit" into the dress. My thoughts: 1) Not every bride needs to / should lose weight. 2) With all of the other stress of the wedding planning process, there's no need to place extra pressure by adding to the chorus of voices chanting that you must be perfect, perfect, perfect. (That chorus is already loud enough, thank you very much.) Finally, this book (like pretty much every other wedding guide / article about weddings I've read since getting engaged) assumes that you'll be engaged for at least a year, implying that you're already "late" on accomplishing important tasks if your total engagement is, say, 6 months from proposal to wedding day (since obviously you haven't started dress shopping a year in advance.) But the overall tone is down-to-earth, and there is definitely some great advice for every bride to be found here. I'm happy I have a copy. :)

[mysilicielka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carrie Denny obiecuje poprowadzić za rękę pannę młodą przez organizację jej własnego ślubu i faktycznie to robi. Rozdziały są konkretne, ułożone tematycznie i chociaż tekstu nie jest dużo, to niektóre porady są naprawdę przydatne. Autorka proponuje pewne rozwiązania, jednocześnie często podkreśla, że wszystko trzeba dostosować do naszego gustu i warunków. Często teorię przekształca w praktykę w żartobliwy sposób. Najbardziej zapadł mi w pamięć fragment, w którym opisuje reakcję otoczenia na pierwszy widok panny młodej w sukni ślubnej - pan młody będzie zachwycony, rodzice dumni, a dziadek pewnie wszystko prześpi.

Treść to nie tylko suchy tekst i całe szczęście, bo wtedy całość wypadłaby raczej nudno. Każda ze stron jest dopracowana graficznie, występuje tu mnóstwo tabelek, szkiców i wykresów. Jest kolorowo, ale nie chaotycznie. "Panna Młoda. Instrukcja obsługi" jest wydana w ciekawym formacie. Ma mniejszy rozmiar niż standardowa książka, zaokrąglone brzegi stron, jest bardzo poręczna. Jak dodamy do tego przydatne arkusze w środku, choćby te z listą wydatków albo namiarami do usługodawców, to wyjdzie nam całkiem przydatny notatnik/poradnik przyszłej żony, który można nosić w torebce i wielokrotnie z niego korzystać. Aż szkoda, że nie ma więcej czystych stron do zapisywania ważnych informacji.

Największym minusem według mnie jest brak uniwersalności. Niestety mocno da się wyczuć, kto był w zamyśle odbiorcą tej książki - amerykańska para i to raczej ta należąca do zamożniejszej grupy społecznej. Bo czy przeciętny Polak w naszej rzeczywistości może sobie pozwolić na ślub zagraniczny, ślub na tropikalnej plaży, kilka imprez przed oficjalnym wydarzeniem, zaproszenie 800 gości albo szybkie zaliczenie kursu uprawniającego do udzielania takich ceremonii? Nie ma takich zgrzytów dużo, ale jednak co jakiś czas się pojawiają i niczego dla nas nie wnoszą.

Podsumowując, nie jest to może pozycja obowiązkowa do przeczytania przed zamążpójściem, ale można z niej co nieco wyciągnąć. Na pewno po lekturze pannie młodej będzie łatwiej zaplanować swoje przyszłe kroki.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little outdated and non-inclusive, but a cute book with some helpful ideas

[Wanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been very helpful with planning my wedding and providing great questions to ask my vendors. The only downside I have is that I'm planning a smaller wedding, and I don't feel there are enough tips for the budget conscious. Also, much of the stuff the author informs the reader on is bare minimum, example the lists for father-daughter dance consisted of 5 songs, there is no mother-son dance list, options for music include either a dj or a band, only 6 types of wedding bouquet options presented and they all ranged in the "quite expensive" category.

[Theut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finito quasi fuori tempo massimo ;)
Praticamente inutile per organizzare un matrimonio, ha aspetti divertenti.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very helpful in planning a wedding. It just seemed to centre around the idea of a big, white American wedding and didn't take into account people's choices for celebrations which don't fit the 'movie' definition. I read it in hope it would remind me of something crucial I'd forgotten in the planning stages but it didn't. The whole thing was very templated and stereotypical. My fiance has read the equivalent Groom's manual and by all accounts it is borderline mysoginistic, and the underlying message is 'stay out of it, let your wife-to-be do all the planning because your input won't be good enough'.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some solid advice for any bride. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my hands on this soon enough, so a lot of decisions were already made before I started reading. It helped justify some decisions I made, but was a little too late on some things.

This would probably be more helpful for newly engaged brides though.

The companion book for the groom went unread as the groom isn’t much of a reader. But I’m sure it would be practical for guys who do read.

[Mandy Helfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did have many helpful tips. However, there were a lot of things I disagreed with. What I will take away - this can be a good general guide to planning your wedding but certainly don’t follow it word for word. Do what makes YOU comfortable and allows you to enjoy your big day to the fullest.

[Sara Hammes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Funny book about being a bride. Some helpful information but a lot of it is info I already knew. Still glad I read it and would recommend to other brides.

[Ashley Snyder Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because it touched on every aspect of wedding planning, but did so in a concise and humorous manner. I love the book's graphics and handy cheat sheets that help with budget, choosing venues, choosing photographers, etc.

I recommend this book to all brides who aren't so stressed out that they can't still laugh here and there.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great, concise guide to getting your life together for your wedding. I should have finished this earlier in the planning process, but I feel really relieved now that I've read it.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best bridal how-to book ever... for those of us who haven't had that special day planned since we were itty bitty, this was very informative.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly common sense Advice, but I appreciate the humor, especially in comparison to the groom book.