cover image How I Planned Your Wedding: The All-True Story of a Mother and Daughter Surviving the Happiest Day of Their Lives

How I Planned Your Wedding: The All-True Story of a Mother and Daughter Surviving the Happiest Day of Their Lives

Susan Wiggs and Elizabeth Wiggs Maas, Harlequin, $21.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-373-89227-3

Bestselling romance novelist Wiggs (The Lakeshore Chronicles series, et al.) and daughter Elizabeth, an M.B.A. candidate, have pooled their talents to create a humorous, informative guide to planning a wedding. Alternating narratives balance the authors' viewpoints, and "cheat sheets" at the end of each chapter sum up the tips and strategies. The authors offer tips for typical wedding tasks like choosing a dress and a photographer, plus strategies for handling unexpected problems, such as mom's insistence that young cousins be included in daughter's carefully selected bridesmaid pool. Tucked in among the wedding-planning advice in this enjoyable read are thoughtful musings on the emotional implications of an impending wedding, from a mother's realization that she's no longer the center of her daughter's world to a daughter's struggle to balance showing appreciation while asserting her own wishes. (Mar.)