cover image The Bridal Wave: A Survival Guide to the Everyone-I-Know-Is-Getting-Married Years

The Bridal Wave: A Survival Guide to the Everyone-I-Know-Is-Getting-Married Years

Erin Torneo, Valerie Krause. Villard Books, $13.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-8129-7601-4

For anyone who's thought to herself something like, ""even my college roommate with Tourette's has a ring,"" the release of Torneo and Cabrera's tough but sincere guide to ""keeping the crazies in check"" in the wake of friends' weddings may spell relief. With care, humor, and a thorough understanding of the fine line between envy and disgust padded by single women watching friends get swept through the marriage mill, Torneo and Cabrera manage to keep everything in perspective. There are practical, if at times obvious, suggestions (tired of ""lobridemized"" friends? Hang out with guy friends who could care less), an empathetic and illuminating look inside the mind of the ""bridal drone,"" and ways to get through the wedding season without overspending. Other chapters cover everything from pre-wedding parties to silencing the ""when are you going to get married?"" chorus to determining what marriage trajectory works for you-including, yes, whether your current boyfriend is real marriage material. The authors aren't interested in emotional depth, nor in taking on the multi-billion dollar wedding industry, but they have given voice to a particular set of young women, and this winning book should be a comforting and vindicating addition to their libraries.