[.ca] Weddings (ISBN 0316246611)

From Amazon.com:
Weddings is the most anticipated wedding book of the year, and for good reason: it's as gorgeous, filling, and sweet as a double slice of wedding cake. As Colin Cowie explains in the book's introduction, he earned recognition as a wedding designer by paying attention to the personalities and desires of the bride and groom as well as the smallest, most excruciating details. "Style should prevail," he says, explaining that style has nothing to do with the design of the dress or the make of the limousine and everything to do with confidence, consideration, and graciousness toward others; it's a tone everyone can respect. The typical bride and groom may not be rich, famous, or personally acquainted with famous musicians who beg to play at the reception, and the example weddings pictured in the book are conspicuous-consumption daydreams for many. But everyone wants to plan their own perfect wedding, and Cowie is a genius at the fine embellishments that can make a modest wedding more memorable and easier on the pocketbook.

Wonderful !:
Great for a visually inspired person as well as having some great text to help you in the planning and execution of this important day. Yes, the weddings that Mr. Cowie deals with are pretty over-the-top but he offers some beautiful ideas to help you decide on the type of wedding that YOU want and not what the world expects. The text is informative and the pictures divine. I can't wait till his next book comes out. Thank you , Mr. Cowie , for a fun book.

Great ideas, but mostly style over substance:
While I enjoyed reading Colin Cowie's book, and found much of the photography breathtakingly beautiful and somewhat addictive, there does not seem to be very much real, practical advice for today's bride (unless she has \o$$}0 or more to spend on her wedding and can guarantee perfect weather on the wedding day!). Cowie has a section for "Planning Your Own Wedding," where he suggests that the bride and, if possible, the groom, answer some personality questions (included in the book) that will help the couple personalize their wedding and truly make it their own -- and this is probably my favorite part of the book (other than the stunning photographs). While Cowie has some terrific ideas, I do not think they are feasible for real brides who work full-time jobs and don't wish to take out a second mortgage on their home to finance the day. But I did get some good ideas from the book, and Cowie truly encourages brides to really, really, REALLY think outside the box when planning the wedding and reception (the brunch idea, complete with Mimosas, was great, as was the idea for using flower-bedecked baskets full of ripe fruit as centerpieces). I found this one at my library, and did enjoy it. Sadly, I don't think I'll ever be able to hire Colin & his brilliance for my own wedding!

Comparable to Martha's:
This book had more planning detail than did Martha Stewart's, which was excellent. Like Martha Stewart, it also had excellent advice on traditions, etiquette and menus. The decorations were very extravaggant, sometimes it seemed a bit much, but basically it is a matter of taste and budget, if you plan to use this book for decoration ideas. If you want simple elegance go with Martha, if you want a more lavish and abundant look, go with Colin. Both are comparable, the biggest difference is decoration style.

Borrow it from the library, not worth buying!:
In the midst of my desperate search for ideas during my wedding planning, I grabbed a copy of this book at the local library. The pictures were stunning and the ideas looked great... But the ideas are only possible for people with fat bank accounts. His idea of "creative" and "chic" is BIG BIG and BIGGER flower arrangements topping at thousands of dollars each, probably. It's a nice eye candy to flip through... you may learn a few things and it may spark a few ideas of your own, but not worth the price tag. Buy it used or borrow it from the library. I found that the handful of Bride magazines I obtained had more creative ideas, and I could tear the pages out of those and copy them for vendors... you wouldn't want to bend a page in this pricey book.

A terrific source of inspiration...:
While the weddings presented are opulent (and absolutely gorgeous!), there are practical ideas in this book for all budgets that every bride can cull from. From the small city wedding to the ranch-style weddings featured, all have wonderful suggestions to pick up on. There's also a great section on the right questions to ask vendors and suppliers... and even more valuable is the template for setting up a schedule for the event day (timing is everything!). Colin Cowie is a fantastic event planner and I'm looking forward to using some of these ideas to make my special day elegant and memorable.