Sharon Naylor Toris - Your Day, Your Way: The Essential Handbook for the 21st-Century Bride

other books by sharon naylor

100 Reasons to Keep Him/100 Reasons to Dump Him

1001 Ways to Have a Dazzling Second Wedding

How to Have a Fabulous Wedding for $10,000 or Less

How to Plan an Elegant Wedding in 6 Months or Less

The Complete Outdoor Wedding Planner

The Mother-of-the-Bride Book

The New Honeymoon Planner

The Ultimate Bridal Shower Idea Book

Copyright 2003 by Michelle Roth, Henry Roth, and Sharon Naylor

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.
Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com

THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Design by Vanessa Perez
Illustrations by Michelle Roth and Kate Vasseur

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roth, Michelle.
Your day, your way: the essential handbook for the 21st-century bride / Michelle Roth, Henry Roth, Sharon Naylor. 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. WeddingsPlanning. 2. Wedding etiquette. 3. Wedding costume. I. Roth, Henry. II. Naylor, Sharon. III. Title.

HQ745.R68 2003

395.22dc2 2003007176

eISBN: 978-0-307-77468-2

v3.1

In memory of our wonderful grandparents, Franka and Samuel Baral Fania and Chaim Weinreich, and my incredible husband, Peter Roth.

M ICHELLE R OTH

To the most wonderful parents, Aneta and Joseph Weinreich, and the greatest sisters, Lilian Weinreich and Michelle Roth.

H ENRY R OTH

To my parents, Joanne and Andrew Blahitka; my family and friends near and far; and to my grandmother Rose Foglio Montenaro Potuto who would have loved to see it all.

S HARON N AYLOR

contents

acknowledgments

W e must start off by thanking the incredible team who brought this book to life: Denise Sternad, our acquisitions editor and guiding force; literary agent Meredith Bernstein; Michelle McCormack, our project editor; Vanessa Perez, interior and cover designer; and Ruth Younger, our copyeditor.

Also, Joseph and Aneta Weinreich in Sydney, Australia, for their wealth of information, support, and book guidance; Lilian Weinreich, who provided excellent feedback and background information; and Peter Roth, for loving and supporting our Michelle twenty-four hours a day.

Next, we thank the many wedding couples who shared their stories and wedding day photos with us: Shaunie and Shaquille ONeal, Jodi Della Femina and John Kim, Amber Parsell Lynch and George Lynch III, Carrie Marcus Youngberg and David Allen Youngberg, Karri-Leigh Paolella and Joseph John Mastrangelo, Danielle Dobin and Christopher Smith, Michelle Marks and Erez Tal, and Tiffany Hosey Brown and Avery Brown. Thanks also to the additional brides who shared their stories through Sharons website and in Michelle Roths flagship salon and at trunk shows across America.

Our book would never have the depth and richness of information without the generosity and expertise of the following (in order of appearance in the book): Mara Leighton of Fred Leighton Designs, Lauren Winer and Melvyn Kirtley from Tiffany, Todd and Krista Meikle from www.wedstudio.com, Ellen Weldon from Ellen Weldon Designs, Linda Zec-Prajka from An Invitation to BuyNationwide, Michael and Lisa George from Michael George Flowers, David Coake from Florists Review, Ed Stone from the Bernards Inn, Robert DeMaria from the Hotel InterContinental, Sylvia Weinstock from Sylvia Weinstock Cakes, Ron Ben-Israel and Tad Weliczko from Ron Ben-Israel Cakes, the staff of Bridgewaters in New York City, Wendy Dodds and Monica Morgan from Indigo Moon, Lois Pearce from Beautiful Occasions, Annie Block, Corinne Soikin Strauss from Hampton Weddings, Daniele Doctorow from Music in the Air, Edward Tricomi from the Warren Tricomi Salon, author Barbara Heller, makeup artist Laura Geller, Radu from Radu Physical Culture, Beth Reed Ramirez from www.brideagain.com, Sarah Stitham from Charmed Places, Andrea Rotundo Hospidor from www.getawayweddings.com, and all of the other wedding luminaries who shared their best ideas with us.

Thank you to all the staff at Michelle Roth, who provided us with their insights with tremendous professionalism and dedication.

We thank you all for being a part of our book, and we wish you a 21st century filled with the best of everything.

introduction

C ongratulations on your engagement!

We created Your Day, Your Way: The Essential Handbook for the 21st-Century Bride with you in mind. You may or may not be a celebrity, a famous diva, or even a model, but you are a bride, and to us you are The Celebrity. Being a bride is an equalizer that inevitably makes any woman beautiful.

As a 21st-century bride, you have won tremendous autonomy when it comes to making wedding plans. Youre free to plan the wedding you want, something brides of years and decades past never got to do! The trappings (or traps) of Old World etiquette are flying out the window as we speak. Todays couples are throwing the crusty old rules to the winds and embracing todays freedom to plan ceremonies, receptions, even wedding day wardrobes according to their own rules, to what speaks to and about themeven when their ideas contradict centuries-old customs. Want to wear white to your second wedding? Absolutely! Want to include your own poetry in your ceremony readings? Fabulous! Want to have your closest guy friend stand up for you along with your bridesmaids? We applaud you! After all

Through this book, we champion your wedding planning freedom, making sparks fly as we cut away the have tos, musts, and shoulds that strangled brides of years past and encourage you to be bold in your wedding planning choices, to make decisions that please your heart, to embrace your 21st-century grooms wishes for the day, and to create an unforgettable celebration that announces your unique partnership and style.

Were here to take you through this new stratosphere of wedding privilege, as you glide into this new bridal era with confidence and calm. Well provide a bit of encouragement as you plan your dream wedding in a world that sometimes seems hasnt quite gotten the message.