The Conscious Bride

Led by a counselor, brides share their feelings about such issues as being given away, wearing a veil, changing their name, and closing the hotel room door only to find themselves suddenly--married. The author unravels the psychology behind common difficulties and offers practical advice for handling the fears and doubts that so often run amok as wedding bells toll.

While family and future in-laws squabble over the menu and the table decorations, brides are supposed to sit, smile, and bask in the prospect of their happiness, even though that prospect is guaranteed to include the post-wedding depression that hits some 90 percent of women during their first year of marriage. This is a must-have book for any woman who has found the partner she wants to be with for the rest of her life and has made up her mind to celebrate that commitment. Bridal counselor Sheryl Paul interviewed a diverse group of women who share their true feelings about the many concerns that can make an engagement a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs. Along with practical advice and support, you will find welcome acknowledgement of shared doubts and fears that so often run amok as wedding bells take their toll.

'We have to shift from a mindset of shame, which sees anxiety as evidence of brokenness, to a mindset of curiosity, which recognizes that anxiety is evidence of our sensitive heart, our imaginative mind and our soul's desire to grow towards wholeness.' Three million people are thought to suffer from anxiety in the UK, and it is an issue that affects a growing number of people across all ages. For anyone troubled by obsessive thoughts, insomnia and other manifestations of anxiety, counsellor Sheryl Paul offers shelter in the storm. In The Wisdom of Anxiety, Paul reveals that anxiety, like any emotion, is a signal - a clear bodily invitation to heal and renew your trust in your choices, self-image and core values. Weaving together practical exercises with personal stories, Paul offers medication-free approaches for accessing the gifts in different kinds of anxiety, and especially the anxiety summoned by life's transitions, for example a career change, becoming parents or becoming carers for loved ones. Chapters include recognising the symptoms of anxiety, its origins, the myth of 'normal', the expectation of happiness and a timeline of healing that includes exercises for the body and mind. There are also chapters on parenting in an age of anxiety and the vulnerability of connection and relationships.

From the country’s foremost expert on “cold feet,” a smart and compassionate guide for the bride-to-be who thinks she should be blissfully happy—but is freaking out instead For most brides, the elation of engagement is accompanied by a cocktail of unexpected emotions: Anxiety about making a lifelong commitment. Sadness about leaving their single life behind. Confusion when even simple decisions—should we serve chicken cordon bleu or beef Wellington?—bring them to tears. Worst of all, since everyone around them expects them to be happy, few brides feel there’s anyone to turn to with these conflicting feelings. Written by one of Modern Bride’s “25 Trendsetters of 2006”—and targeting the 2.5 million women who get engaged each year—Emotionally Engagedis the only book geared toward helping brides survive their engagements and emerge as stronger, happier, better- adjusted married women. In the book, Allison Moir-Smith shares her threestage, tried-and-true process from her workshops and individual therapy sessions, along with the stories of over a dozen brides-to-be and newlyweds, helping readers transform their bridal blues into bridal bliss.

Unenthused by a white wedding gown and bored by the hoopla of the Hollywood-style reception, Ariel Meadow Stallings found herself absolutely exhausted with the nuances of traditional nuptials . . . so she chose to take a walk off the beaten aisle. In this updated edition of Offbeat Bride, Stallings humorously recounts the story of the original offbeat wedding-hers-and shares anecdotes and advice from dozens of other nontraditional couples. She also includes a chapter on budget weddings in today's weak economy, along with sidebars, tips, tricks, and planner encouragement to help you figure out your special day. What results is a combination of hilarious wedding stories and tons of helpful how-tos-a perfect mash-up of memoir and handbook. At once practical and enjoyable, Offbeat Bride validates choosing the funky, different, and offbeat over the traditional, and leads couples through the planning process-from unique ideas on how to announce their engagement all the way to answering the question, "So, how's married life?" Stallings is the ultimate guide to the alternative wedding of your dreams, and with Offbeat Bride, she brings you a book that serves both as an encouragement and celebration of aisles less traveled.

Cochran (DIYBride.com) provides an idea trove that will inspire the nuptial process of the budget-conscious. Projects are mostly favors, invites, ring holders and a few of the unexpected, such as making your own wedding rings with precious metal clays. She holds the crafter's hand through the process of producing cigar-box welcome packages, teacup centerpieces and paper parasols, with detailed lists of supplies and directions, tips and hints, and an itemized price breakdown - with a dollop of humor hot-glued on the side. Eight wedding themes are presented, with five projects for each, enhancing any occasion calling for extra flair and less expense. And, if fairy-tale flower girl costumes or chicken-wire seating holders aren't your thing, inspiration can be mixed and matched. And of course, that critical element - an estimate of just how many bridesmaids, moms and aunts will be required for crafty assistance - completes this wicker basket of ideas that will enliven the celebration of marriage - or just any good party. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

New York food writer Tressa returns from honeymoon worried that she has married her impossibly handsome new husband Dan out of late-thirties panic instead of love. In 1930's Ireland, her grandmother, Bernadine, is married off to the local schoolteacher after her family are unable to raise a dowry for her to marry her true love, Michael. During the first year of her marriage, Tressa distracts herself from her stay-or-go dilemma by working on her grandmother's recipes, searching for solace and answers through their preparation.

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE A young, enigmatic woman—Lily Azerov—arrives in post-war Montreal expecting to meet her betrothed, Sol Kramer. When Sol sees Lily at the train station, however, he turns her down. His brother, Nathan, sees Lily and instantly decides to marry her. But Lily is not who she claims to be, and her attempt to live a quiet life as Nathan Kramer’s wife shatters when she disappears, leaving her baby daughter with only a diary, an uncut diamond and a need to discover the truth. Who is Lily and what happened to the young woman whose identity she stole? Why did she leave and where did she go? It is up to the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions as she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know.