Where to Seat Aunt Edna?

May 1, 2006
With this book, the innovative publisher behind a new series of helpful, entertaining guides on living claims to solve every wedding dilemma. Probe beyond the catchy title, and much of the content of this collection of tips consists of just plain common sense: listen to the band before hiring it; sample the caterer's food before signing a contract; look for wedding gowns on sale; don't bring your dog to the wedding. Buried among the obvious is an occasional gem, e.g., to reduce prewedding stress, hang out at the local comedy club. Though the work is a quick read, its format is perhaps as much a problem as its content -the chunky sound bytes of text punctuated with clip art and simple line drawings are short on substance. Each page is rife with sidebars containing historical factoids and wedding trivia, and there are dozens of sweet and savory personal anecdotes here, a few of which might be worthy material for television's "Wild Weddings". While the Hundreds of Heads® concept is bound to elicit legions of fans -in the tradition of the -Dummies - and -Chicken Soup - series -libraries that need to be selective in their purchasing should first be sure they've covered their bases with some of the excellent available guides that provide actual tools (i.e., worksheets, checklists, and resource lists) to assist the betrothed couple with the wedding planning process. Recommended for only the largest, most exhaustive public library collections." -Deborah Ebster, Univ. of Central Florida Libs., Orlando"

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