Lifestyles: Wedding bells

Style Your Perfect Wedding: Create and Style Your Own Unforgettable Celebration is a perfect start-to-finish manual for DIY wedding decor and planning. Who knew there were so many species of wedding to choose from? From Nautical to Bohemian, Garden Party to Metropolitan, the savvy team of editors provide expert, yet grounded guidelines for realizing the theme of your dream occasion. The book is split into two sections: The first provides inspirational photos and color palettes along with how-tos for coordinating table settings, floral arrangements, stationery, cakes, chair backs and guest favors. The second section provides helpful timelines and checklists (make sure you get the marriage license on time!), beauty tips, pointers for choosing caterers and photographers and even advice for keeping peace at the head table. When so much stress is involved, why leave anything to chance? With this extraordinary handbook, you can determine every detail of your great event. If only I’d had this book for my inadvertently Bohemian wedding back in the day!

EFFICIENT OFFICIATING
Some years ago, my husband (a college professor) was asked by one of his former students to marry him—that is, to officiate at his wedding. It’s one thing to give a classroom lecture, but it’s something completely different to be in charge of the most important ceremony of someone’s life. In a similar pinch and not sure where to start? Never fear! With Lisa Francesca’s little book of wisdom, The Wedding Officiant’s Guide: How to Write and Conduct a Perfect Ceremony, you’ll have everything the unclergied, uninitiated officiant needs to know about overseeing ceremonies of any flavor, including religious, interfaith and same-sex. The author goes step-by-step through the logistics of the job (interviewing the couple, the wedding rehearsal, the big day, post-ceremony duties) to ensure the event runs smoothly. As a poet, the author has insights into potential readings and strategies for setting the best tone in whatever original writing is required.

TOP PICK IN LIFESTYLES
Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World, by Julia Rothman, is easily the funnest nature book I’ve come across in a long while, and like the word “funnest,” it doesn’t follow the rules. Rothman lowers the bar on nature study by enticing anyone intrigued by charming illustrations to simply wander on over. That’s what this book is like: a wander through fascinating bits of our natural world. There is, however, a method, beginning with landforms and habitats, weather patterns, snowflake shapes and a drawing of the Earth and sun that illuminates the reasons for the seasons. Then, detailed drawings of flower anatomy, a bee, a butterfly and an ant give us vocabulary to describe what we see in our backyard or along a sidewalk. Finally, taken on a brilliantly imagined hike, we meet a slew of common plants and animals via uncommonly interesting snippets of description and behavior.

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.