{ "item_title" : "The Wedding Officiant's Guide", "item_author" : [" Lisa Francesca "], "item_description" : "Say I do to tying the knot. Officiant Lisa Francesca has literally written the book on how to plan the perfect ceremony. --Martha Stewart WeddingsRecent data from the wedding planning website The Knot shows an impressive surge in the number of couples having a friend or family member officiate their wedding. Ranging anywhere from 25 - 51% of couples surveyed in various studies, the trend is certainly not slowing. Now, more than ever, novice officiants need a resource to guide them.In The Wedding Officiant's Guide, interfaith minister Lisa Francesca breaks down the entire officiating process, from becoming an ordained officiant and interviewing the couple to drafting and performing a moving ceremony.PRACTICAL WEDDING PLANNING BOOK: Written in an engaging and friendly tone, and featuring empowering advice, suggested readings, stories, and lessons learned from new officiants, and practical tips from wedding planners, this inviting handbook will help new officiants write and deliver a wedding ceremony that fulfills marriage laws, delights guests, and honors the marrying couple.A GIFT FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED IN PLANNING: For a bride or groom who wants a family member or friend to perform their wedding, this comprehensive guide is a great gift to give to your officiant. For beginner or career officiants, this book will be an invaluable resource. Professional wedding planners can add a copy to their client offering to meet the needs of modern couples. RITUALS, READINGS, AND RESOURCES: The words that shape each event are as important as the perfect wedding dress, decorations, and food. This book contains wedding readings and rituals from different cultures and faiths. Planning a destination wedding? Interfaith or cross-cultural marriage? Same-sex wedding? Agnostic or civil ceremony? All are covered. EXPERT GUIDANCE FROM AN EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL: Based on her experience officiating at wedding for more than a dozen years, Lisa Francesca wrote this guide to inspire confidence in any nervous new officiant. As she explains, it covers every step from getting authorized to perform a ceremony to filing the license. You'll learn how to create a ceremony that really reflects your couple, how to manage the wedding rehearsal, and how to stay calm, collected, and in charge on the big day.Perfect for:Career officiants, life celebrants, or seminary students hoping to officiate at weddings as a careerWomen and men exploring resources for planning weddings to take place outside of religious institutionsEngagement gift or wedding officiant giftPair with traditional wedding planner book or organizer for the bride", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/1/45/211/901/1452119015_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "16.95", "online_price" : "16.95", "our_price" : "16.95", "club_price" : "16.95", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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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.