Revenge of the Wedding Planner

by Sharon Owens

Mags and Julie are partners at Dream Weddings, catering for the over-the-top and sometimes downright bizarre requirements of Belfast's brides and grooms to be. They rub along well but are as different as chalk and cheese. Mags is married to the love of her life, has four kids and a complicated extended family. Julie is impossibly glamorous, and doesn't remotely believe in love or marriage. When Julie embarks on a life crisis, running away from her live-in lover and throwing herself in to a hair-raisingly sexy fling with Jay, it is Mags who is left to pick up the pieces. When Julie eventually comes back, she brings Jay with her, and that is where the real trouble starts. Add to the mix Dream Weddings' most high-profile celebrity clients yet, and the biggest, most ambitious wedding they have ever organised, and the fireworks really begin...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Irish Literature

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Here are some questions I get asked a lot:

DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE A WRITER?

No, it never crossed my mind, though I have always loved books.

WHAT BOOKS DID YOU LOVE AS A CHILD?

THE BORROWERS
THE BORROWERS AFIELD
THE BORROWERS AFLOAT
THE BORROWERS ALOFT
THE BORROWERS AVENGED, all by Mary Norton
THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by CS Lewis

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU LOVE NOW?

THE MAIDEN DINOSAUR
TEA AT FOUR O'CLOCK, both by Janet McNeill
LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER by DH Lawrence
THE LONELY PASSION OF JUDITH HEARNE
THE FEAST OF LUPERCAL
AN ANSWER FROM LIMBO
THE LUCK OF GINGER COFFEY, all by Brian Moore
READING IN THE DARK by Seamus Deane
THE COUNTRY GIRLS TRILOGY by Edna O'Brien
BEATRICE by Noelle Harrison
THE RAGGY BOY TRILOGY by Patrick Galvin
THE FALLING ANGELS by John Walsh
MAN OR MANGO? by Lucy Ellmann
THE BLUE TANGO by Eoin McNamee

HOW DO YOU RELAX?

I love gardening. This is my garden in Belfast. We managed to squeeze about 25 trees into a very small space. It’s getting quite cramped now the trees are maturing but it feels like a little secret garden to sit in so we love it. I don't think I could ever move house as I love my garden far too much and also this was our first home together and the only house our daughter has ever known!
WHAT KIND OF FOOD DO YOU LIKE?

I'm a veggie who doesn't like courgettes or aubergines! So eating out is usually quite an adventure. I love salads, pizza, fries, most vegetables especially butternut squash, most cheeses, Indian curries, pretzels and most types of bread, all kinds of fruit and ice-cream. My favourite snack is tea and toast with real butter. I do a mean roast chicken for my daughter Alice, and she loves my bread and onion stuffing made on the frying pan with a little butter and
DO YOU WATCH MUCH TV?

Too much! My favourites are:

MURDER SHE WROTE
POIROT
MIDSOMER MURDERS
MISS MARPLE
MONK
KATH & KIM
FATHER TED
BLACK BOOKS
THE IT CROWD
8 OUT OF 10 CATS
THE FRIDAY NIGHT PROJECT
CORONATION STREET
SEINFELD
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FASHION?

Well, I would have said no until recently when it was pointed out to me that I love fashion very much: but only certain trends, and I never change my mind about what I like. So, for the last 25 years I have worn (only black) Victorian-style blouses, long waisted overcoats, pointy-toed ankle boots, DM shoes and sandals, palazzo pants and silver costume jewellery. I have long, straight hair and my favourite perfume is the POISON range by Dior, or anything by CHANEL. I have one designer piece: a LULU GUINNESS handbag that dermot

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?

Yes. It happened to me. My husband Dermot is a wonderful man; strong and supportive yet gentle and thoughtful too. I wouldn't have a career without his encouragement, and I don't think I'd be nearly as happy or well-grounded either. He's my best friend.
The funny thing is, when I first met him, he was really skinny with long black hair and he wore a dog collar and an overcoat from the second World War. Twenty-three years on, he's gained some muscles, shaved his head, and now resembles a Hollywood hit-man. Both looks work for
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED?

Hopefully with affection by my husband, daughter and close friends.

MY FAVOURITES...

BANDS:
Joy Division
New Order
Bauhaus
Jesus & Mary Chain
Siouxsie & the Banshees
Smiths
Morrissey
Cure
Cocteau Twins
Iggy Pop
Undertones
Papa Roach
XTC
Sex Pistols
Clash
Interpol
Muse
Rammstein
Futureheads
Kooks
KT Tunstall

Best Live Band: Smiths
FILMS...

WILD AT HEART
TRAPPED IN PARADISE
RAISING ARIZONA
AMELIE
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
SWEENEY TODD

Reviews

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Revenge of the Wedding Planner' is the story of Mags Grimsdale, a 40-something woman who works at Dream Weddings, a small wedding planning business run by her best friend Julia Sultana. But Mags isn't your average 40-something mother of four - she's a goth with long black hair, has gargoyles in her house and is keeping a secret or two. Julia sends Mags' life into disarray when she dumps her latest boyfriend, can Mags keep it all together - her family, friendship and of course, Dream Weddings?

The plot sounded pretty interesting to me, and was pretty good to start with. Mags was quite a fun character to read, and her first person narrative made very pleasant reading, which stumbled along, describing well Mags' life and her thoughts as well. However, that's really where the good things about this book ended for me. All of the other character in the book (perhaps apart from Mags' husband Bill) were all hideous - they were whiny, selfish, rude and generally not very nice people! Julia was the worst offender, and you have to wonder why Mags' would still stay friends with someone who treats her like that! She was very selfish and quite a user towards Mags. Her background is explained (quite extensively I must add) by Mags early on in the book, but this didn't make me any more sympathetic to her, quite the opposite actually. I think it was supposed to evoke sympathy from the reader, but just didn't from me.

We also get to meet 2 of Mags' children, Alexander and Alicia-Rose. Her daughter leaves the book a little way through (not through death!) so we don't see much of her but Alexander on the other hand, seems to be the son from hell. I feel Owens has rather exaggerated with his character, to the point of being so incredibly annoying I found myself wanting to skip his parts because he was so irritating to me! Other characters through the book included Mags' sisters, Jay; Julia's boyfriend, and the odd wedding couple.

Now, the awful characters isn't my biggest gripe with the book. I had a real problem with the amount of narrative in the book! Usually when I read a book, I expect to have an equal amount of dialogue and narrative from the author, but this book was so heavy with the narrative, it became very hard going after a while. I found myself checking how many pages there were until the end so that I could move onto another book because reading it at times was a real chore, and I was just bored with it. Dialogue betwen the characters was quite rare, and when it did occur, it was pretty short, and it soon launched back into its pages and pages of Mags' narrative once more. Owens' writing style itself is pleasant enough, Mags being quite funny to read, but the long narrative just wasn't sustainable from the characters and just went on far too long for me, and therefore really dented my enjoyment of the book overall.

The story was pleasant enough, with a couple of twists and turns throughout, not to mention a quite explosive ending, but it just didn't really do it for me unfortunately. I felt it was a little bland, far too narration-heavy, and the title didn't really make much sense for me - where was Mags' revenge?! I couldn't see it anyway. I was really looking forward to this book but I was actually relieved when it was finished. I hate reading a book when it feels like a chore, and that is what this was for me. Very disappointing, I'm quite unsure about trying any more of her work after reading this.

PLEASE NOTE: This book was published in Ireland under the title of The Trouble With Weddings, so don't read both!

[Katie Leversuch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis:

Mags and Julie are partners at Dream Weddings, catering for the over-the-top and sometimes downright bizarre requirements of Belfast's brides and grooms to be. They rub along well but are as different as chalk and cheese. Mags is married to the love of her life, has four kids and a complicated extended family. Julie is impossibly glamorous, and doesn't remotely believe in love or marriage.

When Julie embarks on a life crisis, running away from her live-in lover and throwing herself in to a hair-raisingly sexy fling with Jay, it is Mags who is left to pick up the pieces.

When Julie eventually comes back, she brings Jay with her, and that is where the real trouble starts. Add to the mix Dream Weddings' most high-profile celebrity clients yet, and the biggest, most ambitious wedding they have ever organised, and the fireworks really begin

This is the second Sharon Owen novel I have read and like The Teahouse on Mulberry Street, I enjoyed it and thought it was an OK chick-lit book. The narrator is Mags - a woman who is happily married, a goth and an assistant wedding planner. Her associate/manager is Julie, who seems to be having a mid-life crisis. Although this takes her to South Ireland where she forgets about her boyfriend and hooks up with a worker at the spa. From there, she starts to lead a double-life, leaving Mags to do most of the work in regards to a crazy celebrity wedding.

This is your basic chick-lit novel. There is romance, a bit of a crisis and friendship. That said, this was a pleasant read. I found myself cringing in places, especially in regards to the weird vampire-like wedding at the end. The story was fairly predictable but that didn't ruin the read. If you like a quick, easy read this is for you.

I liked Mags however. She was a touch eccentric and I loved the idea of her with blue hair! She looked out for Julie and was happy in her marriage, which was a pleasant thing to read. Her husband was great too - very sensible and loving. I was indifferent to Julie, she seemed to go off the rails and act like a teenager. What I liked was reading what Mags thought about the events, as opposed to reading about Julie herself.

This is easy reading, a fun, quick read if you like chick-lit.

[Renae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great light read, with a bit of laughing...even during the sad times. There were times that I would get distracted by things outside of the cover, but with this book it didnt matter. Which is prob what I needed!
Margs is Julie's PA for her business 'Dream Weddings', the story is told from Margs POV and is almost like reading someones thoughts. The story takes place over a year, as such. Though it jumps back and forward abit, it doesnt matter as Margs tells it like someone having a chat over coffee. eg."Oh the wedding was gorgeous, even after all that happened in the lead up. Did I tell you about ..." (not an actual quote)

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Revenge of the Wedding Planner" was a rather quick, and in parts also amusing book, although some characters were just plainly unlikeable (Julie, Alexander, Emma!!!). It was quite refreshing to read about a 40-something lady, who is at times not able to hold things together as good as she wants to, because these kinds of stories mostly feature the complicated and messy lives of 20-something girls (and are getting a bit worn out anyway, at least for my taste).

[Aileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book at the beginning but 4 chapters in, I got bored, however towards the end it did get better.

[Juli Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely sweet easy to read chick lit book, mainly about two characters and their lives whilst running a 'Dream Wedding' company

[Nancy Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read with a funny storyline (wedding planners do a celebrity wedding). A nice commentary on true love, fake love, and imagined love.

[Kelsey Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok

[Emma Rawlings · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. The title didn't go with the book. I wouldn't read the book again but it was a quick easy read.
I didn't connect with any of the characters so may be that's why I didn't fully enjoy it.

[Vickie Taylor-Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. I didn’t really find any of the characters likeable or even that believable. They felt a bit like caricatures which was quite annoying plus I felt the story petered out slightly at the end.

[Lesley Murray · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my review for " the trouble with weddings" this is the same book published under a different title!

[Suhotra Tripathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a strange relationship with her, I mean I loved her but she also took me a long time to read.

[sylvie · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was one of the very few books that i just couldn’t finish. i got probably 70 pages in and was just too bored. it doesn’t relate to the title.

[Ritattoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and lighthearted, lovely little read

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very silly but very funny book about the antics of two women with a wedding planning business.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Must be one of the worst book I have ever read. The plot was poor and very unbelievable .

[Lo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt the storyline didn’t match the book at all, book was quite fat phobic and was highly offensive to people suffering with anorexia. Best thing I got from this book was 2 good songs

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty fast-paced story. It does have an alternate title -- The Trouble with Weddings -- which I think is more fitting, but admittedly, I was mainly interested to see what the revenge would be and why it was needed.

On the surface, this book is kind of quirky and light, but there are some deep issues mentioned such as depression, neglect, and eating disorders. I like that the narrator is written as if she's talking directly to you; that gave it a sense of familiarity and honestly that made it a little comical as well.

I liked that although the focus was really on the one big, disastrous wedding, there were some smaller storylines of interest as well. I can imagine the narrator being really frustrated with several of the characters; I know I was!

I recommend this book if you're looking for a quick, light-but-not-too-fluffy read. I also think it would make a good book club read. There are some parts I'd like to discuss with others for sure, and I can imagine some interesting stories coming being shared too!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book! I thought it was brilliant! The first thing that caught me was the main character Mags. She was really interesting, being a goth in her early years and still not really shaking it when older.. and the fact that her husband was a punk! Her house seemed really cool to me, guitars on the walls, a MASSIVE record collection and a room that had a stone gargoyle and gothic candle sticks some at 5 feet tall?! It made me decide that when i have a house of my own it will always have a biscuit jar fully stocked with chocolate biscuits! The fact that the book was based in Belfast in my home country of Ireland made it a bit of a comfort, as i could relate to some of the slang she was using and the 'ulster fry' and 'cups of tae'! :) The story itself was so funny i thought, with Julies crazy parents and her relationships with guys, mags family antics such as her son having a baby with his anorexic girlfriend who has false eyelashes and designer shoes! All in all it made me laugh and it made me feel like i really knew the characters. Love it :)

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable wee book. As with all of Sharon Owen's books, I get a buzz from reading a book based in Belfast and I enjoyed the we snippets of Northern Irish humour

I gave the book four stars, but would actually liked to have given it three and a half. As much as I enjoyed it, I didn't really enjoy it just as much as the other books by Sharon Owens that I have read. The narrating character, Mags, really frustrated me. She was a real wimpy, pathetic sort of door mat. I just wanted to reach into the book and give her a shake. I did start getting so annoyed at her lack of backbone at times that it began to really effect my enjoyment a little but other wise it’s a good light hearted bit of chic lit.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed Sharon Owens' first three books, set in different streets of Belfast, very much - they are all written with a lovely light touch and full of quirky, unusual characters.

This comic novel about two friends who work as wedding planners is again set in Belfast, but I don't think it works as well - it's a strange mixture of farce, jet-black humour and satire and the sort of cosy-ish humour in the first three books, and to me it doesn't all really gel. I'll still read more by Sharon Owens in the future, though, and it's interesting to see her doing something different.

[Rhoda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read one other of Sharon Owens books and really enjoyed it, however this was a disappointment. The storyline was pretty weak and the characters were just not likeable. I didn't like Mags, who was the character that was narrating - she was a walk-over and annoying and the none of the other characters were any better!

The title of the book did not seem relevant to the storyling and all-in-all reading it seemed a rather pointless exercise.

[willaful]

Something about the narration of this book made me think of Monty Python skits in which they play old English biddies. I ran across a review that said the narrator "speaks in the kind of Nordie Mockney that’s so reminiscent of transvestites in cosy cardies" -- the only word of that I understand is transvestite, but it sounds like basically the same idea. Anyway, it was kind of funny but got too crazy for me.

[Sara Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I read this book, the less I felt like I understood it or cared what it was about. I didn't understand what the revenge part was, didn't really connect with the main character or her life, the plot made no sense to me. Had to give up on it in the end as I didn't even care what the end was going to be.

[Redfox5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Mags has got to be one of the most likable characters I think I've ever come across in a chick-lit book. She's a funny but slightly crazy ex-goth, who trys to do whats best for her and everyone around her but ends up making it worst. I think 80% of the chick lit I read is set in Ireland.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an ok read. It was a reasonable story which was written with a sense of humour. It was very easy to read and a good book to take with you when you are commuting to work.

This is the first time I have read anything by this author and would be willing to try some more of her work.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK. Easy reading. Mags overspending & Julie's sexual exploits got a bit tired. Got a bit too silly midway through when Mags got the tattoo & I nearly gave up, but it settled down again. I'm not sure where the revenge part comes in.

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read book. I quite enjoy the style it was written in, making it feel like Mags (the main character) is talking directly to you. some over the top story lines but that's what makes this interesting.

[Pippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book...I read it whilst on my holiday and i found it so hard to put down...My only complaint would be that the story dragged in places.

[Dot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and light read. Sharon Owens has a very funny writing style and I find her books good to read after a heavier novel.

I laughed out loud many times during this book!