Of all four wedding books I bought for planning my big day, this was the least helpful and most frustrating. If your wedding journey follows the stereotypical American path (white dress, bridesmaids, father walking you down the aisle) this book may actually be a perfect fit for you, but if you're in any way different (in a homosexual relationship? want a colorful dress? not changing your name? perhaps you're in a heterosexual relationship and you *gasp* were the one who proposed? or maybe you don't have the so-called 'average' wedding budget of tens of thousands of dollars? etc. etc.) then this book has the potential to drive you up the wall. It definitely did me. If I could go back, I would never have purchased this book in the first place.
All that being said, I admit the book does have some great tips. My money wasn't COMPLETELY wasted here. The big problem is, I had to really work in order to dig them out. For every “Ah-ha!” moment, I went through a hundred groans first. There were entire chapters I basically skipped because they were completely useless or irrelevant. I understand it's not possible to write a book specifically tailored to every unique bridal situation, but that doesn't mean this book couldn't have been more inclusive.
It did get better in the last half. The closer the advice got to the wedding day, the more relevant, helpful, and universal it became. I also appreciated the inclusion of a honeymoon and “Radiant Wife” section at the end but these still came with the same frustrations as the previous chapters. I plan to keep the book until I actually go on my honeymoon so I can reread that section immediately beforehand but the "Radiant Wife" bit is definitely not good enough for me to keep this book indefinitely.
Although I wasn't very happy with the book overall, I did like the pretty illustrations which were well-placed throughout. The book visually is gorgeous and the paper and finishes chosen for the pages and covers make for a pleasant tactile reading experience. The layout, fonts, spacing, organization, etc. are all very well done and make the book fairly easy to digest. These things are probably what drove me to buy this book after I glanced through it at the bookstore. Unfortunately, the appearance alone can't make up for the unhappiness and disappointment I felt while reading the actual contents.