Customer Reviews

Joining Hands and Hearts: Interfaith, Intercultural Wedding Celebrations--A Practical Guide for Couples

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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As a groom with many doubts heading into an interfaith marriage, it has answered so many questions and offered many possibilities that I did not even know were available to me. Neither my future wife or I are very religious to say the least, but still we needed that tradition, without the ceremony becoming stodgy or sappy. We wanted it to be personal and unique and enjoyable, but without all the usual bells and whistles. With Ms. Stefanachi's book, we found exactly what I had in mind, and avoided the cookie-cutter variety I had seen in the past. And since we need to present our ideas to our family and make them appealing, this book helped us in that regard as well. I really like the author's non-judgmental attitude. She definitely seems to have a good way of speaking to people through her words, and the ways of organizing the info. The book helped me overcome those doubts and gave me the answers we were looking for.

My fiancée and I felt really asea when we started planning our interfaith wedding. We had trouble finding books that had examples of successful ceremonies and real stories about what couples dealt with during the process. There's a tremendous amount of detail here but it's not overwhelming--and most importantly, it let us, as an interfaith couple, start to figure out what we did and didn't want in our ceremony. And the tone of the book is also very warm and supportive, never letting you forget that it's supposed to be a joyous celebration (sometimes a hard thing for a groom to remember!). The book describes literally dozens of practices and customs from faiths and peoples around the world, and my fiancée and I found ourselves getting carried away with what we wanted to put into our wedding! Don't worry, though, you'll find this book as helpful as we did.

Rev. Macomb's book is a must not only for those who are planning interfaith or intercutltural weddings. I'd say it's a must for ANYONE who is planning a wedding b/c it is laden with wisdom, knowledge, and real compassion and emotion. There is a multitude of beautiful readings that are pertinent to various parts of a ceremony, as well as a treasure-trove of tid-bits and historical facts about so many cultures. Most importantly, the book keeps things in perspective: why you are getting married, why it is important, and what it means. The book is well organized and well written, and has an honest and spiritual voice that is both calm and soothing.

We were lucky enough to have Rev. Susanna conduct our ceremony--she is a genuine and kind person who really loves and cares about what she does, and if you can't have her actually marry you, then this book is the next best thing!

Planning a wedding can be very confusing especially with so many details to put together. One part of the wedding I need help with is planning the ceremony. Since my finance and I are of different faiths and not religious I am looking to plan a more spiritual ceremony, meaningful non-denominational that is heartfelt, joyful with many personal and unique details and have no idea how to begin!!!
Joining Hands and Hearts by Susanna Stefanachi Macomb is the perfect guide and is so many books rolled into one. On one had it is a "How To" guide to plan your own unique ceremony. This book is also a guide for couples who are of different faiths and shows you how to create a ceremony that will include your families as well as your customs. But what surprised me most was this book is also a love story. The stories that the couples tell are so unique and truly show how fate and coincidence can bring couples together. If you have recently gotten engaged or know somebody who has then this book is a must!!!!

This book truly shaped my special day. The author is tremendously knowledgeable about a wide array of cultures and rituals. I am a Black American woman married to an Indian American man. I knew that I wanted to infuse both of our backgrounds in our wedding ceremony. Her book provided all I needed to do that. We answered the questionnaire featured in her book where we were able to illustrate our feelings toward our upbringing, families, and each other. These words were then interlaced throughout our ceremony. We incorporated our families into the ceremony as well - having them take part in certain rituals and reading our words of love to them. From her book I was able to pick out the rituals that I liked the most and that I felt tied in both of our cultures the best. We poured libation, tied the knot, exchanged rings and garlands, took the seven steps, jumped the broom, and of course kissed. Her book even had a number of readings associated with each ritual that I was able to choose from. Everything was absolutely perfect thanks to Reverend Macomb and her book. Her kind human spirit really comes through. I could not recommend her book more passionately.

I am an event planner who deals with brides and grooms everyday from every culture and religion. This book has been helpful for me as a planner as well as the many couples who marry. This is more than a practical guide but a journey into many different ways of approaching cultures and religions. It has given me great insight into helping couples throught a very happy and at times a very stressful event. BRAVO...finally a how to guide that WORKS...

We are an interfaith, intercultural couple who found this book shortly after we got engaged. At first we were going to have a justice of the peace marry us, but we realized we wanted to find a way to incorporate our different cultural and religious traditions into our ceremony. This book not only provided viable and creative ideas for our ceremony, but also told us stories of many other couples who had been through the same process before us. It helped us to create a ceremony that is uniquely personal to and reflective of our relationship, and showed us how to share our respective backgrounds with our friends and family. It even helped us find the officiant for our ceremony (the author herself!). I highly recommend this book not only to all interfaith and intercultural couples, but to all couples who want to create a ceremony for their wedding that is truly unique and specially reflective of their love.

Joining Hands and Hearts is a gem. Everything you want or need to know about interfaith, intercultural and interracial unions can be found in its inspiring pages.

In Joining Hands and Hearts, Reverend Susanna Stefanachi Macomb speaks from the heart. With sensitivity, caring, and warmth she writes not only about what needs to be included in the interfaith marriage ceremonies themselves, but also about the many and sometimes complex issues surrounding one of life's major rites of passage.

The book commences with an exploration of interfaith as a vehicle for creating bridges between different traditions and beliefs. As such, it emphasizes the importance of respecting the unique characteristics of the cultures and religions of the two people about to be joined in matrimony.It then deals with the need to reflect these elements in a ceremony that will make everyone involved happy.

In planning the ceremony,remaining true to oneself while satisfying the families involved may seem a daunting task but Reverend Susanna creates light out of darkness. The interfaith celebrant, as she explains "neutralizes biases." And she believes that an interfaith ceremony is often " the only solution to the differing opinions and beliefs of the families involved."

Chapter 2 provides a questionnaire for couples, focusing on all the information needed to create an individualized ceremony. Details about the couple, their families, their relationship, and how they envision their special day are all considered. This serves as a foundation for Part II of Joining Hands and Hearts which begins by looking at the marriage practices of 14 different religions.

Chapter 9 is simply fascinating. Here Reverend Susanna explores wedding customs from around the world. We are given a vivid picture of the customs of 47 different cultures including French, Afghani, Greek, Japanese, Scandinavian, and Sudanese. In this chapter, Reverend Susanna takes us to exotic foreign lands where we experience the Showering of Sweets and Coins (Afghani), the Sedan Chair (Chinese), Le Buste (Italian), and Edelweiss (Swiss).

Of course, no book on interfaith marriage ceremonies would be complete without examples of interfaith weddings. And this is exactly how the book concludes. The final chapter is the ultimate tear-jerker where couples affirm their love for one another and respect for their cultural,religious and racial differences in beautifully fashioned ceremonies.

This is a very special book, written by a very unique person who conveys a very important message. Reverend Susanna reminds us through the words of Sathya Sai Baba that "there is only one caste, the caste of humanity. There is only one religion, the religion of love. There is only one language, the language of the heart." Don't miss this book. It is an affirmation that there is beauty in diversity and that we are all ultimately one.

Since we are based in the UK, I wasn't at first sure how useful this book would be to the European context but it has been a truly uplifting and empowering book, offering guidance on how to turn an interfaith wedding into what it is: a celebration of love that knows no religious or cultural boundaries. Susannah Macomb shows a good understanding of the sensitive nature of interfaith relationships, such as difficulties in articulating and managing our own and our families' expectations. The book deals with the often difficult realities of interfaith relationship while being optimistic and encouraging. By giving specific examples of how to integrate different cultural aspects into a wedding ceremony it is both a practical guide as well as spiritually nurturing.

Reverend Mccomb's gentle and colorful words of wisdom of how to incorporate all aspects of cultural traditions are enormously insightful and helpful for those of us planning an interfaith intercultural wedding celebration. My fiancee and I are so very lucky to have found her book and the opportunity to meet her personnally. The 'menu' within the book is fabulous...so many choices to personalize ceremonies...something for everyone. Those planning a same religion, non-relgious or spiritual ceremony should read this book. It has so--- much to offer. You'll be much more prepared with ideas, suggestions and readings when you meet your officiate - becuase your ceremony should be personalized...here is how to do it in an interesting and different way. On a personal note, Susanna's awareness of all different religions and languages are amazing. She makes you feel very comfortable, takes you on a marvelous journey of remembrance of how you fell in love and helps you to make the 'harder' decisions about expressing your feelings out loud (especially for the men!) All that...and at the end...if you happen to have her officiate your wedding she weaves a wonderful message for all the angles around you to hear !