Legendary Brides: From the Most Romantic Weddings Ever, Inspired Ideas for Today's Brides [Hardcover]

Letitia Baldrige (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2000

Let the "something borrowed" for your own special day be inspired by the most celebrated weddings ever

Jacqueline Bouvier, Lady Diana Spencer, Grace Kelly, Wallis Simpson, Carolyn Bessette ... Each name evokes an individual style that still fascinates the world and continues to influence fashion. Now, the unforgettable weddings of these legendary women -- along with other famous brides of the past century -- are chronicled for the first time in a single, highly illustrated volume that is sure to provide inspiration and ideas for a new generation of brides.

From Queen Victoria's lavish court wedding in 1840 to Carolyn Bessette's intimate and understated ceremony on Cumberland Island in 1996, each of the weddings featured in this charming and informative book set the stage for the bridal and entertaining styles of the day. And each of them contributed, in a unique way, to the wedding traditions that young brides still follow.

But Legendary Brides is much more than just a lovely look back at the past. Author Letitia Baldrige -- with the same grace, humor, and command of etiquette that marked her tenure as social secretary for the Kennedy White House -- offers authoritative, practical, and often amusing, advice on every aspect of planning a wedding today. And with skill and insight, she "borrows" unique touches from a century of memorable weddings and reinterprets them eloquently for a new generation of brides.

Lavishly illustrated contemporary features provide timeless ideas for gowns, flowers, cakes, music, invitations, table settings, and more. And a highly readable text with rarely seen photographs and illustrations recreates the atmosphere of each legendary wedding in fascinating detail, making this a delightful book to read and enjoy as well as an indispensable sourcebook for anyone planning a wedding.

As Letitia Baldrige says in her Introduction, now that we have entered a new century, "young and old alike are hungry for beauty, tradition, and old-fashioned values." Legendary Brides offers today's brides something old, something new -- and something borrowed, too.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Letitia Baldrige has attended many of the most celebrated weddings of our time and known such famous women as Jacqueline Kennedy, Consuelo Vanderbilt, and Princess Grace. As social secretary for the Kennedy White House, she organized the glittering occasions of that storied era. Today, she is America's leading expert on etiquette, a sought-after lecturer and speaker, and the author of fourteen books -- including Letitia Baldrige's Complete Guide to the New Manners for the Nineties, In the Kennedy Style, and Tiffany Table Settings. Ms. Baldrige is also a syndicated weekly columnist on manners and is a contributing editor of Town & Country.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st Edition. edition (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060195592
• ISBN-13: 978-0060195595
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 10.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #593,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Letitia Baldrige's books on manners have sold over two million copies; her previous guide to executive manners sold over half a million copies worldwide and has had sixteen printings. This is her thirteenth book. In her diplomatic career she served in the American embassies in Paris and Rome; in the White House she was Jacqueline Kennedy's chief of staff. She has served as a marketing consultant to many major international corporations and holds three corporate directorships. She produces management training seminars on business behavior for major American companies and professional institutions and writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column and a monthly national magazine column. She is a regular on major network TV programs. Letitia Baldrige and her family live in Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bridal Biography and Etiquette, October 25, 2001

By 

"eguisheim" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legendary Brides: From the Most Romantic Weddings Ever, Inspired Ideas for Today's Brides (Hardcover)

Legendary Brides is an irresistible social history of the most influential brides of the 19th and 20th centuries. Beginning with Queen Victoria, who initiated the bridal tradition of white satin, lace and orange blossoms, and ending with Carolyn Bessette who came to symbolize simple, unadorned elegance, Letitia Baldrige tells us the stories of eight weddings. Consuelo Vanderbilt, Wallis Simpson, Queen Elizabeth II, Jacqueline Bouvier, Grace Kelly, and Diana Spencer complete the string of legends.

A brief chronology of how each couple met is followed by a description of the wedding in exquisite, in-depth, yet tasteful detail and accompanied by several stunning photographs and illustrations. One learns that Princess Grace's gown was made of twenty five yards of silk gros de longre, three hundred yards of antique Valenciennes lace and that her lace-trimmed veil consisted of ninety yards of silk tulle; Princess Diana's wedding ring was crafted from the same nugget of Welsh gold used for the rings of the Queen Mother, the Queen, and Princesses Margaret and Anne; Jackie Bouvier carried a bouquet of pink and white spray orchids, stephanotis and miniature gardenias. The preparations, the ceremonies, the receptions and quotes from those involved in each occasion are all brought together in an entertaining chronicle of events.

After the description of each bride's wedding, a particular wedding topic is highlighted. For example, in the chapter on Queen Victoria, guidelines on yesterday's and today's gowns and rings are given. Romona Keveza seems to be Ms. Baldrige's designer of choice, and her gowns serve as visual aids in the glossary of gown styles and dress details. This is, of course, a book written by the contemporary expert on etiquette, and much advice on invitations, cakes, floral designers, and attendant gifts is offered.

An added bonus is the montage of photos on scattered pages that depict other royal and Hollywood weddings. A beautiful book to help capture the look and feel of an elite wedding, but somehow makes you think twice about how few of these weddings were true and heartfelt.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BREATHTAKING, FASCINATING AND UTTERLY ROMANTIC, November 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Legendary Brides: From the Most Romantic Weddings Ever, Inspired Ideas for Today's Brides (Hardcover)

I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BLEND OF HISTORY, INSPIRATION, PRACTICAL ADVICE AND DREAMY MAGIC IN A WEDDING BOOK - UNTIL I LOST MYSELF IN THIS ONE. MISS BALDRIGE HAS DEFINITELY PUT THE ROMANCE BACK INTO WEDDINGS. THIS IS A MUST-HAVE BOOK FOR EVERY BRIDE-TO-BE - AND FOR ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN STYLE, FASHION, HISTORY AND CELEBRITY. DON'T WALK, RUN TO YOUR NEAREST BOOKSTORE. A DREAM OF A CHRISTMAS GIFT!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, if schizophrenic, book on legendary brides, June 26, 2002

By 

Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legendary Brides: From the Most Romantic Weddings Ever, Inspired Ideas for Today's Brides (Hardcover)

Others have sniped that Letitia Baldrige has focused on an odd assortment of brides, including both Diana, Princess of Wales, and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy--both of whom had famous weddings, but both of whom died tragically young. The key word here, my dears, is "bride" in the book's title. Baldrige's work doesn't purport to say anything about the marriages that followed these weddings--only that the brides themselves were gorgeous, amazing, almost fantastical creatures who caught the imagination of nearly everyone when they appeared on the world stage.

That said, there are great things about this book and not-so-great things. It's fun to see so many photos of these lovely brides--among them, the two named above and Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Grace, Wallis Warfield Simpson, and Consuelo Vanderbilt. Many of the photos were either previously unpublished or not well-known by the general public, so they appear here in fresh light. The photos and the handsome graphic design are among the excellent things about the book, as are the little anecdotes (such as what each famous bridal couple gave each other and the members of their wedding parties as gifts).

The down side is that Baldrige tries to meld a wedding etiquette book with a coffee table overview of, well, legendary brides. I'm not sure it works all that well. While she undoubtedly has excellent advice to offer all of us on the planning and execution of a memorable wedding, I for one would have preferred that these pages had been devoted to a broader group of other legendary brides. What, for instance, of the English Queen Mother and King George? What about the current Japanese crown prince and princess? What about other well-known society or Hollywood brides? Others are touched on lightly here, but Baldrige doesn't devote the space to them that her title promises.