Customer Reviews

Promises to Keep : Crafting Your Wedding Ceremony (Rites to Remember Series)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must have purchased at least three books before I found Ann's and none of them came even close to helping us create a very personal wedding. I would recommend this to anyone who, like me, wants a unique and special wedding. After reading this book (which is eloquently written but also very easy to read) we realized how important it was to have a ceremony that reflected exactly how we feel. And now that we have done just that, we also realize that we created a solid foundation of words that represent our commitment--we will always have those words to look back on.
Also, working through her worksheet in the back was a kind of positive and reaffirming endeavor that made us reflect on why and how we got to the point of marriage.
Thanks Ann!!

My mother recommended this book for my fiance and me, and it was the best thing she could have done for us. So many people (including us, until we read this book) get lost in all of the trivialized rituals and plans of the upcoming wedding, and unfortunately lose focus on what is really key - the vows you will be exchanging to each other, the words you say to the public to pledge your undying love for another, the true meaning of sharing a life with someone you love forever. Ann Evans brings you back to the reality of the fundamentals, and she addresses such important issues that are often overlooked in a wedding ceremony because of rote ritual....You MUST read this book if you're getting married, or even considering getting married!

I must have purchased at least three books before I found Ann's and none of them came even close to helping us create a very personal wedding. I would recommend this to anyone who, like me, wants a unique and special wedding. After reading this book (which is eloquently written but also very easy to read) we realized how important it was to have a ceremony that reflected exactly how we feel. And now that we have done just that, we also realize that we created a solid foundation of words that represent our commitment--we will always have those words to look back on.
Also, working through her worksheet in the back was a kind of positive and reaffirming endeavor that made us reflect on why and how we got to the point of marriage.
Thanks Ann!!

Although my husband and I had been confident about our ability to express our most intimate thoughts as vows, we lacked a structure in which to fit them so that both we and our guests felt secure. With 10 days to go before our wedding, our life with 5 pre-teens/ teens was leaving us little time to prepare these most precious words. Discovering Promises to Keep on the web was a godsend. Unfortunately unavailable in Canada, the book was sent at lightning speed from the U.S. We felt immediately at ease: the book's accessible ideas, size, layout, and even font size gave us peace and the direction we needed. Our own ideas now made sense within a framework. The rituals we crafted were unique to us and our setting (a remote lake). Our vows and rituals reached out to our guests (our "community" from whom we asked support) who not only felt included and comfortable, but who felt blessed to have been part of our ceremony. A couple who do marriage counselling (and advise other counsellors) had never experienced such a meaningful exchange of vows or rituals involving guests. They and others felt compelled to tell us repeatedly how different and wonderful our ceremony was. Even our kids thought it was great! Note: We did not find an exaggerated emphasis in the book on same-sex unions. Although there are references to these alternative lifestyles, we were easily able to accept or look past them based on the quality of the idea rather than their orientation. Along with our vows, we will keep the book to refer back to in years to come.

Last fall, my son and my now daughter-in-law asked me to marry them. Ann Evans' book provided the three of us with all that we needed to plan and conduct the ceremony. It was a wonderfully meaningful event for the entire family. Since I am neither a minister nor the captain of a ship, I needed to be licensed by the County to conduct the ceremony. With guidance from this book, we designed the day, including writing the ceremony. It was quite an adventure! Thanks, Ann Evans!

We have all been to weddings, heard the words and seen the images.... The big white dress, flowers, an expectant groom and strains of music floating through the air. However the reality is that so often the actual words and meaning of the ceremony is distilled, in memory, to he did, she did, they did.

Ann Evans should bill herself, in addition to minister, as an architect. Her book is a blueprint for crafting the structure, and building the foundation for a permanent place for love to grow and develop.

"Promises to Keep" will help couples looking to sculpt and craft their individual ceremonies. Evans lays out the basic structure of the wedding ceremony, from greeting to invocation to ring exchange and blessing. If she has an opinion, or an anecdote to help convey her meaning - she thoughtfully includes it. Then the two of you are encouraged to flesh it out and make it personal.

The best thing I can say about "Promises to Keep" is this: My husband-to-be and I liked the book and the direction that it gave us so much we asked Ann Evans to marry us!

This is the most wonderful and warm book I've read in a while. Rev. Evans' book has changed my mind on weddings and the meaning of ceremony. Not being able to even imagine a full-blown Catholic wedding mass for myself, nor one of those frilly American productions, I had dismissed the notion of ceremony outright. However, the author makes a powerful case for crafting a ceremony that's not necessarily traditional or commercial, but foremost meaningful. Beautiful, practical, highly recommended.

Promises To Keep: Crafting Your Wedding Ceremony is an indispensable, thoroughly "user friendly" guide to creating a truly memorable wedding ceremony and event. Beginning with sorting out why you want to marry, Promises To Keep goes on to advice on writing personal vows that say what you mean; how to enlist community support for the marriage; and the use of heart-felt rituals to reveal and document commitment. Rather than just another survey focusing on flowers, dresses, and reception menus, Promises To Keep is dedicated to the reason for the ceremony itself! If you are planning and preparing for your own wedding day -- or that of a loved one -- then begin with a careful reading of Ann Keller Evans' Promises To Keep!

I have been given the honor of performing the ceremony when my son and his fiancee marry. A close friend had used this book to help create a ceremony with friends of hers and sent it to me. It is the perfect book to use to help create a meaningful ceremony no matter your religious (or non-religious) persuasion. Thank you, Ann, for this wonderful little book.

A happy mom,
Maia Berens

We're getting married in the spring and I've been looking for a book to help us write our ceremony, especially our vows. We think it's terrifically important to us to know what it is we're actually promising each other. This book has given us a template for a ceremony (which, of course, we're altering a bit) and worksheets which have helped us with the issues and wording of what we want to say. It's almost like having a pastoral counselor right with us! She must be a very wise woman! GREAT BOOK! There's nothing else available like it!