Wedding Days: When and How Great Marriages Began [Hardcover]

Susan Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

No woman ever forgets her wedding day. And whose heart doesn't beat faster over stories of true love? Here are 366 wedding stories spanning fifteen hundred years filled with surprise, humor, and passion. Susan J. Gordon's evocative portraits reveal how extraordinary couples met, courted, and wed, sharing little-known stories and romantic adventures.

Artists and abolitionists, celebrities and statesmen, royalty and rebels all are represented in Gordon's deft accounts of elopements, protective parents, last-minute jitters, and love at first sight.

Samuel Clemens and Olivia Langdon: The Wild Humorist was so happy in marriage that he declared, I would marry in early infancy instead of wasting time cutting teeth and breaking crockery. (February 2, 1870)

Thomas Edison and Mina Miller: Mina had so many chaperones that Tom was forced to tap his marriage proposal into her palm in Morse Code! (February 24, 1886)

Prince Khurram and Arjumand Banu Begam: Married in 1612, she was called Mumtaz Mahal Chosen One of the Palace in whose memory 20,000 workers labored 22 years to build the exquisite Taj Mahal. (March 27, 1612)

Daniel Boone and Rebecca Bryan: He told their ten children that when he tossed his knife and speared the edge of Rebecca's apron and she didn't get angry he knew she was the girl for him. (August 14, 1756) . . . and many more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Pondering a January 6 wedding date? You'll share an anniversary with George and Martha Washington. Fans of the King? Get hitched the same day Elvis wed Priscilla, May 1. October 11 is Bill and Hill's date, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on December 1 and Laura Ingalls wed her farmer boy, Almonzo Wilder, on August 25. In Wedding Days: When and How Great Marriages Began, author Susan J. Gordon devotes 366 pages to 366 couples, spanning 1,500 years. Each brief-yet-satisfying profile offers courtship and wedding details - plus a tantalizing dip into the culture and values of the times. Along with the history, you learn that the more things change, the more they stay the same: Dating has always been a rollercoaster ride; brides and grooms have always had the jitters; parents have always meddled; and the search for true love never, never ends."(Bridal Guide Magazine, Sept - Oct 1999 Denise Schipani) -- y

"Romance rules the day in this hardback book where Susan Gordon has put together an anthology of wedding days and marriages of the great and the good. There is a wedding here for every day of the year and, whilst the book is an obvious choice for an engagement or wedding present, the book has more to offer than simply discovering whose wedding date one shares. "At a time when the cost of weddings is escalating and the event is starting to resemble Christmas in its overblown commercialism and the social pressures of affording the 'dream dress,' the 'right' rings and the 'must-have' marquee, this book provides a little oasis of calm and sense to which to retreat when the wedding stress becomes too much.... "Passionate, amusing or poignant.... An absorbing read and a delightful gift." (amazon.co.uk, Fall 1999 Claire Aloysia Ritson) --

A journey through great love affairs and time, WEDDING DAYS focuses on 366 couples who achieved greatness with each other's help. From Adam & Eve to King Canute & Emma of Normandy to Bogie & Bacall, each couple has a unique story that shows how love develops differently for everyone. -- ELEGANT BRIDE Magazine, Spring 2000

About the Author

Susan J. Gordon is the author of more than one hundred articles and essays published in major newspapers and magazines, including Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, and The New York Times. Mother of two newly married sons, she lives with her husband in White Plains, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company; Gift edition (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688148603
• ISBN-13: 978-0688148607
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,987,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to find out how famous couples met and married., October 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wedding Days: When and How Great Marriages Began (Hardcover)

If you're getting married, or know someone who is, this book is a lot of fun to read and give! It's filled with lots of great facts like what Elvis sang to Priscilla on their wedding day, and why Napoleon and Josephine shared their wedding night with her nasty pug dog. Wedding Days is set up chronologically, with a story for every day of the year, so you can find out who else was married on "your" day. Last spring, I had to make a speech at a wedding and Wedding Days gave me wonderful material - my friends got married on April 18 - the same day as Princess Grace and Prince Rainier! Her father did something really outrageous during the ceremony - you'll have to read the book to find out what... By the way, Elvis & Priscilla were married on May 1 (1967); Napoleon & Josephine were married on March 9 (1796.)

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!!!, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wedding Days: When and How Great Marriages Began (Hardcover)

I loved reading these fascinating stories. I learned so much about famous couples in love and how they met. This book certainly makes a great gift! I keep it on my coffee table and friends love looking through it.

5.0 out of 5 stars There's no book like "Wedding Days" - really!, October 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wedding Days: When and How Great Marriages Began (Hardcover)

Reading this book is like eating peanuts - once you start, it's hard to stop! It's filled with lots of romantic, funny and sometimes so touching stories about famous couples and their marriages. I like the way Gordon set up the book - it's organized like a calendar, with a story for every day of the year. The words are printed in deep purple ink - very pretty! I'm giving this book to my aunt and uncle for their 25th anniversary, and I'll write something special on their wedding day page. They love the Beatles, and will love to learn that they were married on the same day as John Lennon & Yoko Ono.