Wedding Etiquette Hell: The Bride's Bible to Avoiding Everlasting Damnation (Paperback)

~ (Author) "GLAD TIDINGS! YOU ARE ENGAGED to be married!..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Jeanne, Etiquette Hell, Muffin Louise (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rather than lecture couples about what they should do before, during and after the Big Day, consultant Hamilton (Bridezilla: True Stories from Etiquette Hell) warns them what not to do in this quick, easy guide to modern-day manners. Hamiliton runs through a list of nuptial no-nos, from invitations and bridal showers to receptions and the like. She provides pages of horror stories culled from www.etiquettehell.com, the Web site she started in 1997. Hamilton scoffs, for example, at the bride and groom who tried to solicit sponsors for their wedding in exchange for "signage at the reception venue." She shakes her head at the pair who took their registry "to a new low in greed" when they offered guests chances to pay for specific parts of their honeymoon in Hawaii-the airfare, the housing, the meals and activities. And she reprimands the couple audacious enough to send announcements a full year after the event, telling friends and relatives not invited to the wedding that they can "honor the union" with "contributions to the home purchasing fund." Tacky and rude, these instances of extreme faux pas make for amusing reading. Hamilton's discussion is slightly hampered, however, by occasional fictional asides. Meant to give further insight on the planning process, the fictional conversations between a generic "Brideweena" and etiquette expert "Miss Jeanne" are distracting instead. They add little to the overall project, a book some people-particularly those who revel in others' social blunders-will find infinitely fascinating.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Whether your dilemma is choosing bridesmaids' dresses or deciding where to seat your future in-laws, this book can save you from eternal damnation.”
--New York Daily News

“Jeanne Hamilton takes on the predictable (guest list woes, invitation wording) and surprising (scheming bridesmaids, greed-inspired faux pas) with savvy she's learned in the wedding world trenches.”
--Boston Herald

"Hilarious, real-life stories that drive the points home."

--Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (May 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312330235
• ISBN-13: 978-0312330231
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #729,733 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #18 in

  Books > Home & Garden > Weddings > Etiquette

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Not To Be a Bridezilla 101, July 13, 2005

By	Fruit Loop (Down South) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

In this appallingly correct and entertaining, Ms. Jeanne of etiquettehell.com shares her experience (sometimes painfully acquired) of scrupulously correct behavior for brides and grooms. Despite what the wedding indu$stry tells you, anything does NOT go today.

Proving that polite behavior never goes out of style, Ms. Jeanne blows "traditions" such as money dances and family-hosted bridal showers out of the water, as well as debunking myths such as "the guest's wedding gift must equal the cost of their dinner at the receptions" (by correctly pointing out that receptions are FOR the GUESTS and NOT an after-wedding party for the bride and groom) and the prevailing notion that one is automatically entitled to gifts from friends.

Should be required reading for every bride, groom, bride and groom's parents, and anybody else who wants to maintain an illusion of civilization in a world that's fast losing it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very practical guide., October 24, 2008

By	Noodle 19-2000 - See all my reviews

I am a fan of the author's Etiquette Hell web site (which covers more than weddings), so when I became a bride-to-be I picked this book up. What sets it apart from other etiquette guides, besides not having hundreds of pages, is that it uses real-life stories and covers only the areas that people are most likely to care about. In other words, it's relevant. She introduces etiquette rules and uses stories to illustrate them. Some of the stories are a bit extreme, but it is effective to get the point across.

Some people may think that it is petty, but I don't think it is. Personally, I stopped talking to a friend when she didn't invite me to her wedding (and made it clear from the get-go that I wasn't invited) but still waved her engagement ring in my face and invited me to her bridal shower. Those are the things people really care about. No one's really going to remember or even care about whether the train on your gown was cathedral or chapel-length or what flowers and cake you chose and this book doesn't even address it. Instead, it covers things like being sure you have enough seating, having a venue that is appropriate, how to treat guests/family/the wedding party, invitation and announcement etiquette, registry etiquette, and generally not becoming a bridezilla.

I subtracted a star, though, because the wedding planner/bride conversation sections probably should have been left out of the book. they just rehash what she had already spent the previous several pages saying and are unnecessary. Overall, though, this is a must for any bride-to-be.

19 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Miss Manners would be horrified, July 29, 2006

By	Gal (USA) - See all my reviews

This is not a guide, it's a collection of wedding horror stories other people have submitted to the author's website. You can read those stories for free.

The author's attempt at wit falls far short of the mark...she comes across as a mean-spirited boor. For real wedding advice, pick up Peggy Post's updated edition of Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette instead.