Modern Brides & Modern Grooms: A Guide to Planning Straight, Gay, and Other Nontraditional Twenty-First-Century Weddings

A book for any couple--of the same or opposite sex--seeking a personalized wedding that dignifies the relationship and the individual self. This guide emboldens you to harness your individuality, to be creative, and to plan your wedding your way. Every fiancé and fiancée faces the question, how do I become something new without losing myself? Using his own story, author Mark O'Connell, LCSW reflects on conflicts that arrive during wedding transitions, as well as various other transitions throughout your lives. As a psychotherapist, O'Connell offers ideas to bridge relational gaps with your partner, family, and friends. As a professional actor, he also offers insight into the ways your wedding is a theatrical production and how this can help you to conceptualize the event, consolidate your efforts, and increase creative collaboration as a couple. This will serve you not only on your big day, but also for the rest of your time together. Whether we're straight, gay, or other, weddings inspire us to carve out more fun, freedom, recognition, life space, love space, and connubial space than we've ever had before. Reviews: "Part planning guide and part memoir, Mark O’Connell weaves anecdotes of his own experiences into useful tips for navigating wedding planning and marriage. The book’s impeccably inclusive writing makes it relatable for all couples, regardless of race, orientation or religion." -The Knot "[T]he most impressive aspect is the book's inclusivity. Not only could it be used as a very practical wedding guide--regardless of your religious background, income level, or sexual orientation--it could function as a broadly insightful text for anyone interested in reflecting on their relationships with family, friends, and romantic partners (past, present, or desired future)." -Out Magazine "Part 'how-to' and part memoir, this book manages to transcend both and achieve something rather refreshing. This is a very well-written and clever resource for planning gay and straight weddings. The author is a therapist in NYC and he includes several case histories of wedding couples to support his ideas and strategies. The book is contemporary, practical, and fun to read." -Rainbow Book Awards