Author: Judith Sherven, Ph. D & James Sniechowsk
www.smartweddingcouples.com

Reviewed By: Lynn C. Tolson

As relationship trainers, motivational speakers, and workshop leaders, the authors of this book have credentials. Drs. Sherven & Sniechowski wrote Be Loved for Who You Really Are (St. Martin”s Press, 2003), The New Intimacy (Health Communications, 1997), and Opening to Love 365 Days a Year (Health Communications, 2000). Married since 1988, they also have the personal experience of marriage longevity in the difficult-to- navigate labyrinth of relationships. Their co-authored book, The Smart Couple”s Guide to the Wedding of Your Dreams: Planning Together for Less Stress and More Joy has personality as well as practical advice.

Divided into fifteen chapters, Drs. Sherven & Sniechowski thoroughly discuss aspects of the wedding plan. The authors offer true-life cases from hundreds of couples as examples of those who chose to plan their wedding together. These examples are used in a variety of settings: from “Popping the Question” to “To Change Names, or Not.” Dispersed throughout the book are insights from the authors” own co-created wedding. The authors even research the history behind wedding customs, yet empower the wedding couples to co-create their specific style of wedding according to the themes and traditions of their own choosing.

The Smart Couple”s Guide . . . is not a wedding planner, but a useful source of suggestions that illustrate how a couple can plan their wedding (and marriage) together. The authors state: “By living out your commitment as a couple throughout the planning process, you will experience new possibilities and new levels of awareness.” Pre- marital relationship building skills is a main theme of the book; the authors cite values such as honesty and integrity as the foundation of the wedding, not the number of tiers on the cake or names on the invitations. To strengthen those skills, the authors give the reader questionnaires regarding “The Ten Key Issues of Married Life” and “Financial Truth.”

Whether it is the reader”s first or fourth marriage, whether the reader is age thirty or seventy, The Smart Couples Guide to the Wedding of Your Dreams is a must-read prior to the “big day.” After all, the wedding day is a step into the maze of marriage. This book will steer the reader by offering clarity and reality to the couple as they journey together.