Very interesting. Actually passed it on after I read it so others could read it, too. ( )

The book is mildly offensive. It makes it very plain at the beginning of the book, that 'white' is the operative word. Its not just about white weddings but about white people's weddings, white Christians at that. There is a statement fairly early on in the book that African-American weddings have not been much studied and a statement that the New York Times (or whatever the illustrious media of the social world of the day was, I forget) did not publish notices or reviews of Jewish weddings. Muslim and Hindu weddings didn't even get a one-word mention. Neither did gays although this book was published in 2004, not exactly the dark ages.

That said, it was endless, fluffy repetition and some very nice archival photographs dressed up as sociology.

If the book had been more correctly entitled, "All Dressed in White: The Irresistible Rise of American Whites' Weddings" I would have known to avoid it. I suggest you do!

Not recommended to anyone. Oh wait, the pages were reasonably large and the paper was of a very nice, soft quality, so in an emergency there are other uses for this book.


Read sometime in 2008, reviewed in 2011 and then chucked in the garbage bin ( )

Carol Wallace gives an excellent overview of how weddings in America have evolved from being small, private affairs done in the bride's home to extravagant, public events. This book concentrates on the evolution of weddings from the past 150 years, although the bulk of the material tends to focus between the years 1870 to 1960. It talks about the roles the department stores, jewelers, and fabric makers had (and have) on shaping our idea of the white wedding dress, manners, gifts, and jewelery appropriate for a wedding. The book's very well written and Ms. Wallace gives her sources at the back of the book, except when she cites a source in the book, there's no footnote associated with it to say the quote was from such-and-such magazine, book, etc. ( )

A sociologist looks at the changes in wedding customs over the last few years: informative but hardly scintillating. ( )

good, but too much fiction, not enough pictures of what she's describing ( )