Simple Stunning Weddings: Designing and Creating Your Perfect Celebration 
asked by fazer on November 19, 2006 8:22 PM
The three biggest trends in weddings today are simplicity, personalization, and color. Wedding design expert Karen Bussen highlights these elements as she shows couples how to design their own weddings without going crazy or broke.
Simple Stunning Weddings is the first wedding design book to focus on the where of the wedding. Location is the first and most important decision brides and grooms must make: everything else flows from that. Bussen showcases 12 popular wedding settings, including the city loft, country inn, art gallery, botanic garden, and private club, and demonstrates how to make them extraordinary. With the site as the starting point, she creates unifying themes with color, flowers, and personal touches. She explains how to deal with vendors, how to spend the wedding budget, and when it makes sense to hire a specialist.
Sharing all her trade secrets, Bussen teaches the power of simplicity and the impact of color, which can be tailored to any budget, always to stunning effect: substituting cotton tablecloths for silk in the same eye-dazzling color combinations, for example, or creating striking flower arrangements using only one or two types of blooms. Whether for a barefoot union on a beach or a formal affair in a hotel ballroom, this fully illustrated, information-filled book is like having Bussen on hand as your personal wedding designer. AUTHOR BIO: KAREN BUSSEN is one of Manhattan's most exciting wedding designers. Her work has been featured in such magazines as Modern Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings, Home, Food & Wine, and Interior Design. In the past six years, she has designed more than 100 weddings.
ELLEN SILVERMAN's photographs have appeared in Charmed Bracelets and New Soul Cooking (both STC).
Simple Stunning Weddings is the first wedding design book to focus on the where of the wedding. Location is the first and most important decision brides and grooms must make: everything else flows from that. Bussen showcases 12 popular wedding settings, including the city loft, country inn, art gallery, botanic garden, and private club, and demonstrates how to make them extraordinary. With the site as the starting point, she creates unifying themes with color, flowers, and personal touches. She explains how to deal with vendors, how to spend the wedding budget, and when it makes sense to hire a specialist.
Sharing all her trade secrets, Bussen teaches the power of simplicity and the impact of color, which can be tailored to any budget, always to stunning effect: substituting cotton tablecloths for silk in the same eye-dazzling color combinations, for example, or creating striking flower arrangements using only one or two types of blooms. Whether for a barefoot union on a beach or a formal affair in a hotel ballroom, this fully illustrated, information-filled book is like having Bussen on hand as your personal wedding designer. AUTHOR BIO: KAREN BUSSEN is one of Manhattan's most exciting wedding designers. Her work has been featured in such magazines as Modern Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings, Home, Food & Wine, and Interior Design. In the past six years, she has designed more than 100 weddings.
ELLEN SILVERMAN's photographs have appeared in Charmed Bracelets and New Soul Cooking (both STC).
Reviews
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The books offers simple, colorful pictures to indulge yourself in and set up in the most organized fashion. I was surprised at how much information it actually offered once I started reading the book. The text goes beyond the design efforts of the wedding and takes you into the scheduling of the wedding, the tasks that will be developed throughout the preparation of the wedding, wedding day preparations, tips on selecting the the venue & dealing with the people involved and just basic advice on every single detail. I found the book very helpful since it was seperated in different chapters according to the type of venues. The floral ideas were amazing since it offered simplicity using color tactics rather than quantity tactics. I only wished there were more weddings per each theme to compare. Such as three different 'vineyard' weddings, so it would offer more ideas within each particular theme.
reviewed by skywalker on November 23, 2006 12:09 AM
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The philosphy of this book is even more useful than the stunning pictures are. When I was planning my weding, it was so easy to be overwhelmed with the choices and ideas available. This book offers a 1-2-3 approach than can simplify some of the decision-making, at least as far as decor is concerned. While I too was occasionally frustrated by my location not fitting into any of the "themes" given, the point of the book is to inspire brides to work WITH their locations, rather than against them. By doing so, I saved a lot of time, effort, and money by not trying to make my location into a castle or a country club when it was a renovated school, but rather embracing the beauty of the architecture and gardens already there.
Aside from the basic philosophy, the pictures are incredible. I love thumbing through this book even though my wedding is over, just for the beauty of the photography and the creativity of the ideas. This book, along with Bridal Bargains, gave me the wedding I wanted with the budget I had.
Aside from the basic philosophy, the pictures are incredible. I love thumbing through this book even though my wedding is over, just for the beauty of the photography and the creativity of the ideas. This book, along with Bridal Bargains, gave me the wedding I wanted with the budget I had.
reviewed by ctj on November 23, 2006 12:41 AM
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This is a beautiful book that contains many wonderful ideas aimed at people who are "coordinating" their own wedding. It offers many different and simple solutions that not only cost less than traditional methods, but look beautiful as well. My only complaint is that the book is sectioned out by ceremony/reception location and if your location is not among those listed, it requires you to cross-reference to other sections to find ideas that would work. Also, the website that you are sent to for more information not listed in the back is not helpful.
reviewed by davedriver on November 28, 2006 2:30 PM