Table of Contents

1 The Proposal

1 The Perfect Proposal Dallas Nicole Woodburn 1

2 A Case of Cold Feet John P. Buentello 5

3 The Bridge of Saint Mary's Sara R. Rajan 9

4 Hello, My Name Is Clueless Kathleen M. Basi 13

5 Liftoff Mitali Ruths 16

6 A Month to Change Your Mind Margaret Luebs 20

7 Scrabble Surprise Sage de Beixedon Breslin 23

8 A Simple Proposition Rita Lussier 27

9 Mother Knew Best Jennifer Lang 30

10 A Gift of Faith Johanna Hardy 34

11 Mississippi Muddle Shawnelle Eliasen 38

2 The Ring

12 Aunt Jane's Diamonds Julie Burns 45

13 Miracle of the Flying Diamond Sharon Pipke 48

14 A Tiny Ring Lori Bryant 52

15 From Thin Air Heather Zuber-Harshman 54

16 Ringing In Our Wedding Ronda Ross Taylor 58

17 I Love Lucy Gina Farella Howley 61

18 Planet Zirconia Sioux Roslawski 66

19 Humoring the Groom Karen Robbins 70

20 Will You Marry Me...Again? Dani Nichols 72

21 An Unconventional Proposal Kristi Cocchiarella FitzGerald 74

3 The Dress

22 A Real Piece of Me Val Muller 81

23 The Peasant Dress Barbara Flores 85

24 The Perfect Dress Lava Mueller 89

25 A Simple Wedding Dress Debra Mayhew 92

26 Up in Flames Jennifer J. Heeg 95

27 Hand-Me-Down Bride Jennifer Quist 97

28 Two Women in Black Sallie A. Rodman 102

29 The Second Dress LaTonya Branham 105

30 Something Borrowed: A Wedding Gown Encore Sally Friedman 108

4 It's All in the Planning

31 Just a Few Little Changes Monica A. Andermann 115

32 My Husband the Wedding Planner Victoria Grantham 120

33 A Mother's Wedding Dreams Kris Lindsey 124

34 Turn Around Caitlin Q. Bailey O'Neill 128

35 It Had to Be Perfect Kate Sugg 131

36 The Paws in Our Plans Kate Fellowes 133

37 The List Betty Ost-Everley 136

38 Nothing Can Change This Love Julie Turner 140

39 Groomzilla Barbara D. Diggs 142

5 Meet the Parents

40 Here Comes the MOG Judith Marks-White 149

41 My Daughter's Wedding Jack Kline 153

42 Wedding Vows Donna Lowich 156

43 Perfectly Imperfect Wendy Teller 160

44 Gaining Not Losing Lynne Cooper Sitton 163

45 Dad's Handout Amelia Rhodes 166

46 A Little Something for Rob Shelia Seiler Lagrand 169

47 Our Day April Taylor Fetch 172

48 The Father of the Brides Sally Friedman 176

49 The Mommy-Moon Charlotte A. Lanham 180

50 Something Old, Something New Lela Foos 184

6 The Wedding Party

51 Not Pretty in Pink Harriet Cooper 189

52 Flood Damage LeAnn Campbell 192

53 The Legacy of a Little Dress Tanya Shearer 195

54 How Bad Skin Made Me a Better Maid of Honor Wendy Toth 199

55 The Bridesmaid Dress Debbie Wong 203

56 No Boundaries Jayne Thurber-Smith 207

57 The Folly of Vanity Samantha Keller 210

58 A Wedding Gone to the Dogs Mary Z. Smith 213

59 Decisions, Decisions Ellen Scolnic 216

60 She Should Have Been My Bridesmaid Loni Swensen 220

61 Young at Heart Alice Muschany 224

7 Marital Mishaps

62 Through Storm and Flood Cael Jacobs 231

63 Once Upon a Time Edie Barton Scher 234

64 One Size Fits All John P. Buentello 238

65 Making Light of the Storm P.D.R. Lindsay 241

66 The Runaway Who Wasn't the Bride Pam Hawley 245

67 Buckaroos and Buckarettes Linda S. Clare 249

68 A Gift from Great-Grandma Sallie Wagner Brown 253

69 The Cake Jill Fisher 257

70 Cinderella Descending Laura L. Bradford 260

71 My Perfect Wedding Diana DeAndrea-Kohn 264

72 It Won't Rain Tracy Crump 267

8 Bucking Tradition

73 The Farm Boy and the Mongolian Circus April Knight 273

74 You're Getting Married Where? Anna M. Lowther 276

75 Under the Chuppah Sally Friedman 279

76 All Aboard the Wedding Train Jill Jaracz 282

77 An Interesting Cast of Characters Lori Dyan 285

78 Bagpipes in Toronto Diane M. Radford 288

79 Polterabend Tanya Sousa 291

80 A Wedding with Tim Rosalind Forster 295

81 Highland Fling for Two Valorie Wells Fenton 299

82 "Accidental" Wedding Carol Hurn 303

83 My Husband Married a Woman Named Donna Dawn Baird 308

9 Never Too Late for Love

84 Un Bel Di (One Fine Day) Annalee Davis 315

85 Pink Hibiscus Shelly Bleggi Linton 320

86 Better than Prince Charming Stephanie McKellar 323

87 My Valentine Svetlana Grobman 326

88 The Wrinkled One Patt Hollinger Pickett 330

89 My Piano Man Jeanne Zornes 333

90 Remember the Watermelons Bari Benjamin 335

91 A Senior Bride and Her Wedding Francine L. Baldwin-Billingslea 338

92 The Second Time Around Sally Friedman 342

10 The Honeymoon

93 The Getaway Caleb Jennings Breakey 349

94 Our Honeymoon Adventure on Pancake Bay Ann McArthur 354

95 Locked Out! Laura Smetak 358

96 Honeymoon Havoc Beverly F. Walker 361

97 The Stranger's Offer Kayleen Reusser 364

98 Happily Ever After…After the Honeymoon Myra Lipp Sanderman 367

99 Honeymooning in a Clown Car Linda Jackson 369

100 A Life of Surprises Jayne Thurber-Smith 371

101 Honeymoon in the Outhouse Patricial Lorenz 374

Meet Our Contributors 379

Meet Our Authors 397

Thank You 399

About Chicken Soup for the Soul 401