cover image Dear Abby on Planning Your Wedding

Dear Abby on Planning Your Wedding

Abigail Van Buren, Van Buren, Buren Van. Andrews McMeel Publishing, $8.95 (170pp) ISBN 978-0-8362-7943-6

The author is nothing if not upbeat about the current wedding sceneHelen Gurley Brown's use of italics pales beside the workout ``Dear Abby'' gives the exclamation point in her new book. ``Brave new weddings'' are knocking ``the socks off the old folks!'' Brides and grooms are footing the bills! Mothers ``look younger and act younger. . .!'' The problem with all this boundless enthusiasm is that it makes Abby look rather quaint; the reader may yearn for the clear-headed wit of Miss Manners. What we really want from Abby, yet don't get enough of, is true wedding weirdness. (Where are more letters like the ones that ask about proper guest behavior at a nudist wedding?) Instead, her book is filled with unimaginative answers to etiquette questions (``If you are asking friends to drive you in their cars, offer to pay for gas'') and blank ruled pages for making lists of wedding minutiae (e.g., budgeted vs. actual costs of a church rental), while the letters from readers either gush about humble-yet-perfect weddings (``Gee, we had a great time,'' writes one peppy bride) or ask now-predictable questions (``Should my father's new girlfriend stand in the receiving line?''). (Feb.)