Elizabeth Crane is the author of two collections of short stories, When the Messenger Is Hot and All This Heavenly Glory. She teaches creative writing at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University and is a regular contributor to Writer's Block Party on WBEZ Chicago. She also writes a blog, standBy Bert (www.elizabethcrane.com/blog/), which has at least a dozen readers.
Meghan Daum is a columnist at the Los Angeles Times and the author of the novel The Quality of Life Report and the essay collection My Misspent Youth. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Vogue, and Elle, among other publications. She lives in Los Angeles.
Daisy de Villeneuve was born in London in 1975. Daisy studied Fashion and Fine Art at Parsons School of Design in both New York and Paris. Daisy has written and illustrated two books, He Said She Said and What Goes Around Comes Around, which draw upon her life experiences, both published by Chronicle Books, featuring her trademark style of felt-tip pen and typewriter text. De Villeneuve has collaborated with Topshop, Nike, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She regularly contributes to magazines such as Elle Girl Korea, Nylon, and British Vogue as both a writer and illustrator.
Jill Eisenstadt is the author of the novels From Rockaway and Kiss Out and is cowriter and producer on the 2006 feature film The Limbo Room. Her shorter work has appeared extensively in The New York Times and other places, including Vogue, Elle, Mademoiselle, and Bomb magazines. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the writer Michael Drinkard, and their three daughters.
Rory Evans lives in New York City with her husband, Jamie, and their cat, Cletus P. Savian.
Kathleen Hughes's first novel, Dear Mrs. Lindbergh, was published by W. W. Norton in 2003. A graduate of Yale University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Kathleen teaches high school English in Rhode Island, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and dog. Kathleen's work has been published in Pieces: A Collection of New Voices, Talking River Review, Land Grant College Review, and the Providence Phoenix and Boston Phoenix newspapers.
Catherine Ingrassia is a professor of English and associate dean for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her books include Authorship, Commerce and Gender in Early Eighteenth-Century England: A Culture of Paper Credit (Cambridge, 1998), More Solid Learning: New Perspectives on Alexander Pope's Dunciad, coedited with Claudia N. Thomas (Bucknell, 2000), and A Companion to the Eighteenth-Century English Novel and Culture, coedited with Paula R. Backscheider (Blackwell, 2005). She is also the editor of Eliza Haywood's Anti-Pamela and Henry Fielding's Shamela (Broadview, 2004), and a past editor of Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture. She and her husband live with their two children in Richmond, Virginia.
Ruth Davis Konigsberg has been published in Elle, Glamour, and The New York Observer. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.
Lori Leibovich is the founder of Indiebride.com, and the editor of the anthology Maybe Baby: 28 Writers Tell the Truth about Skepticism, Infertility, Baby Lust, Childlessness, Ambivalence, and How They Made the Biggest Decision of Their Lives. She is a contributing editor at Salon, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Observer, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and in the anthologies Mothers Who Think and The Real Las Vegas. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.
Elise Mac Adam writes the “IndieEtiquette” column for Indiebride.com and chronicles the vicissitudes of parenthood in the “IndieMom Blog.” She also writes screenplays, including the original script for Cindy Sherman's movie Office Killer, and is a filmmaker whose short films are better traveled than she is. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including the book City Wedding, and in Film Comment, Time Out New York, and Condé Nast Traveller magazines. She is currently writing a book of modern wedding etiquette.
Farah L. Miller lives with her husband in Brooklyn, New York. As the director of new media at Alfred A. Knopf, she produced Web sites for bestselling authors, and has spoken at interactive conferences about reaching niche audiences online. Farah never expected to love being a bride as much as she did. She was so “altared” by the process that in November 2006, she became managing editor at Brides.com, where she is helping other women go bridal without losing their minds.
Jacquelyn Mitchard is the New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean, The Most Wanted, A Theory of Relativity, Twelve Times Blessed, the novellas Christmas, Present and The Breakdown Lane, and her newest novel, Cage of Stars. She is also the author of The Rest of Us: Dispatches from the Mother Ship, a collection of her essays, which are syndicated nationwide by Tribune Media Services. She has published three children's books, including the award-winning Rosalie, My Rosalie: The Tale of a Duckling. Her first young adult novel will be published in January 2007. She was a member of the 2002 fiction jury for The National Book Award and speechwriter for former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and seven children.
Julie Powell is the author of Julie & Julia (Little, Brown & Co., 2005). Her work has appeared in Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, The New York Times Magazine, and Archaeology, among other periodicals, as well as in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. She has reviewed books on All Things Considered and appeared as a judge on Iron Chef America (the secret ingredient was frozen peas). She is the winner of two James Beard Awards and the first annual Blooker Prize. Julie lives in Queens with her husband, Eric, three cats, a ball python, and Robert the dog.
Dani Shapiro's novel Black & White was recently published by Knopf. Other books include the novel Family History and the bestselling memoir Slow Motion. Her stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Elle, Oprah, Ploughshares, Bookforum, and many other magazines. She is currently Visiting Writer at Wesleyan University. She lives with her family in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Her Web site is www.danishapiro.com.
Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of the bestselling novels Prep and The Man of My Dreams, which are being translated into more than twenty languages. Prep also was chosen as one of the Ten Best Books of 2005 by The New York Times, nominated for the UK's Orange Prize, and optioned by Paramount Pictures. Sitten-feld's nonfiction has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Salon, Glamour, and on public radio's This American Life.
Amy Sohn is the author of the novels Run Catch Kiss and My Old Man and a contributing editor at New York magazine. She has also written for The Nation, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times Book Review, and Playboy. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she still lives today.
Lara Vapnyar came to the United States from Russia in 1994. She is the author of a story collection, There Are Jews in My House, and a novel, Memoirs of a Muse. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, and Open City. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.
Amanda Eyre Ward is the author of Sleep Toward Heaven and How to Be Lost. Her third novel, Forgive Me, will be published in the summer of 2007. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and son. They hope to return to Belize very soon, but this time, Amanda would not like to bring her own food.
Gina Zucker's fiction and journalism have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, among them Tin House, Salt Hill, Glamour, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and Rolling Stone. Her short story “Big People” was chosen for the forthcoming fiction anthology Fantastic Women (Tin House Books, 2007), and her story “Punishment” is collected in the anthology Before: Short Stories About Pregnancy from Our Top Writers (Overlook Press, 2006). She teaches creative writing at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to my editor, Lisa Weinert, for being a champion of this book and helping it find a home at Vintage Books. To my agent, Eric Simonoff, for shepherding the deal, and to Michael Steger, who was instrumental in permissions and who handled my many questions with grace and kindness. To my family, Mary-beth Raff, John Curran, and Maggie Curran, always for your love and support, and for ma
king my wedding one of the best days of my life. To Chase Decker, William Decker, and Annette McGrew for welcoming me into your family with love and laughter. To my good friends Gretchen Comba and Sarah Lese, for listening to my ideas for this book and for the good fortune of your friendship. To my husband, Francis Decker, for being a voice of reason and for always believing in me. And, of course, to the twenty-seven writers who offered their insights, their talents, and their stories of the big day.
CONTRIBUTOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Samina Ali: “My Perfect Wedding” by Samina Ali, copyright © 2007 by Samina Ali.
Jennifer Armstrong: The Best-Laid Wedding Plans” by Jennifer Armstrong, copyright © 2007 by Jennifer Armstrong.
Julianna Baggott: “The Child Bride (and Groom)” by Julianna Baggott, copyright © 2007 by Julianna Baggott.
Amy Bloom: “Weddings for Everyone” by Amy Bloom, copyright © 2007 by Amy Bloom.
Janelle Brown: “The Registry Strikes Back” by Janelle Brown, copyright © 2007 by Janelle Brown.
Anne Carle: “Weddings Aren't Just for Straight People Anymore” by Anne Carle, copyright © 2007 by Anne Carle.
Lisa Carver: “Back in Black” by Lisa Carver, copyright © 2007 by Lisa Carver.
Carina Chocano: “There Went the Bride” by Carina Chocano, copyright © 2007 by Carina Chocano.
Elizabeth Crane: “One Day” by Elizabeth Crane, copyright © 2007 by Elizabeth Crane.
Meghan Daum: “The Honor of My Presence” by Meghan Daum, copyright © 2007 by Meghan Daum.
Jill Eisenstadt: “To Have or Have Not: Sex on the Wedding Night” by Jill Eisenstadt (originally published in different form in The New York Times Magazine, 1996), copyright © 1996, 2007 by Jill Eisenstadt.
Rory Evans: “My Bridal Meltdown” by Rory Evans, copyright © 2007 by Rory Evans.
Kathleen Hughes: “Father of the Bride” by Kathleen Hughes, copyright © 2007 by Kathleen Hughes.
Catherine Ingrassia: “Diana, Martha, and Me” by Catherine Ingrassia, copyright © 2007 by Catherine Ingrassia.
Ruth Davis Konigsberg: “The Second Trimester” by Ruth Davis Konigsburg, copyright © 2007 by Ruth Davis Konigsburg.
Lori Leibovich: “My So-Called Indie Wedding” by Lori Leibovich, copyright © 2007 by Lori Leibovich.
Elise Mac Adam: “Manners and the Marrying Girl” by Elise Mac Adam, copyright © 2007 by Elise Mac Adam.
Farah L. Miller: “Going Bridal” by Farah L. Miller, copyright © 2007 by Farah L. Miller.
Jacquelyn Mitchard: “First, Reader, I Made Him Up, and Then I Married Him” by Jacquelyn Mitchard, copyright © 2007 by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
Julie Powell: “Rubber Chicken” by Julie Powell, copyright © 2007 by Julie Powell.
Curtis Sittenfeld: “The Wedding Vow” by Curtis Sittenfeld, copyright © 2007 by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Amy Sohn: “Parental Control” by Amy Sohn, copyright © 2007 by Amy Sohn.
Dani Shapiro: “Happily Ever After” by Dani Shapiro, copyright © 2007 by Dani Shapiro.
Lara Vapnyar: “The Girl, the Dress, and the Leap” by Lara Vapnyar, copyright © 2007 by Lara Vapnyar.
Daisy de Villeneuve: “It All Started with Princess Di” by Daisy de Villeneuve, copyright © 2007 by Daisy de Villeneuve.
Amanda Eyre Ward: “Survivor Honeymoon” by Amanda Eyre Ward, copyright © 2007 by Amanda Eyre Ward.
Gina Zucker: “My Mother's Wedding, Myself ” by Gina Zucker, copyright © 2007 by Gina Zucker.
A VINTAGE BOOKS ORIGINAL, MAY 2007
Copyright © 2007 by Colleen Curran
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by
Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House,
Inc.
Credits for the contributors, which constitute an extension of the
copyright page, can be found on pages 367–368.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Altared : bridezillas, bewilderment, big love, breakups, and what
women really think about contemporary weddings / edited by
Colleen Curran.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-48135-1
1. Weddings—Anecdotes. 2. Weddings—Planning.
3. Weddings—Humor. I. Curran, Colleen.
HQ745.A357 2007
395.2'2—dc22
2006038706
www.vintagebooks.com
v3.0
Altared Page 26