Mother of the Bride: The Dream, the Reality, the Search for a Perfect Dress

By Ilene Beckerman

Book Overview

"An account that is sweetly sentimental and brutally honest, touching and witty--in short, a true gem." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review "A work that adds great luster to an already golden event." -- The Memphis Commercial Appeal "Her prose is spare, but rich with meaning and always very honest." -- The Cleveland Plain Dealer "Pithy wit and cute drawings sketch the happy tears, bittersweet memories and flares of anxiety that a daughter's wedding elicits." -- The Dallas Morning News The relationship between a mother and daughter is often fraught-- but never so much as during the preparations for that walk down the aisle. Ilene Beckerman has taken that walk with three daughters and tells us--with great wisdom and wit--why childbirth is less painful than planning a wedding.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565122593
• ISBN13: 9781565122598
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 159 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 0.7" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

You'll laugh, you'll cry -- you know the drill =)

This is basically an autobiographical comic short story, with wacky illustrations to add to the fun. I bought it as a Mother's Day present for my mom right after I got engaged, and we read it aloud together in our favorite spot on the front porch, passing the book when one of us was overcome with laughter -- or tears. Ilene Beckerman can really write, and she does it with devastating humor and tear-jerking poignancy as she explores -- from the front row view of the mother of the bride -- the fun, the fights, the work, the tears, the trials, and often the complete insanity that all contribute to the creation of a beautiful wedding. At the same time, she critically (and beautifully) examines the complex relationship between a mother and her daughter. This short little gem will help you remember the things you appreciate most about your mother, your daughter...or both.

A Great Gift

When my daughter became engaged, I got three copies of this book as gifts. I loved it so much that I have given away the two extra copies that I received to friends who will soon be MOBs! The book is so real, so funny, so poignant. It succinctly summed up the relationship between mothers and daughters as it detailed the intricate and involved planning process for today's weddings. I loved the way Beckerman gave us glimpses of her daughter's growing-up years. I felt every feeling the author was feeling --- I laughed, I cried, and I called my daughter to read portions to her.And today....I found the perfect dress!!!

An absolute "must-read" for any Mother of the Bride

As the mother of a recently engaged daughter (my first, so this is very new to me!), I'm heading for the bookstores and the libraries to read up on how to plan a wedding. In the midst of books about what the maid of honor's duties are, lists of lists, pages of worksheets, and tomes about every single thing that a successful wedding...There stands a small pink book that has a cover illustration which communicates as succinctly as the subtitle "The Dream, the Reality, the Search for a Perfect Dress." This book is 156 pages long, but can be read in an hour or so (including time to linger over illustrations and time to laugh some hearty laughs and shed a few tears). Ilene Beckerman is not only the author of this book, but its illustrator as well. And that's part of the beauty of this book; the drawings are so perfectly entwined in the text. It's a rare and very special author who can have you laughing one second and crying the next - especially when the author doesn't use a lot of words! Ilene succeeds beautifully in this wonderful combination.From the book: "What do five girls - one short, one tall, one buxom, one flat, one who gave birth a month ago - have in common? A bridesmaid's dress they all hate."Throughout the book, Ilene zigs and zags from telling about planning her daughter's wedding to writing about her daughter as a little girl and their very special relationship during her grown-up years. In a world where way too many people can't wait for their children to grow up and leave home, this type of writing is both poignant and refreshing. Here's a letter that the author wrote to her daughter as the wedding grew nearer "I never knew before I had you that I could love anyone so much. You won't understand the feeling until you hold your own baby in your arms. I'm afraid you won't need me now that youo're married. I helped you get over your separation anxiety in nursery school. Now I need you to help me to get over mine." Then she says that she never sent that letter.I really appreciated the review of this book that was written by a husband and father who called himself "A reader from NJ". He says that this book isn't just for women and I wholeheartedly agree. My husband laughs and cries simultaneously when watching his favorite movie "Father of the Bride." I think I'm going to go show him this book right now.

Peace offering

I am currently planning my own wedding and my mother and I have been experiencing the usual tension... This book made me see the event from her point of view. It's funny and touching, and so accurate I feel like Ms. Beckerman was recording us as we went through the planning stages. The book is more about a mother's feelings about her daughter growing up than about the wedding per se, so I would recommend this book for every mother and daughter going through "growing pains".

A mother, a daughter, a wedding -- the story

Having married off my three daughters in the past decade made reading and reviewing this latest witty masterpiece from Ilene Beckerman a delight ! Never having met Ilene Beckerman, I was convinced after reading her first book entitled Love, Loss, and What I wore, that we were soulmates. My God, I grew up in NYC and went to PS 80 !This cemented my feelings after she announced that the "bride" now has two daughters of her own - just like my "bride". Her clever style of writing combined with her joyful life experiences add up to a roller coaster fun-filled ride through life's ups and downs. Buy it, you'll love it and then you will rush right out to buy her previous two books which are equally tickling. What will come next might be a hilarious "Grandmother" book -