Laura Wolf

Told in diary form by Amy and spread out over the course of a year, "Diary of A Mad Bride" is an occasionally amusing novel about the events leading up to the marriage of Amy Thomas and Stephen Stewart. As the book opens, Amy's friend Mandy is in a dither about getting married and Amy swears that she'll never get married. Of course, she quickly changes her mind when Stephen proposes but she then swears that she won't be as uptight about her wedding as Mandy was. Naturally that too changes, as Amy encounters all kinds of calamities leading up and including her wedding day.

This is a light and at times funny novel. Anyone who's been married, is about to be married, or been a bridesmaid will recognize some of the problems Amy goes through while planning her wedding. Amy's mood swings are particularly funny and there's a lot of reality in her attempts to juggle planning the wedding and working full time. But she too often seems almost disconnected from her own wedding. Although she makes incredibly long lists of things to do for the wedding, she never makes much progress on them. Far too many scenes seem to be written just for the humor - it can't be that difficult to find the perfect wedding gown in all of New York City and I find it hard to believe that Amy would agree to wear her mother's wedding gown sight unseen. And, I realize the book was written this way for the humor, but the wedding felt rushed, especially due to the lack of money Amy and Stephen had. Other scenes that potentially could be mined for humor like trying to figure out place settings, a headache for any bride are left untouched. And what bride would not be involved in picking out the Maid of Honor and Bridesmaid dresses? Or just go to the hairdresser the day of the wedding and let the hairdresser do what they want?

In the end, "Diary of A Mad Bride" seems to have been written in much the same rush as Amy and Stephen's wedding was planned. It's an okay read, but with a little more preparation it could have been great reading.… (more)