Do you like weddings? Even though I know that a wedding is only the beginning (of a family life), I enjoy when a romance book ends with a wedding. There is something about the overflowing joy of the couple, the commitment, the first moment of life together, the promise to honor each other, the happiness in the eyes of the bride and groom that touches my heart. Frankly, I like weddings in real life, too!
So it’s no wonder that I often include them in my books, mostly weddings of the hero and heroine in epilogues. In my new book, Love’s Christmas Cheer, hopefully releasing in November, I decided for the wedding to be way before the end. And… it’s not going to be the hero and heroine’s wedding. Petr and Lacy-Jane have opposite personalities, but they have to put their differences aside as they prepare the reception and act as the best man and the maid of honor for the wedding of their siblings.
You’re the first to see the book’s brand new cover! It’s my very first attempt ever at creating a cover, so I’m excited and scared about it at the same time.
This part of the book is also very special to me because it gives me the chance to recall wedding traditions of my hometown. Due to the groom in my new book having a Russian heritage, the bride and the maid of honor decide to incorporate some Russian traditions. Though I didn’t use all of the things I’ve seen at weddings, it was fun to revisit them in my memory…
For example, there’s the honorable tradition of the bride bringing flowers to the World War II monument. A relatively new tradition is putting a lock on the bridge (probably symbolic of locking their love). Judging by the number of locks I’ve seen, the tradition has become popular fast!
The above-mentioned traditions and many others differ from place to place. But there’s one Russian tradition I saw at every wedding I went to in my childhood. When guests start shouting, “Горько!” (“Gorko!”), it’s a sign for the newlyweds to kiss. Sometimes the bride throws candies to hush the guests, but it still ends with a kiss. Surprisingly, the word горько means bitterly in translation.
Do you like romance books to include weddings? What is your favorite wedding tradition? Do you have a favorite memory about your own wedding? (I’d love to hear it!)
I look forward to reading your comments!
Alexa Verde writes uplifting, diverse books about faith, love, and hope. She has had 200 short stories, articles, and poems published in the five languages that she speaks. After traveling the world and living in both hemispheres, she calls a small town in south Texas home. The latter is an inspiration for the fictional setting of her series Rios Azules Christmas and Secrets of Rios Azules. Alexa has a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a master's in Russian. She's worn the hats of reporter, teacher, translator, model (even one day counts!), caretaker, and secretary, but thinks that the writer's hat suits her the best.
I could do with or without weddings in a book. I don’t have a favorite wedding tradition.
Hello, MH! Thank you for commenting!
Hi Alexa! Delightful post – love the Russian wedding traditions and will be looking forward to your book Love’s Christmas Cheer. I enjoy reading about weddings, especially with different traditions in books. Participated in a wedding at a vineyard on Saturday. Our youngest son’s childhood friend got married. A great German American wedding. In the 1970s the Unity Candle was part of most church wedding ceremonies. At one wedding, blowing out the candles almost caught the bride’s veil. Since our middle son was married on the shores of Lake Michigan, he and his bride had a sand ceremony – pouring two different sands together. My favorite part is the announcement of the couple and the kiss. Best wishes and happy writing.
Hi, Renate! I loved reading your comment. Thank you very much for your kind words and sharing about wedding traditions. Congratulations to your youngest son’s childhood friend! And what a great tradition at your middle son’s wedding, pouring two different sands together. Best wishes to you and your family! Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting!
I love reading about wedding traditions in books, and I’m looking forward to reading your new story. GREAT cover!!! At my daughter’s wedding, they jumped the broom at the end of the ceremony, and this is the first time I had ever seen it done. The last wedding we went to, they wove knots together which were then put into a display frame that they would hang in their house.
I don’t care if there is a wedding or not. If there is one I prefer that it’s not long and drawn out. lol I guess I’m not much of a wedding person.
I love your cover. I like weddings in books but a book does not have to have one for me to enjoy the story. I prefer a book to focus more on the story and not the wedding. One of my favorite wedding traditions is the lighting of one candle together.
congratulations, this cover is wonderful. it brings warm thoughts. I do love it when a book ends with a wedding and it is written about. I love to read about what happens at the reception. Unfortunately I have not found many, as they end with getting married. At my wedding, Phil and I were supposed to light a unity candle after the vows, but the pastor forgot. Fortunately his wife remembered and it was brought to the reception and we started out with that. It turned out lovely done that way. Kind of like we were continuing beyond the wedding itself. I loved it. Then while we were having our first dance, I could not take the shoes I had anymore, they did not want to stay on my feet (we did the venetian waltz-it is a fast waltz with a lot of turns) so I kicked of my shoes and one almost hit a man in the head. LOL Oh how embarrassed I felt. The man was a guest with Pam (one of my husbands friends) well he married Pam and all four of us became close friends. Even our kids became friends. We never know what God has planned for us until we let Him lead our lives. I love the journey.
The cover is beautiful! :) I love weddings in stories, too.
I like the lighting of the unity candle too. At my wedding, we went down and kissed both our moms after the ceremony was over and we were on our way out of the sanctuary.
One of the things I enjoy doing as an author of romance series, is adding a previous couple’s wedding to a later tale, firmly from the point-of-view of the new story’s hero or heroine. Readers love to catch that glimpse of previous characters they’ve come to love. :)
I love the tradition of lighting the unity candle.
Love reading all the posts! Just remembered a few new wedding traditions! At one wedding after being pronounced man and wife & the kiss, the groom presented the bride’s mother a flower and the bride gave the groom’s mother a flower. The flowers were part of the bridal bouquet, but could be easily removed! Also at receptions I love seeing the parents and grandparents wedding pictures! Showing how generations evolved- the history of both family’s! Statement of love!
Fantastic cover! I like having weddings and look forward to reading your new book!
We had a Unity candle in our Wedding. I also have a big family picture from our Wedding that had our parents, siblings, their spouses and their children (quite a feat when you have one brother overseas and another in the Army who got deployed overseas 3 months before our Wedding!) Back then our pictures were posed. I’d be curious what a group picture would look like these days when wedding pictures are more relaxed. Let’s just say that our family tree has a few nuts :)
Thanks for sharing about your new book. The cover alone makes me want to read it.
Hi Alexa,
This was a nice blog post.
I love weddings but not necessarily traditional.
My last wedding was outdoors in a gazebo,my wedding dress, a tradional Hualapi Native American dress, instead of a veil,I wore a blue decorated cowboy hat.
I can enjoy a book with or without weddings. My wedding was unusual because we were married on a TV program…many years ago. It was called Bride & Groom and went off the air just a few months after we married in NYC. Quite exciting for a small town couple!
Can’t wait to read your book!
Thank you so much for your kind words about my new cover, Becky! I hope you’ll enjoy reading Love’s Christmas Cheer. Thank you for sharing wedding traditions. I heard about jumping the broom but never seen it done, and weaving knots together is totally new to me. :)
I totally agree that the wedding should not be drawn out. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Hello, Iraines! Thank you so much for your kind words about my new cover! I love reading these comments. Oh, yes, the lighting of one candle together is such a beautiful and meaningful wedding tradition. Thank you for stopping by!
Hello, Lori Smanski! Thank you very much for such a wonderful comment. I appreciate your kind words about my new cover, and warm thoughts (and festive mood) was exactly what I was going for. It’s true, not many books go beyond wedding to the reception.
I enjoyed reading about your wedding so much! God is always in control, and He can turn every moment of our lives into something wonderful, if not now, then later. We just need to trust the Lord completely.
Thank you, Liwen! So glad you like the new cover. :)
Hello, Margaret Nelson! I agree. The lighting of the unity candle is such a great and meaningful wedding tradition. And thank you so much for sharing about your wedding. It was such a kind and wonderful gesture.
Thank you, Valerie! This is exactly what I hope to do in the new book. I’ve never done it before, but I do hope readers will like it.
Hello, Lucy Reynolds! It is truly such a great wedding tradition. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Thank you very much, Renate. It is so thoughtful and kind for the groom to give a flower to the bride’s mother and for the bride to give groom’s mother a flower. And displaying wedding pictures of parents and grandparents at the reception is a great way to see and feel the connection between generations and family’s history and love. Thank you for sharing these great wedding traditions!
So glad you like the cover, Julianne, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading Love’s Christmas Cheer! Thank you for sharing about your wedding and the wedding picture. I have to admit, your description of your family tree made me smile. :)
Yay! So glad you like the new cover, Priscila! Thank you very much for stopping by.
Hi LInda! Thank you very much for your kind words about my blog post. I loved reading about your last wedding. And it made me curious what a traditional Hualapi Native American dress looks like.
Hi, Jackie! Wow, your wedding was on a TV program! I can only imagine how exciting and thrilling that must’ve been (adding to the usual excitement of the wedding). And thank you very much! I hope you’ll enjoy reading Love’s Christmas Cheer!
I love reading weddings in books, or at least hint that the wedding will be in the next installment or something! :-) To me, one of the points of writing or reading a romance is the couple ends up at least engaged by the end of the book (if not married). I also love when an author includes the epilogue where it features the wedding if the book didn’t end with it.
I attended my cousins wedding years ago, and one tradition that I had never seen in a wedding and enjoyed was they washed each others feet. I thought it was quite unique! They are both born again Christians, so to see this act of submission and servant-hood to each other was beautiful. Most of my family is not saved so I hope this planted some kind of seeds in their hearts.
I don’t know why this site no longer allows long comments :-( I had to split this in two, so sorry!
We just celebrated our 20th year in April with a renewal of our vows. It really was the perfect timing as our Pastor retired in June. My son walked me up the aisle, my grand-girl was my flower girl and walked ahead of me with my daughter, my niece took pictures and my sister-in-law was in attendance. But even after all this time, I only had eyes for my husband :-) The ladies of our church put on an elaborate reception afterwards with great food and fellowship. Not that I didn’t enjoy my wedding, but I think this one was more special as a celebration of all our years of love with all our loved ones. It was a magical night!
I love your cover. It looks great.
Hi Alexa! You did a GREAT job on the cover! Congrats on the upcoming release. I love to read about different wedding traditions, but I personally prefer to read a story devoted more to developing the relationship which leads up to the wedding. I believe I’ve written books with every type of wedding scenario imaginable. :) Believe it or not, wedding scenes are among my least favorite to write, so I’ve made the last few as short as possible. Readers don’t seem to miss it in preference of an epilogue (and I do, too). A lot depends on whether or not it’s a standalone novel or part of a series, as well as the story itself. Wishing you many blessings!
Hello Trixi! I also like when there’s a wedding at the end of the book or in the epilogue. And thank you for sharing the tradition from your cousins wedding. I’ve never heard of washing each other’s feet, but I agree with you. Including this act of submission and servant-hood to each other is beautiful and a great way to start life together, as well as to plant seeds in hearts of the rest of the family. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Trixi, what a beautiful way to celebrate your 20th year of marriage! And how nice of the ladies of your church to prepare a great reception. I loved it how you wrote that even after all this time, you only had eyes for your husband. Truly, such a wonderful event, and I’m so happy for you!
Hello, Jessica! Thank you very much for your kind words about my new cover! You brightened my day.
Hi JoAnn! Thank you so much for your wonderful words about my new cover! So true, there are so many different wedding scenarios in your books. It does surprise me that wedding scenes are among your least favorite to write because you write them so well. Wishing you many blessings, too!
I love the authors who write for Ispy. I’ve taken part in several on -line launch parties and have found that the Ispy authors are so sweet and open. They actually communicate with the readers! Way back when we didn’t have this much communication, I had just select few authors because I only stuck with authors who’s work I knew and liked. My eyes have been opened, just like my reading material! Thank you for including us in your writing life☺??
Fun post. I love weddings being included. My favorite memory is my grandfather performing our wedding ceremony.