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June is here and while for some it might mean school is out, pools are open and ice cream is everyone’s favorite treat. But there is another event that happens in June more frequently than any other and that is weddings!

Folklore suggests that weddings are popular in June because the month takes its name from Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage. In most countries, June weather is warm and there are abundant flowers, with peonies and roses being the top picks for wedding bouquets and arrangements. After the past two years of lockdowns and restricted gatherings, 2022 will be the summer of the wedding boom.

Planning a wedding is work. Dates and locations need to be chosen, the number of guests decided and invitations issued. “The New-Fashioned Wedding: Designing Your Artful, Modern, Crafty Textured, Sophisticated Celebration” by Paige Appel and Kelly Harris is a beautiful book filled with ideas about wedding themes that go beyond the cookie cutter approach represented in most wedding guides. The authors encourage couples to look for inspiration from sources that appeal to them and whether they choose a theme of Southern Cool or Modern Grand or one of many others outlined in the book, the celebration will reflect their unique sensibilities.

“Jumping the Broom: The African-American Wedding Planner” by Harriette Cole offers guidance for those couples looking to bring Afrocentric details to the traditional wedding ceremony. This book offers advice about incorporating traditional patterns into the wedding attire, color and design of floral arrangements and wedding vows that incorporate ancestral elements and celebrate the traditions and heritage from both Africa and the Caribbean.

Weddings aren’t just for younger couples. Many ceremonies are for mid-life couples and second marriages and “The Wedding Guide for the Grown-Up Bride” by Shelley Christiansen is the perfect how-to for the bride who may have a “been there, done that” attitude towards a big wedding but who still desires a beautiful ceremony for this next chapter in her life. This book also has an after-the-wedding section for those newlywed issues bound to arise!

Not only are weddings a lot of work, they can also be expensive! “A Practical Wedding” by Meg Keene offers suggestions on dealing with the many ways wedding planning can go awry, from ballooning guest lists to trying to tame a catering menu. The author highlights how to develop a wedding budget that gives couples the means to create the wedding of their dreams without the extra expense. After all, a memorable wedding is as much about the emotion it evokes as it is about how it looked.

Whether you are planning a wedding this summer or for a later date, check your library for resources to make your ceremony an unforgettable one.

Holly Howze is the branch manager for the Ripberger Public Library located in Kenbridge. She can be reached at lcplsbooks@gmail.com.