Weddiculous: An Unfiltered Guide to Being a Bride by Jamie Lee

As a bride-to-be, the exciting yet daunting task of planning a wedding is before me. Jamie Lee's book Weddiculous: An Unfiltered Guide to Being a Bride has made that task a little bit more entertaining. Her book, part wedding memoir, part checklist/timeline, part comedy paints wedding planning in a completely different light. While the timelines and checklists are helpful when it comes to planning, perhaps it's Lee's comedic insights that make this book an entertaining read. Lee's not afraid to say it like it is when it comes to nosy parents, how expensive everything is, and the wedding traditions that new generations of brides could live without. Though sometimes Lee's humor is a bit much, the best advice to take away from reading Weddiculous is that the most important things about your wedding day is that "it's just the first day in a long and happy marriage."

Something New: Tales From a Makeshift Bride by Lucy Knisley

This adorable graphic novel by artist Lucy Knisley touches and illustrates just about everything it seems a newly engaged, bride-to-be feels at some point throughout the course of planning one of the most important days of her life. From the common issues such as finding "the one" to  dress shopping to choosing a cake, Knisley offers her often hilariously witty opinion and carefully crafts an illustration to go along with it. Aside from the traditional something borrowed, something blue traditions, Knisley shares not-so-common traditions including the slapping of the groom's feet with a fish and the German tradition known as Polterabend, in which wedding guests bring old dishes or glasses and smash them at the bride and groom's feet.

Though Knisley's Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride is filled will funny anecdotes, the book also touches on really important issues such as feminism, assumed expectations, gender stereotypes, family drama, and typical wedding chaos, including the importance (and cost!) placed on "just stuff." So whether you're a bride-to-be, a proud relationship partner, or still waiting for "the one" to sweep you off your feet, this book is reassuring that all of the feelings one has surrounding their wedding have surely been felt before.