As anyone who had been involved in a wedding, whether the bride or the bridesmaid, the mother-of-the bride or an excited guest, we know getting to the wedding is a journey.
In my Starlight Grille series, Moonlighting, book three (SPOILER ALERT) ends in a proposal, and books one, The Legacy of Parkers Point, and two, Come Dance With Me, (SPOILER ALERT) end in weddings. It took a lot of community and character building, plus support and encouragement from friends, for each couple to get to their happily-ever-after.
In my new release, The Prince’s Son, book one of the Cowboys of Mineral Springs, (you
guessed it) the ending has to do with this subject, BUT I’m not telling you
what happens. Book two, The Rancher Needs a Wife, due out
this fall, same subject (but again NO SPOILER).
The twist in this book was the mother-of-the-bride found her own happily-ever-after during the week leading up to the wedding. This book was a book of my heart—my first book and a book about a woman my age (at the time I wrote this book, I was a LOT younger). And someday, when I can find the typed version of the manuscript (somewhere in a packed box), I will rewrite it. Sadly, the whole book got wiped out when a repair person came to update the internet and computer in 2001. But I still remember various parts of the story.
So, of course, I have
thought about weddings for the over-fifty generation. I imagine they will look
much different from the weddings of the younger crowd. Probably smaller and
more intimate. Not as formal. Perhaps a destination wedding with family and
close friends. Or elopement, then a big party. Or maybe no wedding at all.
Living in two homes, with partially separate lives as they mold their
relationship to fit into long-held, single-status of both, but still wanting to
share most of their time together in their own version of a happily-ever-after.
The options are endless.
This is the fun of writing about weddings. There are so many
variations, that the topic is always fresh. And for those writers who pen
series, the love story of a primary set of characters in book one can result in
a proposal and wedding in the books that follow. You may have noticed that
trend in several Hallmark movies that have turned into a series of movies that
end with the wedding.
One of my college friends was married in a tiny, old, and very cold chapel in February, back in the day when New England winters were frigid and the snow was high. The setting and ambiance were breathtaking. Another was married by the ocean. And another in a sweet, old church renovated into a small event venue overlooking a cove filled with working lobster boats.
Oooooh, I think I have several wedding story ideas percolating. With that, I’ll say goodbye and start making notes.
Until then, enjoy the myriad of wedding-based romance books and movies that are sure to be released this month.
Tell me if you have a favorite wedding story, fictional or not. Or a favorite dream wedding venue or location.
~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires
burning ~Delsora
Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the
mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.
Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor
Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of
Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine.
Social Media Links:Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Author FaceBook page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
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Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
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Engagement https://pixabay.com/illustrations/love-romantic-relationship-together-3581038/
Bride and Groom Silhouette http://www.oogazone.com/2018/unique-bride-and-groom-silhouette-clip-art-photos/
Dancing in Sneakers https://pixabay.com/photos/marriage-bridal-wedding-shoes-636018/
“Marry Me” - In the Sand https://www.thefashionisto.com/how-plan-caribbean-beach-wedding-7-best-tips/
Hanging hearts https://pixabay.com/photos/heart-love-romance-valentine-700141/
Older Couple https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-wedding-happy-couple-sunset-1934732/
Small Chapel http://clipart-library.com/clipart/2096463.htm
Dancing Wedding Couple https://pixabay.com/photos/people-couple-love-hug-dance-2597818/
Bride and Groom Silhouette http://www.oogazone.com/2018/unique-bride-and-groom-silhouette-clip-art-photos/
Dancing in Sneakers https://pixabay.com/photos/marriage-bridal-wedding-shoes-636018/
“Marry Me” - In the Sand https://www.thefashionisto.com/how-plan-caribbean-beach-wedding-7-best-tips/
Hanging hearts https://pixabay.com/photos/heart-love-romance-valentine-700141/
Older Couple https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-wedding-happy-couple-sunset-1934732/
Small Chapel http://clipart-library.com/clipart/2096463.htm
Dancing Wedding Couple https://pixabay.com/photos/people-couple-love-hug-dance-2597818/
10 comments:
Love this post, Delsora. You do such an excellent job with images to enhance your words.
While I do not particularly like to go to weddings, I love to write about them so my books do have weddings in them from simple exchange in front of Justice of the Peace to much more formal and fancy ones. I want the weddings to be an extension of the couple, their lives up to this point with a dollop of what's to come.
I'm like you in that I've no plans to remarry but I'm not opposed if I met someone and our lives fit together. In the past my dream marriage was a long distance one with us each flying to the other's city or meeting at say a B&B half-way between. Our individual lives would allow us to spend 3 - 4 days together so doing that twice a month would give us 6 - 8 days in each other's company. In many busy marriages, the couple do not spend that much time together if you deduct sleep.
That "dream marriage" isn't as inviting these days with all the security, waiting, crowded planes, etc. so instead of long distance like across the country, maybe long distance as in a couple hours drive?
Ha, Judith, I do love your dream. I've always had the same - even if it is next door or the next town over. I now value my alone time, and don't feel the need to pick up someone else's socks. But I do love the idea of love, finding that special person, and spending quality time together. Now that I am older, I don't need a second person there to help take care of the kids :-)But I also understand that we need to be there for each other in difficult times of illness, etc.
I love weddings! There's nothing like watching a couple pledge their love for one another to make my heart all squishy. I'm blessed to have found my soul mate, so no later-in-life weddings for me ... but I do love to read stories of older couples finding love again.
Best of luck with all your books, Delsora!
Thanks for stopping in, Nina. You are indeed blessed to have a wonderful soul mate. And for people who do, the fun thing is in writing their anniversary stories :-)
Weddings are very much on my mind, now that I have three daughters in their twenties! I'm alarmed by the ever escalating cost and brouhaha relating to weddings. I love to read in stories about how people made special weddings without spending fortunes. Focus on the love rather than impressing the Joneses!
I totally agree, Carly! I do have to admit, in the Prince's Son, the heroine marries a prince, but they have the wedding at the ranch (albeit a big house), and her friend makes her wedding dress, another friend caters, and all the bridesmaids wear their own dresses or dresses they pick. I have been to so many wonderful weddings that were potlucks or in venues like someone's backyard or on the beach. It makes it so much more meaningful. Plus, I can't imagine the stress of planning something so lavish.
Deb,
I really enjoyed your blog on weddings. Your books are fabulous! I have my 'honey'j. Ours was a quiet wedding in Reno, NV with a steak and lobster dinner. We had to drive back home to CA as we both had to work the next day.
As always, a wonderful post, Deb. It sounds like perhaps you and I will be writing baby boomer weddings at the same time. The final book of my Sweetwater Canyon series features the mother of a now college student finding her HEA. As I'm still in the muddy middle, I haven't decided how/where that wedding will take place. However, I suspect it will be in their back yard. :)
I hear you on not looking to remarry. Though my DH and I met later in life (I was 45 and he 47), I know there will come a time when one of us dies before the other. Even now, twenty years later, I can't imagine choosing to re-marry. Choosing to have a special male friend--perhaps. Or choosing to be primarily in the company of women friends is most likely.
We have a couple we know who when they married later in life (about the same time we did) they married knowing they would each keep their separate homes and separate lives, put to spend the night at each other's houses a few times per week. Their homes are approximately 10 miles apart (though it is at least a 45 minute drive in traffic). She's a master gardener with a large yard to maintain and where she spends almost every waking hour from Spring through Fall. He's a musician with a large studio where he spends most of his time creating and producing music.
At the time, I couldn't imagine choosing a life like that. But they remain very happy together and it has worked well for them. Now that I'm older, I can understand that choice. It speaks to a good understanding of self and love, and realizing that both can not only survive, but thrive, whether you are in one house together most of the time or not.
So true, Maggie - Can't wait to check out your baby-boomer wedding book. I've set up several "seasoned" couples that maybe find their own story someday. And in the first novella in my collection, I added a short story about the father of my heroine (as a bonus story I left it in a "happily ever after could be in their future" place, to show a happily for now, but also in case I want to continue the story (which I hope to someday.) Seems there are enough hours in the day.
Diana, a quiet wedding in Reno with steak and lobster sounds wonderful, and I think very romantic - except for the part where you both had to work the next day :-)
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