New 'Miss Manners' Book Takes on Wedding Culture

By: E&P Staff In this age of impossibly expensive, over-the-top weddings, can a couple still celebrate their nuptials in a dignified way without spending a mint?

Miss Manners thinks so.

Syndicated advice columnist Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners, and her newlywed daughter, Jacobina Martin, are the authors of ?Miss Manners? Guide to a Surprisingly Dignified Wedding,? released Jan. 11 from W. W. Norton & Co. The authors culled thousands of questions from bewildered bridegrooms, bankrupt parents, bridezillas, and bridesmaids covering marital matters large and small -- from same-sex marriages and melded families to reply cards and bachelorette parties -- to explain how to resist fraudulent claims to correctness and the unnecessarily high costs these claims often deliver.

With her trademark wit, Miss Manners tells engaged couples what advice to ignore, what ?traditions? to skip, and how to achieve the rare, tasteful wedding.

Judith Martin has been married to Robert Martin for fifty years.