Siri Agrell

I suffer from a chronic condition that prevents me from being able to leave a library without checking out a book. Beyond that, I can't really pinpoint what exactly prompted me to bring this book home. My tenure as a bridesmaid was not a particularly painful one, although I don't exactly look forward to doing it again. I now see that my experience could have been much worse and I'm thankful to still be friends with the bride. I think I was lucky that I had been friends with the bride since junior high -- she had had plenty of time to get to know my quirks and my tendency to rebel, and yet she still wanted me to stand up for her on her special day. I was a Bad Bridesmaid without really even realizing it. Having never participated in a wedding before, I didn't know what was expected of me, and unfortunately I had no one to lead me in the ways of being a Good Bridesmaid. I skipped the bridal shower. I opted to spend the night before the wedding at the hotel with my boyfriend instead of with the bride and the other bridesmaids (whom I didn't know). I didn't cover my (very visible) tattoo for the wedding. B-A-D. And yet she never said a word.

Basically, this book prepared me for "next time," if I'm so afflicted. Even more though, I think it made me think more about how I want my own wedding to come together (if, when) and whether I really want to put my friends through such an ordeal. I like to think that I won't be that bride, but I'm pretty sure that some conflicts are just inevitable.

Overall, I enjoyed the hilarious tales of bridal party disasters -- especially about the bridesmaid who popped out of her dress during the wedding ceremony ("Luckily the bridesmaid was wearing a strapless bra and had a very large bouquet of flowers that she immediately lifted in front of her chest. She stood there, half naked, as the couple continued their vows unaware that they were no longer the most interesting pair at the altar.") Sometimes it just takes a little humour (and proof that, hey, that wasn't so bad after all!) to put things in perspective.
… (mehr)

Usually when a woman gets engaged, after figuring out things like cake choices and flower selection comes assigning the role of bridesmaids. What "Bad Bridesmaid" seeks to do is provide readers with a front row seat as to the worst situations that can happen to a bridesmaid like being kicked out of the wedding or having to be in a wedding for a person you barely know. The book starts out with the author's own tale of going from a good bridesmaid to a bad bridesmaid. Mainly, after the author was chosen to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding, she wrote a newspaper article asking why bridesmaids were necessary in a wedding at all. Although others were amused and some sympathized with her opinions, the bride did not feel that way and told the author she was fired as a bridesmaid and was to be replaced the the bride's cousin. The remainder of the book is made up of stories from other former bridesmaids who also suffered the fate of being labeled a "bad bridesmaid." I feel "Bad Bridesmaid" has a split personality complex in that it goes from discussing the history of bridesmaids and their role in weddings to personal stories from other women who have been bridesmaids. I personally feel that the author of this book should have picked to either focus on the stories from former bridesmaids or the history of bridesmaids but not both. Another issue I had with the book was the way in which it was organized. While each chapter was introduced with a catchy title, interesting quote and a nice picture, there was no definite separation between the bridesmaid history and the former bridesmaid stories. Also, it was easy for the reader to get confused when confronted with all the different former bridesmaids who are involved in making this book. That being said, I think it would have been easier for the reader to have had a chart before the start of the book start the woman's name and how many times she served as a bridesmaid. I just think that a chart would have a lot more helpful so I would remember that the Giselle from Chapter 3 was the same Giselle in Chapter 8. All in all, this was a funny book which will make you think twice before saying "I do" to bridesmaid duty.… (mehr)