The Wedding Machine

Knowing that I would be off for several days after the surgical procedure, I bought a few novels to keep me company. I love to read. I just don't seem to have enough time for it these days. I will usually buy a novel or two during hunting season to read while Jim is out of town. I have to make myself put them down so that I can get some sleep at night.

I picked up The Wedding Machine by Beth Webb Hart, Sisterchicks Do The Hula by Robin Jones Gunn and The Heroines by Eileen Favorite. I have read two of the three so far.

The Wedding Machine was a delightful read. I wanted an easy read that would not require too much thinking since I knew that I would be 'under the influence' during part of the read. This book didn't disappoint. I wouldn't say it was one of the best books I ever read...but it kept me interested.

It is the story of four women who became friends in high school and are now facing middle age together. The book jacket provides the following synopsis:

Welcome to Jasper, South Carolina. A place where Southern hospitality thrives. Where social occasions are done right. And where, for generations, the four most upstanding ladies of this community ensure that the daughters of Jasper are married in the proper manner.

Friends from school days, "the gals" have long pooled their silver, china, and know-how to pull off beautiful events. They're a force of nature, a well-oiled machine. But the wedding machine's gears start to stick during the summer their own daughters line up to tie the knot. In the lowcountry heat and humidity, tempers flare, old secrets leak out . . . and both love and gardenias bloom in unlikely places.

The Wedding Machine is a celebration of life-long friendship--the kind that endures death and divorce, accidents and alligators, hot flashes and hurricanes. Even the drama of small-town Southern weddings done exactly right.

This is the story of Ray, Hilda, Sis and Kitty. Four friends who have walked life's journey together...in both good times and bad ones. I think what I really enjoyed about this book is that even though they have been very close, they each have a secret struggle. While they share celebrations and stand with each other through the trials...each one has an inner fear/trial/disappointment that they can't seem to admit to themselves, much less to the others. Isn't that the way we really are as women? Watch any group of women as they sit around a table at your local restaurant...you will see this dynamic played out over and over again.

These women have suffered the loss of loved ones -- through divorce and through death. They have pooled their talents and their possessions for countless celebrations. Yet they also struggle with jealousy and pride as they travel through the normal ups and downs of life.

Ray has had a secret since she first moved to this small South Carolina town before her Sophomore year of high school. She is now married into one of the town's most upstanding families and is considered the "First Lady" of it's social engagements. Being the head of the Wedding Guild, she can hardly wait until her own daughter settles down and trains to take up the mantle one day. The only problem is that her daughter is not the type to settle for the 'proper' small town life. She is a free spirit who has moved to New York City and has dated nothing but losers (in her mother's eyes) since leaving home.

Hilda is trying to find her way as she waits for her ex-husband to see 'the error of his ways' in divorcing her several years earlier. From the outside, she appears to be all pulled together -- every hair in place, elegantly dressed, the perfect face. Yet, emotionally, she can barely get through her daughter's wedding and it's social obligations.

Kitty's father was the mayor of Jasper when she was growing up and her mother was head of the Wedding Guild. Her husband, LeMar, has been a hypochondriac since losing their infant daughter. Due to his lack of work, they have living off of her inheritance for years and that is beginning to run thin. Kitty struggles with an unhappy marriage, while keeping everyone well fed. When Kitty and LeMar's youngest daughter becomes the second bride of the season, their lives begin to undergo a much needed shift...but will they be able make the changes.

Finally, there is Sis, the only one never to have married or had children. Sis still looks the same as in high school. After a tragic loss early in her life, she struggles with whether or not she will ever find love. Sis pours herself into the lives of her friends and service to her church and community. Yet, she always wonders what she may be missing.

These women remind me so much of myself and my friends as we make our way through the season of children's weddings and the birth of grandchildren. I am reminded of how much we need each other...and yet, of how little we really know about each other's personal struggles. It makes me wonder what the outside world perceives about us when they see us all together. Can they tell who is the 'pillar'? the 'princess'? the 'peace keeper'? I see a bit of each of the characters in myself and in my friends. This would make a wonderful movie for girl's night out. I think the author does a great job of depicting the normal ebb and flow of real friendships between women.

And besides, I got a few great ideas for decorating/entertaining from the book while I was reading.

Listen to this wedding shower brunch menu...petits fours, lemon squares, shrimp salad, cucumber sandwiches, cheese straws, praline pecans and fruit kabobs dipped in white and dark chocolate. Yumm!

How about...filling your fireplace with magnolia branches topped with a huge blossom during the summer? Sounds Southern, doesn't it?

Or this list of items for a wedding box..."smelling salts, stain remover, buttons, needles and thread, safety pins, starch, a mini iron, breath mints, scissors, tape, bobby pins, tampons, Band-aids, superglue, cover up, hairspray, baby wipes, Kleenex". (Deborah's wedding box is as stocked as this one!)