Sure...
The Wedding Book is a GREAT book. It's full of information that planners would use.
Wedding Etiquette is a pretty good book. The information for the most part is quite valuable, though I have to admit, I'm not very happy with Peggy Post. In her book she talks about a Master of Ceremonies not being needed. Personally, on that one specific item, I would consider an idiot. SOMEONE has to fill that roll, and most people are ill qualified to even try (including most DJ's that I know).
Peter's book (
The Best Wedding Reception Ever!) is good and bad (And Peter's personality is very 'polarizing' and generally 'abrasive' - which doesn't help his credibility one bit). The problem is that the book is full of creative information and a lot of people will try to pull the 'routines' off and do them poorly. They lack the fundamental skills to make them work. This has nothing to do with Peter, and everything to do with most DJ's trying to duplicate the 'appearance' - much like a guitarist learning 'Stairway to Heaven' or Van Halen's 'Eruption' solo but not being able to play much of anything else. They dont' know the chords, etc - but they can play that one thing really well. I'll get flamed for saying it, but what the hell... But I want to reiterate that book was written for BRIDES - not DJ's. I've read it, and his 'diatribe' within isn't well looked upon, but the information overall is a nice way to start the creative process but I wouldn't use the routines 'as they are'. (And before someone wants to 'blast' me for saying what I did above, I didn't 'call anyone out' or name names - it's a general comment and chances are, if you're offended for my saying it, you probably should be offended).
Tom Haibeck's books -
The Wedding MC and
Wedding Toasts Made Easy are GREAT books. While he's Canadian, the overall information is a good 'start'. I recommend 'Wedding Toasts Made Easy' to every Best Man, and anyone else that is going to be giving a toast. Keep in mind, it covers what to say/should be said/ and the planning process. But the book DOESN'T cover the methods behind being a good public speaker and a lot of other things. It's aimed at the person who has been asked to MC a wedding in Canada without any prior experience.
A book or two NOT on your list that I would recommend:
How to set your wedding to music - a GREAT book. Out of print, but if it was still in print I'd give a copy to EVERY client needing ceremony music. It has one of the best breakdowns of wedding ceremony music that I've seen thus far. You can still find it if you shop around, but if you do wedding ceremonies this will help IMMENSELY. I already knew a LOT about wedding ceremonies, but this helped to tie the music in.
(sorry Already Bought 2x years ago with CD included)
The Ultimate Guide to Wedding Music - While not as good as the above book, it's a decent book dealing with wedding music. Lots of great information and just one of a very small number of books that deal specifically with wedding music that are any good at all.
(Added to the wedding wishlist)
Bride's Book of Etiquette - Decent book, with lots of great information. Not quite as good as The Wedding Book IMO - but quite good nonetheless.
(Added to the wedding wishlist)
Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - A CRITICAL book for ANY DJ to read who wants to work in this business. If you haven't read this book you need to. No, it's not wedding related, but you should have read this book already.
(Already have this on my wish list but its out of stock at present)
And if you want a more complete list of the books I've read, am reading, etc - check me out on Shelfari. It's got a small fraction of my books listed... but most of my 'better' books are listed... though I do have a few 'gems' I intentionally left off.
Keep in mind, I have probably 40-50 books dealing with weddings in my library, and I'm adding more every couple weeks. Not to mention magazines that I peruse to keep on top of things.
http://www.shelfari.com/edspencer
