We are officially in the midst of wedding season! Weddings are happening everywhere at the moment- I myself was a bridesmaid at one only a week ago.
Wedding fever reached a peak this year after the glorious wedding of Meghan and Harry- can we all agree that the whole wedding was complete goals?
So, its not really a surprise that weddings are having a bit of a renaissance within YA fiction. We’ve seen two major contemporary authors release so called wedding books in the last year, and I for one am LIVING for this troupe- give me ALL the wedding books please! So I decided to see how many more wedding centric YA books I could find- and heres the list!
Save the Date by Morgan Matson
Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.
The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster.
There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.
There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo.
Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute.
Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.
I was interested in this at first because I read somewhere that Charlie, the protagonist, plans the wedding which ends up going all wrong- and event planning is what I do. Plus, even though things going wrong at my events would be the worst, I’m sure I could see the humour in this fictional event ending up being a disaster.
This book was released in June 2018.
Once and for All by Sarah Dessen
Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that’s why she’s cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm’s length. But Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged, now that he’s met the one girl he really wants.
Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.
Another YA wedding book! This one was released last summer, and also centres around a wedding planner, of sorts, and a romance.
The Story of Us by Deb Calleti
Cricket’s on a self-imposed break from her longtime boyfriend—but she’s picked a bad week to sort out her love life. For one thing, her mother’s romance is taking center stage: After jilting two previous fiancés, her mom is finally marrying Dan Jax, whom Cricket loves. But as wedding attendees arrive for a week of festivities at a guesthouse whose hippie owners have a sweet, sexy son—Ash—complications arise:
Cricket’s future stepsisters make it clear they’re not happy about the marriage. An old friend decides this is the week to declare his love for Cricket. Grandpa chooses to reveal a big secret at a family gathering. Dan’s ex-wife shows up. And even the dogs—Cricket’s old, ill Jupiter and Dan’s young, lively Cruiser—seem to be declaring war.
While Cricket fears that Dan is in danger of becoming ditched husband-to-be number three, she’s also alarmed by her own desires. Because even though her boyfriend looms large in her mind, Ash is right in front of her….
This one was released a whole while ago, but it definitely centres around a wedding- so it counts, alright? This one also sounds interesting, the wedding sounds like more of a backdrop to the story but there’s that family drama that weddings can cause in the mix as well.
The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt
Sixteen-year-old Holly wants to remember her Grandpa forever, but she’d rather forget what he left her in his will: his wedding chapel on the Las Vegas strip. Whatever happened to gold watches, savings bonds, or some normal inheritance?
And then there’s Grandpa’s letter. Not only is Holly running the business with her recently divorced parents, but she needs to make some serious money—fast. Grandpa also insists Holly reach out to Dax, the grandson of her family’s mortal enemy and owner of the cheesy chapel next door. No matter how cute Dax is, Holly needs to stay focused: on her group of guy friends, her disjointed family, work, school and… Dax. No wait, not Dax.
Holly’s chapel represents everything she’s ever loved in her past. Dax might be everything she could ever love in the future. But as for right now, there’s a wedding chapel to save.
This is one I definitely want to read- the premise is so unique- warring wedding chapels? Sign me up. I wonder if real Las Vegas wedding chapels do have rivalries…
And last but not least-
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
I’m not going to add the synopsis here, because this is the third book in the series and spoilers are a thing, but lets just say there is a wedding in this book. Thats all.
Do you know any more books that include weddings? Let me know!