Delaney, Diane Meier

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Delaney, Diane Meier

(Diane Meier)

PERSONAL: Married Frank Delaney (a writer and broadcaster).

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY, and CT. Office—Meier, 907 Broadway, New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author and advertising executive. Meier Advertising, New York, NY, founder and president, 1979–. Also worked for Avon, Revlon, Ogilvy, and NW Ayer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Recipient of many awards, including multiple Clios and ADDYs from the American Advertising Federation, the Caples Award, and the National Graphic Arts Award.

WRITINGS:

The New American Wedding: Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture, illustrations by Donna Mehalko, jewelry photography by Ken Skalski, Viking Studio (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: In The New American Wedding: Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture, New York-based advertising executive and consultant Diane Meier Delaney details the ways in which the tradition of celebrating marriage in America has changed in recent decades. Rather than opting for cookie-cutter respectability, more and more couples are choosing to incorporate elements into their nuptials that reflect aspects of their own lives that they find the most meaningful. Delaney's book plays off this trend, offering couples advice and examples of how to personalize their own weddings, from the bachelor and bachelorette parties through the ceremony to the honeymoon. "It convinces would-be brides and grooms that it's perfectly acceptable to have what some would term a nontraditional wedding," declared Sarah E. White on the BookPage Web site.

Delaney's evidence suggests that modern couples no longer feel bound by traditional concepts of weddings. Even the roles of the bride and groom are changing; men, for example, reports Delaney, are becoming more involved in the planning and logistical operations of the marriage ceremony. Delaney also advises that "'commitment jewelry' need not be a diamond (indeed, it doesn't even have to be a ring)," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. The author cites couples from different cultures as examples of individuals who incorporate elements of their own distinctive backgrounds into the ceremonies. She also draws on her own unconventional wedding to British Broadcasting Corporation broadcaster Frank Delaney for inspiration. "This thoughtful handbook," wrote Library Journal contributor Deborah M. Ebster, "breaks new ground and old rules in suggesting options for brides and grooms."