I am so excited to be a part of the Save the Date Blog Tour!
This book was so much fun and I hope you’ll check it out!
Keep reading to learn more about the book, some of my favorite fictional weddings, and to enter the giveaway!
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 5, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
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.
Morgan Matson was born in New York City and grew up there and in Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, but halfway through a theater degree, she started working in the children’s department of Vroman’s Bookstore and fell in love with YA literature.
Following college graduation (and the proud bearer of an incredibly useful theater/English degree) she received her M.F.A. in Writing for Children from The New school and worked as an editor for YA novels. She received a second M.F.A. (for reasons that made sense at the time) in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California.
Her novels have been translated into dozens of languages, and published all over the world.
Morgan’s first novel, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, was inspired by her love of road trips, snacks, and the quest for the perfect playlist. It was named an ALA Top Ten Best Book, a Publisher’s Weekly Flying Start book, and was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Book Prize.
Her second novel, Second Chance Summer, was inspired by her experiences spending summers in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. It was the winner of the California Book Award (YA category) and was named to the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults List, selected for the Oklahoma Sequoya List, and selected as a School Library Journal Best Book.
Her third novel, Since You’ve Been Gone, was published in 2014, and was a Publisher’s Weekly and international bestseller. It was named to the YALSA Teens Top Ten list, and the Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award List.
Morgan’s fourth novel, The Unexpected Everything, was published May 3rd, 2016.
She currently lives in Los Angeles with her dog, Murphy.
My Favorite Fictional Weddings
By Jennifer Y.
In Save the Date, Charlie’s family is gathering for her older sister’s wedding and all Charlie wants is for everything that weekend to be perfect and I won’t spoil things, but you guessed it...it’s one disaster after another. And to be honest with you, this is what makes weddings and wedding planning, both real and fictional, fun for me. I love the imperfections and hijinks that can occur...of course, I’ve never been a bride so it’s never been MY wedding, so I might have a different opinion if that were the case. But you kind of just have to go with the flow.
For example, my brother & sister-in-law’s cake almost toppled over as they cut into it and they spent their wedding night bailing the best man out from jail. At my sister’s wedding, my mom caught my younger cousins drinking directly from the chocolate fountain, their heads completely under it. And my grandmother got the champagne mixed up with the nonalcoholic grape juice all night and thought her camera was broken as she tried to take photos with it upside down and backwards.
But nothing is ever perfect, but that’s what makes life fun. And each of these fictional weddings or films about weddings proves this. In no particular order, here are some of my favorite fictional weddings from films, television, and books.
1. Sixteen Candles (film, 1984)
Honestly, this was the very first thing that came to mind when I first read the synopsis for Save the Date. In this classic movie from the 80s, which happens to be one of my favorites, Samantha’s sister is getting married and in all the hoopla her family seems to have forgotten her 16th birthday. She’s also dealing with a crush on the hottest guy in school as well as embarrassing moments with her family. I love this movie and technically it’s not the wedding that makes it a favorite, but it’s such a big part of the movie and so fun.
2. The Brady Bunch (TV Show, 1969, Season 1, Episode 1)
If you’ve seen the show, then you know story of how they all became “The Brady Bunch.” This was one of the first weddings that came to mind when I saw the cover of Save the Date as it involves a backyard wedding reception with a mishap involving the cake...although Mike Brady was not as graceful-looking as our cover model. It is also one of the most memorable TV weddings.
3. Wings (TV Show, 1995, Season 6, Episode 26)
Another memorable TV wedding, this one involves two of the main characters of the show that fans waited years to see if they’d finally end up together. A dropped ring and a hand stuck in a toilet require the ceremony to move to a bathroom of all places, the groom on the floor. But for fans of the show and the couple, it was perfect for the couple and worth the wait.
4. The Wedding by Julie Garwood (book, 1996)
The only book on my list (although others could have made it), the wedding in this one is one of my favorites because it made me laugh. To be honest, no one does weddings or marriages of convenience in historical romances quite like Julie Garwood and I could have put several of her books on this list, but the wedding in The Wedding definitely stood out and is one I remember years and thousands of books later.
5. Father of the Bride (film, 1991)
I haven’t seen the original version, but this version with Steve Martin is one of my favorites (as is the sequel). I love his relationship with his daughter and the interactions with the kooky wedding planner played by Martin Short are such fun. The buildup to the wedding is what makes this movie so much fun for me.
6. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (film, 2002)
This is another favorite movie of mine. I love the craziness that is Toula’s family and can relate even though I am not Greek. I definitely have some...um...interesting...family members, too. There is just so much to love and to laugh about in this movie.
7. Bride Wars (film, 2009)
This movie is a fun one with each character trying to ruin the other one all because they are getting married on the same day at the same place. Now, I would hope real friends wouldn’t behave the way Liv and Emma do in this movie considering how long they’ve been friends and they’re supposed to be lifelong best friends, but you never know...they say weddings make people crazy. And the actual wedding day turns out pretty cool.
8. How I Met Your Mother (TV Show, Season 2, Episode 21)
The wedding of Marshall and Lily...hilariously, just about everything goes wrong...well, hilariously for viewers, but eventually the couple does make it to the “I Do’s,” but it is still one of my favorite episodes and one of the most memorable TV weddings I’ve seen.
9. License to Wed (film, 2007)
Starring one of my favorite actors, Robin Williams, this film is about an engaged couple who have to go through a wedding prep course in order to get married at the bride’s church and of course each test has hilarious, yet detrimental results. Like Bride Wars, it’s another fun movie that you would hope wouldn’t happen in real life, but you never know. It’s also more about wedding prep, but I still enjoy it.
10. Sweet Home Alabama (film, 2002)
This one has one of my favorite wedding moments (and not just because it was filmed at my alma mater) involving Reese Witherspoon’s and Candice Bergen’s characters. In fact, I just love this entire movie and have watched it many times.
So do you have a favorite fictional wedding? Any real life wedding mishaps?
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Starts: 6/4
Ends: 6/21
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