Why is the traditional image of the bride before her wedding day that of a stressed and overly emotional woman, snapping at everyone in sight? And how, over the last decade, has the wedding industry exploded into a hundred-billion-dollar-a-year industry that sends increasing numbers of newly married couples into debt? A Los Angeles Times bestseller in hardcover, I Do But I Don’t answers these questions and more. Through personal experience, conversations with other women, and exhaustive research, Wicoff examines both the personal and the cultural meanings of all the trappings-from the proposal and the ring to the dress and even the bachelorette party. Her passionate argument for clear-eyed, conscious marriage will ring true to all brides trying to keep their sanity and integrity intact.

A contributor to Salon.com, Kamy Wicoff lives in New York City. She and her husband have two children.