ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book could not have come about without Thea Klapwald, who provided the idea, the initial research and the inspiration—and Amanda Robb, who helped with everything from writing the book proposal to reading the final draft. Or “drafts.” Thanks to you both for your assistance and your continual, indefatigable support.

We’d like to honor the memory of our original agent on this project, Ed Knappman of New England Publishing Associates, whose encouragement and guidance were instrumental to getting this book out into the world and into the hands of so many brides- and grooms-to-be over the past decade. We’d also like to thank our new agent, Roger Williams at Publish or Perish Agency, whose partnership with New England Publishing Associates and fresh energy inspired us to go forward with this much-needed and much-discussed revision. Thanks goes to our current editor, Marian Lizzi, as well as to our original editor, Shelia Curry Oakes.

Much thanks to the great staff at the Poets House in its beautiful new Hudson riverfront home. For this revision, we wanted to include new poems by up-and-coming American poets as well as poets from Latin America and around the world, and the excellent librarian, Maggie Bali-streri, knew everyone we needed to read and pulled their books and chapbooks for us. Thanks to Wall Street Journal editor Sara Clemence, who was planning her own wedding during the time of this revision and turned us on to some of the hottest wedding websites today, which we trolled for ideas and inspiration. Thanks to Shane Tasker for his research help and to Kindra Ferriabough for trolling her own library and beyond.

Once again, thanks to George Prochnik for tracking down some of the most moving poems in this book and for providing invaluable writing inspiration. Thanks to Giles Lyon for sitting through endless romantic movies in search of quotes for the first edition, as well as to Anne Clarrissimeaux and David Ninh for last-minute research assistance, and to Dr. Carrie Anna Criado for helping find them. Thanks to both Ruth Kleinman and Pearl Solomon for their editorial assistance and good humor. And thanks to the librarians of, and contributors to, the New York Public Library.

Thanks to Leonard Porter for hosting the celebration of the book’s first edition. Thanks to David Callahan for encouraging and supporting the creation of the second.