June wedding showers? Give the gift of romance

Ah, the month of June. Four weeks. Four Saturdays ... which, for many, means four weddings. June is the most popular month for getting married, and it brings with it an endless round of parties, showers and receptions. In addition to powdered mints, the one thing all of these events have in common is the need for a gift. Traditionally this gift is something along the impersonal lines of a pan, a pillow case, or pair of serving tongs. This year, however, Romance Writers of America recommends adding a little fun and pizzazz to your right-off-the-registry gift: a romance novel.

Romance novels can be as insightful as any how-to book on love and passion, and a lot more fun than towels or juice glasses. Besides being great honeymoon reading, romance novels put and keep readers in the mood for a wedding celebration -- because so many of their plots, settings and characters feature that joyous wedding time. Weddings and brides are great inspiration for romance authors, and they inspire the reader in return.

"As a romance author, I've always found writing about brides, and those first few months of marriage, particularly appealing," says Day Leclaire, RWA member and author of 12 romance novels featuring brides. "There's an innate source of tension and conflict that comes from exploring the early days of married life. The give and take. The scary newness of the relationship. The gradual blending of strengths and weaknesses that comes when the love is real and the desire to commit runs deep."

But you don't have to be a bride yourself to enjoy a romance novel featuring a wedding. Anyone can celebrate the great wedding month of June simply by enjoying a fabulous bride or wedding romance novel. "Brides remind us of first love, of the intense passion we've all experienced when the intensity of our emotions were young and fresh," says Leclaire. "Brides, in particular, offer the image of innocence and new beginnings, of a burgeoning love we've all known and still hold dear, or which we long to recapture. A bride is at the start of her journey and even the most cynical among us can't help but hope that she succeeds where others have failed, that her life will be filled with happiness and a soul-deep, forever-after love. We know that this one story will end well, that this particular man and woman will triumph over adversity. Such a story rejuvenates us. It brightens the darkness that all too often can seep into our days," she says.

Romance Writers of America recommends these bride or wedding romances to brighten your June, or the wedding day of the bride on your gift list: "Scottish Brides" (Avon Books-June '99), "Holiday Honeymoons (Harlequin-June 99), "The Wedding Gamble by Julia Justiss (Harlequin-June '99) or the classic "Brides" trilogy from Catherine Coulter.

Paintball offers tame bachelor party alternative

It's 2007 and along with all the other changes our society is seeing, the age old bachelor party is moving away from strippers and poker games and into the realm of good old fashioned camaraderie. Paintball is offering the latest trend for pre-wedding jitters.

Over four million people play this outdoor version of "Capture the Flag" every year worldwide. Started back in 1981 in the woods of New Hampshire, the game has truly come into its own this past decade.

"It sure beats the saga of too much booze, too much 'skin', and too many cigars that bachelor parties have over-indulged in for the past few decades," commented Chris Soltesz, a recent groom himself.

More and more men are now booking the ultimate bachelor party for their best friends. Twenty-five or more participants come out for an afternoon of playing hide and seek and shoot'em up, then complete the event with a cookout and lots of war stories.

It's the 21st century and time for even the rituals of bachelor parties to take on a new look. "Both men and women have had it with the bachelor parties of the past and are thrilled to have a viable option that appeals to everyone," says Debra Dion Krischke owner of Three Rivers Paintball in Pittsburgh.

"I'm on a one woman crusade to change bachelor parties forever and believe me it's an easy sell!" quotes Krischke.

Look for paintball magazines on the newsstands to find a location nearest you. Paintball games -- the newest approach to bachelor parties where "Survival" is the name of the game. "Isn't that what marriage is really all about?" asks Krischke.