John Mitchell

Explains what the groom needs to know about a wedding and provides advice on what to expect during the wedding planning process.

What the Hell Is a Groom and What's He Supposed to Do?

Sarah Sammis

My grandmother worked for about a decade as a wedding coordinator at her church. I spent many summers and weekends working as her assistant. Through her I've probably been hundreds of weddings. So when I saw What the Hell is a Groom and What's He Supposed to Do? by John Mitchell I had to read it.

As the title suggests, Mitchell's book is a wedding planning guide book for engaged or soon to be engaged men. It has tips on how to propose, how to pick an engagement ring and a breakdown of tasks for the wedding planning for the bridge, groom and both to do together.

The book is obviously aimed at heterosexual couples expecting a traditional American wedding. It's not aimed at any particular religion or culture but some of the differences are mentioned in passing. Although it's aimed at a specific type of couple getting married enough of the details are practical advice for any wedding that I'm recommending the book to anyone thinking of getting married.

The book though isn't perfect. There are a few asides that make huge assumptions based on gender that annoyed me. Not every woman has grown up planning her fairy princess wedding from the time she was still in diapers. Not every woman wants a diamond ring no matter how much the diamond industry wants us to believe it to true. On the flip side there are probably men who want who have. So my parting advice is take the book as "guidelines" but feel free to do what feels right for you and your future spouse.

What the Hell Is a Groom and What's He Supposed to Do?

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