My mum is obsessed with op-shops. I mean obsessed. It’s been that way since ever I can remember. Her curiosity has branched into a somewhat more lucrative business in the past years of I which I participated in for six months in selling off secondhand kids books on eBay.

Ever since Geoff’s and my engagement, mum has been showering me with bridal magazines, no joke, I have 20+ on my bedroom floor. Before I go any further, a word of advice. Don’t ever buy wedding magazines new. To start with they’ll put you out of pocket $15 a pop. Indulge in Library/Opp-shop finds and you’ll soon discover that for the most part they are utterly useless for anything other than getting ideas for the kind of wedding dress you’d like – once you’ve got your dress, you’re on your own baby (with Google and your sometimes interested fiancee, sisters, bridesmaids…)!

This endowment of bridal information has thus been nice and good and fun but today she hit the jackpot.

If there is one book you should borrow/steal/buy/find before you go about throwing it all at a wedding then have a shot at, ‘Everything a Bloke needs to know about Marriage’. Does that scare you? Read it. Who cares if you’re taken with frills and swarovski crystals or plastic imitations. This is good to honest practical information that isn’t caught up in the glitz and glam. This is also information that extends through the whole, ‘have a wedding’ thing, to the much more significant, ‘have a marriage’. It’s sound and very funny.

Sad to admit, but this time the boys have done it best.

Everything a BLOKE needs to know about MARRIAGE – Peter Downey