Youngstown native publishes how-to book for brides over forty

Blog and website will also aid those marrying past 40

By Lee Murray

TheNewsOutlet.org

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As any young bride-to-be will tell you, planning a wedding can be a complicated affair. There are magazines, books and websites dedicated to wedding planning filled with so much conflicting advice that it’s sometimes hard to know whom to listen to.

But what about tying the knot later in life?

Youngstown native Elizabeth Berberich said that marrying past 40 presents its own set of unique challenges — challenges she found herself negotiating when she re-married 17 years ago.

There were no “how-to guides” for mature brides when she was planning her wedding, she said, but her new book, “Marrying Later in Life,” which she co-wrote with longtime friend Marsha Connellan, fills that gap.

The book, along with a blog and a soon-to-be launched website, will help mature brides-to-be begin the process of planning a marriage.

“I was single for 20 years and there was no guide or book or website out there to help me,” Berberich said. “Later in life there are social lives, families, homes, and careers to consider.”

Berberich said that consolidating homes and finances and finding ways to deal with children and ex-partners delicately are common issues mature brides need to address. A section of the book called “Big Decisions” lays out these problems in a simple way that will help readers to work through their own nuanced situations.

Each section has a list of questions that both fiance and fiancee can answer together before they say “I do” to negate problems later on.

“It’s an interactive guide,” Berberich said. “There are questions for couples to ask each other before walking down the aisle so they can deal with issues before they get married. It’s a resource for men and women to read together.”

Other sections deal with more standard wedding items, such as event planning and invitation writing. There are even tables included that calculate how much booze should be available per 100 guests.

Berberich and Connellan spoke with other women in their age range and conducted interviews to figure out what advice was most needed.

“I inherited three kids in their mid-20s,” Berberich said, “and I had to figure out how to become a role model for them at that stage of our lives.”

Berberich said that a lot of over 40s are meeting each other online thanks to social networking and dating sites. When she first met co-author Connellan, they were amused that they had dated four of the same men because they were registered with the same dating site.

“These men must all have had a thing for short blondes,” she writes in the appendix.

Berberich said that the book has been selling pretty well. The authors decided to self-publish the book to get it out here, but would be open to discussions with publishers should the opportunity present itself, Berberich said.

“We had an agent, but after a while we decided that we just wanted to get the book out there,” she said. “Maybe it will be picked up by a publisher down the road, but it doesn’t make a difference either way because you still have to do your own marketing.

Both women hope to build a strong online community and Web presence.

“We publish to Facebook and Twitter, and we both blog on our website. The new site will be up soon too,” she said.

Berberich, who now lives and works in California, said that she manages to visit family and friends in Youngstown five times a year.

“I was raised in Youngstown, and all my family is in Youngstown,” she said.

“I come back when I can.”

“Marrying Later in Life: Be a beautiful Bride at Any Age!” is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

TheNewsOutlet.org is a collaborative effort among the Youngstown State University journalism program, Kent State University, University of Akron and professional media outlets WYSU-FM Radio, The Vindicator, The Beacon Journal and Rubber City Radio, both of Akron.