Somedays I think I must be one of the top 100 romantic skeptics. I mean, I love a good happily ever after, but I’m also the person who, when I see a public proposal, I’m the one saying, “Just say no! But if you do, get a good prenup!”
So when I recently found two picture books about weddings as online reader copies, I almost passed them by. I mean, I’m all for a wedding (I mean let me eat cake) but reading about them? Then I realized that they were not your traditional Western wedding. A Salwar Kameez for Ambika by Arti Pandey is set in India. And the character was looking to purchase a salwar kameez (a what now?) for the wedding. And Samina Goes to a Wedding: Celebrations from a Bangladeshi Marriage by Farida Zaman was going to be set in Bangladesh. I figured I would find something new and learn about something I was mostly unfamiliar with. 
A Salwar Kameez for Ambika is similar to the other title, but has several differences too. Instead of just focusing on the wedding it shows how the child and her mother go about getting the outfit Ambika will be wearing to a cousin’s wedding. And it is written for a younger audience than Zaman’s book. Plus, the illustrations have a less realistic look to them, but still Avneet Sandhu made delightfully colorful images that are not overly detailed. Much is seen, but some things you must interpret from what is being said as well. The only issue I had was that I was not crazy about the characters’ noses, but that was just a personal thing and not something that took away from the story. Due April 2026.
Samina Goes to a Wedding: Celebrations from a Bangladeshi Marriage does focus more on the wedding than the outfit getting. However, both do allow you to follow through the details of getting there. Yet, the details are more detailed as are the illustrations. We follow our characters and see how each piece of the events, the traditions and more come about. We see why things are happening or will happen. It is less of a solid story as each page allows focus on the one piece of the puzzle. Still, it flows as a traditional read. And of course, brightly colored images show the events as much as the text. There are a bit more details than Pandey’s story, but not overly packed. Due February 2026.