Beginning a New Chapter, Surrounded by Books

New York Times

17-05-2025

One of Erica Cerles and Sasha Tharani's first dates in March 2023 was at the Booksmith in San Francisco, their home city. The women, both avid readers, had intended to pick out books for each other but were too nervous to do so.
'There is something vulnerable about revealing what you imagine they might enjoy,' Ms. Cerles said.
Less than two years later, in a bookstore on the opposite coast, the two became fiancées. On Feb. 28, Ms. Cerles, 37, arrived in New York on a redeye flight to surprise Ms. Tharani, 33, already in town for her nephew's birthday party, with a marriage proposal at McNally Jackson Books at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan.
For months leading up to the proposal, Ms. Cerles, a high school counselor in San Mateo, Calif., said she was 'in cahoots' with the bookseller team, which presented her with a private area in the history section to pop the question.
'Since we were about to begin writing our own history together, it felt symbolically perfect,' Ms. Cerles said. 'There's something deeply meaningful about standing among stories of the past while stepping into a new chapter of our own.'
The bookstore had been one of Ms. Tharani's favorite haunts when she, a health care consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, had lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Across the country, many couples are weaving bookstores and books into their proposals or weddings. Judith Rosen, a contributing editor at Publishers Weekly, even wrote a book about it.
'Bookstores themselves are having a renaissance,' said Ms. Rosen, whose book, 'Bookstore Romance: Love Speaks Volumes,' published in February, and profiles 24 couples who got married or engaged at a bookstore. 'Independent bookstores have really shown that they have a place in the community,' Ms. Rosen added, noting a rise in the number of bookstores in recent years.
In May 2024, the American Booksellers Association, a national trade association that supports independent bookstores, reported an 11 percent increase in membership from the previous year.
'Bookstores have long been a 'third place' outside home and work that people have turned to for community,' Ms. Rosen said. 'In the wake of Covid, many people sought those kinds of connections. Others were emboldened to follow their dream of having their own bookstore.'
Lee Ramsay, the founder of Lee Ramsay Events in New York, has planned three weddings at the Housing Works Bookstore in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. Ms. Ramsay said bookstores are ideal for those looking to add a personal touch to their celebrations and she expects their popularity as wedding venues to keep growing.
Plus, Ms. Ramsay said, bookstores offer a few added benefits: They come with plenty of built-in décor and are often located in charming neighborhoods.
Books and bookstores are special to Jeremy Rodriguez, 33, and Kayla Kleinman, 34. On April 5, Mr. Rodriguez proposed to Ms. Kleinman after a morning-long, book-themed scavenger hunt that began in the couple's apartment in Manhattan's Greenwich Village and culminated on the rare books floor of the Strand Book Store in the East Village.
'Going to the Strand and just wandering around bookstores together is such a big part of our relationship and our weekends,' said Ms. Kleinman, a content creator whose focus includes books. (She previously served as the social media manager for Bookshop.org, an online book marketplace.)
Following an enthusiastic 'yes' from Ms. Kleinman, Mr. Rodriguez, a high school history teacher, picked up a special token from the rare books room: a vintage advanced reader's copy of 'The Eye of the World,' part of 'The Wheel of Time' fantasy series, a genre staple.
'I visited the Strand so many times that week but hadn't been able to actually go book shopping,' Mr. Rodriguez said, explaining that he had been in constant contact with the retailer's events team and in-store staff. 'It was so frustrating.'
Morgan Brewton-Johnson, 29, and Sam Hall, 30, of Cambridge, Mass., hosted a 21-person wedding at Beacon Hill Books & Cafe in Boston on Oct. 11, 2024. Before they landed on a location for their wedding, Ms. Brewton-Johnson, a consultant at Bain & Company, and Mr. Hall, a founder of a real estate technology startup and M.B.A. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, considered how they would typically spend a weekend in town with loved ones. 'We would absolutely be taking them to Beacon Hill Books & Cafe,' Ms. Brewton-Johnson said.
Bookstore owners are also excited to open their doors to couples and their guests.
Darlene Okpo, the owner of Adanne Bookshop in Brooklyn, which features books written by authors of color, hosted a wedding in her store last September. 'When opening up the shop, I knew that I wanted a space beyond books,' she said, adding that offering community events, workshops and more was always a goal.
Christina Pascucci-Ciampa, the owner of All She Wrote Books, a feminist and queer bookstore in Somerville, Mass., began offering wedding packages, which range from $350 to $900, in 2024. 'Having this safe space for the L.G.B.T.Q. community and the queer community is extremely important, whether that's through elopements or engagements celebrating love, or if that's community gathering,' she said.
Hosting a larger-scale wedding that still contains a book element is feasible, too.
The nonprofit Housing Works Bookstore hosts 30 to 40 private events annually, most of which are weddings, and can accommodate up to 150 guests, according to Erica Pratico, the bookstore's director. A five-hour event is included with the purchase of a $10,000 Visionary Membership, $9,145 of which is tax-deductible. For shorter or longer gatherings, custom rental packages are available at $1,000 to $2,000 per hour.
Couples can hold a small ceremony for a couple of hours or host rehearsal dinners or welcome parties there. And a bar can also be added, with pricing ranging from $11 to $14 per guest, per hour.
The Ripped Bodice, a romance bookstore with locations in Brooklyn and Culver City, Calif., hosts many in-store weddings and engagements, at an average cost of $2,000, but also facilitates 'book bars' at outside venues. These setups, which range in price from $660 to $1,700, allow guests to select a book from an assortment of titles to bring home with them to commemorate the evening, oftentimes in lieu of a traditional party favor, explained Leah Koch, an owner of Ripped Bodice.
Couples often select books that are meaningful to their relationship, Ms. Koch said, noting that choices have ranged from Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' to Casey McQuiston's queer time-travel romance 'One Last Stop.'
'This is something that people can have on their shelves forever,' she said.