When I finally got my hands on a copy, about two years after my wedding, I still found myself getting a little emotional at certain points. There are tips for wedding crafts, personal recipes, and stories from friends, family and vendors sprinkled throughout this wonderful book. She discusses gender politics, LGBT identity, uncomfortable traditions… She also talks about how she addressed them, how she made her peace with the issues she had, and her hopes and wishes. Something New covers the standard elements of the wedding – parties, coordination, wrangling family – but Knisley also spends time reflecting on her relationship and how she got to this point and on her own anxieties about the idea of marriage and weddings. The cover is a gorgeous matt effect, with FLAPS, and the whole thing is finished by a touching piece written by Knisley’s husband, reflecting on the journey from his point of view. It is so in-depth as well – she doesn’t shy away from the details, at nearly 300 pages long it is a chunky book. The effect is part journal-comic, part scrapbook. It’s full colour, and the paper is perfect to bring out all the drawings, and means that Knisley can include photographs from her memories and her own wedding adventures. The book is a physically beautiful edition. Her engagement announcement made me think she would be the perfect person to address the bizarre quirks of the whole circus of weddings.

It’s a strange thing to become so invested in the life of someone you have never met. I have followed Knisley’s work for years, reading her webcomic and following her story. So when Something New was announced, I was very excited. And at least one lifesize Oompa-Loompa made out of jellybeans. The industry wasn’t much better – trying to find something that wasn’t telling me I needed to buy more, or lose weight, or throw another party. Apparently engagement anxiety either meant that I was having doubts about our relationship (which at that stage had been going 6 years) or it could be solved by having a giant party.

I tried googling it, and the internet was less than helpful. I panicked, and couldn’t explain quite why. When I got engaged in 2012, I… didn’t take it gracefully. Genre: Non-fiction, autobiography, comics Author: Lucy Knisley ( twitter / instagram / website)

Something New by Lucy Knisley