Synopsis | Reviews | Praise | Research | Q & A with Rebecca Mead

Praise

"Rebecca Mead's insightful, entertaining book is a fine companion to Jessica Mitford's classic, The American Way of Death. It's been said that all great stories end in death or marriage—and as Mitford and Mead have shown us, either way, in the USA, somebody stands to make a buck." - Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness

"I guess we need smart, talented, mischievous young British women to move to America to show us what sentimental suckers we are: just as Jessica Mitford exposed the funeral industry with her American Way of Death in the 1960s, Rebecca Mead has produced the definitive deconstruction of our crazy national wedding industry. One Perfect Day is a thoroughly reported exposé, sure, but it's also got heart and charm and tons of laugh-out-loud funny scenes." - Kurt Andersen, author of Turn of the Century

"That a subject as gauzy and gilded as the American wedding should be matched with a writer as clear-eyed and levelheaded as Rebecca Mead is a blessing for readers. Mead takes us into a world populated by Bridezillas, ministers-for-hire, videographers, and heirloom manufacturers, exposing the forces behind the consumerist mindset of the American bride and the entrepreneurial zeal of the wedding industry that both serves and exploits her." - Pamela Paul, author of The Starter Marriage and The Future of Matrimony

"Phrases like "wedding porn" and "Bridezilla syndrome" have entered the cultural vocabulary precisely because there's something out-of-control about American weddings these days, as if spending enough money on one will bring down the divorce rate, or ensure that lasting marital happiness will follow. Rebecca Mead journeys to the dark heart of the wedding industry, meets those consuming the fantasy and those profiting off it, and reports back with wit and subtlety on her findings. A harrowing and also frequently hilarious book. And the perfect wedding shower gift!" - Laura Kipnis, author of Against Love: A Polemic and The Female Thing