Beautiful Day? A Behind-the-Scenes Wedding Story Set on Nantucket. Need I say more?

Beautiful Day by Elin Hildebrand

Wedding season is almost upon us, and what better way to kick it off than with a good, old-fashioned wedding story about the....Maid of Honor, the Groom's mom, the best-friend Bridesmaid, the Bride's dad...and the dysfunction that a wedding party can hold!

This is not really a story about a wedding; it is story about life and love and the many milestones and bridges to cross along the way. All smushed into one fabulous-action packed wedding weekend.

What could possibly go wrong for a June wedding on Nantucket Island? 

This book will take you on a rollercoaster of the days leading up to the wedding. The love-sick couple,  Jenna and Stuart, the scorned and bitter Maid of Honor, the divorced and then reunited Groom's parents. It serves to ask and answer the question of what love means, what commitment means, and what $100,000 wedding might include...

And tying it all together is the notebook...a book filled with all of the suggestions for a wedding constructed by the bride's mother before she passed away years before.

I got a kick out of the Southern groom's family and the Northern bride's family. Margot, the maid of honor, will slowly become your favorite character, and you will find yourself rooting for her in the end. Stuart's mother will transform from an interference to a woman of strength and dignity.

Do I recommend this to my soon-to-be brides or will I be responsible for a tailspin into wedding anxiety? I debated this throughout much of the book, but have to conclude it's a "worth it" read. But if my bride friends and their mothers are skeptical...Hildebrand has many wonderful summer-reads, all set on Nantucket, to choose from.

My favorites are:

The Blue Bistro
Summer People (my first Hildebrand read)
The Beach Club

You can also download the short story The Surfing Lesson, which directly ties in with Beautiful Day, as an ebook introduction to her writing.

Enjoy!