This review originally found at The Children's Book and Media Review

Nancy loves glorious occasions and her Uncle Cal’s wedding is going to be a great occasion. Dawn, Uncle Cal’s fiance, has a fancy name so Nancy assumes that the wedding will also be fancy. She imagines staying in a hotel like a palace, spend time at beauty parlors, and dance at the reception. Unfortunately, the wedding is in the wilderness and Uncle Cal and Dawn don't want it to be traditional. How can it be the wedding of the century under those circumstances? Nancy manages to help add a little bit of fanciness and enjoy the wedding of the century even though things were different from what she imagined.

As in other Fancy Nancy books, the illustrations are a big part of the charm and add important plot details to the story. They convey Nancy’s enthusiasm and disappointment at different points of the story and show the readers details about Nancy’s life. The vocabulary might stretch younger readers, but the narrative have a unique voice that is distinctly Nancy’s. This book can be a useful tool to talk about how even when life doesn’t live up to the expectations someone might have, it can still be wonderful. ( )

In the beginning Nancy thought she would get to go to a fancy wedding with all of her family. She dreamed of being a flower girl. When she learned that this wedding wasn't fancy she got really upset. She wanted to be the flower girl and dance until midnight and when she learned they weren't staying at a fancy hotel and a cabin instead it crushed her. But it turned out to be a great thing. I love this series because they always teach a lesson and show how something known as not so good could become positive. ( )

A rustic cabin wedding in the wilderness, and a breakfast reception with donuts instead of cake??? It's as if Jane O'Connor knew about my wedding plans before I even made them :)

When Nancy learns that her Uncle Cal is getting married, she is quite excited, envisioning the fanciest wedding possible. When she discovers that her uncle wants a non-traditional ceremony, one held on the beach rather than in a fancy church, she is dismayed. But then she meets her soon-to-be Aunt Dawn, and has a fabulous time at the pre-party, the wedding itself, and the wedding breakfast. It turns out that fanciness isn't the only thing needed to make a wonderful wedding...

The eighth full-sized picture-book featuring the eponymous Fancy Nancy, Fancy Nancy and the Wedding of the Century pairs another engaging tale from author Jane O'Connor, one in which Nancy must balance her love of fancy things with her love of family, with cute and colorful artwork by Robin Preiss Glasser. I'm really quite impressed that I continue to enjoy these later Fancy Nancy titles, as I sometimes find, with longer picture-book series, that later entries aren't as appealing as earlier ones, and start to feel somewhat formulaic. Not so here, as the narrative, while it does fall into the general pattern for these books - Nancy has certain fancy expectations, finds that reality is slightly different, but manages to adjust all the same - still manages to feel fresh. Recommended to all Fancy Nancy fans, and to anyone looking for children's books about weddings, where the main character is not a flower girl or ring bearer, but 'just' an attendee. ( )

First off, I want to say that I love the book cover. It was so eye catching that I could not resist picking it up off the shelf and taking it home with me. The illustrations within were just as captivating with rich and vibrant colors and patterns.

The story was simplistic and the writing style felt like second person with a bunch of being words, which is not a good style to use - ever. The author could have done a better job of showing verses telling.

This book does not try to hide the vocabulary lesson within the text. Nancy uses big words and immediately explains what they are. In adult fiction, this would be an insult to the reader’s intelligence. As far as children's literature goes, the reiterations were necessary and helpful for a child just learning to read on his or her own.

With that being said, I did enjoy the book. Fancy Nancy is typical for her age. She daydreams and is disappointed when things do not turn out how she would expect.

In this story, she is going to a wedding. She thinks she will be a flower girl and everyone will wear fancy dresses, but they do not and she is not the flower girl. Even so, she does find joy and comes to appreciate nontraditional weddings.
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