A More Perfect Union How I Survived the Happiest Day of My Life

Hana Schank had never given much thought to her wedding, or to marriage in general, for that matter. That, is until she found herself newly engaged and trying to plan the "Happiest Day of Her Life": spending weeks crafting save-the-date cards, worrying incessantly about every minute detail -- even matching her cocktails to her wedding colors -- and obsessively reading Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. Hana soon decides that if she is going to follow traditions like wearing white and walking down the aisle with flowers, she wants to know why. In her search, she turns up several interesting wedding facts and ultimately casts a critical eye on a $72 billion wedding industry that pressures women into becoming obsessive-compulsive Bridezillas.Part confessional memoir, part social critique,A More Perfect Unionchronicles a year of wedding planning, capturing as it does not only the stresses but also the undoubted joys of becoming a bride.

Hana Schank has an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. She has written features and a daily column for CBSNews.com, and her writing has appeared in Glamour and Lifeboat: A Journal of Memoir. Hana is also the founder and president of Hana Schank Consulting, an information-architecture and user-experience consultancy. She hopes never to plan another wedding.