page_title: A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding
section_title: Critical response
hierarchical_section_title: A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding / Reception / Critical response
caption_attribution_description: Closeup of English singer and model Victoria Beckham, in Las Vegas, United States
context_page_description: "A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television dramedy Ugly Betty and the series' 30th episode overall. It was written by Silvio Horta and Marco Pennette, and directed by James Hayman. The episode was originally broadcast on ABC in the United States on November 8, 2007. Ugly Betty centers on Betty Suarez's job at the fashion magazine MODE, despite not fitting their expectations of beauty and style. In this episode, MODE's creative director Wilhelmina Slater attempts to marry the magazine's publisher Bradford Meade.
  Victoria Beckham guest-stars as herself in the episode, appearing as Wilhelmina's maid of honor who steals attention from the wedding. She was originally supposed to wear a fatsuit as part of a joke about weight gain. Vanessa Williams' ex-husband Rick Fox appears as Wilhelmina's bodyguard and lover. Vera Wang makes a cameo appearance, and designed Wilhelmina's wedding dress and Beckham's bridesmaid dress. Wang first drafted a larger taffeta wedding dress, but Williams felt it was inappropriate for Wilhelmina's age and requested a simpler design.
context_section_description: "A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding" received two award nominations. It was up for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to the Mad Men first-season episode "Shoot". The episode was also nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing In a Comedy Series at the 39th NAACP Image Awards, although it lost to Everybody Hates Chris for the episode "Everybody Hates Guidance Counselor".
  The episode received a largely positive critical response. The A.V. Club's Michaelangelo Matos praised it as one of the best of the season at that point. He described the characters and their respective storylines as well-balanced, writing that "each segment was paced to breathe, and the jokes were aimed perfectly". The Los Angeles Times's Denise Ward commended the episode for "pull[ing] our collective gut in all directions (and we're still deliciously dizzy)", and singled out its use of comedy and drama. In a 2016 Refinery29 article, Erin Donnelly cited Wilhelmina's wedding dress as one of the top 34 most memorable in television history. Entertainment Weekly's Kate Ward wrote that the episode had "all the drama with plenty of pitch-perfect comedy", citing scenes between Marc and his boyfriend Cliff St. Paul as the notable high points. Ward, however, questioned whether the time spent on Ignacio's citizenship ceremony could have been used for other characters, though she found the ending to his immigration storyline to be enjoyable. On the other hand, Amina Akhtar of Vulture dismissed the episode as one of the worst in the show's history; she criticized the script as containing numerous plot holes and the costuming as too tacky given the characters' association with a fashion magazine.
  Beckham's inclusion was widely praised by television critics. Matos praised the decision to use Beckham as a running gag rather than as a serious character. Dorothy Snarker of AfterEllen.com wrote that Beckham's dynamic with Wilhelmina was "destined to become a classic", but she criticized Beckham's acting. TV Guide's Aimee Deeken singled out Beckham's advertisement for an energy drink during a wedding-related press interview as her favorite part of the episode. The guest role was also praised in retrospective reviews. In a 2008 Entertainment Weekly article, Tanner Stransky cited Beckham as one of the better celebrity appearances in the series. In a 2017 listicle for Digital Spy, Sam Ashurst considered her to be one of the eleven best cameo appearances in television. He described Beckham's role as a caricature of herself that is perfect for the show's story and tone, though he was uncertain about her acting abilities.
  Critics had a positive response to Newton's rendition of "Milkshake". Ward preferred it over the original, writing that she "personified train wreck during her church-y rendition", and Matos referred to the performance as risky yet successful. In a 2010 article looking back on Ugly Betty, The Guardian's Kira Cochrane likened its "occasional musical moments", like "Milkshake", to "the best stage spectacles, those filled with wild outfits and wilder songs, which make you laugh with one breath before ripping out your heart with the next". Music journalist Paul Lester wrote that the inclusion of "Milkshake" on Ugly Betty and other television shows were signs of the song's "cultural penetration". On the other hand, the inclusion of "Hallelujah" had a more mixed response. The Chicago Tribune's Geoff Edgers felt its use in the episode, as well as in other television shows, proved its status as a standard. Alternatively, Mato criticized the moment as trite, referring to the song as "the biggest musical-cue cliché of the decade".
caption: Victoria Beckham's cameo was well-received by critics.
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