The NY Times takes on weddings

No, not in their famed Weddings & Celebrations articles, or at least not JUST there. They're also getting loads of coverage on a new book by Rebecca Mead entitled One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. The book review took offense at Mead's "darkest possible view of its preparatory rituals," its author Jodi Kantor defending her own "tasteful" celebration and pointing out that Mead focused only on the tacky. Which, thanks to ***Dave, I got an early glimpse of, in this prior article on Mead, and her attendence at the Great Bridal Expo, which is about nothing more than selling things to brides (oh yeah, and grooms, too. I guess. If they have to.) Here, Mead speaks for herself, saying

"I'm not interested in Bridezilla, the crazy exception, [...] They're funny, but not very illuminating. I'm interested in ordinary brides, not exaggerated monster creatures."

Still, as she said later, the fact that the Bridezilla caricature has captured the popular imagination suggests a larger phenomenon. "Getting married is still a big thing, but the transition is not the traumatic thing that it used to be," she said. "I think there is a way in which the trauma of the wedding planning is substituting for the trauma of the newlywed. People feel they have to go through some type of traumatic experience to show that they're married, to show that there is something different about them."

So which is it, NY Times? Are you going to make me actually read the book to decide for myself? What a novel idea!

Seriously, though, I don't hold to either end of the spectrum, if you want to see the two opposing points as such. Yes, I've had thought about what my wedding will be for some time. No, not since I was a child of 6 or 7, but I've certainly taken note of things I've seen in the past and marked them down for future reference in my head as things I did or didn't want in the far-off future when I got married. Now, as that day approaches, I think that my early preferences are helping me to be swift and decisive, while my friends and family, and almost most importantly, budget limitations keep me from going full-on Bridezilla.

Actually, maybe not "most importantly." I'd like to also credit a little thing I call taste. Doyce and I both have it, so no plastic John Travoltas, rentable oak-paneled bathrooms, or white strecth limos for us, thanks. We're looking forward to some swing music, good food, pretty flowers, and a party with our friends and family that won't beggar us for the rest of our lives.

Lots of people can try to sell "the American Wedding," but no one says you have to buy it.