Weddings are a bit funny when you think about it. We gather our nearest and dearest around to watch us make a commitment – undoubtedly one of the biggest commitments we’ll ever make.
They watch us say I do’s, shower us with dead flowers and uncooked rice and stand by as we struggle to 1-2 step to overplayed songs on an overpriced dance floor manned by a DJ who’d, presumably, rather be anywhere else.
As a writer for an internationally recognised wedding magazine who’s dabbled in various parts of the industry, it’s safe to say I’ve seen it all when it comes to weddings. We’re talking behind the scenes of a bride’s cringe-worthy (cowboy themed) boudoir shoot, reptiles in top hats and horses used as props to set the scene for a Disney inspired portrait session.
You really can’t make this stuff up.
That being said, I think we can all agree, that’s not real life.
A quick disclaimer before you make any assumptions about my love life: I’m not single nor am I bitter. I’ve been in a happy relationship with a great guy for over two years, but real relationships aren’t fairy tales with impromptu ponies or frolicking through fields of daisies with a photographer oh so conveniently on hand (for a couple of thousand dollars, of course.)
In fact, my relationship is pretty typical and the only spontaneous animal run-ins we have are with our very needy, very orange cat. We argue about where to go out to eat, spend more time trying to pick out a movie on Netflix than actually watching it and bond most productively over our mutual love for 90’s R&B.
But as someone who works in the wedding industry and a 20-something year old woman in the year 2017, I get asked pretty frequently, ‘have you thought about marriage?’ And I have.
But in all honesty, while I had previously pictured myself as a ‘maybe one day’ kind of bride, working in the wedding industry has completely changed my perspective of that little thing called marriage.
Call me cynical, anti-romantic or what have you, but it all just seems a bit… silly?
I’ll admit, I haven’t always been this way. In what seems like a past lifetime now, I once dreamt up my imaginary wedding and spent way too much of my free time pinning away naked cakes and flower crowns galore. But did anyone ever consider how these hypothetical weddings are merely that? They aren’t a reflection of you and your forever human, more an expectation.
It’s what’s trending. It’s what Pantone and Martha Stewart and the Instagram Explore page told us it should be… this year. Next year will of course be different.
