Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Trendy Bridal Stuff

My mom and dad got married in 1973. They had a very nice wedding. The men all wore white tuxes with tails. The bridesmaids wore empire-waisted purple dresses with a large white floral print with big white picture hats and flowers in matching baskets. It's all very Love Boat, to tell you the truth.



(This isn't from their wedding album, but it is the general idea.)

Several readers- okay, Michelle- have requested a post or two about wedding plans, bridesmaid dresses and the like. :) Wedding plans are movingly along nicely. I've gotten a lot of the hard stuff out of the way, and now we're starting to move toward more of the fun stuff. Wel, fun for me anyway.

My sister sent me a hilarious email when she has at this stage of planning about two and a half years ago. The Wall Street Journal ran an article about cookie cutter weddings, and the pull-out box of details listed trends "everyone" was doing, and the list described everything she was lanning to a T- from her Amsale blue sash dress to the shape of the tables at the reception to the flowers to the honeymoon destination. All I remember about the email was her exclaiming that her wedding! Needed! A! Theme! and her theme was going to be "unoriginality." Amanda had a lovely wedding- traditional but special to her and Tom.

Joel and I are planning a lot- and I mean, a LOT- of nontraditional things. From ceremony traditions we're making up ourselves to our entrance into the reception, it's pretty original stuff if I do say so myself. Heh. But I also find myself feeling very inclined toward details that are quite trendy at the moment. Like, these paper parasols and tea-length dresses with a colored ribbon around the waist and paper lanterns and chocolate + (insert accent color here) decor.



When I look back at my wedding album in 30 years, am I going to look at these things and hate myself for it, the way brides from the70s can't believe their bridesmaids actually wore short colored veils to match their peach dresses, and 80s brides cringe at their wicker thrones and poofy headpieces, and 90s brides despise butt bows?






Is the paper parasol the next generation of tacky? Probably. What do you think?

6 comments:

Lo Lo said...

Is that first picture from my Mom and Dad's wedding? If not it is seriously scary how similar they are. Did Michelle send you this picture? I'm not even kidding; that is EXACTLY what my Mom's bridesmaids wore. Hideous.

Lo Lo said...

Oh, and P.S. I never answered the question. I like the paper parasol, but only for a beach wedding. I think anything else might end up being the thing you cringe at.

You know what though? I say it's your day and do whatever the heck makes you smile at the moment. And if that's a paper parasol, you go girl! Sorry for the long comment, but I really do read this everyday. :)

Unknown said...

I was driving through Old Town Alexandria a few weeks ago and saw a wedding party with parasols. Only it was the guys holding the parasols, and all I could think about was how stupid they must be feeling. They were lavendar, too, I think.

I think if your BRIDESMAIDS were carrying parasols, it would be different and lovely, since you are having an outdoor wedding in a garden. It would be very garden party feeling.

The alternate side of that, though, to play devils advocate, is do you really want something else people have to keep track of? It could go stupendously well, or horribly wrong. Know what I mean?

Anonymous said...

My sister is right, that first picture is exactly like my mom's wedding.

I think that no matter what you do, you will think it was "silly" or "scary" or "tacky" or "weird" or "hideous" or something not favorable in 30 years. My mom looks at her wedding album and thinks it is pretty damn entertaining. The trick is to marry the right person (as my mom did) and have a wonderful life together for the next 30 years so that when you look back at the photos, you will remember all the wonderful things about that day. The outfits might make you giggle and you might say to your children "What was I thinking?" but you won't have to tell them how you were feeling because they will already know.

Kelly said...

Yes, sad to say, I think we will all look back on our wedding albums 30 years from now and think "oh, dear god, did we really wear that?!?" But let's hope that doesn't happen.

You know what's worse? We're going to look back at these photos 30 years from now and say "I looked so young/thin/unwrinkled/beautiful/etc back then." That, I think, is worse.

Anonymous said...

My parents eloped, and my mom wore a blue, long-sleeved, button-down, polyester mini-dress with huge breast pockets and enormous collar. Think very Marcia Brady. But it was 1970, after all. That dress is still good for a laugh to this day.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the parasols, but I think that's because I live in Seattle and I get quite enough of real umbrellas so that I don't want to deal with decorative ones. I also agree with what Shannon said about making people responsible for one more thing that they could potentially lose. That could be a real disaster.