Thursday, December 11, 2008

Wedding Web Sites

After I posted yesterday, I looked at it again and decided I really liked that little graphic at the bottom. I think maybe I should use that in all future wedding posts...kind of as a "warning" that the post is wedding related. That way, for those of you who aren't into the wedding thing can skip past and look for something non-wedding related. Yeah, like I'll post anything non-wedding related anytime soon... (smirk) Too late! You're all in my evil wedding-related clutches now! Mwuhahahahahaahahahahahaaaaaaaa.......

Okay, that sounded a lot more dramatic (and evil) in my head.

It may seem a little strange that a 40 year old woman on her second marriage is getting so into the whole wedding planning thing. I blame it on the internet. Yes, the internet. Do you know how many wedding related web sites there are out there? Especially ones with message boards where you can talk to other brides-to-be and get opinions, advice, suggestions....snark. It sucks you in, I swear.

One of the more popular things these days is DIY. Yes, as in "Do It Yourself". I'll admit I bought my wedding invitations at a craft store and printed them myself, then spent a whole night meticulously peeling & sticking little adhesive dots & aligning ribbon. But some of these brides are SERIOUS DIY'ers. They make their own aisle runners, place cards, card boxes, veils, hair pieces, invitations, favors, candle holders, bouquets, centerpieces...you get the idea. It all sounds very inspiring, but do I have the time (not to mention the energy) to do all of this? And boy, do some of these girls make you feel guilty if you aren't doing all of the extra little details. It can drive a person crazy. My favorite quote is from one of the ladies over on the "Second Weddings" board on The Knot:
"And every day there's a new post in which Suzy Homemaker bride is DIY'ing her hand monogrammed napkin rings made from all the movie tickets she and her fiance have ever seen together with the couples' reviews of the movies typed, laminated and tucked inside with gold plated embossed signature logos on them!!!"
And the acronyms? FI, FMIL, RD, BM, MOH, GM, WC, STD... (Anyone care to guess what all of those mean? Go ahead, I dare you. Leave your guesses in the comments.) Do you know how frightening it was to go on a wedding web site and see all of these women posting messages about whether or not they should do STD's??! Yikes!

What I'm learning mostly is this....it's our wedding. If we choose to thumb our noses at tradition and have our wedding in a really cool restaurant instead of a 100 year old cathedral church or at the hottest country club, so be it. If I think sunflowers would look awesome at a wedding, regardless of the fact that it will be winter and 31 degrees outside, who cares? What?!! I'm not having a Maid of Honor and he's not having a Best Man?? And we're not having an exactly matching number of bridesmaids and groomsmen?? Pfffffft! Another great quote from one of the gals on the "Second Weddings" board, and kind of a motto for everyone there: "Do what makes your heart happy." Yeah....my heart is pretty damn happy....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen to that! I'll admit I had ALOT of DIY touches to my wedding, but I just enjoy making things. And I saved a TON of money which was the main purpose of all the DIYing.
It certainly wasn't a cookie cutter wedding and in no way perfect but I had a blast and so did our guests.

Jane said...

Oh for sure, Delilah! Heck, I'm even entertaining the idea of making my own veil. $40 for some tulle gathered with needle & thread? Sheesh. If I was craftier I'd probably do more DIY, but it's those ridiculously over-the-top ones that I wouldn't be able to handle. Having fun is the main objective, right?