Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Wedding movies and bridal attendants

Yes, there have been a few truly fine "wedding-themed" movies made in the past five years---Monsoon Wedding the one that comes to mind as exceptional. However, there are several this year that are worthy of a Friday, the 13th laugh.

Coming out in early May is one called Made of Honor. It's a man this time who gets the esteemed wedding role, only he is also a disappointed suitor who uses this opportunity to disrupt and destroy the nuptials and the future of this couple, in order to win the girl for himself. The trailer has some funny moments, but why bother with such a plot at all?

It comes down of course to what sells. If movies mostly pander to a young market, everyone sooner or later marries someone or wants to, and the pursuit of an ideal love interest will always draw attention, why not use weddings as the backdrop for all the drama?

Having a man as Maid of Honor is actually not so unusual. I have done a few weddings where the groom has women on his attendants' side and the bride has a man or two among her attendants. This is often a cherished sister or brother. It does blow the old-fashioned photo op of a long string of same clad women and a balanced string of penguin dressed men encircling the couple in the rose garden of a nearby park at sunset, but it does show a strong will to break with tradition and have the wedding party that pleases you. If that's what you want, the photographer can figure out how to pose the picture. No problem. the wedding guests surely don't care.

Just check that the guy you have standing next to you doesn't plan to murder your beloved groom.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Checking In

It's been too long since I've posted here, and I apologize. I have two other blogs and they have had more attention lately.

I woke up this morning thinking about the still undeclared "recession" we're in and wondered how it's affecting the wedding industry. Since I don't follow those statistics, mostly because my role in the industry is as outsider, I can only guess where couples might be cutting back.

What's the biggest expense? Food and beverage for 150 guests is a good place to start. I remember my sister's wedding in 1959. Back in those days, most weddings were in the late morning in churches or synagogues and receptions were some hours later (often in the evening). We were very middle class, and that group did not go to hotels with sit down dinners; we went to American Legion halls or Knights of Columbus halls and had table spreads of chicken, roast beef and spaghetti. People lined up with a paper plate to serve themselves from a chafing dish.

I remembered a wedding I officiated last November where the bride told me almost apologetically that she would have food "stations" and her guests could help themselves. As it turned out, this was quite well-executed. Since each food station was in a separate corner of the reception room and each corner featured special food groups, there were no long lines anywhere. I was on a diet, so I loved serving myself excellent salad and a dollop of shrimp.

So if you're looking at cost cutting, I'm sure this was a bargain compared to waiter served plates. And weddings are a once in a lifetime expense. Cut back on other things.