So, I have a confession to make: we like wedding shows.
While this may not be mindblowing considering we fit at least one of their main target age-ranges – young, twenty-something women in the US – it may be somewhat surprising considering our personalities.
Nevertheless, Friday nights have turned into something of a tradition. Michelle and I (and this week Sarah) make the all-uphill hike from our house up to Emerson in order to watch wedding shows on TLC.
First up is Say Yes to the Dress. Basic premise: brides-to-be set-up appointments with bridal consultants at a large bridal boutique store, Kleinfeld, in NYC and the TV audience gets to watch some choose the dress of their dreams. Now, if you watch the show, you know that Keisha is the consultant you want if you have a sob story to tell, because she’ll probably get you a discount, Diane seems to end up with the “difficult” brides, and Randy always chooses the right dress. ALWAYS. And we love him for it.
After that is Four Weddings. Now, this one always seems to get people, perhaps because it sounds like a recipe for disaster: four complete strangers, all brides-to-be, attend each others’ weddings (all within a month or so of each other) and judge them, and then the winner receives a dream honeymoon trip. It can get a little catty, especially since they are there to find faults (or at least some think that way), but it general, they’re usually pretty positive – perhaps they’ve realized that if they’re not nice, the others won’t rate their wedding very highly.
Now, you may ask why we travel all the way to campus (the whole nine minute walk) to watch these shows. Well, first, we don’t actually know how to work our TV, but we’re pretty positive we don’t have cable or satellite or anything like that. So, the Emerson lounge sounds like a pretty good option. But secondly, and more importantly, watching them in Emerson brings us into community ( oh yes, I'm going to use this slightly overused term, just go with the cliche for a moment) and allows us to visit friends that we may or may not see very often. While I (and I would guess we all) have loved living in our house, not being in immediate proximity of many friends has been something of a change. It definitely has been nice having it quieter, and being able to go to sleep earlier has made for much happier mornings, but it also means that we can’t just yell out Kat’s name and have her come running down the hall. Intentional community are some of those buzzwords that you always hear at Westmont, but I’m not sure that I ever really thought all that much about them, at least not in the context of my closest friends. Sure, I’d consciously plan Skype dates or coffee dates with people I wasn’t as close to, or who lived far away. But I’ve never had to think about whether I would see some of my closest friends who lived right here. However, we’ve come to the realization that this is the way life truly is. Most people don’t see their best friends everyday (beyond their spouses, I suppose). In this way, wedding shows give us a chance to practice some post-college community.
And we learn things too. Such as:
- If you’re going to spend $150,000 on a wedding, make it look like you spent that much
- Don’t wear a mermaid dress if you’re pregnant
- The TV in Emerson does not have the ability to rewind, so pay attention
- If you’re a jerk, no one will like your wedding
- Homemade centerpieces can be much prettier than store-bought ones
- Spinning reception halls + alcohol = great potential for disaster
- In January it’s rather cold at 10:30 at night. Bring a jacket.
- When you go to try on wedding dresses, don't bring people who will laugh at you
- If you think your wedding theme is unique, it probably isn’t, example: Halloween-themed weddings
- Men in general make it through 2 minutes of any given wedding show if they stumble upon women watching them; if forewarned, they make a speedy exit
If you have any sage advice for us, feel free to pass it along, but be aware that we are now pretty much expert wedding critics :)
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