Going to the Chapel
Jennifer Aniston’s engagement ring from fiancé Justin Theroux.
Actress and former failure at Life (according to the media because she didn’t have a man), Jennifer Aniston, finally showed off her flashy engagement ring to the world. You see, when she announced her engagement back in August e’erybody was like
It was as though people were saying, “Yeah, yeah, you’re happy and shit, but we need proof that Justin loves your refurbished vagina. Show me that ring!” So Aniroux basically responded with, “S my D,” with this $1 million dollar, ten carat diamond ring. And now every single bitch I know is getting their Stuart Smalley on and talking non-stop about how hopeful they are about love and I’m just like,
Postcards aren’t enough anymore! We’re looking for high production value people!!
Ok, but honestly, this is so cute, and probably so fun for their friends and family. Also, possibly the best par, it’s totally eco-friendly. No one feels pressure to keep it lingering on the fridge for X amount of months, and then weird guilt when you inevitably toss it in the trash because what else are you going to do with it.
Bottom line: YAY for creative wedding messaging!
Oh boy, oh boy. You think you’ve seen it all with wedding invites until you’ve seen this one:
Thankfully, this did not go out to the entire guest list, but rather two people in particular…the bride’s parents.
According to the Daily Mail, Aussie based Alyssa Pearce, 23, posted the un-invitation on Reddit before her wedding to husband Alex, 28, last year. Obviously, this went viral. How could it not? In the original post Alyssa offered some context that a family dispute, due to a contentious relationship with her father, had driven her to run away from home at the age of 16.
I have a Pinterest board titled “WEDDING INSANITY.” I’m obsessed with wedding blogs. At the airport, I’ve been known to buy a wedding magazine…or two. And I don’t even have a fiancé. I have a boyfriend, but we’re nowhere close to wedding blog territory. And I did this even when I was single.
Why?
I have my reasons, but who cares, really? I shouldn’t have to defend it. I know I’m not alone. In fact, the New York Times published a piece in which the writer expressed disappointment that single women were planning their dream weddings. Reporter Abby Ellin writes,
[...] even though women may be leaning in, branching out, cracking glass ceilings and forging vibrant careers in multiple sectors, for many of them, it is their wedding day that heralds true success.
To that I say…so what?
I worry that in this social media obsessed place we’re in that we’re putting too much emphasis on the wrong things. For example, wedding proposals. They’re just the best, aren’t they? So sweet and full of love. But it’s getting to a point where lately, everyone feels they have to compete with each other for “THE BEST PROPOSAL EVAAAR!!!” And it shouldn’t have to be this way. There’s pressure now more than ever on couples to get engaged in a totally extravagant manner, whether or not that kind of engagement suits either of the people in the couple. People post their incredible flash mob proposals on Facebook and it makes others feel like they have to have their own incredible flash mob proposal. And it’s all just a never ending cycle of pressure and forced expectations.
This was talked about recently on Offbeat Bride, a website that suggests others “altar” their thinking. And it got a lot of people talking about their own proposals and how their family and friends were actually disappointed by them, for not being “romantic” enough or “extravagant” enough, even though the couple in question was perfectly happy with it. Here’s my favorite story:
I’ve written before about ladies who propose marriage to their gentlemen, like the girl who proposed to her guy with a pillow fort. But I’ve never seen a woman propose marriage to her man via song, and that’s exactly what this couple did. While leading the audience in song, Lisa Lewis threw a twist in there and proposed to boyfriend David Runco Gibbs during their set. Everyone cheered and it was lovely.
To Lisa, I say, that is pretty badass. We see so many romantic proposals where dudes are proposing to their ladies, but so few ladies proposing to dudes! And why is that? I think we’ve just become so sold on a certain “this is the way it has to be” mentality. I can’t even think of a moment in pop culture where a woman proposed to a man. Only 5 percent of married couples say that the woman proposed. I’m trying to picture a big rom com ending with the girl proposing to the guy, and I just can’t see it happening.
Before you have the perfect wedding, you have to create the perfect wedding invitation. This usually means getting the colors right, choosing a beautiful yet legible font, and making sure all of the pieces fit nicely inside the envelope. For some brides, however, this isn’t enough; the exterior of the envelope requires just as much attention to detail. Writer Katie Baker cared about those details when planning her own wedding, which led to her discovery of the tiny post office in Bridal Veil, Oregon. She explains:
Each year between March and August, some 150,000 envelopes containing save-the-dates or request-the-honour-of-your-presences are specifically, and even militantly, directed to this particular spot. In a tiny room filled with boxes of envelopes that during high season approach hoarder height, Canzler personally processes every piece of wedding mail, one by one, marking each with a custom postmark and cancellation she designed to honor a place she has long fought to protect.
Read the rest of Baker’s excellent “Love Letters” article at Grantland.
Sure, she looks happy, but this is a MOVIE. Solid advice: don’t hire your date.
Social calendars around the country are filling up fast as spring rolls into summer, and chances are pretty good that you’ve got at least one wedding to attend in the next few months. If you already know who you’re taking, that’s awesome. Have fun! But maybe you’re not sure who will accompany you. Maybe you don’t want to take anybody—which is okay, right? Or maybe you’re not even sure if you’re supposed to bring a date.
Clearly there’s a lot to consider. Thankfully, Jen Doll, author of Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest, wrote a helpful guide to help people figure out who to take as a plus-one to upcoming nuptials. She considers all of the tricky scenarios, too, like who to bring to a destination wedding, or what to do if you know you’ll be the only single person in attendance. Check out the full story over at The Date Report.
Time to drool over old photos of gorgeous wedding dresses and gowns. Who’s with me?? Forgive me, but wedding season is upon us and I am not immune. Here are 10 of my favorite vintage wedding dresses.
10. Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple got married at 17 in 1945 and wore this gorgeous satin wedding dress. Don’t you love the fun neckline?
Wedding season is upon is (isn’t it always?) so I thought we could have a little fun and explore the wonderful world of wedding dresses, safely from our computer screens, as trying them on looks like a nightmare.
Here are my top 10 dream wedding dresses. Though I am not engaged or close at all, my wedding Pinterest board has finally come in handy. I know some of you out there know exactly what I’m talking about.
10. The “Grand Palais” by Carol Hannah
At $2,865 it seems like a steal (and I’m not even being sarcastic!). It’s breathtaking with just the right amount of quirky.
Remember when Charlotte in Sex and the City set her sights on Trey, because he seemed like perfect marriage material? If you watched the show you discovered, along with Charlotte, that he was far from perfect after all. But even though she was wrong, did her theory hold? Is there a “marrying type” and can you tell if a guy is one?
The Atlantic reported on a study done by Social Science Research to determine just that. To quote the research, “This study examines how personal traits affect the likelihood of entering into a cohabitating or marital relationship using a competing risk survival model with cohabitation and marriage as competing outcomes. “ They took more than 9,000 young teenagers and followed them into their young adult years, up until ages 24-34 and asked others to rate their personalities, attractiveness, and grooming skills on a scale from one (least) to five (most). I can’t imagine how damaging that could be for a teenager, and I’m hoping they didn’t get the data when they were in their awkward adolescent years.
Do women really marry their fathers? I don’t mean literally, of course. I mean, do women typically marry the type of guy whose qualities mirror that of their dad’s? Let’s explore.
CNN did a report and cited psychotherapist Elayne Savage of Berkeley, California with an explanation:
When you grow up familiar with a certain type of person, you’re attracted to that same type of person because it feels comfortable, whether you like it or not. That’s what people mean when they meet a potential partner and say, ‘It ‘feels like I’ve known him my whole life.’
There’s also studies that show people marry those with a slight physical resemblance to their parents:
A Hungarian researcher studied the facial features of 52 families and found a significant correlation between the appearance of men and their fathers-in-law and those of women and their mothers-in-law.
And there’s all sorts of anecdotal evidence. Let’s use Jacqueline Bouvier-Kennedy as an example. We all know she married John F. Kennedy, a charismatic and enigmatic man. Her father, John Vernou Bouvier III, was known as “Black Jack” because of his “omnipresent dark tan” and “flamboyant lifestyle” (Wikipedia) — sound familiar? He was never President of the United States, but he had his own fast-paced, stressful job: a Wall Street stockbroker. My point is, the man wasn’t a slacker.