weddingrisk

My mom and I went to a big ol’ hotel bridal expo at the local Sheraton this past Sunday. It was actually lots of fun, though I’m not sure how ultimately useful. I got to try lots of slivers of wedding cake (Verdict: Far too sweet) and get a bit more information about various “wedding staples” (is a videographer a staple? These folks seem to think so). Again, I think the trick to enjoying yourself in the face of the Wedding Industrial Complex is to internalize a couple of main philosophies:

1. Whatever everyone else wants to do is fine by me. I mean, really, if some bride-to-be (or her mom) simply must have a baby picture montage playing on a projection screen at her reception (this was very earnestly pitched to me. What would be far more elucidating is showing what B and I looked like at various key years, since when I was a baby, he was a bona fide school-ager. I did not bring this up.) that doesn’t, and shouldn’t, affect me one way or the other.

2. Be nice.

Another treat was running into the mother of a friend of mine, who runs Southern Bride and Groom. It was lovely to chat with her, and really made the whole experience for both of us.

At the sign-in desk, each of us future brides was given a bright pink circle with our wedding month written in swirled cursive, a sticker to wear so that “vendors don’t have to keep asking you when you’re getting married.” It’s a reasonable idea, though they might have suggested I write-in the year, as I kept getting comments from [male] vendor representatives. “It’s not this October, is it?” one tux representative lobbed at me, much to the giggly amusement of his peers.