So brides who have seen some of these articles about bridesmaid’s contracts? Don’t drink the Kook Aid. It’s not needed and it’s a great way to drive your best friends off. Don’t draw up a legal document to insist on something that can be discussed in a completely rational and unthreatening way.

Oh, and while you’re at it, try to keep any requirements reasonable. Asking someone to show up on time wearing what’s been agreed upon is reasonable. Requesting (not demanding) help with wedding-related shopping/DIY projects is reasonable. Demanding that someone put their reproductive plans on hold for a year or that they have a beloved tattoo removed is not.

I think this obsession with bridesmaid contracts is part of the cultural assumption that brides are completely irrational. All of the women I’ve known who were a bit on the irrational side while planning their weddings, were that way to begin with. Most have been perfectly level-headed.

NtB, I remember your article. I, too, find it amazing that an American publication would need to quote a British article to find evidence of a growing ‘American’ trend.

Like you, I think there have been a couple jokes that got taken badly and a few rants from generally irrational brides, and suddenly people start writing it up because of the insatiable public interest in brides behaving like Martians.

Until someone can show me some serious evidence I will continue to think of this so-called trend about the way I think of Bigfoot. There’s ‘evidence’, but not any that I can take seriously.

It could be that the ladies themselves are creating contractesque documents, but I doubt that…unless we’re talking about those sorry jokesters whose jokes just plain went too far. That, I can believe! What’s funny when taken in context becomes abhorrent when taken out of context and goes on to be dubbed a trend when it’s lodged itself deeply enough into the collective consciousness.

Personally, if I read one more “OMG weddings are so commercial and consumerist and Teh Big Bad Wedding Industry of Capitalism is ruining marriage and love as we know it and brides are CRAZY” article (like this one from the Times of London: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/janice_turner/article4133027.ece), I’m going to scream. Yes, some couples are going overboard. Yes, some brides are narcissistic and crazy. But I do not know any of these people personally. The brides I know have been excited about their weddings, but also focused on the comfort and happiness of their guests and operating on a budget well below the alleged “average” of £20K or $30k or whatever the latest made-up figure is. I think there are several journalists who look at a few bridal magazines and pictures of Mariah Carey’s wedding and pretend that somehow represents a picture of what most people’s weddings look like. It’s lazy journalism. Bah! I say.