I have a deep love for couples who take the time to really craft weddings that will be meaningful to them in some special way. Whether they stick with time-honored traditions because they love and believe in them or strike out into new territory by rejecting or adapting traditions that don’t suit them, they make the wedding fit them to a tee.

And that’s why I have to sort of love this wedding cake:

According to the article, this couple chose to have a superhero wedding. Why? Because they love comic books and superheroes. The groom wore a green tie and the bride a green sash to signify their mutual love of The Hulk as well as of each other. Standing next to The Hulk atop their wedding cake is Wonder Woman.

Okay, so I wouldn’t have wanted a bright green cake with The Hulk standing on top of it, but it seems to have worked for them.

Speaking of weddings that seem to have worked for the couple involved, here’s an article about a British couple who got married at work…in a grocery store.

As I said, these weddings are not for everyone. The important thing to take away is that there’s plenty of room for imagination and personal expression when you’re planning your wedding. Feel free to choose a theme that’s not exactly standard, an unusual setting, less than traditional vows, or an unexpected form of decoration.

After all, it’s your wedding. You should be clearly visible in it.

Over the last few months, I’ve seen a lot of people here, on other blogs, privately discussing their own weddings in public at a volume where I couldn’t help but hear, insist they aren’t having/didn’t have a reception. They had/will have a party.

That’s when I realize that people don’t completely understand what a reception is, or how it does and doesn’t differ from any other party.

So what makes it a reception?

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The amazing A.J. (yes, that A.J.) writes:

I think I’m finally ready to sell my wedding dress. I think. I don’t feel a need to clutter up stuff with a dress I’ll never wear again. And I highly doubt my daughter(s) would want to wear it. It’ll probably be very out of style by then…

So I was wondering, what is the best way to sell my dress? Is Craigslist fine, or would a consignment shop have a better return? What is a proper price to ask for it? I was thinking half of what I paid, not counting alterations and cleaning. Is that too much? Anything else I should consider?

Great question! I was lucky in that I had a vehicle through which I could safely donate my dress on short notice — the family church — which meant I didn’t have to haul it all the way from Florida to Mass or worry about selling it. I just took it off after the reception ended and left it on my gram’s couch for her to deal with. I’ll probably never find out who it went to (the whole left-hand, right-hand thing) but I can be sure it went to someone who really needed it.

But getting back to the question at hand…there are so many ways to sell one’s dress nowadays. Once upon a time, Craigslist, eBay, neighborhood consignment shops, and the local classifieds would have been your only options, but in recent years, a bunch of interesting bridal consignment web sites have sprung up. These include:

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Some of the weddings I remember most fondly are the ones I don’t remember much at all. Of course, those are the weddings I attended while in college or just out of college, and the guests were typically young and/or tolerant of our crazy shenanigans. Nowadays I would never ever consider getting sloshed and unruly at someone’s reception…out of respect for the bride and groom and out of respect for myself.

Not everyone agrees with me, however. There are plenty of people out there who think a wedding isn’t a wedding until someone gets tossed through a plate glass window. One couple made news when they took their nuptial party to the extreme…and got tased for their trouble! To each their own, I guess.

After they were wed on the beach, bride Anna Pastuszwska and groom Andy Somora (who is being handcuffed [in the picture]) were Tasered and arrested at the art gallery where their reception took place.

“The short version of the story is they didn’t want to quit their partying,” said Mike Sepic, Berrien County, Mich., chief assistant prosecutor. “If you put this in the class of wedding receptions gone bad, I guess this would take the cake.”

In my opinion, rowdy receptions are all right within reason as long as no one is disturbed by the noise or hurt during the proceedings. Do I love them? No. I’m old enough to appreciate a nice dinner, some swing dancing, and a good slice of cake on their own merits. Do I hate them? I’ll just say this — I hate watching people make fools of themselves, whether they’re a guest, a vendor, or even the bride and groom.

Tell us what you think! And while you’re at is, do share your wild wedding stories because we love ‘em!

I’m not one to cry at weddings, and I’m especially not one to cry at the mere mention of a wedding, but I’ll tell you truly that I did tear up just a little when I saw this photograph.

Forget the fact that it’s such a damn fine photo — lucky celebrities, looking gorgeous 95% of the time — and think about how far things had to advance for us to even be seeing it. Yes, we still have a quite ways to go before gay couples can enjoy all of the advantages of legal matrimony, but pics like this are a testament to the fact that things are moving forward.

Now, for the deets. The 20- person affair took place on the grounds of de Rossi and DeGeneres’ Beverly Hills home. Both brides wore designs by Zac Posen…de Rossi in a beautiful cream and pink halterneck gown, and DeGeneres in a cream ensemble of vest, shirt, and pants. The happy couple sat on pillows while exchanging rings created by Neil Lane before they sat down to an all-vegan meal followed by a vegan red velvet cake.

I wish both of them all of the happiness the world has to offer!

I love that inspiration can come from anywhere, anything, or anyone. Just yesterday, The Beard and I were at one of our local beaches, swimming, soaking up the sun, and looking for beach glass. Amid the sea junk, The Beard found a mussel shell that was a vivid blue outside and a beautiful silver on the inside. After inspecting it for a bit, he said — and I was so damn proud at that moment — “Wouldn’t these make great wedding colors?”

To The Beard I say, “Here you are, my dear.”

Moving clockwise-ish from the top left, there is a Nicole Miller stretch taffeta dress, the Amaya pump from LAUREN by Ralph Lauren, a blue chalcedony sterling silver ring from Overstock.com, an invitation from Leigh’s Wishing Well, a JS Boutique cutaway shoulder gown, a hydrangea centerpiece, a deep blue aisle runner, and a hydrangea bouquet.

A lovely combo, yes?

I love when the comments on an article are better than the article itself. A few months back, the Washington Post published a frankly tired piece on saving matrimonial money in these tough economic times. Those interviewed were forced by trying circumstances to cut their guest lists from 240 to 200 (gasp!), to stuff envelopes themselves (Gasp!), and to get married in the Bahamas (GASP!). Oh, woe is them, right? This is my favorite response:

Was the article on “less expensive” weddings ["The Big Day Gets Smaller"] intended to upset readers? We read about these poor souls who are downsizing their $40,000 weddings to budgets of less than $30,000. They are forced to opt for destination weddings to reduce the number of guests. One bride-to-be said she was “even considering who is a better gift-giver, like my dad’s friends, to keep on the guest list.” Give me a break.

If the purpose of your wedding is to rake in cash and gifts, why invite anyone? Just send contribution envelopes to your contributors, er, “guests.” Maybe you could even include suggested “gift” amounts. Then you could mail thank-you postcards from your honeymoon. Oh, wait, perhaps it would be easier to just have the guests fill out and mail their own thank-you notes, too.

Amusing, no? Had I read the article in question when planning my own wedding, I would have laughed until I cried. For The Beard and I, there was no “This is just how much weddings cost in this zip code.” It was our responsibility to figure out how we could afford to feed and entertain our guests using the money we had, not the money some random online app like Cost of Wedding told us we should spend.

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