
I was doing my daily review of the new content on Jezebel when I was struck by a post about wedding mockery… specifically the wedding mockery at the blog Tacky Weddings. Sadie had this to say about the site:
But if you’re a softie like me, after looking at a few you’ll feel bad. After all, most of these brides and grooms look happy, are delighted with their weddings and clearly put thought and work into them. What’s more, it seems cruel to feature them without permission (not like they’d give it.) Celebs or reality TV mavens putting themselves out there for public consumption is one thing; the vast majority of these people are anything but.
Naturally, I had to go check it out for myself, because I do love a good trainwreck of a wedding! But as I browsed through the content on Tacky Weddings, I couldn’t help but agree with Sadie. When we post pictures from real weddings here at Manolo for the Brides, we try to be kind, and if we do mock just a little bit, we usually do so gently and in the spirit of fun.
I mean ugly bridesmaid dresses and funny wedding cakes are one thing (especially if a reader has sent in their own wacky or outdated wedding photos), but ugly brides? While one of the images featured is of a dude wearing a wedding dress, the rest appear to be brides whose ‘ugliness’ comes from the fact that they’re not members of the white European upper class. That’s just plain nasty, if you ask me.
I’m going to go with HATE on this one — not hate for the Tacky Weddings, which is overall a fun blog good for a bit of a laugh, but hate for the notion that it’s okay to get flat out mean when discussing a real person’s nuptials. Calling a wedding gown or a bridal bouquet tacky is fine in my book. Calling a bride tacky (or ugly or stupid) for wearing that gown and carrying that bouquet isn’t my cup of tea.
What say you?
(PS — I am REALLY digging the mens’ suits in the above photo)
I’m with you, NtB. Poking a bit of fun at a bizarre cake or really unfortunate dress is one thing, ridiculing a person for failure to meet any random measure of ‘pretty’ is hitting below the belt.
It also seems a bit harsh to call a wedding “tacky” when styles have changed dramatically since said wedding took place. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all sorts of hilarious fun to look back at the giant mustaches and blue tuxedos our parents wore in their weddings! But I’m sure in 30 years our wedding photos will look old-fashioned and outdated, even though right now I think our stuff is way cool, so I try not to judge anyone too harshly for wearing mutton sleeves or giant sideburns back when they were in style. We are all fashion victims of our era 🙂
Yeah, I’m in the same camp as Melissa B. Just think how your nieces will laugh at all the strapless dresses and tiaras or at the very least say, “oh, that’s sooooo aughties.”
But the guys have it worse this fashion cycle. Think of how all those photos of down-the-butt baggy jeans will look in a few decades.
Susan — I’m thinking that those down-the-butt baggy jeans don’t look so hot even now. 🙂
It’s definitely mean to criticize another person’s looks; at least the people on sites like Hot or Not (does that even still exist?) signed up for it. But on the other hand, those guys’ jackets are hilarious.
And speaking of outdated styles, if I wasn’t afraid of family retribution, I would totally share the pictures of my uncle getting married in his fringed buckskin suit.
Oh, let’s not even get started (fourth wedding, gangsters and whores theme) on cousins’ weddings. And how that one didn’t last, either.
I despise the mockery of other people’s wedding choices. There isn’t anything WRONG with them, unless an unwilling child bride is involved.
Taste which differs from one’s own IS NOT WRONG. It is only DIFFERENT.
I can’t tell you how vehemently I loathe the cowardly unkindness that boils out over other people’s special day. Blue tuxedos, butt bows, puffy sleeves, see-through waistlines – a change in fashion is just that, a change in fashion. There is no one absolute, immutable Exemplar Of Perfect Taste to which everyone should aspire. In my own opinion, I enjoy looking at all the different expressions of people’s love and happiness. And I think all those scornful mockers, should they appear at that instant all over Teh Innernet, would have a hard time holding themselves up as icons of style and beauty. I lump them in the same cesspit with bullies.
The folks here poke a bit of fun at different things. What they write is usually witty, and very seldom unkind. It’s a far cry from some of what’s written at the other sites. Do they have any idea how parochial and insular they appear? They’re not sophisticated, however much they may think they are. Just because it’s not something they’re used to doesn’t automatically make it “hilarious.”
daisyj, I for one would LOVE to see your uncle’s fringed buckskin suit, it sounds glorious. What did his bride wear?
some deeply unpleasant women who refused to believe i was not related to them kept me on their email list for nearly a year, despite my repeated protests and different first name from the cousin they insisted i must be. then one of them sent me about a dozen photos from the same wedding featured as the “worst wedding photo shoot ever.” i went off on the sender. she shot back the ever-so-mature response “get over yourself!!!!” i was irritated, but i never heard from either of them again.
La BellaDonna– I actually have no recollection of what the bride was wearing. Something relatively normal, I think. It’s kind of hard to be the center of attention when the guy next to you is in head-to-toe fringed buckskins. (He’s the mayor now.)
I feel sick. Really, I tried to find the funny stuff on that site but after 10 minutes of reading about how this and that is “wrong” and those who know what is “right” must laugh at the less fortunate ones I felt like slicing someone’s face. There’s a difference, like La BellaDonna says. She said it well so I won’t repeat everything, but really, smiling/laughing at peculiar or imaginative choices is not nearly the same as judging someone coldly by their appearance or limited resources. Or deeming their choices absolutely “wrong”. I have absolute taste concerning my wedding, no-one else’s.