There are as many ways to propose and get married as there are people doing the proposing and people saying their “I dos”. Here are two, with the proposal coming first. A uniformed policeman proposed to his girlfriend at the headquarters of the Police Tactical Unit (Hong Kong’s emergency police squad) while flanked by colleagues cheering “Marry him, marry him!”.
With all those men with guns, how could you say no? I kid, I kid. How wonderful to say “Yes, I will!” in front of such an ebullient and happy crowd!
The second, the wedding, comes from Brittany. Some weeks ago, Lorien Gabel (the CEO of pingg) and his fiancee Jessica Lichtenstein made their wedding a private-public affair. First, the pair hopped a plane to Vegas and were secretly married in the dessert while also filming a movie featuring their alter egos. The movie concluded with the surprise ending, Lorien and Jessica exchanging vows.
Three weeks later, 200 of the couples’ closest friends and family traveled to NYC to celebrate Jess and Lorien’s combined 30th and 40th birthdays… after responding to an invitation that advertised that they each had other SOs when they first kissed, uh. Guests were shown their matrimonial movie and were reportedly shocked and awed that they were witnessing the couple’s actual wedding vows.
You can see stills from the movie and the filming process here. I can’t say I was enthralled by the film itself, as it’s a little “here’s us in a car, here’s a manga figurine, here’s us dancing, here’s some crotch grabbing, we’re so edgy sexy, now we’re married surprise!” for my tastes, but I do suppose I’d be a lot more interested if the couple in question was made up of people I actually know. Still, it’s an interesting idea. Flashy, too, and I love flashy.
While I’m not wild about the execution of the wedding film, I have to say I think the basic concept could be kind of fun if you want a very private ceremony. Sort of a fun variation on showing vacation slides. You know the sort of thing: here we are at the hotel, here we are at the hotel swimming pool, here we are at the Grand Canyon, here we are getting married at the Grand Canyon, here we are…OOMPH! as the happy couple is tackled by excited friends and relatives.
IOW, with a bit less crotch-grabbing and preciousness, I love the idea.
JSYK, the first chant was “kneel!” I don’t recall if there’s a word for “genuflect” in my language but it was pretty cute. There’s a lot of playful teasing in Chinese weddings.
Hee! I like playful teasing at weddings, especially when the bride and groom are happy to play along.