Even though weddings bond two people together, they nonetheless have the capacity to tear others apart. The tension that begins as an out-of-stock tuxedo, an impossible-to-book officiant, or a too-good-to-be-true reception site that turns out to be just that (read: any wedding catastrophe) can become the rage and anxiety that alienates relatives and destroys friendships. When that same tension results in laughter and “what are you gonna do” shrugs rather than unbridled frustration, however, you get fabulously bittersweet weddings that people remember for years to come.
I’ll admit that sometimes it’s sometimes hard for those involved to find the humor in wacky nuptial circumstances until years after the event has passed. When good weddings go bad, it can seem like the end of the world to the brides who had such high hopes and dedicated their lives to planning the perfect ceremony and reception. But matrimonial mishaps and mayhem sure do make for great reading for those of us not actively engaged in the wedding planning process.
Case in point: Tied in Knots : Funny Stories from the Wedding Day compiled by Lisa Taggart and Samantha Schoech. I sat down with it this weekend and practically devoured it.
Maybe I’m just a sadistic voyeur, but I loved the 20 stories–written by 20 witty and wonderfully honest women–of future brides and grooms who take DIY too far (Throw together an impromptu dinner for 26? Sure!), manage to locate the only *good* tuxedo on a small Hawaiian island, find themselves dealing with a real life sea witch, and undertake an almost futile search for the ultimate rabbi. There are stories of sisters who embark upon fantastic quests to stop upcoming weddings (I mean, what else does one do when one’s sibling is poised to marry a *gasp* Republican?) and mothers-of-the-bride who overcome C-cup sized odds and the trials and tribulations of women who find themselves always the bride and never the bridesmaid.
I really, really, really loved this book. And not only because it cemented my resolve to have a very small, very intimate, very simple wedding someday. It’s hilarious! There is just so much that can go wrong – both in regard to the wedding and in the heads of the bride and groom. Why not enjoy it?
That picture on the cover is a crackup. It looks like a ghost is eating the bride’s forehead…
Hee! You’re right, Jenny. That’s just what it looks like!
You know, sometimes it’s the things that go wrong that make a wedding really special and memorable…sometimes even in a good way. The parents of an old friend of mine used to tell a funny story about their wedding. They had a cake with royal icing, which is very hard and can be difficult to cut. Well, the knife got stuck in the cake. They pulled and pushed and heaved and couldn’t get it to move. Eventually the groom announced in his best heralding voice: whosoever shall pull this knife from this cake will be the true ruler of the household!
Yep, that one still makes me giggle.
OTOH I once knew a couple who had the same type of cake and it was so hard the bride actually broke her wrist when they tried to cut it!
Wow, that must have been some icing, Twistie!
My husband bought a pair of shoes with silver lightning bolts as a joke/club wear and threatened to wear them to the wedding. I was politely mortified and he stopped needling me. Naturally, I forgot.
On the day of the wedding, his best man forgot his shoes at home and they just happen to wear the same size. My groom had his shoes in his trunk with his get away clothing… So he ended up wearing them and giving his plain shoes to the best man so that if I was upset, I’d be upset with him. My dad got really pissy with him because it was so late that he had to tell me right before we walked down the aisle. So he tells me “Don’t worry about the shoes, there’s a story there.” Then he pulls me around the corner.
So naturally the congregation of guests gets a first look at me glancing up at my dad with a look of mixed confusion and horror as I try to imagine what he’s talking about and imagine I’m goint to see a barefoot groom. When I saw that everyone was shod, I relaxed and forgot it.
And now I’m kind of proud that my husband wore such original shoes. 😉
It did end up serving an amusing purpose, though. The groom in that couple was a world-champion Scottish fiddler. He ended up composing a tune about it in which he sawed the strings harder and harder on the first note of every repeat. He played it at a concert I attended and the entire audience ended up in stitches.
Poor things, though, to end up spending their wedding night getting the bride’s wrist x-rayed and plastered!