Surviving Wedding Season

This year, one out of every 62 Americans will get married, and another 295 million will be their wedding guests, according to a CNN online article, entitled “Surviving Wedding Season.” Damn. Why wasn’t this written a month ago, before I had already attended three showers and a wedding?

As a person in my mid-‘20s, it’s not surprising that I have been inundated with wedding mania lately. It seems that graduating from college means it’s time to get married – did I miss the boat? Regardless, my life has been consumed by marriages and their related events for the past month, and it’s not likely to let up for another four weeks. As happy as I am for my friends, let’s look at the reality here for a moment. According to “The High Cost of Being Popular,” also on CNN online, the typical wedding with three or four related events can cost a guest $500 and a bridesmaid $1400. If you attend a few weddings a year that could add up to several thousand dollars… not generally something a person who just finished paying off their education loans has lying around in a bank account.

This spring/summer I am a member of two wedding parties, was invited to the wedding of a friend, and asked to be a bridesmaid in a wedding next winter. (Which brings to mind, a special shout-out to Brooke and Dustin for eloping – CONGRATULATIONS!) I feel completely lucky and honored in being asked to be a part of such special events for my friends, but this back-to-back nonsense has got to stop! I can’t remember the last time I had a free weekend to myself that didn’t involve a shower, being fitted for a dress, picking up a gift, planning a party, etc. I almost feel like sending out an invitation to my friends – Carrie Bradshaw-style – asking them to send gifts in celebration of MY life choices. Which at the present time do not include engagement, sorry. OK, not really… But if anyone’s interested I wear a size 6 shoe.

Moral of the story: I attended Shannon and Phil’s wedding on Saturday and it was completely fabulous. After picking up a last-minute gift, I arrived at an estate house in Marysville, where the entire event was held outdoors. After a quick and beautiful ceremony, the reception began with an open bar (yay!) and hors d'oeuvres. Unfortunately, most of the real food had run out by the time I got up to the buffet table, but since there was still wine I didn’t complain. I just had another glass and proceeded to the dance floor. For a couple hours we got our groove thangs on to music like “Footloose,” “Shout,” “The Electric Slide” and “Shot Through the Heart” – super fun, aside from my eighth-grade style awkward slow dance with one of Phil’s football friends from CWU. I was disappointed that things had to end at 10 p.m. just as everyone was starting to get pretty liquored up and rowdy.

Instead of going to the casino with the rest of my friends, I unfortunately had to head home in order to be in Olympia by 9 a.m. to throw my sister Nichole a bridal shower. Her wedding is in two weeks and even though I had already attended her “friends” bridal shower a couple weeks ago, I had agreed to help my mother throw the “family” shower this weekend. Since it was my third shower in three weeks, I pretty much had things down. The colors of the season seem to be red, black and white, so a few dozen red roses, balloons, cake and napkins and the house looked great. Decorating all morning was followed by an afternoon of hanging out, playing games and eating with old ladies – not as boring as one might think! However, I was glad when the party was over and I could cross one more wedding-related event off my list. I’ve come to the conclusion that attending the actual big day is the most exciting part.

I don’t mean for this blog to sound like I’m complaining. Quite the opposite – I am more than happy to volunteer to be a part of these exciting and important events for the people I love. More than anything, it’s an explanation that if you’re not getting married in the next four weeks, you probably won’t be seeing me. And not for a few months afterward either, because frankly, I’m broke!

CONGRATULATIONS:

Brooke & Dustin

Shannon & Phil

Cailin & Clint

Nichole & Aaron

Tara & Winston

Love all you crazy kids to death, and wish you all the happiness in the world.