Okay, so I know a lot of people pooh-pooh Leah McLaren and her "me generation" writing, but her column this week is quite insightful, and helps me answer the seemingly common question of, 'why don't you want to get married?'My fave bits:
"I think my generation has gone off marriage—or more precisely weddings—because the sentiment (which we believe in) has been obscured by the ludicrous pageantry (which we reject)."
"The bridal industry, with its fabricated notions of formality and ceremony ("traditionalesque" as Rebecca Mead put it in her book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding) and Hollywood, with its consistent output of mawkish chick flicks such as Bride Wars, has conspired—as a primary school teach might say—to ruin a perfectly nice thing for everybody else."
All of this is true. I love events and I've had the chance to write about all the exciting behind-the-scenes that make them happen, so I can understand the thrill of planning a wedding (well, sort of). Of the handful of weddings I've attended, all have been tasteful and touching. But the thought of being a bride in the stereotypical sense that most people think about brides leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
So for now, I'll stick with being a part of the weddings of people I care about—I love doing this, so long as the term "bridezilla" never applies—and continue to tell my mom that common-law is the new marriage.
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