It’s summer in Aspen, so in addition to the dramatic spike in white pant sightings, it’s also wedding season. Weddings are fun and joyous for most, while others feel a bit more “eh” about the whole thing. It pretty much takes a village to make a wedding happen, so despite any ill feelings toward the event, weddings are part of all of us.
I realize there are men reading this who think that wedding season doesn’t apply to them, but it most certainly does. Surely you conjure up visions of an open bar with tasty appetizers and women dressed up to the nines. For some, who could forget the completely palpable pressure from your significant other, if you aren’t already engaged?
See? There’s something for all of us when it comes to weddings.
And for those unattached, I don’t have to explain the odds of hooking up at a wedding. If you’re unaware of this phenomenon, rent “Wedding Crashers.” Dressing up and open bars just does something for people.
I am just a few days away from getting hitched. And despite euphemisms that describe being chained to your significant other, I couldn’t be happier. I’m not going to bore you with cake and flowers, so relax. It is one of the biggest events in my life though, so how could I not share?
Our approach to planning was not unlike a squirrel’s approach to storing food for the winter. One acorn at a time, we crossed items off our list, then in April we headed to the Grand Canyon. I can’t say enough about this style of wedding planning. We simply wanted good friends and family, good food and good fun. We also wanted to keep it casual, which means we’re poor.* (*By Aspen standards.)
I have gone some summers with nary an invitation, while others seem like some sort of concert tour. This summer is the wedding tour, with three to attend other than our own. By the time we get to Redstone for our last one, my husband will need approximately 15 minutes to get ready, while I will have mastered applying my magical strapless adhesive bra. I can’t wait.
In the meantime, we invited the guests, and must pace ourselves for the summer tour by practicing cocktail hour dance moves at home and buying gel inserts for our shoes.
I personally love attending weddings. For some reason, I turn back the hands of time and settle somewhere around age 21. “You mean there’s booze here? That I can drink?” It’s a good time and I have pictures to prove it. Here’s hoping that I will choose not to turn back the hands of drinking time at my own wedding.
When I get ready to attend a wedding, it isn’t unlike prom for me. I turn back time a little further to say, 17. Suddenly, I’m attempting to do “something different” with my hair, while my fiancé is dressed and waiting.
Men will take an all-day journey to the end of the earth, or at least the top of the Droste trail, and be home with about a half hour to shower and put on their “fancy” clothes. The nice thing about living in the Roaring Fork Valley is that “fancy” is left to interpretation and so long as you smell clean, it’ll probably do.
For those who dislike weddings, I say find some Xanax and put on your dancing shoes. You can do this! Did you try that crab cake? You could also see it as a practice in social graces. Who hasn’t befriended an “Aunt Betty” or two over cocktails? I have her e-mail address to prove it.
Think of it this way, the sooner one wishes this season is over, the sooner you’ll be talking about something that rhymes with “skree reason,” and I personally can wait a while for that.
Weddings are truly a special event. In addition to committing to each other for life, we ask that our friends and family commit to travel and that our local people commit to early bike rides and hikes. That’s a lot for mountain folk.
The nice part about weddings is that you don’t have to be the bride or groom to be part of one. The whole point is to get together and merrily celebrate the fact that two people are creating a union that ensures they hump only each other for the rest of their days. And that is reason to celebrate.
Beth will likely be a married woman by the time this goes to print. Share your good tidings at bethabrandon@hotmail.com.