Category Archive

WTF!?

Wedding planning offers a non-stop stream of WTF moments, from cringe-worthy articles to heinous wedding supplies. Here, we document the most outrageous.

Photo by JKCaliff alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

The 3 dark wedding industry secrets I unearthed at a mainstream bridal show

Shortly after my engagement, a friend who was also planning a wedding gently dragged me to a big bridal show in Atlanta. I knew it wouldn’t be the most exciting experience for me. Still, I figured what’s the harm? Maybe I’ll find a booth that inspires me. Maybe it’ll be a little fun, expand my horizons. Maybe there’d even be free champagne? There was no free champagne. And it wasn’t fun. Instead, there were three big secrets I unearthed about the wedding industry from the one and only big bridal show I attended…

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Why the Wedding Industrial Complex’s “helpful” lists burn my biscuits

Oh, hi there, Wedding Industry. So we meet again. Mind if we sit down? I’d like to have a little chat with you. I don’t like this trend of “funny” and “helpful” wedding planning “articles.” Those sarcastic, mean-spirited articles that are meant to be “helpful tips” to new brides talking about how much wedding planning sucks and if you don’t feel bad about yourself and your life while you’re planning your wedding, you should hate yourself. Oh, Wedding Industry, I know you think they’re funny. But they’re not. They’re passive aggressive and mean-spirited and downright hurtful.

wedding weight loss crop alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Psychology Today: Fighting the Unhealthy Cultural Push for Wedding Weight Loss

I’ve written in the past about the pressure put on so many brides to lose weight for their weddings (and how I suggest people handle it). I love that Psychology Today is now tackling this sticky subject with their article, Fighting the Unhealthy Cultural Push for Wedding Weight Loss

5154576669 dab7785a05 o alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

My relationship is not a statement: Stop viewing our wedding decisions as some sort of socio-political performance

It started with the oh-so-popular taking of my husband’s last name question. The reason I really wanted to keep my own name had nothing to do with feminist ideals — I simply like the sound of my own name. Needless to say, this was just the first of MANY questions I’ve answered with similar responses.I’ve learned that no matter how I respond, someone will view it as a statement. All we’re really trying to do is throw a beautiful and fun wedding with all of our friends and family. Our relationship is a relationship… not a statement open for critique.

awkward sexy wedding showers alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Who else thinks “sexy” wedding shower games are strange?

I’m not expecting a wedding shower this time around, and as a consequence, I am spared the bizarre rounds of public humiliation that pass on Pinterest as “shower games.” Has anyone else noticed these games? And the number of them that circle around “naughty” ideas? I understand that some of these come from our socio-cultural anxiety surrounding the traditional fact that a wedding is when a virginal girl becomes a sexually experienced woman. But the “naughty party games” feel like a different thing… as if they’re designed to be specifically humiliating.

12089817875 7c7452a261 c alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

I’m more than a bride-to-be

I’m excited to get married and I’m excited to throw a big party. That being said, I’m more than just a bride-to-be. I am not the first, nor shall I be the last, to feel frustrated about gendered bias. So what can I do? How can I battle these questions and expectations? This is my plan.