My personal taste for weddings leans toward small and intimate, but for some strange reason I always enjoy the over-the-top grandeur for other people. I suppose it is because I am not the one dealing with any sort of stress.
This week I saw pictures of soca superstar Machel Montano and his gorgeous bride Renee Butcher on their wedding day. They were both clothed in Trinidadian-made, crisp, white ensembles. They both looked so regal and natural and while I know a slew of wedding-related events and looks followed, they still managed to capture a great deal of authenticity. It seemed that the day itself, the clothes, the music, the well-thought-out photos did not overpower them, an unfortunate reality at some weddings.
There is no right or wrong way to do a wedding. Looking back after being married for almost five years and having viewed endless wedding trends and pictures of friends’ weddings, I have never once wished I could have changed anything. While this is down to the fact that I trust and like my taste wholesomely, the problem with weddings and why they have become so commercial is because like with fashion they are almost, in a way, sort of disposable.
We have become so caught it in the trend of everything that on the day itself we don’t actually look like ourselves. Everything is a big deal until the next big deal on Instagram pops up. I sometimes worry that this illusion of what it is supposed to be like slips into our ideals of what a perfect marriage should be. I love that fact that wedding gear and trends have become so much more accessible and are not necessarily following tradition. I love the fact that buying a wedding dress now, even though this is a highly special moment, can be done with the simple click of a button even from the most luxurious e-tailers like Net-a-Porter.
And most importantly, I fully endorse the new attitude that comes with being a bride.
The Cinderella side of things seems to be making more room for girls who don’t really believe in fairy tales and would rather fully embrace their own love story in their own way.
I suppose the reason why Machel’s wedding struck a chord with me is because from the look to the production, everything was very expected in the most unexpected way