RIP Weekend

I'm sure there must be a finite number of posts I can dedicate to my complete disinterest in weddings before I start getting emails that say things like: "We get it, NPW- you're a wedding hater and it's obvious that you have a burning, bitter resentment towards people spending tens of thousands of dollars on a dinner party when you are worried about spending a few hundred bucks on getting a new apartment and still driving a crappy little Civic because you can't afford a car upgrade yet. Now quit your whining and entertain us, bizotch!"

But this weekend I am to attend yet another fine matrimonial event, this time out in the Syracuse area. I am trying hard not to be uber-bitchy about it, even in my own mind. Intellectually, I know people do not invite you to their wedding simply to inconvenience you by making your entire weekend revolve around them. And yet...

So anyway, that's my plan for the weekend. C and I will drive 5 hours out, attend the wedding, spend the night in a pretty lodge (oooh, I hope there's a fireplace!), and wake up on Sunday to drive the 5 hours back. Although I probably should refrain from dwelling on all the cool things I'm missing this weekend (don't want to become too severely embittered before the weekend even gets rolling), here's just a little taste: the Keene Pumpkin Festival, the Taste of Charlestown, the Life is Good PumpkinFest, a wine tasting, and my friend Ace's Zombie Birthday Bash.

Just yesterday I received an invitation to the wedding of one of my oldest friends; today I opened my email to find a long, apologetic note about how she hadn't included "and Guest" on my invitation, but that she was had already invited 225 people to a wedding that would hold 190 and if there were open seats she'd try to fit Chris in but that she couldn't even sleep at night thinking there wouldn't be enough seats for everyone. I spent most of the morning composing an email to reassure her that I was not in the least offended and that she was not the worst Bridezilla I had ever encountered. Exhausting! Now don't get me wrong- I'm not opposed to marriage. I enjoy the idea of monogamy and commitment and there are certainly some legal benefits as well. (Oh, and have I mentioned I love diamonds?) It's just that 99% of weddings are so formulaic and dull, I don't see how they even remain in fashion. They just seem so... archaic. And unnecessary. Especially if you're not even religious.

It's funny, I had never attended a wedding in my life until I was a sophomore in college. Since then, I've attended more than I can even remember and been in three. I long for the days before people became obsessed with things like petticoats and seat covers and place settings.