By Hook or By Crook: Or How Not to Get Married

My first mistake was probably clicking on the link to a Daily Mail article, since it's usually like the Weekly World News if that respectable publication stopped talking about the Loch Ness monster and started taking up politics and social policy. But it slipped in through my weak spot, weddings and train wrecks.

According to a very suspect survey in the UK a significant force of British brides won their vows through underhanded methods. These included threatening to leave if their boyfriends didn't propose or even faking a pregnancy to try and get their man to buy a ring. If television is any guide the latter tactic worked out very well for Mrs. Schuster on Glee.

Part of the pressure, the article hypothesizes, is that women are looking to have a wedding rather than a marriage. They want to be part of a big and beautiful ceremony that celebrates the bride rather than the enduring commitment and love of two people. I don't doubt that things like this are happening every day (after all there's a burgeoning market in watching Bridezillas) but surveys conducted by UK reality stations should be taken with a few grains of salt.

I've been very fortunate to have brides that put their friends, family and relationship ahead of the desire to have a giant festival where they sit at the center of the universe. Even though a bridezilla might offer more opportunities to photograph a wedding that would leave planners and would-be brides stunned at the possibility, I'd much rather be present at the small home ceremony to capture something more transcendent than vanity. Whether it's that simple wedding or your planning on going all out, what will shine through in the pictures will be the emotions you bring to your day because eventually you're going to realize that your hair is out of date, no one wears silk anymore and you won't want to look at how embarrassingly everyone was dressed but you'll treasure your photos because of the feelings and the moments they capture.