You may now Kiss the Bride. Not.

I want to take this post to reflect on weddings as one my best friends of all time got married this weekend. Congratulations Emily! You were soooo beautiful!

You know, I was thinking with her ceremony that it was the perfect balance between tradition and modernism. Sexist traditions were replaced with more female-friendly phrases. For example instead of the pastor saying, "you may now kiss the bride" he told both the bride and groom they could kiss each other. Instead of the bride's father giving her away alone, he referenced the bride's mother as well. She struck a perfect balance between the tugs of traditonality and modern sensibility.

I also enjoyed some of the other innovative things she incorporated into her wedding. Instead of throwing rice or blowing bubbles as the couple walked out of the church, the guests unraveled colored ribbons. Instead of lighting a candle, the bride and groom poured sand into a glass container; the grains of sand never to be separated again. She also had a great color (eggplant--purple for the color dummies among us) for the bridesmaid's dresses. And it didn't have any foo foo frills or ugly poofy sleeves. Emily is the model bride. Really, all brides should be like her.