The details of the reception seem to be more important. Guests walking by oohed and ahhed and waited for the moment when Julie and Michael would feed slivers of the seven-tier wonder to one another. That is why Julie cried. Three weeks later, the cake was all she could talk about. Dinner conversation at the newlyweds' home did not revolve around the ontological change inherent in the sacrament of marriage or the difficult process of marrying together two overlapping book and CD collections, it did not turn on the honeymoon or how supportive Julie's bridesmaids had been.
W edding budgets also underscore how important brides and their families think weddings are.
Foolishly, I broached the subject with the bride, someone I considered to have a social conscience. Most engaged people spend more time preparing for their weddings than they do preparing for their marriages. In September I attended a wedding in Toronto. It is their wedding night. It's not every day that they have all their friends gathered in one place at a party, the sole purpose of which is to toast them.