Sweet and Sour Tiffany: Royal Wedding

I tried hard to not talk about the Royal Wedding, but it became glaringly obvious that I was one of the few bloggers out there in the blogosphere NOT talking about it, so, I decided to cave.  I know so many people in the United States woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the wedding.  I chose not to, and shied away from a lot of the media coverage, though I will admit I looked at a website or two.  I am more interested in the whole cultural focus on the wedding, the coverage, every last detail.  So, yes, I am caving, and talking about the wedding.  But instead of being all schmaltzy, I am going to take a look at the whole hulabaloo, both the Sweet and the Sour.

The Sweet

While I did not get wrapped up in "The Wedding", I certainly understand why a lot of people did.  First off, talk of princes and horse drawn carriages just reminds us of fairy tales.  In a country where royalty does not exist, the idea of a girl marrying Prince Charming for real is ridiculously romantic.  Many little girls love the idea of being a princess, marrying a prince, and living happily ever after.  Just ask Disney.  So, to me, it is no surprise that women in America are so interested in this wedding.

In fact, women tend to be drawn to wedding festivities of every kind.  I personally do not like weddings all that much, though I like them more now that my own is over.  I always hated going to them as a singleton; so depressing.  I am in the minority, however, as most women I know go coocoo crazy over weddings.  They love talking about all the details, the dress, the ring, the music, the flowers.  So, the fact that women are talking about Kate like they are BFFs is no surprise.  Women love a good wedding.

However, I think the biggest thing I "get" about the fascination with this wedding is that this is history in the making.  The future king of England has taken a wife.  That is historic.  His wife was a commoner.  That is even more historic.  People the world over want to be a part of the history of the moment.  Those who were around for Diana's wedding can still remember it, and so it will be when Kate's child marries.

The Sour

As I said, I am just not a wedding person.  The fact that I was single for so many of my friends' and relatives' weddings was just depressing.  I also am not a big fan of opulence.  I am a simple girl, with simple tastes, so I am not terribly interested in seeing the crown jewels.  The fancy schmancy wedding, to me, just seems like a waste of money.  Good for them that they requested that money be given to charity instead of gifts, but how much money could they have given to charity themselves had they had a simpler wedding?

Also, the media coverage was really over the top.  One would think there were nothing else going on in all the world, when in reality, the economic situation in many countries, including England, is less than wonderful, and Americans in the southern states are dealing with yet another natural disaster.  So, perspective here might be helpful.

The thing that drives me craziest of all is the ridiculous merchandise tie ins.  Royal Wedding nail decals, condoms, and lord only knows what other crap can be found on places like etsy.  Seriously, I am glad my wedding favors were boxes of candy, as opposed to some stupid and creepy masks of our faces, or some other ridiculous piece of merchandise.

***

When it is all said and done, I may not be interested in the Royal Wedding, but I certainly understand the appeal of it.  The ceremony is one that is affecting history.  Of course people will make a big deal out of it.  Just like the Americans did when we had an inaugural ceremony to swear in our first African American president.  We all want to be a part of history.  And yes, I will always remember where I was when the future king of England got married.  I was in my bed, sleeping next to my very own Prince Charming.


So that being said, if the Sweet and Sour didn't completely fill you up, move along to the fortune cookie.