Weddings and Hanukkah

So this weekend I attended a wedding in which Timmy was the best man. The 4th time he's been a best man! Who knew he had so many BFF’s? Anyway, I had never met the bride and had only twice very briefly met the groom. I also knew none of the guests. This was uncomfortable enough, but considering that I got divorced this month, it made for one sucky evening.

So as I was sitting by myself after the ceremony, while Timmy took pictures with the wedding party, it occurred to me that from my perspective, weddings are kind of like Hanukkah. In that both are a foreign concept to me, I’m not Jewish, nor am I a “wedding” girl. I have gone to, and been a bridesmaid in some very nice weddings. But whenever I go to one, I always feel like I am observing an unfamiliar cultural custom or tradition. I respect it, try to enjoy it, just don’t really understand it. Weird food, odd music, you need to bring a present, having to be touched by people- its all too much. Not that I judge people who have them, or Hanukkah celebrations for that matter…whatever makes you happy.

When I got married 10 years ago there was no wedding, just a humorously brief ceremony by a French wannabe priest named Jean Marc. In a chapel on the Vegas strip, across from Circus Circus, that has since been torn down. Elvis was there, but we didn’t pay extra to have him perform the ceremony. That was the first time. What do you do to follow that up? If there is a second marriage, I can’t imagine having a wedding then either. I just have a comprehension gap when it comes to weddings.

Especially second weddings. Its like, “no really, THIS time I mean forever”. How hypocritical. How many times can you stand up in front of your friends and family and make such an important promise? Liz Taylor did seven times. SEVEN. If I were her friend, by the 3rd or 4th time I’d be like, “damn Liz, this is getting out of hand- lets just get you a vibrator and a dog”.

This is the 6th wedding I have attended in the past year. No one else I know is getting married any time soon, which I think is a good thing. Perhaps by the next one we get invited to I will be over my cynical, bitter, divorced woman rant. But probably not.