A Fly on the Wall
Viewing comments for Chapter 22 "On...The End of Simple Weddings"A journal musings and assessments about situations
26 total reviews
Comment from Sandra Nelms-Ludwig
OMG, Rach, your comparisons are off the chart. Reading it a second time does not minimize the humor. You could easily be a comedian with your one-line zingers. Some of my favorites were:} father gawped and hyperventilated like a carp in a mud puddle/ Vienna sausage legs/satin dress rolled up like a dime-store window shade. You are masterful with the way you use comparisons that create a clearly visual image.
I was glad you placed in this contest. Well-done!
reply by the author on 06-Oct-2022
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OMG, Rach, your comparisons are off the chart. Reading it a second time does not minimize the humor. You could easily be a comedian with your one-line zingers. Some of my favorites were:} father gawped and hyperventilated like a carp in a mud puddle/ Vienna sausage legs/satin dress rolled up like a dime-store window shade. You are masterful with the way you use comparisons that create a clearly visual image.
I was glad you placed in this contest. Well-done!
Comment Written 06-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 06-Oct-2022
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Thanks! I so appreciate your enthusiastic review! Xo
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You are most welcome, Rach! xoxo
Comment from Maria Millsaps
This is one of the most entertaining stories I have read on FS. Excellent topic, great story and a rich vocabulary. You are truly a talented writer. Congrats.
reply by the author on 05-Oct-2022
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This is one of the most entertaining stories I have read on FS. Excellent topic, great story and a rich vocabulary. You are truly a talented writer. Congrats.
Comment Written 05-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 05-Oct-2022
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Wow!! What a really nice review! I can't thank you enough. It means the world. xo
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I meant it, you are an excellent writer.
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You earned it
Comment from WalkerMan
This is hilarious, and I am so glad mine was totally different. Somehow, I doubt such fancy weddings assured lasting love and companionship better than simple ones with small attendance. On the embarrassment side, the choice between the song whose lyrics had not been checked in advance by the bride or the ride and roll-up by the groom's sister. The newer style weddings may be unforgettable, but not necessarily recalled fondly.
Thank you for the amusement.
reply by the author on 22-Sep-2022
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This is hilarious, and I am so glad mine was totally different. Somehow, I doubt such fancy weddings assured lasting love and companionship better than simple ones with small attendance. On the embarrassment side, the choice between the song whose lyrics had not been checked in advance by the bride or the ride and roll-up by the groom's sister. The newer style weddings may be unforgettable, but not necessarily recalled fondly.
Thank you for the amusement.
Comment Written 21-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 22-Sep-2022
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No, definitely not memorable for all the right reasons!
And I'm with you: I'll take small and intimate, warm, heartfelt weddings ANY day over the "performance art" that today's events have become. Ugh!
Thank you for this really nice review, and for the extra star, too. Very much appreciated. xo
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You are most welcome, Rachelle.
I had never heard of any of that nonsense, not even the song.
Though I read a lot, my reviewing time is limited these days. This post was a worthy exception. :)) -- Mike
Comment from Tpa
Marriage had turned into a profitable business, going in as well as going out. All you have written and basically true and sad, especially your relative's wedding, UNBELIVABLE! Social media had denounced that once was an enjoyable journey.
reply by the author on 21-Sep-2022
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Marriage had turned into a profitable business, going in as well as going out. All you have written and basically true and sad, especially your relative's wedding, UNBELIVABLE! Social media had denounced that once was an enjoyable journey.
Comment Written 21-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 21-Sep-2022
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You said it!!
Comment from jessizero
I honestly don't know what to say to this. I think that things have gotten way out-of-control with weddings, as you say. I can't believe that story about the groom's sister. Thanks for sharing, and best wishes to you.
reply by the author on 21-Sep-2022
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I honestly don't know what to say to this. I think that things have gotten way out-of-control with weddings, as you say. I can't believe that story about the groom's sister. Thanks for sharing, and best wishes to you.
Comment Written 21-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 21-Sep-2022
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It's certainly gone down in the anals...oh, I mean ANNALS!...of Allen Family History for sure!!
Comment from Lisa Tepp
So true! What a great gathering of all that is over-the-top about today's weddings. Your piece brought a smile to my face--especially because I am getting married in 2-1/2 weeks. Your story was like a checklist of everything to avoid. Our wedding will be a very casual backyard bonfire wedding, and my "dress" will be faded jeans, a black top with a sparkly over-the shoulder angel wing, and a leather top hat (total price tag $100)! We decided to tie the knot in July, and have managed to put this together on a budget of less than $1500. Because of today's ridiculous penchant for excess, we decided to go the other way. Maybe the Kardashians will bring back the good old days! Nice job of painting a "so-true" picture of today's wallet-draining extravaganzas.
reply by the author on 21-Sep-2022
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So true! What a great gathering of all that is over-the-top about today's weddings. Your piece brought a smile to my face--especially because I am getting married in 2-1/2 weeks. Your story was like a checklist of everything to avoid. Our wedding will be a very casual backyard bonfire wedding, and my "dress" will be faded jeans, a black top with a sparkly over-the shoulder angel wing, and a leather top hat (total price tag $100)! We decided to tie the knot in July, and have managed to put this together on a budget of less than $1500. Because of today's ridiculous penchant for excess, we decided to go the other way. Maybe the Kardashians will bring back the good old days! Nice job of painting a "so-true" picture of today's wallet-draining extravaganzas.
Comment Written 21-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 21-Sep-2022
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GO YOU, you little trendsetter!! I am totally impressed...and I hope you'll let me know how it was received. I bet everyone will have SUCH a fun time, and they will love the fact that you chose the simple, REAL, getting-back-to-what-matters approach!! I wish you nothing but joy.
Thanks for a wonderful review. I loved it.
Comment from GWHARGIS
Omg. You had me in stitches. The singing of the song from JCSS. The Vienna sausage legs
I was dying. Weddings have changed ... dramatically. Mine was in front of the fireplace in our new house. A friend brought little tealights and some flowers from the grocery store. I was in a borrowed sundress. My husband in a suit from high school. Not a fancy thing about it. And I wouldn't change a thing. Keep this stuff coming. You have a comedic flare.
Gretchen
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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Omg. You had me in stitches. The singing of the song from JCSS. The Vienna sausage legs
I was dying. Weddings have changed ... dramatically. Mine was in front of the fireplace in our new house. A friend brought little tealights and some flowers from the grocery store. I was in a borrowed sundress. My husband in a suit from high school. Not a fancy thing about it. And I wouldn't change a thing. Keep this stuff coming. You have a comedic flare.
Gretchen
Comment Written 20-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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I love the sound of your wedding. To me, that is perfection, because it's about the feeling and the relationship, and even all this time later, yours comes through loud and clear.
Love this review; thank you!
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Of course. I enjoyed this very much.
Gretchen
Comment from Michele Harber
Very funny, but I wish you'd posted this 27 years ago, when I got married. It seems I did everything wrong.
My husband proposed to me following the private birthday dinner he'd made me, on one knee and with a ring hidden in a planter. I had no bachelorette party, but a shower thrown by my aunt at an Italian restaurant. My dress was from a discount bridal shop in Commack, and I fell in love with and bought just the second dress I tried on. None of my measly 100 guests performed upon entrance to the reception. The closest was my mother-in-law, Roslyn Harber. The wedding was at The Swan Club, in the town of Roslyn Harbor. As the bandleader was introducing the family members, he got to my in-laws and said, "And now ... You've got to be kidding me!!!"
You certainly touched on the most Kardashianesque elements of the wedding circus -- and I seem to have missed all of them. That must be why Kim turned down my invite.
I enjoyed your side story about "I Don't Know How to Love Him." I walked down the aisle to "The Wedding March," and the only song anyone could have questioned at the reception was chosen deliberately: "A Little Bit More" by Dr. Hook, which we used when guests were invited to join us on the dance floor for the first time. For a while, I was in email contact with the lead singer, Dennis Locorriere. As I told him, we had three generations of people, including my husband's grandmother, on the dance floor blissfully dancing to a song they never realized was maybe 25% about being in love, and 75% about making love!
As usual, you picked out the salient points to discuss, and did so with your very enjoyable sense of humor. Thank you for a fun read, and for bringing back some very pleasant memories.
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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Very funny, but I wish you'd posted this 27 years ago, when I got married. It seems I did everything wrong.
My husband proposed to me following the private birthday dinner he'd made me, on one knee and with a ring hidden in a planter. I had no bachelorette party, but a shower thrown by my aunt at an Italian restaurant. My dress was from a discount bridal shop in Commack, and I fell in love with and bought just the second dress I tried on. None of my measly 100 guests performed upon entrance to the reception. The closest was my mother-in-law, Roslyn Harber. The wedding was at The Swan Club, in the town of Roslyn Harbor. As the bandleader was introducing the family members, he got to my in-laws and said, "And now ... You've got to be kidding me!!!"
You certainly touched on the most Kardashianesque elements of the wedding circus -- and I seem to have missed all of them. That must be why Kim turned down my invite.
I enjoyed your side story about "I Don't Know How to Love Him." I walked down the aisle to "The Wedding March," and the only song anyone could have questioned at the reception was chosen deliberately: "A Little Bit More" by Dr. Hook, which we used when guests were invited to join us on the dance floor for the first time. For a while, I was in email contact with the lead singer, Dennis Locorriere. As I told him, we had three generations of people, including my husband's grandmother, on the dance floor blissfully dancing to a song they never realized was maybe 25% about being in love, and 75% about making love!
As usual, you picked out the salient points to discuss, and did so with your very enjoyable sense of humor. Thank you for a fun read, and for bringing back some very pleasant memories.
Comment Written 20-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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I LOVE these wedding memories and am so glad you shared them. And they're told with such happiness in your tone, reflective of a good life together...even without 700 more people in attendance.
Thanks for your sweet words about the piece and the even sweeter words about your own matrimonial experience.
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You're welcome.
You're absolutely right about the happiness and the good life together. I had a great wedding, and love telling wedding stories. For instance, I hate "The Chicken Dance," and instructed the bandleader not to play it. When a theater friend of mine requested it, he was politely turned down. So, he and the rest of my theater friends performed their own acapella version. They were actually slightly less annoying that the recorded version.
Comment from Carol Clark2
I enjoyed this, and I think the wedding situation has grown even more out-of-control in the years since you wrote this. Don't forget the bridal shower. No more simple and practical gifts; they must be extravagant (i.e. expensive) and elaborate! After all, the bride and groom seem to need to start out with all the luxuries of those who've worked for 30-some years to afford them. Blessings.
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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I enjoyed this, and I think the wedding situation has grown even more out-of-control in the years since you wrote this. Don't forget the bridal shower. No more simple and practical gifts; they must be extravagant (i.e. expensive) and elaborate! After all, the bride and groom seem to need to start out with all the luxuries of those who've worked for 30-some years to afford them. Blessings.
Comment Written 20-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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Oh, yes!! Good point. And p.s., haven't most brides and grooms already been LIVING with their partners already? Like, couldn't they have already bought this stuff THEMSELVES??!!
Anyway, thanks for the terrific review. I loved it. xo
Comment from Mary Vigasin
A very clever and fun put down of ridiculous and elaborate weddings. I love it when these couples complain about not having enough money for a down payment on a house, yet the cost of dress, ring, and venue together would have made a decent down payment.
I enjoyed reading.
Best wishes
Mary
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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A very clever and fun put down of ridiculous and elaborate weddings. I love it when these couples complain about not having enough money for a down payment on a house, yet the cost of dress, ring, and venue together would have made a decent down payment.
I enjoyed reading.
Best wishes
Mary
Comment Written 20-Sep-2022
reply by the author on 20-Sep-2022
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I know! Isn't it obnoxious?!! But, oh, Mary, how great they look on their YouTube channel. (Tradeoffs, I guess...)
Thank for the validating review! Very much appreciated. xo