Wedding Bell Views

Chelsea Clinton’s decision to keep her wedding private was totally understandable. She never asked to be in the public eye, and has chosen to live a private life. It was certainly her prerogative to refuse to have her wedding videotaped and broadcast live to a worldwide audience.

I must admit that I do like to watch when certain famous people get married. Take the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, for instance. Now THAT was a wedding! No private, simple affair for those two. I happened to have the day of the wedding off work (complete coincidence, I swear!), and I got up at 5 a.m. to watch the wedding. Armed with lots of coffee and Kleenex, I watched every bit of that coverage. Sadly, that union ended badly, but the wedding was spectacular.

I also like to watch weddings of obscure strangers who happen to get lucky when applying to be on a reality show. I’m the person for whom they created all those wedding shows on cable. The first one I watched, and still my favorite, was “A Wedding Story” which was on TLC. It was very simple. They interviewed the couple who gave their back story, and then the cameras followed them around for a couple of days before the wedding. I absolutely loved it. I don’t think it is still in production, but “Whose Wedding is It Anyway?” (from the viewpoint of the wedding planner), fills my need to watch the wedding plans of total strangers.

I would say that how Chelsea Clinton conducted her wedding was none of my business, but the Clintons and I go way back. I’m practically an old family friend – I once saw Hillary and Bill speak in person in Market Square in Pittsburgh. You know, I did have some small part in contributing to their success. Heck, I’m STILL supporting Hillary for President. Come to think of it, I’m surprised that I didn’t make the guest list for the wedding of their only daughter. But it WAS a small affair – just 400 of Chelsea and Michael’s closest friends- so I was okay with staying home that day, just like Barack and Oprah did.

Nonetheless, if I couldn’t actually watch the ceremony I was still really, really happy to see some photos of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. Chelsea looked lovely, didn’t she? The dress, her hair, the makeup all looked just perfect on her. I liked the fact that it was an interfaith wedding and that the groom wore a tallis and a yarmulke. And they looked SO happy. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get a better look at Hillary’s dress, but it WAS Chelsea’s day, and given her penchant for privacy, I was just grateful for the glimpse I did get.

For the record, my interest in weddings of political figures and their children is totally bipartisan. I got pretty excited when Jenna Bush announced her engagement- I hadn’t seen a good White House wedding since Tricia Nixon got married so long ago. Imagine my disappointment when Jenna decided on a simple, private affair at the family’s ranch in Texas. Again, I was very happy and satisfied to see their pictures.

The truth is that I just love to look at wedding pictures- anyone’s wedding pictures. The wedding photos themselves are something to see nowadays. The photographers are suddenly doing all kinds of fabulous, creative, artistic photo shoots. Honestly, though, the pictures don’t have to be fancy to please me, and I don’t even have to know the people involved. I just like to see the dresses and the cake and the ceremony and the party, and all the smiling faces.

Seeing all these photos and watching “Say Yes to the Dress” does keep me up on the latest trends in wedding fashions, which interest me a great deal even though they are of no importance in my everyday life. For instance, it seems like nearly every bride must have a strapless gown nowadays. Some people benefit greatly from a well-placed strap, and don’t the brides today want some individuality? I do like that some bridesmaid dresses now are shorter and/or more individualized in style to each individual woman. Let’s face it, the bride’s dearest friends come in all shapes and sizes, and you really CAN wear some of these dresses again.

Personally, I believe that the best weddings are the ones where the couple do it their way and make it their own. And the best pictures are those where the happiness of the couple outshines everything else in the picture. So my advice to those planning their weddings: Wear the burgundy dress with straps and eat the cake made of cookies, if that’s what gives you pleasure. Remember to relax and have fun!

Oh, yes, and please don’t forget to post those pictures in Facebook so that I can see them.