Everyone was in Bathing Suits

Today we are talking about wedding attire, some of the mismatches that happen - like brides in $15,000 gowns and grooms in Tux T-Shirts, why it is important to inquiry about the dress code for weddings, the grace couples should give in deciding a dress code and, most humorously, the wedding I officiated where everyone was in their bathing suit. 

Transcript

0:04  
Welcome to The Wedding Where with Officiating by Amanda.

0:14  
The Wedding Where .... Everyone was in a bathing suit

0:25  
So welcome back to The Wedding Where! I'm excited to have you guys listen in today as we talk about the wedding where everyone was in a bathing suit, but more in a larger sense, definitely some wedding attire or unique wedding attire. I have seen a lot of things. I have seen dresses that are custom made, elaborately done, beautiful taking a picture next to their uncle, who's in jeans and a T shirt. In fact, I got a thought for an episode that's like my pet peeves, or my my little irks, which is where, again, the couple has, like, a formal level wedding, but does not specify on invites that it's formal level attire, and some people just do not get the memo. I have seen the printed shirts, you know, the little tuxedo tie printed on a shirt I have seen most the time, the bridesmaids and the bride looking immaculate. The hair, done, the makeup, done everything, and then the groomsmen in ill fitted tuxes, or not even that, flannels and just looking like the hot mess, and you can still smell the beer on them. So weddings, you could really go down a rabbit hole when you're planning your wedding about what everyone's wearing. And I know a lot of Bridezillas, and I use that term because it's colloquially a term I really in all my years can only count like 10 absolute monsters, and we get the stress of the day. It's a lot, but there's something else running underneath that. 

2:25  
So much emphasis on weddings is done on so many parts of the day. And for some people, they the big emphasis is on what they wear and what everyone else wears. And there's different levels too. You know, obviously, as the couple, yes, put a lot of thought into what you're wearing, what you look like. They're going to be in pictures. They're going to last forever. Put a little more thought into your parents, your bridal party, people that again, are going to be in pictures are going to be representative of you. You don't need to get mean about it in terms of something maybe not fitting for a bridesmaid or color not working or not available to be found for a groomsman. Sizing really is a gigantic pain to be very inclusive with what you're offering. If you go with one set style or one set item, and then there's the periphery and that that would include me as your officiant. You know, I don't get the invite everyone else gets. In fact, most of the times, I don't get invites at all, and I kind of have to set what my wardrobe is. I'll cover it at some point, but I pretty much know what I'm wearing, and it looks professional, but I'm comfortable. My attire fits to where. I know where I'm going, whether you're at a ballroom or in a forest or on the beach. So I make sure footwear works. I work to dress to fit the time of year, and the rest of the guests probably had some indicators on what they were to wear and what not to wear.

4:03  
So today's episode, with that preface out of the way, is about a wedding where everyone was in bathing suits, and I myself was invited to be in a bathing suit. So saying the scene, there was an older couple, they had originally booked a different officiant who, about a month before their wedding, was having some significant hurt issues. And their outreach to me was very you know, we are set. We're just looking for someone to come finalize this day, versus sometimes other couples that I meet with who are very early in the plans, they don't have a date, they don't know exactly what they want. This was not the case. The couple had the date, the time, the location. They had everything Ray go figured out, and they let me know that it was going to be at a water park, very nice hotel. Attached to the water park. It had been planned as a family trip for their kids and their grandkids, and when they booked this few months back, they figured, you know what, if everyone's all together, why don't we get married? But the promise was that they they promised their grandkids that they would not lose out on any water park time with this, that they would be dressed and ready to go for the water park. And as soon as Grandma and Grandpa got married, they were gone. They were going. Can't waste a single moment. Of course, I laughed when they invited me to wear a bathing suit, and I said, you know, I appreciate that I won't be but I also am not going to judge you all for being and day of I arrived at the hotel lobby and thought, Okay, this is a water park. Everyone's in a bathing suit. It's not going to be that easy to find who I'm supposed to find when I arrive at normal ceremonies, I look for, typically a woman in a white dress. I look for older gentlemen in suits and ties, like fathers of the bride or groom, because, believe it or not, some of them do know what's going on, or they could at least guide me to somebody else. I look for Day of coordinators or venue coordinators, caterers, DJs. They're typically all in black, like I am, or a similar professional, yet not a part of the wedding party attire. I arrived at a water park looking for a potential groom in a bathing suit. It could have fit a lot of people. It really could have, but thankfully this gentleman, I guess he took one look at me and realized, okay, that's someone not dressed in bathing suit. She probably isn't here for the water park, came right up to me. Said, follow me this way. Let's go on up. Everyone's already in the suite, and everybody was in their swimsuits. So excited, so happy, cover ups and sarongs and little kids in their their shorts and their tankinis, just they were itching for their water wings. They wanted this to be the quickest wedding that they had ever seen, and at five minutes, it really, really was five minutes take a few photos of the couple. I signed the paperwork, and they were straight to the water slides. I think some of the older teenager grandkids even left before the ink was dry, if we're being honest. And it was just kind of cool. I got done, I called my mom, and she goes, Oh, you know, what do you think of it being at the water park? I said, Yeah, everybody was in their bathing suits, and that's got to be more one of the most unique wedding attires I've seen. 

7:49  
It's not all of the unique ones, and some will get their own episodes, but others are just going to get mentioned here. I've done probably about five or six that have been all black weddings, with the exception of the bride and the groom. So bridesmaids are black, grooms are black. They write for all guests to be in all black. It's a really good thing that I'm typically in black, because sometimes the setting I would have gone with one of my like navy or my blue variety outfits, but I also was in black, and man, those photos have come out beautifully. And I don't know what exactly was written on the couple's website or under punishment of death that the bride would have put out, but not one single person was not in black, and it it was immaculate. I've had sports themed weddings like come wrapping your team. They're they're casual. There's some backyard events. It's just always funny, if you're not clear on your wording and your invite, what people are supposed to do. So I had one where the bride was in an eagle's jersey, Eagle's attire. Go birds, and the groom was in Philly's jersey, Philly's attire. We love it. And I would say about 50% of the guests were in their favorite teams jersey, the other 50% dressed in a semi formal attire, sport coat, tie, summer dress. It looked off. I mean, the couple, they didn't have a bridal party, so it was really just a couple their pictures, I'm sure, turned out great. But I wondered, with, you know, bigger family shots, or all the guest shots, is there something like, Hmm, who missed the memo? And you have to think, you know, every wedding is able to be done as the couple sees fit. Do you want a really casual wedding? Are. You okay that your pictures forever and ever are you and your husband in jerseys, you know? But hey, I, I have teams I follow and love. I don't have any that I would get a tattoo of or rep to the grave, so I'm probably not the best person to judge there and few weddings Halloween themed. Some of them have been more in the brides and black. Bridesmaids are in black. There's some orange touches, some purple touches, some skulls, more spooky themed. But I did have a wedding where everybody was in Halloween costume, except for myself, that is one where I probably should have followed the mold a little bit, because I think the pictures just look a little weird when all of the bridesmaids are different superheroes and their colors are representing different superheroes. The groom is dressed as Deadpool. The groomsmen, all have their costumes on of the earring types. The guests are all in costumes. And I was in a navy dress. I really probably should have, when the couple said we're having a costume Halloween wedding, I probably should have been like, like, everybody, everybody. But hey, hindsight is 2020 a lot of times attire isn't, isn't really an issue with me. I get a lot of couples that ask, Well, what do you wear? And I normally wear  a dress shorter to the knee, a little below the knee, during the spring and summer months, full length in the winter and the fall in black, navy. I've got a whole skew of blues. I have a few that are floral pattern. I have one that's a really gorgeous salmon. It's really great for summer weddings. One of my favorite ones is it I was on beach in Delaware for the wedding, and my beautiful salmon dress matched the leash of the dog who was the ring bearer it. I didn't plan it, but it looked like I was supposed to be a part of the bridal party, which is often not what I try to do. I want to make sure that I'm respectful of the bridal party and their role on the setting that I'm in, I wear footwear because I'm a klutz that would protect me in whatever situation or circumstance I'm in, and that's kind of typically it. I I try to make sure I'm never freezing. I try to make sure I'm never too hot. I just don't often match when a couple tells me the theme. And there's very few times where I sit back and go, I wish I had or I go, Gosh, it's lucky. I did pick my old black outfit today for the all black wedding, and it is one of the elements that if someone really was specific, really wanted me in something. Wanted me deadly seriously, wanted me in a bathing suit. I probably would have charged them for it to represent match their theme, just because that's different. It's really different, and I don't know that I've got it necessarily, already in my arsenal. So yeah, everyone wore a bathing suit. I did not. 

13:23  
And I think weddings can be a lot of fun when there's some fun things going on with attire, when they're able to be communicated calmly, decently, where couples remember that the day isn't just about them. You have to take into account what others might be comfortable wearing, what might fit them, what they might have the financial capacity to have on hand, and for guests as well. To take into account if an invite says formal research, what formal means if it says black, even if you don't look good in black, please take that into account that the couple requested it for a reason. If it says, Come in costume. Think about if you really are against costume. Do you want to be the only person not in costume? So I'm, I'm interested Have you into any really unique wedding attired events. Have you been somewhere where the groom is overly dressed, like, oh, I don't know, a five piece white suit with a top hat and cane, and the bride looks still gorgeous, but is in like a dress from Google or sheen or Amazon or something. Have you seen that tuxedo outfit, the printed on tuxedo outfit? Have you been at a wedding where everyone was in a bathing suit? I've done weddings at beaches, and actually they haven't been in bathing suits. So this was really shocking. Anyhow, Gerard. Up any of your thoughts, I'd be really, really interested if someone comments, oh my gosh, I also wore a bathing suit to somebody's wedding. Tell me all about it. I'm here for it. 

15:11  
Outro: Thank you for listening to The Wedding Where with Officiating by Amanda. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found some inspiration or insight for your own special day. This podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout and can be found on all major platforms. If you haven't already, please subscribe, like, comment and share to help us reach even more listeners who might laugh a little at The Wedding Where. For the links referenced in the show, visit linktree at officiatingbyAmanda. You can also follow the business on Facebook, Wedding Wire and the Knot to stay up to date on everything going on. If you have a question you'd like me to answer on the podcast, just send an email to theweddingwherepodcast@gmail.com and if you're ready to inquire about officiating services for your own big day, you can reach me at officiatingbyamanda@gmail.com. Thank you so much for tuning in and until next time this has been Amanda. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai