Jogging in Atlanta a year ago, Chris Tuff tripped and fell. As his girlfriend, Julie Augustyniak, tried to help him up, Mr. Tuff, already on bended knee, pulled a diamond ring from his gym shorts.
“Julie, I love you more than anything in the world,” he said. Unbeknownst to Ms. Augustyniak, a cameraman lurking in a parked car nearby zoomed in and recorded her running into the street, screaming. She eventually calmed down enough to say yes — on camera
In case you missed this scene, you can now watch it on the couple’s wedding Web site www.doublemintwedding.com. At the bottom of their home page is a poll asking guests whether posting the engagement video online is a) very cute, b) cheesy, c) classic, or d) Chris’s idea.
Wedding Web sites — also known as “Wed sites” — were originally conceived as a convenient way for couples to notify guests of wedding events, provide directions and link to gift registries. Now they are turning into elaborate hubs of matrimonial exhibitionism, with confessional stories, courtship videos, and blow-by-blow accounts of the preparations.
In the “News and Updates” section on her Web site, bride-to-be Monika Razpotnik griped that making her own centerpieces was “a disaster,” finding a band was “a nightmare,” and looking for a dress was “a total disappointment.”
Tacky is as tacky does. Feh!
Well, tacky maybe. But I confess that being overseas and far away, I really enjoyed it when a friend who got married 4 years ago set up a wedding website. It was nice to keep up with what was going on!
Pardon me while I throw up. It here no level of tastelessness which is too much and too bizarre for Americans to practice? This is a peculiar kind of narcissism, but it is narcissism nonetheless.
It is as if no American can feel he exists if he has not been publically screened, as if his reality is rooted in the distant and secondary alone.
Look on this, and despair. LM
Having just gotten married a year ago, a web site would have been a good way to tell people what the whole thing was all about.
The down side is that most people were confused when we told them to go to http://www.thethingsiwant.com for our registry. It was very handy for us to use the free service.
I would would venture that having a web site is pretty neutral and that what you do with it is more important.
My wife and I got married almost a year ago (our first anniversary is June 3rd) and we had a wedding web site. Given that she is from California and I am from North Carolina and we have friends spread over the entire country the web site was a useful tool for several things. It allowed us to share information with our family and friends who had never met one or the other of us, plan events for the week of the wedding since many people were coming from out of state, provide information on hotels, transportation, directions etc… not at all narcissistic, and very helpful to everyone involved since it allowed us to share information with many people at the same time.
“not at all narcissistic?” Not is your case. But then, read the blog above then and tell me what it describes if not exhibitionism and narcissism, as tasteless as it is self-indulgent. Larry