• i thee dread

    Couple's First Kiss Happened At The Altar

    We've heard of no sex before marriage, but no kissing? Melody Laluz, 28, and Claudaniel Fabien, 30, got married over the weekend, and when they smooched at the altar, it was their first kiss on the lips. They were friends for two years and in a "courtship" for one year, but since they both teach abstinence courses to Chicago public school teens, they decided to practice what they preach. Hence: A "no kissing" rule. To "avoid temptation," they were never alone together in a house. If they watched movies on a couch, they would snuggle sitting up, never lying down. Fabien says: "It really tested us and encouraged us to grow closer in our hearts and our minds, just expressing things verbally." All of this is very nice and romantic. But Laluz says: More »

    12:30 PM on Mon Dec 1 2008
    By Dodai
    18,447 views, 377 comments

    Most discussed hortense: I ain't taking the car out of the parking lot without a test drive, but perhaps that's just me. more »

  • i thee dread

    The Look Of Love: Latest Wedding "Trends" Are About Money, Mental Health

    "The minute we said our vows, I couldn't stop crying," declares Heidi Montag of her recent runaway marriage to Spencer Pratt. And they're right on trend! Apparently elopement — and post-wedding depression — are on the rise. More »

    4:00 PM on Mon Nov 24 2008
    By Sadie
    8,589 views, 135 comments

  • i thee dread

    Hello Kitty Wedding Gowns: For The Child(ish) Bride

    Maybe you're Mariah Carey. Maybe you're a Japanophile. Or maybe you're just young at heart. Whatever your excuse, if you love Hello Kitty, you'll be interested to know you can totally get handmade wedding gowns inspired by Sanrio's popular feline character, and they don't even have to be white! Let's take a look, after the jump. More »

    4:30 PM on Tue Oct 28 2008
    By Dodai
    14,259 views, 124 comments

    Most discussed Twilly: Let's brainstorm first dance songs.... more »

  • i thee dread

    Single Chick Hopes To Score Hubby With Super Bowl Personal Ad

    The Dow is down, but Amy Borkowsky's hopes are high. She's trying to raise $3 million to buy a Super Bowl commercial, which will serve as a personal ad in her search for Mr. Right. Borkowsky, who, according to the New York Post, gives her age as "somewhere between Carrie and Samantha," has a background as an ad exec, so she knows how to target a market. "Dating is a numbers game," she says. "I need to reach a large pool of guys." She has a website, where she accepts donations toward her $3 million goal; she now has about $1,121. The question here is fairly obvious: Is this stunt embarrassingly desperate? Or is Borkowsky smartly going after what she wants? More »

    12:30 PM on Fri Oct 24 2008
    By Dodai
    7,273 views, 108 comments

    Most discussed Clare116: She lost me with the pink-accented athletic jersey. Those are lame. more »

  • i thee dread

    Recession Bliss: Is Your Big Day Worth Picking Up Trash For?

    Gemma Scott wanted a big wedding so much that when her fiance, Dan, a plumber and fireman, told her he couldn't afford the event she envisioned, she broke up with him. Eventually Dan won her back after the couple worked out a plan: bartering. It was decided that in their spare time, the two would work doing building work and housekeeping, respectively, at the venues and church in exchange for a discount. The couple managed to save almost $20,000 and apparently had the wedding of their dreams. More »

    5:00 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
    By Sadie
    9,263 views, 162 comments

    Most discussed bandit a la mode: She broke up with him because he couldn't afford her "dream" wedding?... jeez. And he took her back after that? more »

  • i thee dread

    Writer Suggests Manipulating Your Man Into Marriage

    Recently, we received an email from the home office, saying that there were copies of the new book by Lori Uscher-Pines called The Get-Your-Man-to-Marry-You Plan: Buying the Cow in the Age of Free Milk available, if we wanted one. (I replied: "Sorry, I am too busy working on MY book, Who Is Buying So Much Bull In The Age Of Tainted Beef.") But Uscher-Pines is in the New York Post today, with the Top 5 Dos & Don'ts To Get Him To The Altar. More »

    12:30 PM on Tue Oct 7 2008
    By Dodai
    11,943 views, 376 comments

    Most discussed SisterMaryMartha: Why do we never hear about men tricking women into marriage? Stupid fucking shite. more »

  • i thee dread

    Has Wedding-Bashing Jumped The Shark?

    Today on The Smart Set, Jessa Crispin mounts a critique of a pair of books, Susan Squire's I Don't: A Contrarian History of Marriage and Rebecca Mead's One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding, both of which set out to expose the marriage industry for the patriarchally-based, commercial brain-wash that it is. Crispin feels that neither of the books really does much beyond the superficial to really redress the situation, beyond pointing up the obvious: lots of the traditions underlying weddings are either rooted in something offensive or crass products of the wedding industry; weddings are out of control (Bridezillas, anyone?) and people feel immense pressure to shell out for the myth of the perfect day, which obviously has nothing to do with the reality of marriage. Yes, we get it: weddings suck. Lots of people have misplaced priorities and spend money on stupid things. But "weddings" are an easy target: they're easy to mock because even at their most earnest they're based on optimism, and that's easy to disparage. But choosing to have a wedding is valid, people! I'm excited to get married. And I don't think admitting that makes me a dupe or a lesser feminist. More »

    5:00 PM on Thu Aug 28 2008
    By Sadie
    6,776 views, 133 comments

    Most discussed MilointheMeadow: so i'm at that point in my 20s where pretty much anyone i've ever known is getting married. and more »

  • hell's bells

    Ellen & Portia May Wed... But Is Marriage Itself That Great Of A Goal?

    Over on Feministing, there's a post about a the commercial at left, which has apparently been playing in California. In the spot, a bride encounters a variety of annoying obstacles on her wedding day. It's a struggle just to get to the aisle, and she never quite makes it down the aisle. The copy at the end of the ad reads, "What if you couldn't marry the person you love? Every day, gay and lesbian couples are prevented from marrying." Feministing blogger Ann writes, "On one level, I really like this approach because it uses the wedding-industrial complex against itself… Taking the ultimate heteronormative, capitalist celebration and turning it into an argument for equality. I like that." But even though Ellen and Portia may tie the knot in California this weekend, some people think the CA marriage decision isn't really something to celebrate: More »

    6:00 PM on Fri Aug 15 2008
    By Dodai
    5,424 views, 57 comments

    Latest by FroderickFronkensteen: Marriage may not be the ONE AND ONLY goal for the LGBT community, but it is a major goal for more »

  • i thee dread

    The Author Of The Rules Tricks Another Dude Into Marrying Her

    We know, we know: Ellen Fein, 50, she of nauseating self-help book The Rules, got married. Again. There's a big story in Sunday's New York Times. This is the woman who wrote all about snagging a guy — "Trust in the natural order of things," her book advises. "Namely, that man pursues woman." — and then had her husband leave her after 16 years of marriage. Was her divorce court claim of "abandonment" also the "natural order of things"? Anyway, after her divorce, this woman went to a singles weekend at sleep-away camp for adults in Connecticut. All together now: Ew. But wait! That's where she met Lance Houpt, her future husband. More »

    4:30 PM on Mon Aug 11 2008
    By Dodai
    10,072 views, 178 comments

    Latest by envirodesigner: @Archetype: it's against the rules more »