Monday, January 07, 2008

Seattle Wedding Show

In the words of an old musical: oh what a vision, oh what a show. People really have gone to town for weddings. When we arrived on Saturday morning, the convention center was already packed with avid wedding fanatics. There were booths for any and every wedding need you can imagine plus all sorts of services you probably never even considered. Each of these booths is there with the sole purpose of convincing you that you MUST HAVE what they offer. Examples include chair sashes, flower preservation services, rental fish (yes, live fish to make your tables look nice), and even a fully equipped party RV.

Mostly we just goggled at all the silliness and dodged the crowds. However, there were one or two areas where we made some progress. First, I think perhaps we may have found a florist. While I do not see the need for decorative fish or chair sashes, I am excited about having lots of flowers at both the ceremony and reception (I'm sort of a flower fanatic in real life too). The one booth caught my eye because of the unusual use of green blackberries in a green and white bouquet. The reasonable prices the lady quoted didn't hurt either, so I think we may talk to her about doing our flowers.

We spoke to several photographers as we wandered around. One common practice that surprised and horrified us was that of the photographer keeping the copyright to all photos. This means that they keep all the pics, and you get to choose a certain number to be made into prints. If you want more of your photos than the fixed number, you have to pay extra. With some of these people you cannot even make copies of your own photos! Add to that albums that cost $1500-$2000 for a single book! We were not impressed. Fortunately, there are a few photographers out there who differentiate themselves by avoiding these tactics. All we want is a talented person to come and take digital photos, and then hand us the CD. Is that so much to ask? Hopefully not.

The biggest coup of the day came in the ring department. We have looked at approximately eight thousand men's and women's wedding rings. M had seen several he liked but didn't love, and I had even less luck. At the show we happened across one lucky booth. They had the perfect ring for him. I cannot explain what made it perfect, but it just seemed to suit him. I put down a deposit, and we even got a discount for buying it at the show. Then, while we were waiting for them to fill out the paper work, my mom encouraged me to keep trying women's rings. I wasn't too optimistic because I hadn't seen anything promising while glancing through the case. The old saying "listen to your mother" has to be true because I did end up finding a very good prospect for my wedding ring. Both of our rings are quite simple even to the point of being plain, but I think they suit our personalities very well. I got more than a little thrill seeing M try on his.

As we left the show I felt torn. On the one hand, this was a perfect example of consumerism gone completely bonkers. People were there to shell out thousands of dollars for things they don't really need and from which they will derive no real benefit. On the other hand, I couldn't help but enjoy myself. There is something very satisfying about being there with M and my mom inspecting cakes and flowers. Who knows why. Nevertheless, I still do not feel any need to pay for rental fish.

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