Unplug Me, Please!
August 14th, 2008 @ 9:32 am by Miss Sweet Tea
Why, oh why, do I watch wedding tv shows?
There was a brief moment prior to being engaged when I would compulsively watch television shows like Whose Wedding Is It Anyway, saying it was mostly to judge the “bridezillas” (a horrible word if there was one) but really because I kind of liked it. There is something simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating about watching an elaborate wedding full of problems go off without a hitch at the last moment. While I turned off the shows really quickly once I actually got engaged and, you know, got busy planning, in the past few days I’ve gorged myself on tv shows as thrilling as Say Yes to the Dress and Wedding SOS. The lengths I’ll go to procrastinate are unlimited, apparently.
Helping me ease my habit, Sarah Haskins puts the wedding show-mania in hilarious perspective:
Seriously though, sometimes I worry that by overdosing on other people’s weddings, I’m starting to become more OCD about my own. All the florals! The dresses! The cakes! Oh my! I can’t help but compare, and that just makes me one frazzled ST.
Do you think that watching too much wedding tv (or, heck, even reading too many wedding blogs like this one) has unrealistically heightened your expectations about your own wedding?
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25 Responses to “Unplug Me, Please!”
Yes Yes Yes! Thanks for validating me! I finally deleted “Whose Wedding Is It Anway?” from my DVR. It just stresses me out. I’ve also decreased my wedding blog reading - with two months to go there isn’t too much left to do and reading/watching weddings makes me rethink decisions, design schemes and menus!
MomRa - hilarious!
I try to avoid wedding shows - too much to do for my own wedding to watch people go crazy over theirs and as trashy as they can be, they’re horribly addicting/fascinating. Instead, I read about weddings on weddingbee. 
That video just made my morning!
I worry about reading Weddingbee too much. I’m pretty low key about my wedding, but sometimes I see people’s fancy invitations, elaborate decorations, etc. and it stresses me out. It is fun to get inspiration from the site, but not if it makes you feel bad about your own wedding.
Not so much because I end up watching the shows where they build up the suspense by dramatically enhancing the smallest of problems. If anything, i’m probably just worried that if a problem shows up during the wedding, I’ll be so used to waiting for a commercial break, that I won’t know what to do.
I loved that video (That “fat bride” show was terrible!) and I agree wholeheartedly with Sarah. I really had to stop myself the other day and remind myself what my wedding is actually about and that while some of these things are really amazing, I don’t need them to make my wedding awesome.
That video was awesome. I’ve never seen the Bulging Brides show, but it looks horrible. I can’t believe what they were saying to that beautiful woman. She looked great.
I’ve been watching a lot of “Whose Wedding” episodes. I don’t know if that has been making me nuts or if it’s everything combined. But I’m definitely going nuts, especially with this expectation to look absolutely perfect on that one day. It’s a lot of pressure.
I am going to agree with the previous posts and say that Bulging Bride show is awful! First off, neither of those brides shown were “bulging” at all! That show cannot be for real!!! Who would put themselves through that?
Haha! I love Sarah. Her video about yogurt is my favorite. I blogged about it Ma href=”http://www.snaptacularphotos.com/blog/?p=169″>here.
Sara Haskins is hilarious. She had a segment on Yogurt that made me snort cola through my nose! If you can still laugh about it, wedding TV isn’t a problem. I do think you’re in trouble in you start to see these girls/ladies as sympathetic though, (ie I would have screamed at that #@$% too if she stepped on my veil…)
Shortly before my cousin’s wedding, we sat down to assemble favors while watching a marathon of Bridezillas. We were cracking up over all the drama, cursing and really how classless a lot of the people are, but we were also really sad at how the women mistreat people. It kind of put things into perspective for us during those last stressful days.
& I will admit I tivo Platinum Weddings and read WeddingBee wayyyy too much. : )
Right after my wedding I found that my desire to watch all things wedding related went away. Of course now I can barely tear myself away from A Baby Story!
Becky
I LOVE watching wedding shows - it reinforces how NOT crazy I am!
I love watching “Rich Bride, Poor Bride” on Slice in Canada - it helps me to stay focused on what’s REALLY important in my wedding - marrying the love of my life.
On one episode I saw, the bride’s fiance forgot to bring the programs to the church on their wedding day - and after he told the bride this on the phone, she hung up and said to her MOH “What a f*cking idiot.”
REALLY??? Perspective, please!
Bulging Brides = horrifying
Sarah Haskins = my new girl crush/ major distraction from packing to move
While I agree with all - recently I myself have stopped watching those shows because I get crazy about my own and it bugs my FI to have to watch - I think I am more like Becky.
I started watching because it is my next phase in life, and I have few ideas of what to expect. I don’t have anyone near to me who has been married recently (except a few friends), so I have no expectations, either. I bet I’ll be like that with baby shows too - trying to get ideas of what to expect and what I want to happen.
And haha, Mr Mango, thats a funny worry to have.
That was really funny! I watch all those shows! FI usually makes comments on how crazy the girls on Bridezilla are…I always tell him to be thankful! I still watch them, but I laugh more than I did before, which is good…I think!
I don’t watch the shows much (only one TV, and FH will NOT watch them…except the Redneck Wedding show on CMT), but I have a major love/hate relationship with wedding blogs. I LOVE them, but they are my biggest distraction from getting things accomplished (like right now).
YES! Completely heightened my expectations. (No TV shoes but tons of blogs . . . WeddingBee, Style Me Pretty, Snippet & Ink, A Practical Wedding, etc. etc. etc.)
But I can’t stop . . . . argh.
I second Amy H.
Haha, thank you so much for this video!! My younger brother got married last weekend, and watching him & his uber stress-free bride inspired me to just “let it go.” My goal is to enjoy these last few weeks without any breakdowns!
I bought my gown today and completely resent it, almost to the point of hating it. It’s beautiful, but I didn’t get that “Wow, it’s The One” feeling everyone claims the bride is supposed to experience… I’m wondering if watching those shows has created unrealistic expectations… or if I really did make a horrible mistake :/
Miss Sweet Tea, San Diego/New Orleans
Age and Occupation: 26, Graduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web Monkey
Engagement Date: December 1, 2007
Wedding Date: December, 2008
Blogging Since: July 14, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony, museum reception
About Me: I'm an East Coaster living on the West Coast, planning a wedding in the South. I teach, study and write about pop culture, race, and sexuality for a living- now if only my dream job paid! After Mr. Sweet Tea, my other loves are scuba diving, traveling, being a semi-pretentious foodie, and fighting for social justice. I can't wait to have our best friends and family together in our favorite city to
celebrate with us!
If anything I think it calmed me down a little. I am naturally a perfectionist and stress about things that I should just let go. B/c I watched so many women make themselves miserable about their wedding on some of these shows, I think I paid closer attention to the things that were really important at my wedding and my mantra for the things that did not go well at the reception (oh and there were plenty) was “Let it go. Its over and done with”. The ceremony was perfect and I love to close my eyes and remember it. That helps to ignore the things at the reception I wish I could change. its really all about the ceremony anyway when its only about the two of you.