Just this past weekend, there was a wedding of two people from wealthy & prominent families - he, the son of a former prime minister; and she, the daughter of a successful stockbroker.
When the story first came out, I was surprised that CBC radio dared to be so bold as to mention that both the bride & groom in this "fairy-tale wedding" were, um, somewhat underemployed -- that he, in his early thirties, a former teacher and now occasional public speaker, was thinking of returning to university soon; and she, freshly thirty, a former model & TV show host, was now a part-time personal shopper.
The newspapers were much more tactful, focusing on the arrangements themselves - the dress, the suit, the flowers, colour scheme, the car, the guests, the security, etc.
Oh, the security... Word has it in the office that the neighbourhood in Outremont was blocked off, that Mounties were in attendance, and police helicopters were circling the area...
At first I thought, how do these two underemployed kids rate such high-level security arrangements? and then realized their guest list undoubtedly must have demanded it. But in between those two thoughts, I came up with this one...
Imagine, you want to have a world-class wedding but you don't rate...
Could you style yourself a sort of a trompe l'oeil world-class wedding?
I mean, if you had "security" in Mountie outfits - wearing badges that stated clearly and distinctly, I am not a Mountie - would that be terribly illegal? And if you hired some professional impersonators to counterfeit the rich and famous... and asked your guests to come in costume as the politico or celeb whom they most resemble ... would that be breaking any laws?
Could you ask your wedding photographer & assistants to join in the spirit of things and "crash" your wedding as paparazzi, and then chase your car as you drive away? (Of course, you' re having the wedding & reception locally because you're trying to keep it low-key, you humble thing, you.)
How hard would it be, I wonder, to convince the person officiating to wear bishop's robes? or Papal regalia? or pass himself off as the Dalai Lama?
I think the best part would be sending the guests mocked-up newspaper clippings as thank-you notes. "We wanted to particularly thank the Prince of Wales & his dear wife for the lovely embossed cheese knife," exclaimed the bride in an interview after the reception, adding "we will think of them whenever we use it at our wine-tasting soirees."
Of course, there's always the cheap tabloid press photos, and the tadwry stories that go with them; you might encourage your guests to "sell their stories to the press" - and post their photos & stories on a website. (Caption competition, anyone?)
Yup. I predict these will soon be all the rage, these "faux fame" weddings.
Heck, I bet if you send out invitiations to enough Canadian celebs... chances are, some of 'em might even show up. :) It's the free meal. I can't tell you how many shows I've done just for the free meal...
Posted by edgar at May 30, 2005 10:24 AM