Weddings in your 30s

...was the title of an article in one of my Bridal magazines.

Beauty Tips:
Hide those wrinkles because they're starting to show.

Are you kidding me? Oh yeah! The magazine has all sorts of talk about ways to conceal those wrinkles and sun spots that are starting to show from those days in your teens and 20s when you could spend all day at the beach without sunscreen and still have perfect skin. In fact, i don't know about you but I always thought (and actually still think) that Vitamin D from the sun is good for my skin. Doesn't that mean that the longer I lay out, the less chance of a breakout?
And then there's the hair. Gone are the pretty curls cascading down your back, or wisping around from an updo. it's time for the classic, elegant, slick back (to show off all that concealer on your face, that's probably why they're seriously recommending it).

Bridesmaids:
Have less of them. Basically they say that by this time most of your friends have children and might not be able to get a sitter.
Choose dresses that will look good on friends who might be pregnant.

Wow, that kind of sucks. But I decided I'm only having two - my sister and my best friend of 25 years. Neither have kids and it would be cool if my sister is pregnant! She would love nothing more than to have a dress to show off she has a baby in her belly.

Wedding:
Destination Weddings. Chances are, they say, this is your second or third wedding and Mom and Dad are no longer paying for it. In this case, when the bride and groom have to fork out the money, combine it with the honeymoon. This will limit the guest list significantly, unless you have a bunch of friends and family who are dying to get out of town and your wedding is the perfect excuse.

That would be cool if my fiancee and I could even get off work for a long period of time. One thing they forgot to mention is how people in their 30s can't just go and take off on a long honeymoon if they have very demanding careers. In our industry, we are going to have to wait to take our honeymoon until the winter holidays when Hollywood literally shuts down. I've had producer friends hold off on their weddings because they were always traveling for business, to film festivals, for this premiere, that premier.  I've talked to other friends who got married and waited two years to have a reception. Really, these days, this age, and in this economy, etiquette goes out the wedding. Do what you can do.

Wow, I feel really old. To make it worse, they had articles for "Weddings in your 20s" and "Weddings in your 40s". I was so far off from the "20s" and not THAT far off from the "40s". Waaaahhh! But you know, it's true. As much as I want to have a party, I just cannot reason with saving thousands of dollars to put toward one day, when with that money I can pay down the debt I accrued from my first marriage. (What a mistake!) Even for my first wedding, I made the location far away to avoid having a ton of guests, and the wedding was still well over twenty grand. However, this is Brad's first wedding, and you think he was a girl, or sorry, "a woman in her 30s" the way he's been acting about it. He's concerned that the less guests we have, the less chances there are for registering for gifts. It's really not so much about the gifts themselves, as it is, he just wants to go shopping for our registries. Uh huh! Then there's the issue that he wants to invite his whole family and all his friends, and not to mention some co-workers. And he doesn't mind spending his hard-earned money. He's willing to spend his savings on this big day. He also wonders if, since i bought my wedding dress, if he now can go shopping for his tuxedo!!!! Yes, he wants to BUY one, since in the business we work, there are enough events to make it worth owing a tuxedo. I've even showed him the numbers it would cost us to have the guest list he proposes (which isn't even that high number-wise, but still) and he just shrugs and says, "Whatever you want..." after just saying, "Oh, but I have to invite so-and-so because he/she invited me to his/her wedding."

Despite all this, I have to say that there are two things that excite me about getting married in my 30s! I'm probably in the best shape ever and my dress looks ROCKIN' on me! And second, I'm marrying my first, true and real love! It feels like the first time because I feel mature enough and finally ready for a marriage and family.

Peace Out and wish me luck with my diva fiancee!

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Signed,
Marcieanna Jasko