Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest
Jen Doll
Language: English
Pages: 336
ISBN: 159463386X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
An “engaging and disarmingly honest” (People) examination of the search for love and the meaning of marriage in a time of anxiety, independence, and indecision.
Weddings. They’re fun, festive, and joyful, and at a time when people marry later in life—and sometimes not at all—they offer endless opportunities to reexamine love and what we want for ourselves, regardless of whether or not our aim is a walk down the aisle. In Save the Date, Jen Doll charts the course of her own perennial wedding guesthood, from the ceremony of distant family members when she was eight to the recent nuptials of a new boyfriend’s friends.
There’s the first trip home for a childhood pal’s big day, in which she learns that her first love has eloped to Hawaii. There’s the destination wedding attended with little baggage beyond a suitcase of strappy sandals and summery party dresses. Regrettably, there is a series of celebrations that mean the end to a valued friendship. There’s also the wedding that offers all the promise of new love.
Wedding experiences come in as varied an assortment as the gowns at any bridal shop, and Doll turns a keen eye to each, delivering a heartfelt exploration of contemporary relationships. Funny, honest, and affecting, Save the Date is a fresh and spirited look at the many ways in which we connect to one another.
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Susan and Carl must have been in their twenties or thirties, pretty much ancient. But there was another problem here, a bigger one, to tackle: Married grown-ups didn’t always stay together, I interjected, citing my mom’s own divorce, before she married my father, and also my uncle’s. “By all counts,” I said, quoting some stat I’d heard on TV or in school that indicated that remarried couples were more likely to split, “you and Dad should be divorced by now, too.” My mom sighed. “My nose isn’t in
well on their own as singles, too. Single women who are poor and less educated, on the other hand, often benefit greatly from marriage in earlier adulthood, particularly if they have children. And, of course, everyone benefits from a relationship that is good and stable. But whether people need to be married to have “goodness” and “stability” is another discussion. It’s worth noting, too, that views of marriage are different around the world. In Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway, for
them precious, like the moment captured in the keepsake photo right before everyone jumped in the pool and ruined their silk dresses and tuxedos with all that chlorine. What you felt then, in that second, was real. What happens at love camp stays at love camp. • • • The plane landed safely. Everyone clapped. • • • The bride and groom had arranged a bus to the resort, and we departed from the airport in a big, convivial cluster, talking faster and louder as we passed scenic spots and
he said, glancing at his watch. “How are you holding up, Em?” Emily nodded, confirming she was okay, but Rachel and I were both near tears anyway. “What happened?” we asked. “How could this happen?” Emily spoke slowly, wearily. She’d said this before. “There were peanuts in the crust of the pecan pie. I ate a tiny, tiny piece before realizing. I knew it immediately and told Mark. Don’t worry, Mark knows what to do.” Rachel and I looked at each other, worried anyway. “Thank God they’re both
white, shiny dresses in the room loomed before us like ghosts of brides past. “Hi,” she said brightly. “Can I help you?” We’d planned ahead that we would avoid revealing the whole truth about Marjorie’s dress, since technically it was supposed to go to another store, and we didn’t have time to be told no. Marjorie started. “I brought my wedding dress in,” she said. “They were supposed to steam it, but it’s a wreck.” “I’ll take a look at that,” said the woman, pursing her lips to keep