The OurWeddingDay Blog

It's time for a new installment of one of our favorite blog series: Altarcations over at Gawker, in which Phyllis Nefler "reviews" the Weddings & Celebrations section of The New York Times.

This week Nefler attempts to review the newlyweds in rhyme!  And while it's not the most lovely poetry we've ever read, the fun and excitement of the nuptials make up for the fact that Nefler is no Wordsworth!

Here's an example:

Friehling fell "immediately in love with her, without a doubt,"
And when he served their table he would always go all out.
Although Hali found him too young (at that point he was 22)
They ran into one another on a Tulum beach; sparks flew.

See what we mean?  So cute!

Check out this week's special rhyming edition of Altarcations here!

Gawker's wedding expert, Phyllis Nefler, is on vacation this week, so someone else took over for her reviewing The New York Times' Weddings & Celebrations section.  That in itself isn't unusual, but their choice for a guest writer is: Hunter Walker, a man!  Can a male writer do justice to all the bride-centric goings on?  Let's find out!

The answer is sadly, 'no.'  Hunter starts off by declaring that weddings are a "bigger deal" for women, and refers to a recent study showing how men benefit financially from getting married.  Hardly a romantic place to start an Altarcations column!  The Gawker editor seemed to think so too, as three separate comments (playfully) admonished Hunter!

When he finally gets around to this week's couples he's pretty rude about it, calling couples names and everything!  Check out this week's Altarcations here.

All in all, it was an especially sour Altarcations.  We're not fans of this Hunter character.  We miss Phyllis.

Before Phylis Nefler gets down to her weekly task of reviewing The New York Times' Weddings & Celebrations section, she discusses Tamara Duricka and her blog, 31 Dates in 31 Days.

There were, of course, "rules" to the 31 dates:

Each date lasts at least 31 minutes.
Each date costs less than $31.
Dates will take place in a public setting.
No drugs.
No alcohol (Yes, seriously. None.)
No married men.
AND… date #31 (Valentine's Day) will be a second date!

Why are we reading about Tamara in Altarcations?  Duh!  Her plan worked, and date #31 was in fact a second date, after which many more dates with her Mormon Prince Charming followed.  Congratulations to them!

On to the featured couples: This week we have a Quaker girl & an NBC anchor, a 24-year-old comedienne who married the brother of the guy she was "supposed to" end up with, and so much more.

Check out this week's Altarcations here.

Phyllis Nefler is back from her vacation, and as great a job as Lilit Marcus did filling in for her last week, we're thrilled Altarcations is back to normal.  Check out this cute little 'welcome back' that Gawker inserted to the beginning of her post: "She's well rested from vacation and is in the shotgun position to take on this week's NYT's Weddings & Celebrations, filled with funny hats, Jews, iPods, and a serious lack of N.W.A. Typical."

This week Nefler expresses her new-found love of Southern weddings and suggests that Southern bridal parties require a special name.  She suggests a few, before her Southern collegue settles the matter:

"I think we need to come up with a word for that particular bride and her ladies. A rhinestone of southern women? A gossip of gals? A cackle? A platinum? A whoopdedoo?

"Reached via Twitter, Lilit decreed: "The technical term is 'all y'all.' We will also accept "a pageant."

Then it's on to this week's weddings, which featured a surprising number of funny hats and unintentional connections to "Steel Magnolias" and "The Thomas Crown Affair!"

Check out this week's Altarcations here.

Welcome back, Phyllis!

Phyllis Nefler is on vacation this week, but unlike her last vacation when her column was cut short, this time a guest writer (Lilit Marcus) was brought in to review the Weddings section of The New York Times.  Before she gets to that, though, she shares insight into some regional wedding customs, like this nugget:

"...growing up in the South, I learned many important lessons about marriage, many of which were funny and sometimes useful regional customs! Like: Did you know you're supposed to say "best wishes" to the bride instead of "congratulations," lest you accidentally imply that the bride won her groom through trickery or deceit?"

Interesting!

On to this week's brides: we have a couple whose Marc Jacobs Latin-inscribed leather bracelet earned them the "top position," drunken karaoke, adorable photos and so much more.  We miss Phyllis, but Lilit did a great job.

Check out this week's Altarcations over at Gawker here.

Every week week we direct you to Altarcations, the always fun and often snarky feature over at Gawker in which Phyllis Nefler reviews the Weddings & Celebrations section of The New York Times.

Altarcations has been a bit less "fun" lately, though.  First when New York state politics briefly became a focus, and second when Nefler missed the following week for her well-deserved vacation.  We were thrilled to have her back last week, but this week's edition of Altarcations reveals a new thorn in Nefler's side: Those who marry at Christmas time.

Of course, we're all exaggerating here; Nefter's recent and brief bits of "anger" are much more playful than how we're making them seem.  Check out this week's Altarcations here.

Last week we told you about Phyllis Nefler's wonderful "Altarcations" feature at Gawker, in which she rates couples in The New York Times Weddings & Celebrations section.  Let's check out this weeks installment!

This week we have politics a-plenty, with the Kerry and Bush families making surprise appearances, as well as The Times' "bitchy" layout decisions and so much more!  Fun!

Check out this week's Altarcations here!

Gossip site Gawker has a Sunday feature Altarcations, in which couples featured in The New York Times' Weddings & Celebrations are scored and rated by Gawker writer Phyllis Nefler.  It's usually pretty funny, and not at all as mean-spirited as our little description might unintentionally imply.

This week's installment of Altarcatiosn (we love that title!) featured that fabulous photo you see above, and included this letter to Phyllis:

"Dear Gawker,
On August 16, we were subjects of Phyllis Nefler's Altarcations nuptial scoring.

Having not met the other couple, but realizing we were in the same neighborhood, we arranged to meet for beers and bratwurst.  It was quite an enjoyable time – visual evidence is attached.  Many thanks for making the introduction."

We love it!  This weeks installment also features other couples, fun photos and links to videos.  Check out the entire Altarcations post here.