The OurWeddingDay Blog

Reviewing NYT Nuptials... In Rhyme!

OWD — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:06:27 -0500

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!

A Guy Took Over Altarcations and Made it Much Less Fun

OWD — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:25:19 -0500

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.

Altarcations is All Fun and Games This Week

OWD — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:02:37 -0500

It's time again for our weekly Altarcations, in which Phyllis Nefler of Gawker rates & reviews the nuptials in The New York Times' Weddings & Celebrations section.

This week Nefler's a bit sports & stats-obsessed, thanks to the big football game this weekend. She even ponders a "conversion rate" formula predicting the success of new couples who meet at parties, with these variables considered: "availability/price point of alcohol, gender of hosts, length of hemlines, interconnectivity of social grids, number of Party in the USA plays, and most importantly: LIGHTING."

It all leads up to the first newly-married couple: huge sports fans, but for rival teams. Uh oh! Then it's on to a couple who's romance started with a violent game of vollyball, and a lovely couple who began as platonic yoga buddies.

It's fun and games at Altarctions this week! Check out the full article here.

Funny Hats and Southern Weddings Fill This Week's Altarcations

OWD — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:32:28 -0500

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!

Altarcations Guest Writer Discusses Regional Wedding Customs

OWD — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:49:32 -0500

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.

Bridal Beauty Trend Alert: Overplucked Eye Brows

OWD — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:41:24 -0500

How quickly things change: Just last April we were told that bushy eyebrows were "the thing." Now, according to The New York Times, it's practically no eyebrows at all!

Over-plucking is officially a trend. It has been before, sometimes beautifully so, from those fabulous flappers to many early Hollywood vixens (see Jean Harlow's famous peepers, above). But there's a fine line (literally!) between stylized glam and gothic horror show.

The Times piece seems to be pretty clear which side of the line they're on, right from their photo choice (see below). Not exactly a classic bridal look, is it?

The whole thing reminded us of that recent complaint from an American Apparel employee, who claims her American Apparel boss (and all around slimeball) Dov Charney sent around a newsletter telling sales workers to make sure their eyebrows are more like Brook Shields'.

Still, we've seen plenty of ladies look lovely with thinner or thicker brows, so we remain open on the subject... within reason.

Scoring This Week's Weddings with "Altarcations"

OWD — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:53:36 -0500

Cutting through our post-Thanksgiving turkey hangover haze is one of our favorite blog features, Phillis Nefler's "Altarcations" over at Gawker.

This week Phylis discusses a major Trekkie wedding (we love the groom's quote, "I don't need to be with someone who loves 'Star Trek', just someone who allows me to love it.") and how marrying on major holiday will affect your planning and attendance, all packed with Nefler's usual wit and hilarious commentary.

Check out this week's Altarcations here.

This Week's Altarcations: Rustic Romance, Xtreme Sports, and a 60-YO Beauty

OWD — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:31:41 -0500

You know we get a kick out of Gawker's "Altarcations," a weekly review of The New York Times' Weddings section. We've shared it with you many times because it's lots of fun, and this week is no exception.

This week Phyllis Nefler discusses the growing trend of rapping at weddings (!?!), what "generations of whalers" have to do with Vogue, a bride named Rainbow who is naturally planning a non-denominational wedding, a 60-year-old bride who looks great, a ranking a new "power couples," and -- of course -- much more.

Check out this week's "Altarcations" here.

"Altarcations" Unveils an Unusual Wedding Trend

OWD — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:51:41 -0500

It's that time again: Altarcations, one of our favorite wedding blogs. The gist is, Altarcations is feature at Gawker in which Phyllis Nefler reviews The New York Times' wedding section. It's lots of fun.

This week's Altarcations involves horseradish as a wedding trend, doing shots at the altar, cubs marrying cougars, dissections of "power couples" and a lot more!

Check out this week's Altarcations here.

Halloween Wedding Altarcations

OWD — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:28:06 -0500

Oh boy, it's time for one of our favorite blog series: Altarcations.

It's a weekly feature over at Gawker, in which Phyllis Nefler reviews The New York Times' "Weddings" section. And we love it.

This week Halloween weddings make an expected appearance, as does a wedding which was fully described before it took place (spoooooky!), the introduction of the acronym "LOB" into the lexicon (it stands for "Level of Brutality"), and a whole lot more.

Check out thois week's Altarcations here.