Given the season, it’s hardly surprising that the Wall
Street Journal would report on the newest bridal trend. But
the trend itself is anything but predictable: Brides are hiring
wedding “photojournalists” to snap risque pre-ceremony photos of
them — in their lingerie, in provocative poses, or even in the
bathroom.
Certainly, the phenomenon highlights just how far removed the
modern wedding has become from a ceremony primarily intended to
commemorate the union of a man and woman before God. Many weddings,
it seems, have become little more than an excuse for a couple to
enjoy a really big party, featuring a bride who’s playing “queen
for a day.” Church services are bare-bones and hastily conducted so
that all in attendance can hastily decamp to the reception and get
down to the real business of the day: Partying.
In earlier times, of course, “sexiness” was restricted to the
honeymoon suite, and even there, came into play only after the
wedding. Now, it seems, brides are eager to flaunt what they’ve got
in front of a male photographer before any vows have been made (or
broken). That’s probably because, in most cases, brides are showing
the photographers no more than the bridegroom — and perhaps others
before him — have seen on a regular basis, given the frequency of
premarital cohabitation.
A marriage therapist and sociology professor quoted in the
Journal piece theorizes that the risque photos are a
refined form of irony, a means for the bride to poke fun at the
trappings of a traditional bridal ceremony. And it would be a
plausible explanation — if, in fact, the brides were being
subjected to traditional white weddings against their will.
But even as it’s become clear that the majority of brides aren’t
actually virgins on their wedding nights, symbols of chastity like
veils and white dresses have nonetheless remained valued parts of
bridal ceremonies. That’s true even though now, more than ever,
couples are paying for their own weddings, and can therefore
arrange them as they like. And so it’s worth asking: Why would
young women continue to opt for a traditional wedding when they
could skip the church, dress and veil, and simply precede a really
fabulous bash with some sexy boudoir shots?
Notwithstanding the jarring addition of provocative pictures,
the customary white wedding will remain the norm, quite simply
because it is still enormously important to women. Traditional
weddings speak to women’s deep-seated longing to have their union
with a man honored in a formal ritual that publicly recognizes the
importance and exclusivity of the relationship. Even a decadent
weeklong party at some splendid location lacks the emotional
resonance of the most minimal church ceremony.
Perhaps risque photos so popular at present are little more than
another symptom of a culture in which sexuality is celebrated above
everything else. But long after the trend passes, brides will
continue to wear white, and even long-cohabiting couples will
continue to choose to sleep apart the night before their weddings.
Those, at least, are hopeful signs that the ideals of modesty and
chastity remain powerful and are still being honored — even in the
breach.
