Sideways is probably the best written, most brilliantly acted version of the classic “bachelor party gone awry” plot you‘ll ever see. Set in the beautiful wine country around Santa Barbara, CA, two men muddle through discovering themselves before one of them gets married. Hugely popular when it came out, Sideways won an Academy Award for screenwriting, and was nominated for a handful of others. This is one wedding movie everyone will enjoy. Best served with a chardonnay.
Cheers!
The 1991 adaptation of Father of the Bride starring Steve Martin is on AFI’s top 100 comedies of all time. This does not surprise me. Steve Martin is an American comedy legend, and as longtime readers of this blog know, I adore Martin Short’s performance in the role of Franck, the wedding planner, and have posted before about the film.
I have not seen the Spencer Tracy/Elizabeth Taylor original. I suppose I should. Somehow, I’d rather just sit and watch Steve Martin masterfully portray the simultaneous confusion of losing his little girl, and being inducted into the strange world of weddings. Oh, BTW? The AFI thinks it’s funnier than “The Jerk.” I concur.
Biz Bash, an event industry trade paper, recently ran a piece on what drives PR and corporate planners crazy at parties they attend. Amy Sacco, founding partner and creative director, LDV Hospitality Nightlife, listed four points, three of which translated so well into wedding world, I had to share. Today, we cover Amy Sacco’s irritant number one* in the next few days, on to the next two.
When events are pitched as intimate or exclusive and then you find guests’ assistants there
It doesn’t take a lot of creativity to translate this one into the wedding experience.
A couple explains their tiny, intimate wedding and matching brutally small head count. The venue only holds so many people, or there are budget issues, and that’s why the guest list is so lean, and you can’t bring your fiancé. Apologies are made, and tears are shed.
Your tears dry pretty quickly, though, on wedding day when you’re seated with the bride’s sister’s boyfriend’s mother. You think I’m kidding don’t you? This happened to me. The bride’s sister-in-law’s brother and her parents were there too. My boyfriend of three years sat at home. The upshot? I had a crappy time at that wedding, and remember it as an unpleasant experience to this day.
The Fix:
Guest List Diplomacy. Think a little before you cross someone off or decide on your “plus ones.” You could be changing a dear friend or relative’s experience of your wedding completely for the benefit of your father’s chiropractor. This is your day, but do you want people to remember it as a miserable one? Probably not.
Stay tuned for Amy’s next pet peeve, how it pertains to wedding planning, and how to avoid it!
Live well, and love well.
-Dinah
*Note. Amy’s Biz Bash quote started with this:
“I loathe the following, in no particular order…” ergo this party fail is no more or less loathed than the others we will cover in the days to come.