techno:chic: Not So Single Ladies

If your teenage years were about creating your own identity, angsting out while listening to Linkin Park, and bullying kids on MySpace, then your 20s is all about relationships and marriage. Oh, and careers too. But mainly marriage.

'CAUSE IF YOU LIKED IT THEN YA SHOULDA PUT A RI- yeah.

A good number of my friends have boyfriends who they've been seeing for years and years and with them it's not too much of a surprise (in fact, it's of some relief) when the news comes around that they're officially engaged. But every now and then you have those friends who take you by surprise and up and get married before you can even find out the guy's name.

I hadn't been in touch with this girl for quite a long time but she had gotten engaged and so I flew to FL over the long weekend for the wedding. It was strange news to me- after all she's only a year older- but the full force of it didn't hit me until I turned around to see her walking down the aisle.

Here was this 24 year old girl in a wedding gown clutching her father's arm and moving with precarious steps slowly towards me, then past me, until she was finally delivered in a puff of gossamer and white lace to the tall, young man standing before us. It was surreal and at the same time I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It was as if all the festivities and traditions of the occasion fell short of the true meaning of what was happening in front of us. I was indignant but captivated - how can you know at 24 that this is the person you want as your partner in life? It felt childish. I felt childish. Like it was all some elaborate make-believe party and that surely she couldn't possibly be married after this. But maybe that's all there is to it. Maybe the magic is what comes after. And maybe it's not magic but it's the realities of life and living that lends itself to this feeling of being "married." So you throw a party, christen the marriage and send them off on their voyage.

NOW. In any case, the wedding itself was lovely.

A different flavor for each layer!

Some flowers to go.

It was set in St. Augustine in the evening on the rooftop of a charming, older building which overlooked the water. Outside, they had strung bulbs overhead and it created a very romantic look- definitely not your traditional wedding, but it was an intimate affair and the emphasis was on all the right things (read: excellent food).