VOA文化艺术2023--For Some, Getting Married Needs to Be an Experience Unlike any Other

For Some, Getting Married Needs to Be an Experience Unlike any Other

More couples are asking guests to wear nontraditional clothing to their marriage ceremonies.

The result appears to be that many guests are not sure what to think about it and are confused by the unusual requests.

Maggie Long is 34 years old and lives in New York. Not too long ago, she attended the wedding of a close friend at a restaurant in Denver, Colorado. The couple described the suggested clothing for the event as, "dive bar semiformal." A dive bar is a low cost drinking place where people are not known for good behavior.

"I love a theme," said Long. "It's fun that people aren't taking weddings so seriously, but I had no idea what that meant."

At the dive bar wedding, Long said many older guests got into the idea. One guest wore a rainbow tie-dye shirt, a colorful informal shirt made popular in the 1960s.

Other wedding guests have been invited to weddings that were described as, "tropical¹ formal," "snappy casual²" and "garden party whimsical."

Emily Coyne is the founder³ of Emily Coyne Events, a wedding design company based in San Francisco, California. She said many couples are trying to make their weddings different from everyone else's wedding.

"The key is making sure there's communication behind the dress code⁴. Don't just confuse guests," she said.

When her company designs wedding websites for couples, it includes descriptions for the dress code. The dress code is a description of the kinds of clothes considered right for the event. "Tropical formal," for example, might include long dresses in bright colors and suits with unusual ties.

"Most guests have a lot of fun with it," Coyne said.

Rikki Gotthelf attended her friend's "space disco cowboy" wedding. The hosts sent their guests to an abandoned town near Austin, Texas.

For guidance, Gotthelf looked to Sophie Strauss, who calls herself a "stylist for regular people." Strauss suggests asking the couple directly if they had not made themselves clear.

She tells guests dealing⁵ with strange dress codes⁶ to remember: "It's not a costume. Unless, of course, it's literally⁷ a costume party."

Often, there is some form of personal meaning behind the unusual wedding themes. Thirty-two-year-old Madison Smith is getting married in May 2024. Her dress code calls for "black tie sunset glam."

"It's in honor⁸ of my late grandfather," she said. "His favorite thing was the sunsets where I'm getting married." The wedding will be taking place on Long Beach Island, New Jersey⁹.

She hopes for sunset-colored dresses that are orange, yellow, purple, blue or pink. She also wants suits with elements that are of similar, sunset colors.

Jove Meyer is the owner of an event planning company in Brooklyn. He has dealt with dress codes that included "colorful cocktail," and "red carpet ready."

"I always suggest couples clarify¹⁰ exactly what they mean," he said.

Brittny Drye is the lead editor of the wedding magazine Love Inc. She said guests should not be unwilling¹¹ to ask the couple about an unusual dress code.

When couples are asking their guests to wear nontraditional clothes, "they're signing themselves up to be asked questions," Drye said.

Words in This Story

couple –n. two people in a relationship; two of anything

theme — n. the main subject of something

snappy — adj. fashionable, popular or stylish¹²

whimsical — adj. unusual in a playful or funny way; not serious

dress code — n. the kinds of clothing expected to be worn to an event, such as formal or casual

disco — n. a dance place

abandoned –adj. left by the people who used to live there

stylist — n. a person whose job it is to make other people look nice

costume — n. clothing worn by people, such as actors, who are trying to look like people living in different places or times

clarify — v. to explain; to make clear

1 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

2 casual   

adj.漠不关心，冷漠的；随便的，非正式的；偶然的，碰巧的

参考例句：

• He earns a living by casual labour.他靠做临时工为生。
• The guests wore casual clothes.客人们穿着便服。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 code   

n.代码，代号，密码；法典，法规，规划

参考例句：

• What's the code for Tianjin?天津的代号是多少？
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 codes   

n.[计算机]编码( code的名词复数 )；代号；密码；法典

参考例句：

• A generation ago genetic codes were certainly unknown. 遗传密码在上一代确实很少有人知道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• So, sometimes, authors adopt Flasm to write low level p-codes to add efficiency. 所以，设计者采用Flasm来编写低级的p-codes以提高效率。 来自互联网

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 clarify   

v.澄清，阐明，使变得清晰；净化

参考例句：

• I am happy to clarify any points that are still unclear.我愿意说明任何仍然不清楚的地方。
• Can you clarify this long sentence?你能把这个长句子解释清楚吗？

11 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

12 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。