See? Writing a wedding card isn't (as we say at my office) rocket surgery. There would be occupational hazards, I guess—spontaneous stomach sickness, eyestrain from too much rolling, brain turning to goo and draining out of your ears.
Wedding cards are the worst cards to shop for. Most feature sappy and/or sanctimonious sentiments, often phrased in truly atrocious "poetry" that pretends to rhyme but doesn't quite make it (see self-created example above, then take it down several levels).
Wedding cards are full of the rampant cultural fantasy that marriage is your ticket to a magical fairyland where bad things do not happen. From what I've heard, real marriages are a lot more like real life: you love people, but they get on your nerves sometimes; you love people, but you let them down sometimes. It can be fun and enriching, but it can also be confusing and frustrating.
I guess there may not be much of a market for wedding cards that say, "Congratulations as you embark on your journey together. Prepare for sharp turns, bad weather, and ambushes." So then why can't some of the cards be funny? Marriage is a serious choice, yes, but I don't think it has to be taken Quite So Seriously. Comedy, after all, rises most frequently from the unexpected, and there is something inherently ludicrous—and I mean that word in its joyful sense—in the intersection of male and female. (Praise be to the God who specializes in the joining of disparate elements!)
I bought two wedding cards today. They will probably end up either in a landfill or in the back corner of a closet.
I think I'm okay with that.
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5 comments:
To add to that, I hate thinking of something to write in the wedding card. I am not a writer and everything I think of either sounds sappy or lame. I comfort myself with the idea that it will end up in the trash or lost.
All of my wedding cards were kept and yes they are on the top shelf of my closet. Marriage is hard, but rewarding. I wouldn't go back and want to change it even on a bad day or week, depending on what is going on. :) Too many young people getting married expect to all be roses all the time... in reality it will be roses most of the time but occasionally you might find a thorn that will hurt. You have to decide at that point- is the pain from a little thorn so bad that I can't see all the other roses or am I going to focus on the roses. Okay, so I'm rambling...
I like the rose & thorn analogy. Thanks for sharing. :)
I also totally agree about the cards. I always try to pick one with as few words as possible, and then I write a note that includes something like "and may God bless you with love, grace, and patience." If I know them very well, I'll also say something semi-serious about marriage and sanctification, becuse that's absolutely one of the reasons God invented it. :)
I completely agree, which is why I make cards!
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