I started this blog because I need to vent.
It's T-minus 123 days (wedding: 11/8/08) and I'm deep in the belly of the carnival funhouse known as the wedding industry.
I now understand why women go all Bridezilla.
Anyway, in addition to venting, I am also going to share the things I learn and discover along the way. A few tips and tricks so that perhaps some future bride can avoid feeling like she wants to slowly eviscerate each and every vendor on her list AND their mother.
I named this blog Chiverie for a few reasons. Chiverie (or charivari, or shivaree as it's known in some parts of North America) is an old French country tradition. I'm a sucker for things French AND old, what can I say? Supposedly, it is rooted in a pagan practice of making loud noises to drive evil spirits away from the newlyweds. Later it became more fun. One source says:
Chiverie is the wedding night prank to interrupt the wedding couple at night by a crowd clanging pots and pans, righing bells and horns. The bride and groom were expected to appear in their wedding clothes and provide treats for their tormentors.
Some say that this custom was the precursor for the wedding reception. Throw 'em a party so they'll be too drunk to throw one under your window on your wedding night! Or, they're going to party in your front yard whether you like it or not, so maybe it's better to do something more organized.
(Interestingly, Bartleby.com says that the word probably derives from the Late Latin for "headache." Most brides can probably relate to that, no?)
Once widely spread, the charivari morphed into a not-so-nice way to mock an older man who was marrying a much-younger bride, or voice community disapproval for a widow who married too soon after her husband's death.
Despite what it grew into later, the origin of the chiverie-slash-charivari is, essentially, the after-party. And although it's not too widely practiced in these parts, I hope that some of these tips can help see you through your wedding -- ceremony to reception to chiverie -- with all your hair still connected to your head... and your betrothed's head still connected to his/her body!
I hope you'll keep reading! Let the bitching begin!
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