Wedding shows coming out of our ears. If they keep making them, people must be watching them. We are, it seems fascinated by every aspect of bridal drama known to man. The US channel-WE TV-stands for Womens Entertainment I believe, is showing reruns of Bridezillas,Weird Weddings, something delightfully entitled Bulging Brides also Rich Bride Poor Bride,Platinum Weddings, Culture Clash Weddings and the utterly riveting Celebrity Wedding Gowns. Over here we have new offerings of Blow the Budget Weddings, Pregnant Bride To Be and while BBC3 are avidly looking for couples to help plan their Perfect Wedding, Channel 4 are making a documentary about the changing role of the mother of the bride.Not a week will pass without some kind of wedding show airing. Most reveal nothing new and barely get under the surface to explore the real stories and nitty gritty of what is going on.
The focus always is on the hysteria, the irrational behaviour-the aesthetics, the money, the stress-the chase for the perfect wow factor wedding. I long for them to show a different angle, another perspective, some depth.
Aside from BBC3's fantastic Don't Tell the Bride -where the tables were turned and the roles effectively reversed to produce something truly interesting-we have been given a staple and predictable offering of wedding shows that do no more than reflect the general attitude to and expectations of weddings today.
Numbers may be fluctuating-going down apparently but people are still doing it. Between 250 and 300,000 UK couples a year are getting married either here or abroad. Thousands, nay millions more are thinking about it, dreaming about it, willing and wishing it into their lives.
The production companies who make these shows are in a powerful position. They have a captive audience and a platform to break some new ground-present something more thought provoking, challenging, something that may inspire people to think about getting married and their wedding as something more than a commercial venture.
Of course, it is a grand celebration but getting married is also a major rite of passage, a transition from one phase to another-it's a potentially life changing life event and yet it's rarely approached or perceived in this way. Aside from becoming a parent-it is perhaps the biggest decision that we will make in out lives and so much is invested in that-our hopes, dreams, our faith and trust-the commitment-our desires -our vulnerability and putting ourselves on the line.
Why then, is it the shallow and commercial end of getting married that is repeatedly churned out in one garish package or another. Just because it makes predictably 'good TV'? These shows set the standard for people to follow. They breed more of the same in real life and change nothing. Enough already! Or at least give us something to balance it with-we can take it.
There is a great big gaping hole in the TV schedules for a wedding show for 21st Century. One that takes this multi-layered, fascinating subject and explores where it sits and how it can evolve in our modern world. One that looks at the whole concept of getting married and planing a wedding and instead of presenting a flimsy outer layer to ridicule, it presents something integral, of value and worth and treats it with dignity and respect. Gosh, you never know-that crazy notion may just catch on.
