Wedding Classic: Possibly Fictional Titanic Bride

[JocelynCS]

This story is obviously fake.  I don't mean embellished, I mean FAKE.  Sooooo ridiculous.

I quite agree.  Here's an interesting point--speaking as a member of the "Titanic" generation (I was 16 when the movie came out, ergo target audience.)  At the same time that "Titanic" was capturing the imaginations of teenaged girls, so was Prince William.  Princess Diana died right around that same time, and I distinctly recall in high school that it was Prince William who swiftly replace Leonardo DiCaprio as the teenaged girl's Celebrity Crush of Choice.

Coincidence in this case?  Or does it lend even more credence to the suggestion that whoever wrote this story has exceedingly-overblown fantasies about being wooed by Prince William on the Titanic?  More than a few teenaged girls did.

I could believe the greed of "Jennifer."  Even the wealth of the neighborhood.  I've met more than a few people who qualify for the label "filthy, stinking rich," and I've seen what ridiculous wealth--and the desire for same--does to the human psyche.

But as others have noted, the story just gets more and more implausible.  That a ship could be retrofitted to that extent that quickly just makes no sense.   Money can accomplish a lot, but it can't slow down time.  And the romance factor, particularly the tolerance of the oh-so-good-and-noble Prince is just too unbelievable.

As far as theme weddings, well, its not my cup of tea.  However, if couples want to do that, I guess it is their prerogative, no matter how odd.  I just ask that, please, choose a better theme.  A wedding based on an event where thousands of people were tragically killed doesn't put me in a "happy place." 

Eh, to a certain extent, I can understand it, (speaking again as a member of the generation enthralled by the movie, but also as someone who was fascinated by the story from a small child--I bought "A Night To Remember" when I was 7.)  The Titanic was more than a shipwreck and tragedy--it was a symbol of the "Gilded Age" of extreme glamor and romance that ended with World War I, a last vestige of the 19th century, if you will.  It was the grandest, most elegant ship of its day, and even modern ships with their rock-climbing walls and ice rinks seldom boast its equal in decorating beauty.

So what draws people to weddings and parties themed around it isn't the tragedy, but rather the dreams it embodied.  Titanic was called the "ship of dreams" long before James Cameron turned the phrase into a cliche. 

Granted, most of the books and movies show us the truth about the ugliness underneath all the beauty and glamor--the class system, and the lives that paid for the arrogance.  That's why Titanic is so fascinating to me--its short life and death in a way are a scale model of that era in Western civilization.

Yes, I'm a nerd.  I'll shut up now.   

[Paper Roses]

"A normalish wedding with a Titanic undertheme."  What is normalish?  and What's an "undertheme"?

There is a reference to "jenn" storming out of her stateroom and onto the deck.  Don't staterooms on a ship open into an indoor hallway, rather than directly to the deck?  Titanic reproduction or not . . .

Hey!  I think I figured it out.  This Titanic must have been inflatable.  Can you picture that tooling acorss the Atlantic?

Oh, yeah - and they live in a "very rich" town, but the guests deviated from their "assigned" gifts and got "what they could afford."  If all these people were really as rich as she claims, she wouldn't have worded it that way - it would have been more like "what they felt appropriate" or something.

I'm sorry.  I just can't leave this one alone.  I guess what galls me the most is that someone actually thought people would believe this.  People outside of 4th period study hall.

[Twik]

I've been thinking that tragedy themes shouldn't just be limited to weddings. How does "A DOnner Party Thanksgiving" sound?

From the sounds of some of the stories about dinner parties with inadequate food, this may be coming....

[blue2000]

"A normalish wedding with a Titanic undertheme."  What is normalish?  and What's an "undertheme"?

My guess is that means a glamorous wedding that did not have Titanic as a main theme, but just as a sort of side note. Only if they decorated a ship, that's too much to qualify it as an "undertheme". I think she went nuts with the dictionary/thesaurus and didn't realise what she was saying.

 

I'm sorry.  I just can't leave this one alone.  I guess what galls me the most is that someone actually thought people would believe this.  People outside of 4th period study hall.

I can believe this happening. But it sounds like the girl who wrote it is a wanna-be romance author, and couldn't resist embellishing the story.

So something like "Bill, the reasonably well-off accountant, dumps his cheating girlfriend and starts dating everyone in sight, including the author" becomes "William, wealthy and wonderful, who finally sees the light about his horrible fiancee, and sweeps the author off her feet."

Once again, someone went nuts with the dictionary/thesaurus when they shouldn't have. I've got to wonder whether this guy is still around, and what he thinks of her "creative license" with the story.

Maybe he's telling one himself, about the nutjob he almost married after he dumped the horrible ex.

[Paper Roses]

Yeah, I really did kind of get what she meant.  It's just that she was throwing around convoluted words like "undertheme" as though everyone has one at their wedding. 

And what do you suppose "William" designed that made him millions, and wasn't anything technological?  A few guesses:  The Betty Crocker Bake & Fill; the Grip & Flip; maybe those silver naked woman decals you see on mudflaps.  Ron Popeil's spray-on hair for guys with bald spots.  I really do wonder . . .

[blue2000]

Maybe that's why she didn't mention it. It's hard to sound romantic and fairytale-ish if you are talking about "the King of Spray-on Hair".

It just ruins the mood, somehow.

[loomadoom]

I've been thinking that tragedy themes shouldn't just be limited to weddings. How does "A DOnner Party Thanksgiving" sound?


Maybe you could book the Alferd Packer Memorial Grille. After all, the university would probably be closed then for the holiday.

Anne

[IndianInlaw]

I lived in a pretty decent sized city  (120758) and never hailed a cab.  Even in the pre cell phone days.  I usually phoned a cab company.  Once in a while, I would grab one at the downtown taxi stand by the bus terminal.  A couple times, I would see one waiting for someone else at the civic center and ask him to radio the dispatcher.

In a small town, how many cabs could they have?

[Twik]

Oh, it's fun to nitpick this story. Here's another odd part:

She told everyone that she wanted a Titanic wedding, complete with the final dress, the Heaven dress, as her wedding dress, which she expected her talented sister to make for her ... She wanted him to finance [the wedding], but for her parents to contribute at least $50,000, "like good parents should." I don't know what her parents were thinking at this point. But they mortgaged their house with the intent of filing bankruptcy and living off their son-in-law.

First of all, this social-climbing bride is going to wear a homemade wedding dress? (I'm assuming the "talented" sister isn't a professional designer.) Seems to me that she'd be demanding something from a couturier instead, if she's so intent on appearing upscale.

Secondly, $50,000 is a lot to most people for a wedding. But if this town is so rich, why would her parents only get $50,000 out of a mortgage for their home, and then not be able to pay it off? Are they living in in a bungalow on a pension? If they declared bankruptcy, they'd lose most of their other assets, and I'd suspect most people who have daughters of marriageable age, living in an area considered "very rich", have more than $50,000 of assets, so bankruptcy sounds like a poor option. Why not borrow the money back from William of the inexhaustible wealth?

[Paper Roses]

Absolutely.
Although, as far as the "talented sister" is concerned, I think there's a reference later to her sister having her "design school friends" help her.  But still, you're right.  She would have demanded something from a famous designer, especially since she supposedly demanded Swarovski crystal.

And . . . she has a sister, but she "pretty much forced" her cousin, who obviously doesn't like her much, to be her maid of honor.  Just cut it out.  That part was added just so the cousin (the storyteller) could have a starring role in the story. 

The more I think about it, I think this may be someone who stole her cousin's boyfriend and is trying to ease her guilt by making the cousin out to be so awful. . "I am so much better for him.  She was simply awful."  Oh, and the old "We tried to fight it, we really did, but our love was pure and true and bigger than both of us and just couldn't be denied."  I mean, really, the whole thing about how they were in the courtyard and they both realized they still had feelings and she ran away because she is just so upright and good and pure and nice.  Yeah, right.  She jumped him.

And I thought the same thing about the parents.  $50,000 is not a lot to remortgage a house in a "small, very rich town."  Even if it's the smallest house in town.

Oh, oh, oh, and the guests.  Now, think about it.  They're all "very rich," don't forget.  Yet, they put up with all this nonsense (costumes, being told what to wear, what to buy, etc.) and they rearranged their schedules on short notice and freed up probably 2 weeks, just because they were promised a "free cruise."  Across the ATLANTIC, no less.  Not the Bahamas, not the Caribbean, not Hawaii, not Greece.  Nope.  The North Atlantic.  I doubt all of these "very rich" people would be that impressed.  And then, come to find out, the day comes to board the ship, and their finding out they've either been put in "second class" or "steerage" depending on how she likes them.  Can you just see a "very rich" couple boarding this ship, being told they're in "steerage" and saying, "Oh, sure!  Can't wait!"  Maybe we're sharing a bunk with Candy and Aaron Spelling!" 

[Yarnspinner]

Absolutely.
Although, as far as the "talented sister" is concerned, I think there's a reference later to her sister having her "design school friends" help her.  But still, you're right.  She would have demanded something from a famous designer, especially since she supposedly demanded Swarovski crystal.

And . . . she has a sister, but she "pretty much forced" her cousin, who obviously doesn't like her much, to be her maid of honor.  Just cut it out.  That part was added just so the cousin (the storyteller) could have a starring role in the story. 

The more I think about it, I think this may be someone who stole her cousin's boyfriend and is trying to ease her guilt by making the cousin out to be so awful. . "I am so much better for him.  She was simply awful."  Oh, and the old "We tried to fight it, we really did, but our love was pure and true and bigger than both of us and just couldn't be denied."  I mean, really, the whole thing about how they were in the courtyard and they both realized they still had feelings and she ran away because she is just so upright and good and pure and nice.  Yeah, right.  She jumped him.

And I thought the same thing about the parents.  $50,000 is not a lot to remortgage a house in a "small, very rich town."  Even if it's the smallest house in town.

Oh, oh, oh, and the guests.  Now, think about it.  They're all "very rich," don't forget.  Yet, they put up with all this nonsense (costumes, being told what to wear, what to buy, etc.) and they rearranged their schedules on short notice and freed up probably 2 weeks, just because they were promised a "free cruise."  Across the ATLANTIC, no less.  Not the Bahamas, not the Caribbean, not Hawaii, not Greece.  Nope.  The North Atlantic.  I doubt all of these "very rich" people would be that impressed.  And then, come to find out, the day comes to board the ship, and their finding out they've either been put in "second class" or "steerage" depending on how she likes them.  Can you just see a "very rich" couple boarding this ship, being told they're in "steerage" and saying, "Oh, sure!  Can't wait!"  Maybe we're sharing a bunk with Candy and Aaron Spelling!" 

Now, Paper Roses, you must stop with the subtlety and veiled innuendo.  Tell us what you REALLY think.

[Paper Roses]

Now, Paper Roses, you must stop with the subtlety and veiled innuendo.  Tell us what you REALLY think.

I know.  Sorry, I'll try to be more direct in the future.   

[litecandles]

I think this is my favorite thread so far. And I have some comments but I have stayed up  way past my bedtime reading this and other threads. So I will have to post them on another day.

[Ko-Ko]

I was also wondering why the Bridezilla had to live with Grandma if she had all that stuff. And an undertheme? What does that even mean?

Ko-Ko
 

[Paper Roses]

I was also wondering why the Bridezilla had to live with Grandma if she had all that stuff. And an undertheme? What does that even mean?

Ko-Ko
 

That's what I 'd like to understand.  Maybe it's something you dress in your underwear for.  Something for underdogs, taking place on the highway at an underpass.  And all the food is undercooked.  I bet it's quite an undertaking, and has been way undervalued.  I hope she hired an understudy. 

But she was her cousin and William was someone she had once loved.  And it pained her that he was going to marry her.  To quote Mad About You, will someone just shoot her and blame me?  Come on.  People don't talk like that, and they don't write like that if they're telling a true story.  If this story had any semblence of truth, someone would have swept her up in a circle and planted her right over the railing.