Absinthe & Cookies (a bit bitter, a bit sweet)

'Groomzilla'

Thanks to Fugitive Jen and her impending fut-free nuptials, I've been taking an interest in wedding related articles. This one is an eye-opener:

The monster bride, the woman who becomes demanding, spoiled and downright evil about her impending wedding (Star Jones, anyone?), is a well-known stereotype. There's even a nickname for her: "Bridezilla."

Now, with more guys getting into the Big Day brouhaha, brides-turned-scary-giant-reptiles have company. Meet "Groomzilla."

"They can turn into little tyrants," wedding expert Sharon Naylor, author of "The Groom's Guide", said of the new frantic grooms. "Even though it's about a wedding, it becomes very territorial."

The transformation from the "just show up in your tux" husband-to-be to the involved, micro-managerial, teeth-baring groom can be explained by the change in who's organizing and paying for that walk down the aisle.

More than 80 percent of husbands-to-be are full planning partners for weddings today, according to Bridal Guide magazine

And then there's this guy:

Franz Wisner, 39, from Los Angeles, didn't have Bridezilla on his hands — he had the opposite: Aloof, Flaky Bride who Wisner said wore her engagement ring sporadically and only took on the job of mailing out the invitations, which were late.

"I picked up the ball and ran with it. I'm much more a list-maker and overachiever type, so whatever she didn't do, I did, with the hope that she'd come around."

She didn't. Instead, she turned into a runaway bride.

"She didn't do much planning at all — that, in retrospect was a huge red flag that I should have paid more attention to. I ended up doing more and more of the planning and footing more and more of the bill," he said. "Then, in the days before the wedding, I got dumped."

Wisner wound up holding the wedding anyway for his family and friends, and then taking his honeymoon to Costa Rica with his brother. His book on the adventure, "Honeymoon With My Brother," came out in February, and a movie based on it is in the works, he said.

Posted by Ithildin at June 17, 2005 5:04 PM | PROCURE FINE OLD WORLD ABSINTHE