Hitched or Ditched Should Be Pitched
In recent years, American viewers seem to have become obsessed with reality wedding shows. We've seen the couples who walk us through the planning process, brides looking for the perfect dress, ridiculously expensive events, brides who are prone to manic meltdowns and couples who have such sappy stories that we can't look away. Now we have a wedding show that forces couples to choose if they should get married in a week with a fully paid wedding or if they should go their separate ways. To make it all reality television-appropriate, the couple has to agree to walk down the aisle and declare their love or show disdain for one another in front of their friends and family.
On Tuesday night, Celisa was introduced to America as a wannabe bride living with her boyfriend, Travis, of over four years. Celisa's best friend decided it was time for her friend to either make or break her relationship by signing her up for a week-long waste of time wedding planning event. Celisa and Travis agreed to explore their feelings and go through with the event. If they chose not to stay together, they were to do so during the vows of the ceremony.
Travis's snobby parents stood in judgment of the potential bride while her new groom-to-be sipped champagne and told them the plans. He then had an interview shown where he talked about how Celisa's family just didn't get along with his, because of their class differences. The couple then traveled to Celisa's family home where her father all but threatened to castrate the man. Apparently, the couple had many unresolved issues, hence why they never managed to walk down the aisle sooner.
Celisa had the opportunity to choose which expensive diamond ring she would like to wear for the course of her future potential marriage. After gleefully choosing a beautiful white gold band, the rest of the wedding plans went underway. The couple got to choose the food, drinks, centerpieces and tablecloths. They even realized that their state of residence allowed for annulments after just 90 days of holy matrimony.
Celisa and her friends seemed to be the only participants on the show who really wanted a wedding to happen. The guests at the ceremony seemed to be seconds away from crying in the direction of the bride or beating up the groom. All four of the parents appeared to be having aneurysms and the groom looked as if he was going to faint. Celisa strolled down the rose petal walkway to Travis and confidently stated her intent of marriage. Travis proceeded by telling his fiancee that the situation just wasn't going to work and the scorned bride ran off. The bride and her maids cried while everyone else hugged and said how relieved they were.
It would be easy to think that this show is a complete disaster and feel sorry for the bride or groom who gets left at the alter. Then you have to realize that these people chose to have a quickie wedding even though they have been having problems. They are as much at fault as the people who chose to make an even bigger mockery of marriage by creating this show. No wonder divorce rates continue to stay so high. Television tells us that a bride can be a complete hag, push her groom around all she wants and still manage to get married. A couple can spend more time making sure they spend money on their wedding than time spent enjoying getting married. Now a couple can make fools of themselves by having a wedding when they aren't even sure they want to get married. The CW network seems to be going down a steep hill to television wasteland.