Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt marry. Brangelina ties the knot… The wedding of the century? Isn’t that supposed to be YOUR wedding?
OK, I know very few of us are as genetically blessed as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and it isn’t likely that anyone reading this is an Academy Award-winning movie star (though I never say never)…but come on. For the amount of hoopla the surrounding the power couple’s wedding, you’d think it was like we discovered the two came out as aliens from a distant planet.
OK, so let’s get the details out of the way first (you know you want to hear them if you haven’t already). The wedding of the century took place on August. 23rd at Château Miraval in Correns, France. The couple opted out of having live music and instead had friends and family hum “Here Comes the Bride” as Angelina walked down the aisle and Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” at the ceremony’s end. To be fair, the actress looked “tres jolie” in Atelier Versace; tailor Luigi Massi worked with the star to hand-sew drawings from her children and the words “ma famille”—French for “my family”—on her train. The couple was married by a California judge; their vows were written by their brood of six. Angelina gave a dedication to her late mother, Marcheline Betrand, who died of ovarian cancer in 2007. Brad had her name engraved on a stone in the chapel, while Angelina wore her mother’s flower ring and her brother, James Haven, wore an “angel pin from her jewelry box.” Talk about keeping it real: instead of frou-fou wedding fare (gotta love them for this) the two opted for barbecue dishes at their reception, as well as wine from their vineyard and a wedding cake baked and frosted by their son Pax.
Anyhoo, there you have it. Yes, it’s exactly the kind of wedding anyone not from the South would want (and that’s only because those gals LOVE their big blowout nuptials): intimate, personal and classy. I even dig the barbecue, really; so unpretentious. It’s also completely modern: this is a couple who chose to be together, have children together, and live their lives together for years before they even thought about tying the knot.
So am I happy for them? Of course. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be (or be Jennifer Aniston). But do I care? No, not really.
Before you go getting all affronted, hear me out. I may respect and even like many celebrities, but I do not live for them. When I hear people bringing up Brad and Angelina, I say, “Well, I went to the wedding of the year—my friend Matt got married,” or something along those lines. Planning my own wedding or celebrating the people I love the most saying “I do?” I get it. Virtual strangers who I see in magazines. Nope, I don’t care so much.
Brad and Angelina are a lovely fantasy. They are untouchable, like unicorns, or hobbits. But though reality may never live up to their myth and magic, I’d rather have it any day.