A Karen Wedding

The MC - He had A LOT to say! Though, I had no idea what he was saying... 

It was a double wedding.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a Karen double-wedding.  The Karen are a Burmese minority and this particular family was granted asylum a couple years ago and relocated from their refugee camp to San Diego. They've done an amazing job making a home for themselves in a largely strange and unfamiliar place.

The wedding was an interesting experience and I tried to take in as much as I could given this was a rare glimpse into a very small and discreet culture. I was attending on behalf of the bride, Tadah, whose donned in the traditional white dress. Mostly everyone was under 5 feet tall, so my date and I felt like giants! The other bride and groom chose to wear traditional Karen garments woven from thick cotton yarns of brights colors. The ceremony seemed to drone on and on but we were happy to be there for the bride and her family. As soon as the processions were over, the hall seemed to almost immediately convert to a dining hall with everyone pitching in to set-up, serve, and clean up. They're a tight knit community and it was an honor to be included in their celebration.

When You Let the Boyfriend Pick Your Clothes...

The Boyfriend - a tree-hugging, a save-the-world type with grungy, threadbare outfits to match

The Mission - Find his perfect summer dress for me at Forever 21

The Outcome - Short and Bright

What I think? Well... there was definitely a running theme in his choices and overall, I did agree that the length and silhouette were flattering for my body type. Every time I came out of the dressing room in one of his selections, his face lit up in a way that made it impossible for me to say what I really thought, which was... "really?" Because the problem was, while he liked pretty and sexy, I like pretty and interesting and as you may agree, these dresses are in no way, interesting. In fact, I can't count how many time I rolled my eyes as I was showing-off the yellow, banded hem number. It just reminded me so much of women of the Housewives series and the fashion de rigeur of Vegas female party-goers. Though, I have to admit, the banded silhouette was easy to wear and made me feel taller and slimmer, I couldn't do it! Not even for him could I wear this out!

After some debating and more eye rolling, I settled for the red one. The color was nice and it was simple enough that I could layer it with lots of different things. But, as we left the dressing room towards the register, I swiftly hung it back up because I KNEW that I would NEVER wear it.