September 11, 2011

You can talk to anyone over the age of 16 and they will tell you they knew exactly what they were doing on September 11, 2001.  It didn’t matter where in the U.S. you lived or if you were an American citizen living in another country, on that day we were all New Yorkers. Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the somber events that changed history forever.

When couples choose their wedding date it is usually based on the day they met, another important event in their life, Valentine’s Day or perhaps their parents’ wedding date. It is unusual that people avoid a date entirely but this date seems to hold some negative feelings for people who remember or were affected greatly by the events in Washington, Pennsylvania and New York.

In the years following 9/11, many wedding vendors offered discounts around the date to attract bookings. Ten years later some vendors still have trouble filling their appointment books for September 11. However, there are the couples who are not afriad of chosing this date and during the wedding ceremony, they take time to remember those who lost their lives on that day. One of our brides took the plunge on Sunday, marrying her best friend who also happens to be a Chicago firefighter! Which to me is perfectly fitting and apropriate. I wasn’t there but I can imagine  the tears of joy and I applaud their selection of this day to move forward.

Oddly enough September 10, 2011 was statistically the  busiest wedding day of the year. “According to our numbers, it’s the most popular date of the year,” said Anja Winikka, site editor of TheKnot.com, a wedding planning website that has more than 37,000 members set to take the plunge on 9/10/11.

As the years pass, any stigma associated with that date will eventually go away. As the wounds heal and the memories are not as fresh, as the younger generations who have no memory of this except what they read in history books get  married and as people realize something my mother shared with me … “Life is for the living”.

-Penny Frulla for Bridal Expo Chicago