Artisanal Day?

I'm not sure when the marketing world discovered the word "artisanal," but it's been appearing in the past five years as a way of "elevating" various products available- moving them from mere items of food to ingredients that are used to make "cuisine." Artisinal breads, cheeses, chocolates, honey, crafts, metals, and yes, a quick google reveals the presence of "artisanal fisheries." Uhhh, ok then.

As I plan our "once-in-a-lifetime" day, I find myself reaching (and why not, we haven't found the house yet- so where else best to put the downpayment?) for the best the Bay Area has to offer- artisanal musicians to sing at the wedding, an artisan photographer, baker, even wedding coordinator. And why not? I won't have an excuse to EVER throw a party like this again- but yes, that's the multi-billion dollar vision an entire industry is built on, in white gleaming marzipan Baby!

My analogy for the wedding is that scene from the movie "Annie Hall" where Alvy (shown above) and Annie are being offered cocaine by friends. A HOT date no doubt! Sorry, drugs- they don't really compute with me. After asking the price and getting the reply, "About a thousand dollars an ounce," Alvy being the inexperienced drug user he is promptly sneezes into the cocaine- spewing it nearly everywhere so it's no longer snortable. That's a great analogy for the wedding. It'll be one day where dollars spent are equal to the number of germs unleashed.

Funny I should choose to analogize the production costs of the day with that scene. Woody Allen opens the film with a monologue that starts, "Life is full of loneliness, misery, suffering, and unhappiness - and it's all over much too quickly."