Imagine this scenario. It's your wedding day. You've been planning for it for months. It's cost you thousands of dollars, but finally the big day has arrived and the entire wedding party is gathered in San Diego's beautiful Balboa Park -- the guests, the caterers, the photographer... and the zombies?
Balboa Park is an extremely popular spot for weddings. In fact, it's where Beverley and I got married five years ago, but it's also completely open to the public. Usually this is no problem. But it became an issue last month when Balboa Park served as the location for
San Diego's first-ever zombie walk.
Hundreds of people dressed up as blood-spattered zombies lurched and staggered through the park. It was supposed to be a wacky, flash-mob type event. But the people having weddings there didn't think it was funny. Witness this
angry letter-to-the-editor that Glenda Wiederkehr wrote in to the San Diego Union-Tribune:
The zombie enthusiasts who invaded Balboa Park last month need to have their “unheads” examined. The soulless walkers dragged themselves through our friend's wedding reception. Not a “meandering” pass by, but a deliberate, harassing parade over and over through the gathered guests. The bridesmaids and others were left to police them, direct them and loudly encourage them to disperse. A San Diego police detective needs to know they were not “just people having fun.” The zombie makeup artist who stated, “It seems to me that everyone in the world right now is so stressed” and that “we grow up so fast” has made her point. And, believe me, it is not well taken.
However, Jennifer Griffith, the organizer of the zombie walk,
has denied that any zombies dragged themselves through the wedding. She writes:
Glenda Wiederkehr is sadly mistaken. There was police presence at that walk and they were stationed very near the wedding reception in question. We passed by the reception: ONCE on the absolute opposite side of El Prado (on our way to the west end) and ONCE on our way back to the east end. I PERSONALLY directed zombies AWAY from the reception; towards the center and opposite side of El Prado... I can guarantee that the official walk NEVER passed through the wedding reception. If a few wayward zombies passed through on the way back to their vehicles, then I personally apologize for their actions, but do not slander our entire group for a few potential bad apples (though I REALLY doubt even that happened).
Personally, I would have loved it if zombies had shown up at my wedding, but then, not everyone shares my appreciation for the odd. I can understand that many people would not include zombies in their idea of a dream wedding.
Comments
The still-drunk-from-the-stag-night best man may have found it a bit freaky, mind.
Renquist, the bride and groom are probably off in whatever honeymoon locale they fled to and are trying to forget it. Or plan revenge, Hell hath no fury like a woman who had her "special" day upstaged.
I wish zombies would have crashed my wedding!! That would have been AMAZING!
But the woman who felt the need to complain about zombies needs to remove the stick from her ass if she has a problem with an organized event.
-- Christopher Cole
It depends on whose statement is more accurate. If the zombies were indeed roaming in large numbers through the middle of the wedding, then they did indeed show very poor taste and judgment.
On the other hand, if they were just passing along a pre-arranged marching route that happened to pass near the wedding, well, that's part of what you get from having weddings in public places: the public tends to be around.
If one day I did somehow find myself going down that aisle (unlikely, thank goodness) I wouldn't want just an everyday wedding like everyone else has. I'd want a wedding that'd stand out, that'd be remembered, that people would talk about for years to come, that'd get posted on the internet. So, zombies for me, and vampires too, if any happen to be around.
I'd much prefer zombies to the 'releasing butterflies at the moment of the vows' sickliness, the 'totally inappropiate at a family wedding garter toss', and the bad bad baaaad songs the dj plays near the end when everyone is drunk.
Zombies crashed a wedding like a hurricane will hit San Diego in the coming weeks instead of Jamacia.