#science wedding

[badsciencejokes]

I'm in a wedding mood since mine is coming up next Saturday.

Here are some awesome scientific wedding ideas I found on instagram! Something out of the box and completely unique!

Content from - in order of appearance:

@offbeatbride

@lvphotographyllc

@borrowednblue

@apolloprogram

@realweddings

@katyweaverphotography

@pop_parties

@minnesotabride

@becausescience_dc

@beautybudgetevents

All on instagram.

[nbadresses]

Stunning Mermaid Sleeveless Lace Wedding Dress Zipper Button TA0073

[andreamakesadress]

tfw you are going to send the bridesmaids an image that has the best color idea of what you are using in the wedding and you start sending them a link on Copper Oxychloride

[saradoesscience]

A science themed wedding? Maybe, but not this one.

I ran into this article about a "Tres Geek Chic" wedding photo shoot (not a real wedding) and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm all for viewing science as glamorous and sexy. Hell, I have a pin-up scientist tattoo because I feel that way. I think science is amazing and wonderful and so many awesome people do it that it should be celebrated and appreciated. And I think if I had a wedding, I would love to incorporate my love of science into it because it's such a big aspect of my life and because I love incorporating learning new things into my personal relationship. (Also, I have a dream about renting out the hall of gems at the American Museum of Natural History for all this.)

But this article left me feeling a little flat and disappointed and I feel as if I shouldn't be. I should be excited that other people see this side of science.

When I first read the article, I will admit, I skipped to the pictures. I didn't realize it was a photo shoot, so I looked for information on the bride and groom to see if they were scientists or had their first date at a science center or met in chemistry lab or something. After actually reading, I realized that information was missing because this was a photo shoot put on by wedding designers.

I think that's where the bad feelings I'm having come from. This isn't the result of two people who love each other and love/appreciate/care about science. This is the result of designers who see that people want more individual wedding themes, so they have come up with this. While it presents science in a more positive, glamorous stereotype than usual, I'm still bothered by the fact that this type of sentiment is being mass marketed. Science is being used as a quirky prop rather than something of value.

I think is especially true when looking at some of the details. It seems like they just took popular scientific symbols (a periodic table, Einstein's famous equation, test tubes, buzzwords, and I have absolutely no idea what they are going for with butterflies on the wedding dress) and threw them together. I think if real scientists or people interested in science has a "science wedding" the science aspect would be more coherent and would tell a cohesive story about how science is an important aspect in that couple's life. Whereas here, it seems like a six-year-old's Batman themed birthday party (there was "Pin the emblem on Batman" at mine"). Batman is cool and all, but doesn't really say anything too important about who that kid is.

Maybe I'm being too cynical about all this. I should probably be celebrating the fact that more people are seeing the beautiful side of science. Or maybe I'm still bitter about finding out that renting out a hall in the Museum of Natural History is too expensive. But while I want others to celebrate science, I don't want it to be something done for aesthetics rather than passion and interest.