Comments on: Trends I Tire Of: Marie Antoinette

By: ddayporter

ddayporter — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:49:44 +0000

I don’t know how I ended up back here in the archives but I am CRACKING UP over this comment thread. whaaaaaaaaaaat hahahahah man you really used to bring out the loony bins, I had kind of forgotten. just had to share a giggle.

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:42:33 +0000

Um. I’m closing comments on this post. I also tire of people claiming Marie Antoinette was somehow a great person.

No dice, people. Done.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:37:49 +0000

Hi, I found your blog while searching for Marie Antoinette themed weddings. While I am no fan of Marie Antoinette (after all, she died a few centuries before I was even born), I’d have to jump in and say that M.A. never said, “Let them eat cake.”

“‘Let them eat cake’ was said 100 years before her by Marie-Therese, the wife of Louis XIV. It was a callous and ignorant statement and she Marie Antoinette was neither.”–Historian Antonia Fraser

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:41:19 +0000

If she said it at all, which she more than likely did not, She said it because she was a bit of a dope..not because she was really spiteful and cruel (like so many parisians liked to believe)…your post is funny I must admit..I think people are a bit mislead when they say their theme is Marie Antoinette because like you mentioned it has absolutely nothing to do with the queen since no one is wearing wigs or balcking out their teeth to look like prisoners…

maybe we should call it Fairy tale with a classic twist??

By: Jaclyn

Jaclyn — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:10:40 +0000

I ask myself the same thing. “But she’s so classic and stylish!” Yes…but she also had a fake cottage where she spent most days “pretending” to be a poor shepherdess while there were real people out there suffering. Good choice. Very elegant. HA.

By: {furi kuri} travels

{furi kuri} travels — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:23:26 +0000

Dear Meg,
You rock my world

just thought you should know

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:13:24 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe how many MA loyalists you’ve managed to stir up! But, whatever, keep the sass. I think about eighteenth-century France all day since that’s what I study professionally, and I totally agree with you that MA makes a bad wedding model. Two major factual inaccuracies have cropped up on this board that I just cannot let lie — she *was* financially irresponsible (even if she didn’t singlehandedly bankrupt France) and lots of people — including her husband — asked her to cut back and she refused. Second, those country dresses she wore were actually very expensive, so I wouldn’t call them authentic, nor would I call hanging out at Trianon and putting on pastoral plays a real preference for rural life.

But all of this factual quibbling is beside the point! The spirit of the post is that weddings don’t need a theme at all, certainly not one based on excess and loveless marriages. Brava!

By: Sarah C.

Sarah C. — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:46:15 +0000

Yes, I know we are in one now. I just assumed the article was referring to that time period, since the majority of the article itself was reffering to that time period. I am a big, “If you can’t pay for it in cash right now, then don’t buy it with credit.” person though. I learned that the hard way 10 years ago (I am 28 now). So this current economy problem hasn’t affected me as much as a lot of the people in this country. My fiance and I both have full time careers as it is. But for our wedding we both took part-time positions, as a second source of income. I am useing my part-time position to pay for the majority of our wedding. While my fiance is earning our honeymoon with his. We plan to go to Europe for a month. It has worked out very well. For example, I found out what the cost of my wedding dress I wanted was ($900 for a hand made gown)and then I waited until I had the money in hand to purchase the gown. Since we wanted a longer engagment (3 years), we haven’t been stumped with the “buy it in a hurry because the wedding is next month” issue either. Also if there is an item that is $3 each and it looks almost identicle to another item which is $10 each, we go for the cheaper one. I am obviously not condoning going broke to impress people. I mean if you are not willing to put forth the time and the effort to not go into the hole on your wedding, then just go to the local courthouse or have a backyard wedding. There is nothing wrong with that, if that is all you can afford. However this economy has not stopped me from my wedding and honeymoon dreams, and I have a feeling that we are going to come out with a nice chunck of change for a little down payment on a house.

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:46:45 +0000

Ah yes Sarah,
Weddings with all the usual trappings - true love, a lasting marriage, abiding friendship, perhaps some food (not to mention, a couple with a sense of satire and irony) tres boring.

Why even go?

As for the financial crisis, perhaps you haven't heard of it? We're actually in it now.

By: Sarah C.

Sarah C. — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:52:16 +0000

Hmmm, well you are some what correct on the facts but I think that you seriously need to do some research. First off she said, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!” Which does not mean let them eat cake, even though it is what most people believe. Also she said that at the age of 10, while living in Austria (1765). She did not touch French land unil she was married in 1770. Next, yes she did live in a small cell from August 2, 1793 till her beheading on October 16. Where she was moved because she took on extreme depression after they beheaded her husband, refusing to eat, exercise, or anything else. Before that her and her family were for the most part under house arrest in Paris and were still required to play the part of royalty, attending events as such. Furthermore, while people did wear wigs, the women of the royal courts changed theirs quite often. Marie Antoinette was said to have changed her hair style as often as her moods changed. Usually she had a new hair style at each event she attended, with a fancy ornament in her wig to represent the event. So I doubt that it was really quite nasty, rat infested dirty wigs in the royal events (especially a wedding). Finally, my fiance and I are planning on dressing like Marie Antoinette (I really love the gowns)and Louis XVI (because he said he loved me so much he didn’t care what he was wearing)for our wedding, and he is 100% straight. However, we are also doing a masqeurade ball/halloween type wedding where all of our guests will be allowed to dress however they choose. Finally, as far as the excess and financial crisis, all I can say is that Marie Antoinette and Loius XVI did not cause the financial crisis. It was actually inherited, and sadly for them they were not properly instructed on how to run the countries finances in a way to fix the problem. In the end almost everything that Marie Antoinette was accused of in her trial was all false. For example the diamond necklace had already been proven to have nothing to do with Marie Antoinette in 1785, but the people accused her of it anyways in her trial in 1793.

All in all, having the Marie Antoinette themed wedding is more about making sure that you and your guests are left with a lasting impression. Which can be done without breaking the bank, wigs with rats in them, gay men, and many other false presumptions. One just needs to know how to do plan it properly. Quite frankly, I am bored to death with the weddings that I have been to which all seem to have the same ceremony, wedding attire, food, reception, etc… But that is just my input.