Chelsea Clinton is getting married and cash registers in Upstate New York are going to chime. The one day event that will be held this Saturday is estimated to cost $US2 million and I just hope she doesn’t turn up.
I think she should run to the nearest airport instead and with Marc Mezvinsky in tow, hop on a plane and elope herself right out of there. But not before checking her maiden name at the door and leaving the pressure of being a Clinton, especially a Clinton on her wedding day, far, far behind.
If you’re curious to know how to actually spend that much money on a wedding, there’s an extensive breakdown here, but just to give you some idea the flowers cost $250, 000, music $40,000 and the venue a whopping $750, 000. And that’s tipped to be Astor Courts, Rhinebeck, a rural oasis and a popular weekend destination for celebrities “dotted with wineries and farms”.
As sumptuous and elegant as all that sounds, the emotional costs of this performance/ wedding will far outweigh the glamour. Let’s take the squabbles around the guest list for a start.
While guest list stress is a fairly unavoidable, not to mention painful part of anyone’s wedding, with parent’s like Chelsea’s’ the task becomes one of diplomatic proportions. And it’s already left more than a few noses out of joint.
The New York Times reports political supporters, fund-raisers and many “friends” of the Clinton collective have been actively lobbying for an invite.
“You know, when I heard about it, I was hoping to be invited. But when it’s only two weeks from the wedding and you don’t get an invitation, you know you’re not invited,” said one clearly resigned New Yorker.
“We’re outer circle, not inner circle”, said another.
However there is one person in the United States who doesn’t want to go to the wedding and that’s President Obama. While he and wife Michelle did recieve an invitation they won’t be attending. But even presidential rejection can pale in comparison to the public scrutiny Chelsea has already encountered.
Wedding websites might be all the rage, but only if you create them yourself, so there is something a little bit creepy about this one that’s written by someone else and devoted entirely to a pre-wedding analysis of Chelsea’s big day.
Then there’s the confidentially agreement that everyone involved in the wedding has to sign, including the “gift-bag” suppliers” – an incredibly generous (and unnecessary) gesture when you consider that seats are tipped at around $500 per head.
And what about Emm Hadad-Friedman, a bride to be from New York whose rant titled “Will Chelsea Clinton’s wedding ruin mine?” bemoans the fact that she’ll share the same wedding date as the Merzvinskys. It’s enough to make even the most stoic of brides throw in the organza towel.
But wait, there’s more. Samuel P Jacobs of The Daily Beast writes that all eyes that aren’t already swarming over the young couple’s plans are waiting to see if she’ll ditch the “Clinton” on her way back down the aisle.
At least in terms of presidential protocol, Chelsea can follow in the footsteps of all other first daughters and do whatever she likes. Jenna Bush hyphenated, Patti Davis (daughter of Reagan) stuck with her mother’s maiden name while Caroline Kennedy, Susan Ford and Amy Lynn Cater kept theirs.
Should Chelsea decide to change her name on the weekend, Jacobs says she’ll be in good company; 70 per cent of American woman take a married name.But I’m hoping she’ll seize the opportunity to escape the spotlight and take her husband’s name so when she wakes up on her first day as a married woman, she’ll also have a life of her own.
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