The New York Times has a feature on a certain wedding, which was not just a celebration but a celebration of ideas and self-promotion. Some "highlights":
During the reception, Mr. Friedlander asked his guests to please recycle their cups, “because we’re really in a serious situation with climate change.”
When guests arrived on Saturday night two weeks ago, they were greeted with name tags that asked them to declare a commitment. Lest they not take the request seriously, the hosts had additional cards printed that asked them to “Name something you are really committed to.” The cards contained further imperatives: “Name one action you can take in the next 24 hours that is aligned with your commitment.”
After the ceremony, in which chants were chanted and vows, written by the couple’s friends, were exchanged, guests sat down to a series of talks, with PowerPoint presentations, on subjects of interest to the couple — ecological efficiency, neuroscience, holistic healing.
The purpose of LifeEdited is to develop more apartments and buildings like his and to get people to live with fewer things of higher quality. The motto of the movement is “the luxury of less.” (Mr. Hill did not seem aware of how unnerving it can be to hear rich people talk about the pleasures of not spending money.)
Mr. Friedlander and Ms. Schmidt pitched their wedding to the media. They saw the event not as an intimate exchange to share merely with close friends and family but as a platform for instructing the world in what they think.
Oh, bourgeois bohemians, will you ever stop being insufferable, even for a moment? I guess it's possible to be "into" change and "simple living" (in custom Manhattan townhouses) and Powerpoint slide presentations, but not, you know, a bit of introspection.
During the reception, Mr. Friedlander asked his guests to please recycle their cups, “because we’re really in a serious situation with climate change.”
When guests arrived on Saturday night two weeks ago, they were greeted with name tags that asked them to declare a commitment. Lest they not take the request seriously, the hosts had additional cards printed that asked them to “Name something you are really committed to.” The cards contained further imperatives: “Name one action you can take in the next 24 hours that is aligned with your commitment.”
After the ceremony, in which chants were chanted and vows, written by the couple’s friends, were exchanged, guests sat down to a series of talks, with PowerPoint presentations, on subjects of interest to the couple — ecological efficiency, neuroscience, holistic healing.
The purpose of LifeEdited is to develop more apartments and buildings like his and to get people to live with fewer things of higher quality. The motto of the movement is “the luxury of less.” (Mr. Hill did not seem aware of how unnerving it can be to hear rich people talk about the pleasures of not spending money.)
Mr. Friedlander and Ms. Schmidt pitched their wedding to the media. They saw the event not as an intimate exchange to share merely with close friends and family but as a platform for instructing the world in what they think.
Oh, bourgeois bohemians, will you ever stop being insufferable, even for a moment? I guess it's possible to be "into" change and "simple living" (in custom Manhattan townhouses) and Powerpoint slide presentations, but not, you know, a bit of introspection.