On The Bad Bunny Halftime Show + Making Your Budget Wedding Your Own
MEDIA AFTER THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW IS ALWAYS FULL OF HALF-BAKED THINK PIECES – HERE’S MINE <3
It’s been a few weeks since the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and I know what you’re thinking:
That’s an eternity in this current landscape, why are you even writing anything about it now?
This is Boston, did you really have to write, “The Seahawks won the Super Bowl”?! (Drake Maye, sorry buddy. We still love ya.)
But as I'm writing this it’s been announced that Bad Bunny’s halftime show was the most watched in Super Bowl history. And plus, I don’t need a reason. I loved it and want to talk about it, so here we go.
Bad Bunny’s performance gave us a lot – including an actual wedding. In terms of storytelling, it demonstrated exactly how I wish all couples would approach their wedding day.
We throw around the word “intentional” a lot in this industry, particularly when it comes to what wedding professionals deem luxury (my thoughts on that are for a different post).
You choose your vendors with intention, you design your invites with intention, you create a seating chart with intention. So much so that “intentional” in this context now runs the risk of becoming shorthand for “$1500 per head.”
I get it. Intentionality lends itself to authenticity, and of course you want your day to feel authentic. Still, we’re getting it wrong a lot of the time.
Back to Benito. Bad Bunny’s halftime show was visually beautiful. It was also hyper specific.
I’ve never been to Puerto Rico. I don’t speak Spanish. Despite DtMF’s heavy rotation in my playlists, I’d probably listened to Bad Bunny’s last album all the way through one time prior to the Super Bowl.
But I am the daughter of an immigrant, and when I saw that little kid sleeping across a row of chairs at the “wedding reception,” I immediately felt closer to the performance. I’ve been that kid plenty of times. Forgive the meme, but it really was one of these moments:
As his show wrapped, I joined thousands (millions?) of people headed straight to Google.
“Was that a real engagement?” Yes.
“Was that a real wedding?” Yes.
“Were those all real small businesses?” Yes!
See also: “What has Jessica Alba been doing for the last 15 years? What was that movie where she plays the dancer?” (Health food something or other. And the movie was Honey.)
With a production as large as the Super Bowl, I wouldn’t fault anyone if the answer to any of those questions was “no.” However, the genuineness of these details added so much.
If you’re reading this, chances are your wedding doesn’t have a Super Bowl budget – but you can still plan your wedding like Benito!
Zero in on personal touchpoints. These are the details that allow you to connect both with your guests and your future selves.
I’m not talking about going on Etsy and personalizing everything you can think of – no matter how many targeted ads you get for monogrammed sunglasses/hand towels/mugs/glow sticks.
I can’t think of a single person who looks back on a wedding day and thinks, “Those polyester getting-ready robes really added something special. I bet my wedding party still cherishes them.”
No, we’re talking p e r s o n a l here! Personal like including a reading in your ceremony that your parent loved. Personal like wearing a family member’s wedding ____. (veil? shoes? dress? brooch?) Personal like cutting the cake first because it’s family tradition. Personal like making a fluffer-nutter sandwich as a “unity ceremony” because you decided to get married during Fluff Fest. Like rolling D&D dice to determine who reads their vows first. (In case it wasn’t abundantly clear – Dearly has seen all of these.)
I hope you’re noticing a pattern. None of those details cost a lot, but they’re valuable. Your love story is unique, and centering it doesn’t mean blowing your budget.
Now stop planning a wedding and start planning your wedding. You’ll feel better for it.
– Jusmine
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