The warmer months are here and warm weather brings brides and grooms out of the woodwork to get married. Watching your friends get married is rarely a pleasant experience, especially if you're still single. What's worse is knowing that your friends are getting married and not being invited to the wedding. Even if you are invited, you risk a bombardment of "So, when are you going to tie the knot?" "Aren't you seeing someone, sweetie?" and "I know someone who would be perfect for you..." How can you survive the wedding season without feeling like an old maid or a complete loser?
Go on a road trip... solo. Getting away from everyone will give you a chance to experience things for yourself without interfering opinions. No need to go far. Just take a drive through your own state and stop at some interesting roadside attractions. Go to Roadside America.com to find some cool sights close to you. Discover new things and broaden your horizons. Imagine the stories you'll have to tell when you get back home.
Hold a singles shower. Invite your single friends over and have them each bring one gift. Trade gifts, get liquored up, and play silly party games like Truth or Dare or Spin the Bottle. If you're feeling really adventurous, play Seven Minutes in Heaven (two people in one closet for seven minutes)... and do all the things you were to shy to do with Bobby in high school.
Plan your own wedding. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Even if there is no possibility of marriage in the near future, planning a fantasy wedding can be great fun. You can pick out wedding invitations and decorations or find the perfect location without the stress of checking availability or running your decision past a partner. Go the extra mile and try on wedding dresses. Bring along a friend and a camera. Who knows, your research may come in handy someday?
Write your own vows. Not vows of love and trust to (insert name of sexy actor du jour), but to you. Similar to those resolutions you love to break on New Year's, come up with some promises to yourself, like "I will never let my mother set me up again," and stick with them as long as you can. Or make a list of things you'll never give up if you do find that one long-lasting relationship ("I refuse to stop drinking milk straight from the carton").
Take some of those time-honored wedding traditions and bring them into everyday use. Carry a garter with you out to a nightclub. Approach a group of guys, get their attention, and toss the garter into the air. Whoever catches it will be the one you take home. Guys love when girls do slutty stuff like that.
Write an article about how to survive wedding season. Then try explaining to your boyfriend that you're in no position to settle down and this isn't a ploy to get a proposal out of him. Seriously. Spend half an hour convincing him that someone else wrote the article under your name. If that doesn't work, toss a garter at him and give him a sultry look.
Those simple activities should keep you busy while other folks are on their honeymoons in exotic locales. Still fretting over single hood? Think about America's divorce rate and sleep well tonight.
