Wedding gowns I loved but didn't buy

Also, I'm in Seattle tonight!

Writing Prompt:

Make a list of 5-10 words you absolutely detest—either because of the sound, meaning, or symbolism. Now, write a letter to your first crush incorporating these 5-10 detestable words. Perhaps the exercise will give you a new perspective on them.

I found my wedding look :)

After trying on about 50 wedding dresses, I came back around to my original position on the matter, which is that wedding gowns are a racket and I don’t want to wear white anyway!!! So I bought a pink gown from the brand Selkie, which I will be heavily altering and accessorizing (let’s just say there will be a thigh-high slit, a crown, and a pair of butterfly wings, among other things lol), and even after all that, it’ll STILL be less than the price of the cheapest wedding dress I tried on. I stand by this choice!!! The big day is next summer—stay tuned for the look, and in the meantime, here’s a smattering of more traditional wedding dresses, some of which I liked, but none of which I’ll be wearing.

This was me trying to envision a custom pink Claire Pettibone gown and then promptly deciding I did not want to spend $15,000 on such an item lol.

This was me dying laughing at how rude this bridal consultant in Santa Barbara was. The dresses were NOT IT anyway, but in less than two sentences, this lady managed to inform me that my boobs were too small and that I had “no bridal identity.” The shade was so flagrant all I could do was crack up. I felt like I was in The Devil Wears Prada or something.

This dress from The Sentimentalist in Atlanta, GA had detachable sleeves and came in pink, and it’s probably the closest wedding dress I found to my ideal vision. I did love it, I just can’t get past the sky-high price of high-end bridal gowns! Like, if I’m not wearing white, why shell out on the wedding markup, you know?

I totally loved the silhouettes of these three gowns from En Blanc in Santa Monica, and they weren’t toooooooo expensive either. They just didn’t come in pink! The vibe I’m going for is like, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antionette-meets-Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but on her sluttiest day. And PINK. Non-negotiable!!!

Getting political this week on Sounds Like A Cult...

Oops a politically flavored episode of Sounds Like A Cult!!!!! Would you believe it if we told you we recorded this nearly SIX MONTHS AGO and just crossed our fingers it would resonate whenever it ended up going live??? This week, host Amanda is joined by Puck reporter and former MAGA youth recruit, Tina Nguyen, author of the 2024 memoir The MAGA Diaries, who’s here to shed light on the culty modern movement that is conservative youth activism: why it exists, how it works, and why there’s no left-wing analog. Culty times people!!! The episode goes live tomorrow first thing.

My Seattle book tour event is tonight!!!

amanda_montell

A post shared by @amanda_montell

Seattle overthinkers, I hope to see you tonight at Elliott Bay at 7pm <3 Seating is super limited and apparently over 250 people have RSVP’s so far (!!!), so might be worth getting there early!

A weekly roundup of books, podcasts, TV shows, tchotchkes, and anything else I’m currently “cult following.”

Movie: Oddity

Casey and I bought tickets to this horror film the other week knowing absolutely nothing about it, and damn WHAT A PLEASURE. If you like simple (but perfectly executed), witchy/ghosty scary movies (no gore), you simply must see Oddity. Also, it’s Irish, which makes it automatically cozy and intriguing in my book. I watched half of it through my fingers, so you KNOW IT’S SCARY.

TV: Simone Biles Rising

Feeling inspired by Simone Biles? Ground-breaking, I know. On the real though, learning that the GOAT is just a regular human with a sad little brain just like everyone else through this two-part doc was extremely encouraging. Extremely worth a watch.

Short Read: The Secret Battle for the Future of the Murdoch Empire

Anyone still mourning the end of Succession? Just keep up with the exceedingly more fucked-up real-life version of the story. The New York Times broke the story last week that three of Rupert Murdoch’s kids are suing him for the juiciest reason ever: Apparently, Rupert is attempting to ice these three more liberal children out of inheriting control over his right-wing empire after his death, leaving the whole dynasty to his most staunchly conservative son, even though that’s not the power structure they all contractually agreed to. Rupert is claiming he’s just consolidating power to protect the value of the business, which would actually be a legal reason to change the contract, except the kids say that’s bullshit and he’s just trying to set up the world to continue to become a Fox-News-brain-rot-MAGA dystopia after his death not to protect anyone at all but rather because he’s straight-up power hungry and evil. What a terrifying and exciting saga. Read the full NYT piece above!

Unnecessary Purchase: Stonehart Jewelry

I’m getting a few of my wedding accessories from this brand :)