Brides of March

Michele Michele, founder of the Brides of March

One of the many, many reasons I love living in San Francisco is the plethora of thinkers outside the box, the eccentrics, weirdos, crazies and non-conformists who make up so much of the social fabric of this city. The SF Mime Troupe, Laughing Squid, the Cacophony Society, the Burning Man artists... all of these and more make this place a wild, wondrous, creative and imaginative place to live.

For instance, events like the one that took place last Saturday -- it's called the Brides of March, and it's somewhat similar to the ridiculous (and ridiculously fun) Santarchy/Santacon, in that it consists mainly of people dressing up, gathering together, drinking copious amounts of alcohol and roaming through the city spreading good cheer and confusion. Now in its 12th year, the Brides of March took place last weekend, with a few hundred participants in wedding dresses of all description meeting at the Tunnel Top bar in the early afternoon and proceeding from there to destinations such as Neiman-Marcus, Tiffany's, Union Square, the Gold Dust Lounge and Lefty O'Doul's. It's even spread out to other cities around the country, but it definitely originated here. I had heard about it in years past, and Mrs. Generik, working as she does very near Union Square, had observed some of the bridal marches before, but this was my first time seeing it first hand and being able to document a bit of the hilarity that inevitably ensued.

I think next year I might just join the fun as a participant, rather than just an observer. Because, as Susan Sarandon said in Bull Durham, "We all deserve to wear white, honey."

More shots below the fold. To see the entire set I posted (warning: there are quite a few pictures!) go here. For the official Flickr site, with contributions from photographers all over, go here.

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