A couple prepares to tie the knot at Mount Everest’s base camp, in the Himalayas.

So Much More than a Wedding

This season, “non-wedding weddings”—think short ceremonies, long parties, and far-flung locales—are all the rage, and brides have taken the assignment to heart

By Elena Clavarino

It’s five A.M. at a wedding in the middle of a forest on the outskirts of Oaxaca, and it’s starting to get hot. The bride and groom are wearing matching headdresses, and guests are reaching into bags of MDMA on the dance floor. The sun is rising, but the party will go on for a few more hours, until the young guests stumble back to their hotel rooms and their parents get up for Continental breakfast. In the afternoon, there’ll be another party, which requires another outfit change, another makeup artist, another set designer, and another D.J.

The ceremony was short, the celebration was long, and the utmost care was devoted to the idea that the wedding shouldn’t feel too much like, well, a wedding.