Against the White Doves

White doves released in a parking lot. A shot in the horse-drawn carriage. The moment the knife goes into the cake, immortalized for a future generation that will never look at it. German wedding photography has perfected the art of documenting a day you can’t be bothered to remember. Russian couples, apparently, have a different idea. A set of photos going around shows newlyweds posed on swans, dressed as horses, flanked by spectacularly drunk aunts—participants and props that elevate the whole genre considerably. There’s a commitment to spectacle here, a willingness to look completely unhinged in the service of making something that will actually get pulled out of the album thirty years later. I respect that. The drunk aunt especially.