A popular wedding craze is to host a couple's big day on American plantations. Sure, the idea of tying the knot in an elaborate ceremony just a few hundred yards away from slave quarters or at a location where Black people toiled like cattle may seem uncomfortable for some, but for others, it's all apart of the nostalgia of the Antebellum South. Actor Ryan Reynolds and his actress wife Blake Lively held their wedding at a plantation in South Carolina, but Reynolds recently admitted that it's a move that they both deeply regret.
In 2012, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively exchanged "I Dos" at Boone Hall, one of America's longest working plantation sites. The location has been mentioned in books, been featured in films, and its history dates back to at least the late 1600s. When speaking with Fast Company about his decision to marry at the plantation, Reynolds admitted, "It’s something we’ll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for."
"It’s impossible to reconcile," he added. "What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy. Years ago we got married again at home — but shame works in weird ways. A giant f—king mistake like that can either cause you to shut down or it can reframe things and move you into action. It doesn’t mean you won’t f--- up again. But re-patterning and challenging lifelong social conditioning is a job that doesn’t end." Do you think plantation weddings are a big deal?
[via]