VOA慢速英语听力：对一些人来说，结婚需要一种不同于其他人的体验 For Some, Getting Married Needs to Be an Experience Unlike any Other.
More couples are asking guests to wear nontraditional clothing to their marriage ceremonies.
越来越多的夫妇要求婚礼宾客穿着非传统服装参加他们的婚礼仪式。
The result appears to be that many guests are not sure what to think about it and are confused by the unusual requests.
结果似乎是许多宾客不确定如何看待这一点，并对这些不寻常的要求感到困惑。
Maggie Long is 34 years old and lives in New York. Not too long ago, she attended the wedding of a close friend at a restaurant in Denver, Colorado. The couple described the suggested clothing for the event as, “dive bar semiformal.” A dive bar is a low-cost drinking place where people are not known for good behavior.
34岁的玛吉·朗（Maggie Long）居住在纽约。不久前，她参加了一个亲密朋友在科罗拉多州丹佛市的一家餐厅举行的婚礼。这对夫妇将活动的建议着装描述为“小酒吧半正式”。“小酒吧”是一个低成本的喝酒场所，人们不以良好的行为而闻名。
“I love a theme,” said Long. "It's fun that people aren't taking weddings so seriously, but I had no idea what that meant."
“我喜欢主题，”朗说。“人们不再那么认真地对待婚礼，这很有趣，但我不知道那是什么意思。”
At the dive bar wedding, Long said many older guests got into the idea. One guest wore a rainbow tie-dye shirt, a colorful informal shirt made popular in the 1960s.
在那个小酒吧婚礼上，朗说许多年长的宾客对这个主意很感兴趣。一位宾客穿着一件彩虹颜色的领带染色衬衫，这是一种在20世纪60年代流行的色彩丰富的非正式衬衫。
Other wedding guests have been invited to weddings that were described as, “tropical formal," “snappy casual” and “garden party whimsical.”
其他婚礼宾客受邀参加的婚礼被描述为“热带正装”，“时髦休闲”和“花园派对奇幻”。
Emily Coyne is the founder of Emily Coyne Events, a wedding design company based in San Francisco, California. She said many couples are trying to make their weddings different from everyone else’s wedding.
艾米莉·科因（Emily Coyne）是位于加利福尼亚州旧金山的婚礼设计公司Emily Coyne Events的创始人。她说许多夫妇都试图让他们的婚礼与众不同。
“The key is making sure there’s communication behind the dress code. Don’t just confuse guests,” she said.
“关键是确保着装要求背后有沟通。不要只是让宾客感到困惑，”她说。
When her company designs wedding websites for couples, it includes descriptions for the dress code. The dress code is a description of the kinds of clothes considered right for the event. “Tropical formal,” for example, might include long dresses in bright colors and suits with unusual ties.
当她的公司为夫妇设计婚礼网站时，会包含着装要求的描述。着装要求是对被认为适合活动的服装的描述。例如，“热带正装”可能包括明亮颜色的长裙和带有不寻常领带的西装。
“Most guests have a lot of fun with it,” Coyne said.
“大多数宾客都非常喜欢这样的主题，”科因说。
Rikki Gotthelf attended her friend’s “space disco cowboy” wedding. The hosts sent their guests to an abandoned town near Austin, Texas.
Rikki Gotthelf参加了她朋友的“太空迪斯科牛仔”婚礼。主人把宾客送到了德克萨斯州奥斯汀附近的一个废弃小镇。
For guidance, Gotthelf looked to Sophie Strauss, who calls herself a “stylist for regular people.” Strauss suggests asking the couple directly if they had not made themselves clear.
为了寻求指引，Gotthelf向自称“普通人造型师”的Sophie Strauss寻求帮助。Strauss建议如果宾客对奇怪的着装要求感到困惑，可以直接询问新婚夫妇是否表达清楚。
She tells guests dealing with strange dress codes to remember: “It's not a costume. Unless, of course, it's literally a costume party.”
她告诉宾客们处理奇怪着装要求时要记住：“这不是化妆服。除非当然是化妆舞会。”
Often, there is some form of personal meaning behind the unusual wedding themes. Thirty-two-year-old Madison Smith is getting married in May 2024. Her dress code calls for “black tie sunset glam.”
通常，不寻常的婚礼主题背后都有一些个人意义。32岁的Madison Smith计划在2024年5月结婚。她的着装要求是“黑领结日落魅力”。
“It's in honor of my late grandfather," she said. “His favorite thing was the sunsets where I’m getting married." The wedding will be taking place on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
“这是为了纪念我已故的祖父，”她说。“他最喜欢我将举行婚礼的地方的日落。”这场婚礼将在新泽西州长滩岛举行。
She hopes for sunset-colored dresses that are orange, yellow, purple, blue or pink. She also wants suits with elements that are of similar, sunset colors.
她希望看到橘色、黄色、紫色、蓝色或粉色的日落色礼服。她还想要那些配有类似日落颜色元素的西装。
Jove Meyer is the owner of an event planning company in Brooklyn. He has dealt with dress codes that included “colorful cocktail,” and “red carpet ready.”
Jove Meyer是一家位于布鲁克林的活动策划公司的老板。他曾处理过“色彩鸡尾酒”和“红地毯准备”等着装要求。
“I always suggest couples clarify exactly what they mean,” he said.
“我总是建议新婚夫妇澄清他们的意思，”他说。
Brittny Drye is the lead editor of the wedding magazine Love Inc. She said guests should not be unwilling to ask the couple about an unusual dress code.
Brittny Drye是婚礼杂志《爱情》的主编。她说，宾客们不应该不愿意向新婚夫妇询问不寻常的着装要求。
When couples are asking their guests to wear nontraditional clothes, “they’re signing themselves up to be asked questions,” Drye said.
当夫妇们要求宾客们穿着非传统服装时，“他们就自愿接受被问问题的可能性，” Drye说。
I’m Dan Novak.
我是丹·诺瓦克。
Words in This Story
couple –n. two people in a relationship; two of anything
theme — n. the main subject of something
snappy — adj. fashionable, popular or stylish
whimsical — adj. unusual in a playful or funny way; not serious
dress code — n. the kinds of clothing expected to be worn to an event, such as formal or casual
disco — n. a dance place
abandoned –adj. left by the people who used to live there
stylist — n. a person whose job it is to make other people look nice
costume — n. clothing worn by people, such as actors, who are trying to look like people living in different places or times
clarify — v. to explain; to make clear
