Encore Brides. Really?

Really?  The phrase for people getting married that have been married before is now an "encore bride and groom"  or an "encore wedding".  I am not so sure this is an accurate use of the word encore.  Are they suggesting that someone who has been married and (for the most part) are now divorced are being requested by the audience to get married again because they did such a great job on the first one?  Surely, (and yes - this writer is an "encore bride") that is not the case in my life! And doesn't an encore suggest that the same characters who performed that evening would come out again to perform again?  Wouldn't "encore" be a more appropriate word to use to describe a vow renewal?  Then, at least, the same cast of characters would be involved. Regardless of the accuracy of the term, there are an awful lot of encore weddings going on.  And many people have strong ideas about how they should be.  Should the bride wear a full, white gown?  Should there be bridesmaids and ushers?  What elements of a first wedding are now deemed wrong for the second?  Or the third?  Or, if you are going Elizabeth Taylor style - the seventh? This is a mystery to me.  If two people are in love, and they want to celebrate their union and new life with a wedding, why should they diminish the event just because they married the wrong person (and yes, they may have been the wrong person for the other as well) in the past?  In many ways, I almost feel that the second, or third, or seventh wedding should be grander than the first!  You are boldly proclaiming that you believe in the institution of marriage and the ritual of a wedding in spite of any previous experiences!   Of course, some people may say that I feel this way because I plan weddings, and that I just want people to spend more money on their next wedding.  This is not quite true.  When I looked at my third husband, and we were planning our wedding, I told him that I love him more than I have loved anyone else in my lifetime.  I did not want to dilute our wedding plans, or wear less of a bridal gown, or have fewer flowers than I did at my first wedding. I am more excited and confident entering into this relationship, and wanted to show our friends and family this feeling through our celebration. Some of my clients that are encore brides do want a smaller, or more subdued wedding because they realized that all of the extravagance was not really their style, or it did not make they day or the marriage more successful.  That is fine too! The beauty of it all is we live in a time when you can plan the wedding of your dreams, the day you desire, whether you have been married before or not.  Just let yourself create a memory for you and your groom that suits your style.