Creating Events Filled with Love Since 2001
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Creating Events Filled with Love Since 2001 |
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The New York Times
He Doesn't Know It, but She's His Wife By RACHEL SKLAR Published: July 4, 2004 Blaire Allison turns 27 this month, and she has reached a decision: she wants to get married. In fact, she's going to be engaged by the end of 2004. The only thing is, no boyfriend sits on the receiving end of this ultimatum. Yet. But she hopes that with the help of her new Web site, www.marryblaire.com, there will be. "Do you know my husband?" she asks on her home page. The page includes a close-up of her blushingly bridal face, and the pitch: help this pretty, fun-loving, go-getting woman find her Prince Charming on deadline. The "Countdown to My Engagement" clock on her site is moving inexorably toward the zero hour. Ms. Allison, a New Jersey native who works in New York as an event planner, is no shrinking violet. She is also a dating coach (insert "physician, heal thyself" joke here). "It seems like in New York City," she said the other day over a Caesar salad at a Chelsea restaurant, "it's not cool to say that you want to get married, or it's not cool to be married young." But, she added, "I don't want to be married in my 30's. I want to be married to this man for some time and then have kids." Since her site was launched on June 21, "Marry Blaire" has become an Internet phenomenon. The site has received more than 10,000 unique visitors, and links to her site have popped up across the blogosphere. She even had to upgrade her Web-hosting plan; she blew through her monthly allotment of bandwidth in two days. She has received e-mails from all over the world and many missives from potential husbands. She was even recognized by partygoers at a recent Jewish singles event at the Hammerstein Ballroom. "I've always been that girl who wanted to get married," Ms. Allison said. "I was never really into the whole 'Let me go date and have a good time' thing, although I did do that. For me, it was never about the many men, it was always about 'The One.' " But not just any One. He must be tall, though she is 5-foot-3. Her age range is firm: she'll go younger, but no older than 32. ("I don't want someone jaded.") Also verboten: ex-wives and children. No couch potatoes, either; Ms. Allison used to be a personal trainer. Other qualities on her wish list are romantic, creative, quirky "and of course good-looking!" And if you're not Jewish, forget it. She wants to marry within her faith. Ms. Allison does not worry that she may be asking too much, or that she won't make her deadline. If you know what you want, she said, "The universe really helps you." She says she usually knows within weeks whether a man is right. As of Friday, she had gone on one date with a man who wrote in, and has arranged several more. Her matter-of-fact march to the altar has sparked a multitude of reactions, from supportive "You go, girl!" e-mails to blistering messages from strangers (and one ex-boyfriend, who wrote, "What is wrong with you?"). But she isn't concerned with detractors. "I think that my story will have a fairy-tale ending," she said. She has 180 days to make it happen. |
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