The Sims 4 Wedding Stories let me fulfill my queer wedding fantasy
The Sims 4 – My Wedding Stories is set to release next week, but I was lucky enough to get the chance to play the new game pack – and plan my dream, queer wedding – a little earlier. And well, it was definitely as queer as I could possibly make it.
Before I got my hands on the game pack, I had the chance to preview the pack alongside other journalists from different publications. We were shown the new World, a Mediterranean-inspired map called Tartosa. There are 9 lots in total, and each compliments the picturesque and romantic look that The Sims 4 team is clearly going for. Some are vacation-orientated lots, others are residential, but the majority are community-based. However, this time around there is also a wedding-orientated lot where you can sit down and cultivate the wedding of your dreams, piece by piece.
What you should know about me is that I’m not the type to be excited by weddings. I come from a family that pretty much made me scared to fall in love, because god if their marriage was considered love then I wanted no part in it. Then there was the whole ‘give up life savings for one day’ which sounded ridiculous to me. There was no way in hell that I’d give up so much money, money that I’ve worked so hard for, for just one day. As you might be able to tell, I’m not all that romantic when it comes to weddings. My previous partners were, thankfully, understanding of that.
But you know, My Wedding Stories may actually just make a believer out of me, because while the wedding between my two lovely Sims ended up being an absolute shambles, I found the planning part of the whole thing super fun.
There are several ways you can plan the actual ceremony, but for me, the fun part was planning events leading up to the wedding – particularly the Bach Party. If this sounds an awful lot like a Bachelor or Bachelorette party then you’d be right, but this instead is a gender-neutral version, which can be used to bring friends, family, and neighbours together for your special night. I really enjoyed this, as it felt a little like inviting your found family over to celebrate you without having to worry about the whole binary of gender. A nice, loving touch.
Then there was the bouquet – which you can make for yourself if your Sim is into gardening and curating flowers for themselves – and cake. Again, you can make your own cake if you so choose, giving you more options to pick just what sort of wedding you want to have. I personally love that there were options for Sims to try with their spouse and that if you want to, you can just invite friends along for the ride too. I’ve never been a person that likes being the center of attention, so it was oddly fitting to have my Sims found family experience the whole thing with me.
Then we moved onto the actual wedding itself, which unfortunately didn’t quite live up to the hype of the planning – though as this was an early build, I suspect that there will be more improvements on the date of release. My Sim’s daughter was asked to be the flower pal, another gender-neutral take on the typical ‘flower girl’ that you have at weddings. However, despite being close friends with both my Sims, the young child decided that she’d rather do anything else. So, no flower pal. Then the best friend of my Sim kept freezing when he was supposed to walk her down the aisle. Oh, and the speech that you can do? Every Sim at my wedding decided to ignore it. Wonderful.
Yes, there are still a lot of hiccups involved in this game pack, and if you’re someone who just wants a nice, easy wedding where nothing goes wrong… Well, you’re going to be micro-managing a lot. It’s a tad frustrating, but hey – it wouldn’t be a wedding if you weren’t stressed out of your mind, right?
Outside of these irritating moments though, what disappointed me the most about this game pack was that it didn’t add two things I love: jobs and drama. The Get To Work expansion is one of my favourites as I like the mundane tasks that this expansion asks from you, so I had hoped that a wedding planner career would be included in this game pack. But no such luck. A shame, because planning my own Sims wedding was a lot of fun, to plan other Sims weddings would have been even better!
As for drama, despite the reveal trailer featuring one Sim leaving her partner to be with her best friend, there’s no such ‘I Object’ option in My Wedding Stories. It feels like a missed opportunity to tell a story, something which a lot of Simmers look for when it comes to game packs. Now my queer Sims can never do the heartwrenching love of confession to their best friend at the very last second – thanks for nothing, Maxis!
Jokes aside, My Wedding Stories is one of the best game packs that Maxis have done. I really enjoyed that there was the option to plan a wedding that isn’t your typical western fare. For example, you can have your guests and Sims throw rice, and there are specific, individual plates from various cultures. There is even Indian and Chinese-inspired clothing which, as Maxis told us during the preview, they included after working extensively with consults.
But what stood out most of all for me, and has become such a point of contention for The Sims community around the world, is the inclusion of queer Sims Dominique and Cam, first introduced in My Wedding Stories reveal trailer. They aren’t the first queer Sims couple to be included in a game pack, but queer love has never been put upfront and center before in the franchise, and for it to be a wedding game pack too? Their inclusion is a big deal and a huge reason why so many queer Simmers are excited to play.
I was able to meet Dominque and Cam during my time playing, and found them to be a really lovely addition to the game pack. While they don’t offer anything unique, it made me feel welcome to become their friend and experience their love for one another first hand. Considering how powerful The Sims series has been for queer players, something as simple as seeing the two behaving like a couple and existing in my world, was wonderful to experience.
Overall, The Sims 4 – My Wedding Stories is a really fantastic game pack that I enjoyed experimenting with – it just needs a few fixes to make it perfect.
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