And I wonder if the future bride has seen a real, hand-tied black silk bow tie (especially the larger styles) or is thinking of those dreadful small pre-tied waiter things?
I came in to say this exact thing. There's a big difference between an actual self-tied bow tie and the awful pre-tied, clip-on things that lot of tux shops offer because so many guys are too lazy to learn how to tie one. (Bow ties are not hard. They take a little practice like any kind of tie, but learning by video is much, much easier than trying to decipher written instructions with a diagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJv4Qh7zR3E)