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You have your wedding day all figured out and you think that you have ironed out every bit of information. However, there might be things you have always wondered about, but never had the courage to ask. Or maybe you have simply never thought about it, so now is a good time to think it over.

Here are a few questions no one ever thinks to ask before their big day.

How do we kiss when we kiss?

This is a big one. Remember, you will likely have your whole families, including children present at the ceremony. Understandably, you are madly in love and emotional to boot. But now is not the time to give people a sneak peek at your honeymoon.  Keep it simple and tasteful. Ideally, no tounge should be involved and let’s keep those hands from exploring, shall we?

How does a bride use the bathroom?

The dress-and-bathroom question is a very easy one to slip your mind because of the excitement of your beautiful wedding gown.

A smaller or simpler wedding dress offers much more flexibility but if you choose to go big, then it might be vital that you highlight this question with your designer. Make sure you do a practice run prior to the day to figure out the most practical way of using the bathroom without having to take off the dress entirely.

What happens to the engagement ring?

If you and your partner decide to exchange wedding bands in addition to your engagement ring, you may prefer to keep your ring fingers “clear” for the big moment. People have different traditions and beliefs so this is really an important thing to discuss with your partner before the wedding.

You will find that some slip it back on after the ceremony or before they meet and greet guests or head off for photographs. Others might leave it safely back home.

How’s everyone getting to the reception?

Transport for your guests is one of the most important things to consider when planning a wedding. Will the people you are inviting bring their own cars? Does the venue accommodate cars? Are you going to opt for the casual approach in which everyone finds their own way or bus or a string of limos? Make sure all the guests are informed about the arrangements.

Is it okay to request that guests wear a certain colour?

It is your wedding day and the colour of the day should be something you come up with. However, it might be unreasonable to expect guests to wear only a certain colour, style or theme. We say the best way is to let everyone wear what makes them feel comfortable. You can always show the colour scheme of the wedding on the invitation, and add a playful hint that everyone is welcome to dress up accordingly. However, make sure there is no pressure.

What’s the backup plan?

There are many aspects of your wedding day over which you have a lot of control. Unfortunately, there are others you absolutely do not. So, it’s important to have a backup plan in case anything changes, like a storm occurring at an outdoor wedding.

Will you be exchanging gifts?

Many couples exchange gifts on their wedding day and some even give gifts to the parents of their partner. It’s a good idea to have a discussion prior to the actual day about whether you want to give presents or not and what is expected.

Picture: Unsplash

A man appeared to have married four brides during one ceremony in Limpopo this past weekend. In a video circulating on social media, the groom and his four brides can be seen enjoying their recent nuptials.

The wedding is believed to have taken place in a village in Limpopo called Ga-Makgeru on November 8, 2020. In the video, the four brides and the groom are captured happily dancing into the tent packed with amused guests where the ceremony was going to be.

Three of the brides were wearing similar dresses and one of the four stood out in a long sleeve dress.

Polygamy is no foreign concept in most South African cultures, but it is unusual for mutiple marriages to occur on the same day. Typically, couples host seperate ceremonies over time.

While bigamy is a punishable offence in South Africa, customary marriages operate differently. According to Home Affairs, if a male person is already in a customary marriage and wishes to enter into another customary marriage he has to, at his own cost, get a court order from a competent court which will regulate his future matrimonial property system.

It is also possible for a male person who is already in a customary marriage to enter into a civil marriage. They should follow the normal procedure for civil marriages.

Polygamy is legal under certain circumstances in South Africa. The circumstances include practices of various cultures and religions in South Africa. There are no religions or cultures that recognise a woman having multiple husbands, so polygamy is typically understood as one man having mutiple wives.

Also read: What you need to know about polygamy in South Africa

Picture: Unsplash

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the general public and couples had to change how they traditionally did things.  How weddings are celebrated have also changed, forcing many to get creative with how they say ‘I do’.

If you are not scared of heights but also wants to maintain extreme social distancing, then saying your vows in the sky could be an idea.

Air Charter Service is offering a “Wedding in the Sky” package for couples who can afford to socially distance in the clouds. The two-hour sky-high experience takes place at 30 000 feet and includes an airport chauffeur to drive the newlyweds to and from their choice of airport.

The package will also include champagne, personalized wedding favours, canapés, a cabin crew member officiant, flower arrangements, and catered food and drink aboard a plane that seats up to 16 people.

One of the nicest things about this adventure is that your route can be planned and you can say “I do” while flying over your preferred route.

The whole thing will cost you $28,000 (R443 286) but if you have a smaller budget, there is an offer for you at $18,000 (R284 969) but you need to bear in mind that the perks will not be the same because its one is for a couple that wants to elope.

Picture: Unsplash

On Saturday, October 31 Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that they will be going to another hard lockdown that will last four weeks in preparation for Christmas and to reduce the number of rapidly growing infections.

Couple Jo Loosemore, 33, and Matthew Goffin, 37 were meant to get married on November 14. Instead, they married 24 hours after the announcement. 

Matthew said that they already had a set date, venue, and 200 guests as part of their plans for their wedding day. The ceremony was going to take place in  Devon but because of the impromptu decision to get married a day after the announcement, they got married at Church of St Martin in Witcham, Cambridgeshire instead.

Initially, the venue in Devon was chosen because of the proximity to Jo’s parents but the change forced them to get married where they lived with their son.

Jo said: “I was having a shower on Saturday morning and I heard about the news coming out so I just thought, ‘Well I’ll see if we can get it done this weekend”

The couple ran around trying to get everything ready for their new wedding date, they posted an appeal on their village’s Facebook page, which led to offers from musicians, with friends and family also helping them and they had a beautiful ceremony.

Picture: Unsplash

With lockdown, there has been a cancelation of many events, including weddings and their receptions. This was because of the regulations and the number of people allowed in one space. These were put in place to prevent a further spread of COVID-19.

In the midst of all that, people have been creating new ways to get married, such as holding virtual and drive-by weddings.

Some, however, have been canceling altogether. India was found to have the most reception cancelations in the world with 23% of couples only going ahead with the formal ceremony.

Indian weddings are known for their big beautiful celebrations with masses of guests.

When compiling the report, The Knot Worldwide found that three of four respondents in India said they would go ahead with the wedding ceremonies on dates planned before COVID-19 but they will not do the big, traditional celebrations they normally have in Indian weddings.

In addition, 23% of couples said they are not going ahead with a wedding reception while 48% are planning one but with health and safety measures. The report said a vast majority of couples (80%) said they would encourage social distancing, and invite-only immediate family and close friends.

The couples going ahead with their celebrations have to abide by the rules and make sure that their guests get checked, and the venues will have to be sanitised and they should ensure that everyone has a mask on at all times.

The data was compiled from a report among 9,767 couples who originally had weddings planned between October 2020 and February 2021. Another study by Knot Worldwide COVID-19 revealed that 96% of couples are not planning to cancel their weddings at this time. Instead, they are either keeping a close eye on recommendations from the CDC or postponing their dates.

To summarize the findings, 96% of couples are not canceling their weddings but postponing them until it is safe to do so, on that number, 65% of them are having a wedding ceremony but will have a wedding reception later.

Photo: Unsplash

There are many couples whose identities are outside of the heteronormative spectrum. They are always the minority and have to constantly fight for their place in society.

They normally use different pronouns and chances are that people will get them wrong, which can be frustrating for them. If your partner exists outside of this box, there are things you can do to make life easier when planning your wedding.

What are pronouns?

Some non-binary/genderqueer people prefer to use gender-neutral pronouns. Usage of the singular ‘they’, ‘their’, and ‘them’ is the most common.

These are words that refer to an individual in place of their name. They describe different gender identities other than just male or female.

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Don’t give in to traditional gender roles

The idea that women can only have female friends and men can only have male friends should not exist in your plan for the wedding.

Instead of traditions like the “Best Man Speech,” use gender-free labels like “Friends and Family Speeches.”

Everyone should have the same tasks unless it’s beyond their physical strength, do not give men certain tasks because of their gender and the belief that they are stronger.

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Specify in your wedding registry

Monitory donations are a great alternative to avoid receiving gender-specific gifts. You can even ask for donations to your favourite charity, preferably one fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights to help give back on your big day.

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Include correct pronouns on your invitation card and wedding day

Your guest list might include people they haven’t met before. To help initiate that conversation, use clear preferred pronouns. Use wedding planning tools as a way to introduce your guests to your partner’s pronouns, and ask for your guests’ pronouns when they RSVP.

If a person uses the incorrect pronouns when referring to your partner,  address it respectfully.

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Hire LGBTQIA + accomodating vendors

Not only are you supporting the larger  LGBTQIA+ community, but it will also make things easy to work with people that understand you.  Your partner will be more relaxed and that will result in them feeling included and validated.

The work will be less because most of their tools will not need to be altered or change to suit your needs, as they are already set up like that.

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Pictures: Unsplash

Nicki Minaj shocked everyone when she announced that she was starting a family. Things have moved quickly for the singer, who got married last year and retired from her music career to focus on her family life.

The rapper is also celebrating her first year anniversary with her husband, Kenneth Petty. She posted a picture of their son’s foot on Instagram and captioned it “happy anniversary my love”.

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Minaj dated rapper Kenneth Petty for almost a year before she hinted that they got married a year ago on October 21. However, they have known each other longer than that.

They met in New York when Minaj was a teenager. She once mentioned in one of her songs “I met my husband when I was 17 out in Queens / If you love it, let it go, now I know what that means / While he was up North for a body / I bodied everybody and got known for my body”.

In December 2018, she uploaded two pictures of them together during a trip to Turks and Caicos. In June 2019, the couple had their first marriage license but there was a mishap and they picked up their second one in August. They officially married in October in a ‘secret ceremony’. Nicki explained that they had a small ceremony because she was traveling and busy with an album, but she was determined to marry the Clyde to her Bonnie.

A day after they officially got married, she was already speaking about starting a family, and on September 30, 2020 she gave birth to their son.

Now that her album is done and she has started a family, fans are waiting in anticipation of the big wedding she promised her fans.

Pictures: Instagram

The honeymoon is one of the things that newlyweds look forward to after the wedding, where they will relax and escape from everyone.

Finding the perfect place for your honeymoon can be stressful, but luckily Pinterest has made this process easier. Most couples use this App for planning, and create boards for the places they like and want to visit in the future.

Researchers analysed Pinterest trends to find the most loved destinations when it comes to post-wedding getaways. They looked up honeymoon boards on Pinterest as part of their research, then calculated the most loved and pinned boards by tracking their pins.

Their research showed that exotic places with beaches are the most popular destinations. Bali tops the list, followed by Italy and Hawaii. Europe is the most popular continent, with six destinations to appear in the top 20. Alongside Italy, the research findings revealed that Ireland, Greece, France, Iceland, and Spain are also most loved.

Here is a compilation of top honeymoon destinations in their order, according to Pinterest.

– Bali – 998 boards

-Italy – 997 boards

-Hawaii – 992 boards

-The Maldives – 981 boards

-Ireland – 980 boards

-Thailand – 980 boards

-Mexico – 949 boards

-Greece – 757 boards

-India – 734 boards

-Costa Rica – 729 boards

-Japan – 717 boards

-Jamaica – 699 boards

-New Zealand – 601 boards

-France – 500 boards

-Iceland – 499 boards

-St Lucia – 477 boards

-Aruba – 442 boards

-Bahamas – 417 boards

-Spain – 415 boards

-Fiji – 408 boards

Picture: Unsplash

It is very frustrating to receive three of the same thing from different people as a wedding gift. This is because people think in similar ways and they normally don’t know what to get you and so they resort to common gifting. As the bride, you can avoid this and the admin that comes with it. Here’s how:

Don’t wait until the last minute

Start planning and send out your registry ahead of time, you want your wedding registry to be one of the things you do at the beginning of your wedding planning.

Making and setting up a registry takes more time than you might expect it and deserves your attention because you won’t have time to redo it.

Be realistic and practical 

In your wedding registry, you should already be thinking ‘home’ and because of that, your gifts should be practical items that will make the transition of starting a new life easy.

Make a list of things you want in your house but won’t be able to get soon, these should be the gifts your friends and family get you.

Also be mindful of the people buying, you don’t want to make them pay exorbitant amounts but you don’t want cheap gifts, so get a few quotations on each item.

Share your registry

Once you’ve created your wedding registry, make sure you share it with your guests.

This includes coming up with easy ways to access your registry. It could be online where a person can click and get it or share a link with your guests.

Make sure to have a checklist option available for you and the people buying gifts, this makes it easy to see what has been bought and what is left.

Make it a joint project

Put aside some quality couple time to contemplate your future life together and think about what kinds of gifts would make you happy.Your partner must have input on the registry because this is the beginning of your life together, you don’t want anyone feeling left out.

Look for great deals 

Before choosing where to register, find out what kinds of perks and discounts you might get.Approach your desired shops for a registry, they usually give discounts for bulk registry purchases.This option helps get expert advice from someone who’s knowledgeable.

Picture: Unsplash

They say that a dog is a man’s best friend, so it seems natural they would be involved in your big day. Pet-lovers can include their furry companions on their wedding day in a number of ways, but it is most important to make sure your wedding is pet-friendly before doing so.

There are many things to consider, like whether the venue accommodates pets and how the guests will react. Here’s what to keep in mind.

1. Location

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If you are planning to have your pet present at your wedding, it is very important to consider the venue of the wedding. Consult your wedding planner when you are booking a venue because some places do not allow pets inside. It might be best to opt for an outdoor wedding where your pups can run free.

2. Guests

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If you plan to have pets present, make sure to let your guests know beforehand. Some people are allergic to certain animals or have deep fears that can impact on their experience at your wedding. To avoid the drama, include in your wedding invitation which animals will be present and allow your guest to decide if they are still comfortable to attend.

3. Pet behaviour

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You know your pet best. You know how they act around people and what things make them happy, so when you plan on including your four-legged friends, know exactly which tasks to give them. You wouldn’t want to give the tasks or of a ring bearer to a puppy that likes playing catch or is super energetic. Its also best to hire a pet sitter to look after the animals during the day while you’re busy mingling with your guests.

4. Inform the photographer

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Tell your photographer in advance that you are planning on bringing along your pet to the wedding, this gives them time to plan creative ways to take pictures that include your pet.

5. Dress-up

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Consider something simple and pet friendly when you dressing up your pet for the wedding. You do not want to make them uncomfortable with things that could potentially strangle them, a bow tie or flowers around the neck is the perfect option.

6 Decor and setting

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Use the decoration of the wedding venue to get creative and include your pets on the decor to make them feel included on the big day.

Pictures: Pexels