• Nancy and Eric Kingston from Somerset, South West England recently celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary. If this isn’t enough of a feat, they are also the longest surviving couple in Britain!

    The Kingston’s met in 1937 on a blind date arranged by Nancy’s brother. The chemistry was immediate and they soon fell in love. They married on June 1, 1940.

    Fast forward 80 years, and the couple now have five children, 11 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great grandchildren.
    The pair celebrated their momentous wedding anniversary earlier this week. Of course, with the coronavirus pandemic, most of their relatives were unable to visit and share in the moment. However, the couple still enjoyed their day. Locals passed by their home to say their well-wishes, and the Queen even sent them a letter!
    Speaking to Somerset Live, the pair said the long-lasting love is down to compromise.

    “It must have been a deep love to have lasted this long. It’s been a bit of give and take,” said Nancy. “We don’t do it like they do today – we hung on. It’s been a long time; a wonderful time. We’ve been very lucky.

    “We’re still going strong.”

    Feature image: Unsplash

    In most cases, DIY is the cheaper and more fun option. Do you really need any other reason to take up a DIY project? If you do, we’re giving you one. A DIY wedding bouquet is not only quick and easy to do, but it also adds an extra special personal touch to your wedding day.

    Imagine walking down the aisle, seeing your love await you at the end. You’re already beaming with pride. Now, you get to add to that pride, knowing that the bouquet you’re carrying was hand-made by you!

    If you’re considering building your bouquet from scratch, here’s how to do it:

    – You have options, use them 

    While you may have to stick to one vendor for other aspects of your wedding, with flowers you can mix and match. This means you can go to your local market (or several markets) and hand-pick your bouquet flowers, which makes it all the more special. Choose the ones that feel perfect to you.

    -Look for inspiration on Pinterest 

    Before you go shopping, be sure you have an idea of what you’d like. This will make picking the flowers much less overwhelming when you’re there. Also keep seasonality in mind.

    – Prepare your flowers

    Once you’ve got a hold of the blooms that will make up your bouquet, remove the foliage from the stems using your hands or a stem stripper. If you’ve chosen roses, ensure that you’ve removed the thorns. Next you’ll trim the stems to ensure that they are all the same length.

    – Organise the bouquet 

    Choose about 4 flowers for the base of your bouquet, then wrap their stems together (preferably with floral tape). Ensure that you have left some exposed stem at the bottom.

    – Add as you please 

    To create your dream bouquet, add more flowers around the base flowers. Keep things like texture and colour in mind as you add, and wrap with floral tape at each layer.

    Wrap and Pin 

    Once you have decided your bouquet is perfect, give it one final wrapping of floral tape and leave some exposed stem at the top and bottom. Next, using ribbon to cover the floral tape, wrap the stems once more and pin it when you’re done.

    – Preserve

    Once the bouquet is prepped and read, over it in tissue and store it in the refrigerator. This will keep it looking fresh until you’re ready to walk down the aisle.

    Image: Pexels

    While the ongoing pandemic has caused many a cancelled wedding and much disapointment, one thing is for certain: it has also brought out the creativity in many. A Detriot couple made the most of it by posing for a pandemic-themed photoshoot in an abandoned building to keep with the times.

    Matthew Engelke and Lilly Ayrapetryan (now Engelke), tied the knot on March 20. Their orginal plan was to marry at a courthouse in April, but their plans fell through as the pandemic intensified.

    Instead, they brought their wedding date up and teamed up with their friend, photographer Scott Sprague, to have a pandemic-themed wedding and photoshoot. Not even coronavirus could put a stop to their nuptials, and they even incorporated it into their ceremony.

    Sprague did an amazing job of capturing their special day. Photos show the couple wearing real gas masks, looking eerie, but still loved-up, in the creepy building.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CAA2n3gjttC/

    “My favorite photo is one with the gas masks and in between them reads a message that states, ‘What we need in the world is more love,'” said Sprague to the Daily Mail.

    “I had this whole idea to pay homage to the American Gothic picture in my head, which has a couple wearing white and black, just like a wedding with a bride and groom.

    “So we created this whole story with the wedding photos for art, saying this is where they now live due to the pandemic.”

    Picture: Unsplash

    For most of her career, the iconic, doe-eyed Audrey Hepburn was positioned as the antithesis of Marilyn Monroe. Despite this, the Belgian-born actress had just as tumultuous a love life as the bombshell. Hepburn had tied the knot twice times in her life, and was engaged three times.

    Each wedding featured a stunning gown that has inspired many brides, including Megan Markle. We take a look at the Breakfast at Tiffany’s star’s love life that was just as dramatic as the characters she portrayed onscreen.

    1952: James Hanson

    A pre-fame Hepburn was engaged to British wealthy businessman Lord James Hanson while filming her breakout first major motion picture, Roman Holiday, for which she would later win an Oscar. However, the budding Hollywood star had her reservations, and ended up calling off the wedding. In later years, Hepburn explained that their busy work schedules were to blame.

    “My schedule commits me to a movie here, then back to the stage, then back to Hollywood. [James] would be spending most of his time taking care of business in England and Canada. It would be very difficult for us to lead a normal married life,” she said in an interview.

    Her mid-length, boatneck silk dress designed by the Rome-based Fontana sisters had already been made at the time the wedding was called off, so Hepburn had the designers donate the gown to a bride in need.

     “I want my dress to be worn by another girl for her wedding, perhaps someone who couldn’t ever afford a dress like mine, the most beautiful, poor Italian girl you can find,” she had told them. Amiable Altobella from Borgo Carso in the Province of Latina won a radio contest and became the lucky bride to wear this iconic gown to her own farm wedding.

    In 2009, the dress sold at an auction for $23,000.

    Credit: Pinterest
    1954: Mel Ferrer

    Hepburn met her future first husband, actor, stage and film director Mel Ferrer at a party a year after her first engagement ended. Fellow actor and Roman Holiday star Gregory Peck introduced them to one another.

    The twice divorced father of four was 12 years Hepburn’s senior, but that did not phase the couple.

    For their big day, Hepburn stunned in a Balmain tea-length flared dress with a satin sash, a high neckline and balloon sleeves  that she accessorised with elbow-length gloves. The pair married in Burgenstock, Switzerland in an intimate ceremony on September 25, 1954.

    Their marriage, however, was not the stuff of fairytales. Hepburn struggled to carry a child and reportedly suffered four miscarriages throughout the marriage. The pair were also plagued by infidelity rumours, as both were said to have had affairs. Hepburn had a much publicised love affair with Sabrina co-star William Holden, who at the time was also married. In later years, Holden called Hepburn the love of his life, and tried to win her back after she married her second husband.

    In 1960, Hepburn gave birth to her first son, Sean Ferrer. The couple divorced in 1968 after 14 years of marriage.

    Credit: Pinterest
    1969: Andrea Dotti

    Heburn met and fell in love with Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1968 while on a meditteranean cruise. The air married in 1969 at a town hall in Switzerland. Hepburn wore a pink woolen Givenchy minidress featuring long-sleeves and a funnel neck. She accessorised with white tights, white gloves, a woolen headscarf and ballet flats.

    At the age of 39, Hepburn gave birth again, this time to second son Luca Dotti. She then took a break from Hollywood to focus on her family. However, she did not have an easy time. she would go on to have another miscarriage after her second son’s birth. Both Hepburn and Dotti reportedly had affairs throughout their marriage. Hepburn is said to have had an affair with Bloodline co-star Ben Gazzara, while Dotti garnered much publicity for his affairs with young women. The couple divorced in 1982 after 14 years of marriage.

    Credit: Pinterest
    Robert Wolders
    Hepburn’s final love was Dutch actor Robert Wolders, who she met at a party in 1980. While she never married Wolders, Hepburn said in an interview with Barbara Walters that her time with him marked the happiest years of her life. Her relationship with Wolders continued until her death in 1993. On why they never married, Wolders explained it never felt necessary.

    “I felt she had two unhappy marriages, it was wonderful the way it was,” he said in an interview with People magazine. “When Audrey would be asked, she’d also say, ‘Why mess with a good thing?’ I remember her saying to one interviewer it’s more romantic this way because it’s not another piece of paper, but out of loyalty to each other that binds us together. Had we been younger and wanted to have children, it might have been different, but that’s just not the case.”

    Credit: Pinterest

    Feature image: Pinterest