Wedding drone photographers in Mauritius are mobilising to help do their part to reduce the massive oil spill off the coast of the island country.
On July 25, a Japanese ship crashed into a coral reef and began leaking oil into Mauritian waters from its cracked hull after it ran aground. The ship was carrying nearly 4000 tonnes of fuel, which is now threatening the island’s marine habitat and coastal ecosystem, according to Al Jazeera. It is the country’s worst ecological disaster in history.
Many residents quickly sprung to action to help, creating makeshift oil spill barriers out of fabric sacks filled with sugar cane leaves.
Wedding drone photographers have also been a massive help. Being a popular wedding and honeymoon destination, Mauritius has a big wedding industry. Many amateur drone pilots form part of the commercial drone market, and are now using their talents to assist in cleanup operations.
Mauritus does not have a Navy or Air Force, which means they could not get effective hyper-local aerial footage of the scene, reports Forbes.
Drone pilots are now filling the gap by flying their drones over the area to identify where the oil spill may be heading, thus helping co-ordinate where the team of volunteers on the ground need to focus on.
With less international business coming in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mauritian wedding drone photographers have found a way to still use their skills and make a difference.
Feature image: Unsplash
The celebrity go-to in the engagement ring world is the emerald cut. Notable names like Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Demi Lovato all rock this cut on…
In the United States, recent uproar over former plantations hosting weddings has resulted in their removal from major wedding sites. South Africa has an equally dark past when it comes to slavery, so should you also consider your wedding venues history before booking?
Plantation weddings have been huge in the US for years. Despite being the site of slavery for hundreds of years, many love the old grand houses and large open gardens for their wedding. Ignoring the brutal history of the slavery in favour of a grand staircase in an Antebellum estate is quite a difficult pill to swallow, especially when it is likely there will be persons of colour, whose ancestors were slaves, attending or working at your wedding.
Even big wedding planning sites like Pinterest are removing the references to a plantation aesthetic from their site. According to CNN, Pinterest will limit the distribution of plantation wedding content across its platform.
In South Africa, wine farms and old historical sites are equally beloved as wedding venues for their antique and classic feel. Big open lawns, old Dutch colonial buildings and vineyards do make for pretty pictures, but it is a bit uncomfortable when you realise that “quaint” bell in the corner of your group shot was built to regulate the slaves who worked on the farms every day.
In addition, many wine farms are further tainted by the history of oppression of workers under apartheid. Unfair labour practices and cruel payment systems like the “dop” system have resulted in years of trauma, addiction and degradation of communities as a result of your wedding venue’s previous choices.
So does this mean you should strictly search for wedding venues that have not been tainted by slavery? Well that’s a bit difficult as much of South Africa, especially in the Western Cape, was built by slaves and so the history is everywhere.
Rather when choosing a location which does have a clear connection to slavery, it should be important to consider how the venue is run now, ask questions regarding their treatment of staff, consider finding out if they are contributing to initiatives to uplift the community that supports them and how they reconcile their slave and apartheid past with their current ethos.
In addition you can also consider how you can contribute to the community where you are holding your wedding, either through donations or volunteering your time. While not a solution to the thousands of years of oppression, it at least would go a way to acknowledging the past and recognising how your lovely wedding venue came to be.
Image: Unsplash
Spring is fast approaching in South Africa, bringing with it vibrant colours and sunshine. It is a time of rebirth and to celebrate new beginnings. If you’re planning…
Weddings can make mothers go a bit crazy. Considering their child is marrying someone and starting a new life, it’s fair to say that it is an emotional moment. However, some mothers have taken things to a whole new level on their child’s big day.
Here are some of the craziest things mothers have done come wedding day.
I object:
This mother interrupted her son’s wedding as her future daughter-in-law was saying her vows. In a viral Tik Tok video, she continues to heckle the daughter, telling her “You’re not going to say my son has flaws”.
DJ duties:
Music can make or break a wedding. This mother clearly knew this, and went behind the bride’s back to change all the pre-determined music for the big day.
“Oml… so months ago I made selections for my dj music and I have the usual week of DJ call. TURNS OUT MY MOTHER CALLED A MONTH AGO AND SHE CHANGED THE MUSIC FOR EVERYTHING. The ceremony music, bridal party walk in, last dance song… everything. Oml,” the bride explains in a Facebook post.
“Because she is paying she has access to the password on their site to change the music (which she changed my music to music from the 70s and nothing anyone in their 20s would know) the DJ shut down access for everyone, so she can’t change anything back.
“The DJ and I are having a good laugh and I’m not surprised because this is usual behavior for her but ugh… it’s my wedding. Let me pick my music.”
Prior commitments:
This mother-in-law tried to get the bride and her fiancé to change the date of their wedding day because she wouldn’t be available. Fair enough right? Right…except her prior commitment was a Mardi Gras ball that she wants to attend. The wedding date had already been set a month prior and the couple would not be able to receive a deposit if they cancelled.
Matchy matchy:
Wearing white to a wedding day if you’re not the bride is a cardinal sin. Even worse is to wear a dress that is almost identical to the bride. This future mother-in-law did exactly that.
Posting on a Facebook Bridal page, the bride expressed her anger over a picture her fiancé sent her, which shows what his mother plans to wear to the wedding. The mother’s cream coloured lace gown is incredibly similar to the bride’s wedding dress.
Heartbreak hotel:
Weddings have a habit of bringing the tears, but this one is pretty weird. A mother-in-law (who lost her father 20 years prior) had a full breakdown during the wedding reception because she missed her father. Turns out she had been enjoying the Patron shots a bit too much.
“So I finally get a moment to myself during the reception to eat some pie (I cannot stand cake) when my husband’s cousin comes up to me with a look of horror upon her face. She tells me I had better come with her because there is a “situation”,” the bride explains in a Facebook post.
“She leads me to the only restroom in the reception hall and I hear this wretched noise…like imagine that awful cat sex sound..coming from it. She opens the door for me, and I shit you not, there is a huddle of 30 women crying in that restroom. My mother is the center of it SHRIEKING “I MISS MY DADDY” over and over and over. Well, I nope the hell out of that real quick and instruct my husbands cousin to go get my father in law.
“He went in and fireman carried my MIL out of the restroom, all while she is now shrieking about “MY BABY! MY BABY GOT MARRIED TODAY! MY BAAAAAAABBBBBBBYYYYYYY!!!” By the time my husband got out to their vehicle to say goodbye it was revealed that she had been taking shots of Patron…which, by that time, she had vomited all over her dress.”
Present your presents:
Seven months after the wedding day, the mother of the bride sent a message into the extended family group chat to remind guests to send in their wedding gifts.
Come to me:
Settling on a wedding venue can be tough, especially if you’re family lives far away. This mother took things personally when her daughter chose a venue outside of where she lives. In fact, she threatened to skip the wedding entirely!
“I just got engaged (yay!) and my mother is threatening to skip the wedding because it’s not in upstate New York (Buffalo) where my parents live. 90% of the attendees, including my fiancé, myself, his entire family, and our close friends live in NYC so that’s where we want to host it. Plus we figured out a venue and budget that works for us,” the bride explains in a Facebook post.
“My parents are telling me it’s a huge burden and that I must hate them, obviously. I’m not asking them to pay for anything for this wedding, I just asked them to show up. I offered to pay for their travel expenses.
The big excuses? They have five cats and a dog and refuse to let me hire them a pet sitter. Don’t get me wrong, the pets are important and I love them. But my parents are about to skip my wedding because they’ve prioritized and infantilized them.”
Feature image: Unsplash
Iconic performer Elton John has had hit after hit over the decades. The Rocketman performer has had a tumultous life, one made much sweeter when he met future…
Congratulations are in order for Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Lauren Hashian! The pair recently celebrated their very first wedding anniversary, and Johnson had beautiful words to say about his wife.
Johnson shared a stunning video from their 2019 wedding in Hawaii, set to a song called ‘Step Into A Love Like This’ that Hashian wrote and performed on their wedding day. In an emotional Instagram post, he calls Hashian the “mate to my soul”.
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“Lauren is a gifted and soulful songwriter who wrote every single word of this song (and her vows) to reflect our life and blessings on our wedding day,” Johnson gushed in the post caption.
“I’m not a writer, so all I can do is speak from my heart and gut — and other than my three daughters being born — this is the greatest gift I’ve ever received. Bottom line, I’m a lucky and grateful husband, father and man to have such an amazing woman by my side through this unpredictable, yet beautiful thing we call life.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CECMNSpJrbu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
In her own Instagram post, Hashian describes the song as “the most personal and rewarding song I’ve ever written. Personal because every word is from the heart, and rewarding because one year ago today on our wedding day August 18, 2019, I was able to share this song with my man I now call my husband in front of our little girls and our family & friends.”
“It was an honor and a gift to reflect on our life and love then and I truly can’t believe the things that we’ve been able to share in our lifetime. Today I want to say Happy Anniversary to you my love :), with a heart FULL of absolute gratitude @therock and a soul full of love. One year down baby and 52 more to go!”
The song is now available on all streaming platforms.
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Johnson and Hashian first met in 2006 while the actor was filming The Game Plan. They began dating in 2007 and have two daughters together: Jasmine (4) and Tiana (2). Johnson also has a 19-year-old daughter named Simone from a previous marriage.
They tied the knot in Hawaii on August 18, 2019.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/B1qPSpjplqR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Feature image: Instagram / The Rock