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In News

PICS: 5th International Wedding Photography Awards provides some stunning images

December 13, 2021 No Comments

Your wedding day is a snapshot to the rest of your life. It goes by in a flash, so capturing the amazing little moments that make the big day is important. There are some incredible photographers that go above and beyond to ensure that they capture these moments as you go about celebrating your nuptials, between getting ready, the first dance, to everything in between.

The International Photography Awards encompasses this very idea. The competition, which is sponsored by Canon Australia, received over 1 500 submissions from eager wedding photographers looking to showcase those tear-jerking moments. However, Fabio Mirulla managed to snag the grand prize and take home the title of Wedding Photographer of the Year.

The winning image shows Fabio snapping a pic of the bride and a carefully placed lamp, providing a silhouette resembling a wedding gown. Talk about crafty!

In second place was photographer duo Andrew and Bec, who managed to snap a couple in formalwear as they crossed mountain peaks.

Here are a few of the other incredible entries that made the finals:

Ken Pak

Dane Tucker

Dylan Kovacevic

Christin Eid

Gaelle Meheut

Dan O’Day

Lucy Spartalis

Natalia Mikalaichyk

Steven Stemmler

Rodolfo Aguirre

In News

When her groom got sick, this bride decided to celebrate big day with a stand-in

December 8, 2021 No Comments

COVID-19 has put on damper on many things, including weddings. But what happens when your soon-to-be husband gets sick and he needs to miss your big day? You could postpone, but what about all the vendors and guests?

One bride and groom had to answer this very question. After postponing their wedding twice due to the pandemic, Christine and Gannon Karmire were hoping to finally say their “I dos” in November 2021. Unfortunately, the wedding couple had one more obstacle to overcome while attempting to make it down the aisle.

As the big day rolled around, Gannon woke up feeling sick but was hoping that it would soon pass. Unfortunately, the groom was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with severe food poisoning, leading to a very important question – what happens now?

“We hoped I would only be gone for a couple hours, as the ceremony was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Ultimately we thought we could attempt to have the ceremony late evening if I was able to get back in time,” Gannon told TODAY.

Things didn‘t go as planned and the groom had to be sedated to help fight off his illness. With a quick-thinking bride at the helm, she opted to cancel the ceremony portion of the day, but with dinner already planned and paid for, the thought of letting things go to waste was not an option.

Thankfully, the venue owner came to the rescue with a brilliant idea – continue with the festivities, but include Gannon in the most memorable way possible. The idea for “Stick Gannon” was born, put together by a rolling steamer with pool cues, dressed in his finest suit and an iPad with Gannon‘s picture displayed at the top – ah, perfection.

“He thought it would be good comic relief for everyone in attendance if I made a traditional reception entrance with ‘Stick Gannon.’ It was meant to lighten the mood and encourage people to enjoy both the company gathered and the already prepared dinner,” Christine said.

As you can imagine, the guests loved stick Gannon and had tons of fun dancing and posing with him. While there was plenty of fun to be had, the bride received updates from her brother who was stationed outside of the hospital.

Thankfully, Gannon made a minor recovery on the day, making his way from the hospital to be reunited with his bride with a brief 15- to 20-minute appearance.

“I actually didn’t want anyone to see me as I was still very out it from the meds they gave me. When you arrive and start hearing your name chanted by 100-plus people, you can’t exactly not go see everyone,” he explained. “Once I was there, it was a great feeling seeing the love and support everyone has for us.

The couple eventually had the chance to finally say their “I dos” in an intimate ceremony.

Pictures: Bri Hines Photography

In News

‘Engaged’ for 7 months before dropping a bombshell: ‘I never asked you to marry me’

November 29, 2021 No Comments

Popping the big question can be a nerve-wracking experience for both the bride and groom-to-be, but there’s no question that it’s an unforgettable moment. Unfortunately, one woman did not get the happy ending she was hoping for as she took to Reddit to share her harrowing story.

The bride-to-be immediately said yes when her partner popped the question, and despite not having a ring, the thought of spending the rest of her life with the man of her dreams was enough. After all, there would be plenty of time to get a ring. However, things took a weird turn when the woman decided to go dress shopping.

“I have been planning my dream wedding for seven months now. When I told him that I was going dress shopping, he looked at me like I had five heads.”

If that’s not enough of a punch to the gut, the woman says that the man then said he never proposed. “He said, ‘why would I propose to a woman I am not even dating?’”

Despite having the wind knocked out of her wedding sails, the woman stated that she’d love to continue with wedding planning.

“I am thinking of tricking him into coming to our wedding and seeing what happens. I am not sure what else to do,” she said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CW25J13qs-v/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

While a number of commenters were left shocked, one Redditor could sympathise.

“I was sitting on the couch watching a movie I wanted to see, and my girlfriend of a year was in the other room watching a show she liked because she wasn’t interested in the movie (yeah….I know, one of us should have compromised). I’m not really paying attention to what she was saying, but I hear an inaudible “would you marry me?” Being sarcastic, I responded back with, “of course I’ll marry you, baby.”

According to the poster, his then-girlfriend came running into the room, kissed him, and told him to enjoy watching his movie.

“The next day, while I’m at work, I start getting my phone blown up with phone calls and texts. She had put on Facebook that I proposed to her the night previous! We had a long conversation about the fact that we are not engaged, and to this day, I still don’t know exactly what she said from the other room that I misheard (mostly because she got mad and refused to tell me), but it’s always been a funny story,” he writes.

Despite the twists and turns that this story provides, there’s no question that we’d be left fuming if this ever happened to us.

Picture: Unsplash

In Weddings

Groom Throws all the female guests out of his wedding for showing up in white as a ‘prank’

October 12, 2021 No Comments

Weddings are stressful. Throw family into the mix, and sometimes you find a recipe for disaster. However, one wedding couple found that a few family members were ready to douse the traditional disaster recipe in petrol, set it alight and watch the flames burn it to smithereens.

A bit dramatic, but we can only imagine that that’s exactly how it must have felt for the couple on their wedding day when all of the groom’s female family members showed up to the ceremony dressed in white.

A 33-year-old groom recently took to Reddit to share his story of the wedding “prank,” which hadn’t exactly gone down too well. In an AITA (that stands for ’Am I the A-hole’) post, the groom explained that the women in his family are a very close-knit bunch which he explained is similar to a “unit” that is rather “toxic.” He went on to explain that the women in his family “tease and roast every new woman that enters the family by marriage” as a way to “test” to see if the women deserve to be a part of the family.

Everything from the look and style of the women is roasted as they spend months teasing her before announcing that she has finally been welcomed into the family. Unfortunately, the cycle continues with every new woman that attempts to enter.

According to the groom, his brother warned him of the impending mess that was about to ensue as the “unit” planned to wear white on the wedding day. Despite the group vehemently denying the rumours, the day of the nuptials saw the women sporting white as the “ultimate test.”

The result? The groom asked them to leave, which resulted in a scene being made. His aunts and mother refused to leave, forcing the groom to threaten “harsher action.” Thankfully, they eventually all left, but not without his cousins blasting him on social media.

“My cousin blasted me on social media later, saying I excluded all the women from the wedding because my wife was insecure that she couldn’t handle another woman’s presence at the wedding.”

However, things didn’t end there. The groom had an argument with his mother who states that she simply wanted to see if his future wife was a “bridezilla.”

“I haven’t seen the lot of them in two weeks and they’ve excluded me from everything.”

Picture: Unsplash

In Celebs

Pinterest shadow bans plantation wedding content

December 8, 2019 No Comments

You won’t be seeing any images from Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ 2012 nuptials on Pinterest and The Knot anymore. The prominent websites joined other platforms taking a stand by placing a shadow ban on all images relating to plantation weddings.

Pinterest, The Knot Worldwide, Brides and Zola recently announced that they would be making changes to their platform that would restrict all references to plantations, as well as any language attempting to romanticise these locations as wedding venues.

Those searching for such content will receive a notification that the images may violate Pinterest’s policies. The sites will no longer work with vendors that are plantations or attempt to romantacise such locations.

This means that images from Ryan Reynold’s and Blake Lively’s 2012 wedding held at Boone Hall Plantation in South Carolina, have now been shadow banned from these popular sites.

This move is in response to a campaign led by racial justice organization, Color of Change, who argued that the weddng industry was glamorising and capatalising sites of human rights atrocities.

“The decision to glorify plantations as nostalgic sites of celebration is not an empowering one for the Black women and justice-minded people who use your site,” Color of Change wrote to the Knot Worldwide executives. “Plantations are physical reminders of one of the most horrific human rights abuses the world has ever seen. The wedding industry routinely denies the violent conditions Black people faced under chattel slavery by promoting plantations as romantic places to marry.”

Many plantations in America thrived off slave labour and became places of human rights abuse for the people forced into these demeaning positions. As such, they’ve become painful reminders of a dark and sordid history for many African Americans who descended from such slaves.

“Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. Plantations represent none of those things,” said a Pinterest spokesperson. “We are working to limit the distribution of this content and accounts across our platform, and continue to not accept advertisements for them.”

“We want to make sure we’re serving all our couples and that they don’t feel in any way discriminated against,” The Knot’s chief marketing officer Dhanusha Sivajee told Buzzfeed News.

Image: Instagram / Ryan Reynolds

In News

The Rock and Danny DeVito crash wedding in Mexico

November 26, 2019 No Comments

When people crash your wedding, it’s usually quite unexpected, and unexpected is never good on your wedding day. In fact, having wedding crashers can turn into a wedding day crisis; it is generally a dreaded occurrence. Nobody really wants their wedding to be crashed. Unless, of course, its being crashed by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Danny DeVito.

Bride, Kristine, and groom, Will, were enjoying their lovely (but normal) wedding reception in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The next thing they knew, their wedding was being crashed by Johnson and DeVito. The duo surprised the couple and their guests, not only by making an impromptu appearance, but also by performing a rendition of Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable”.

Johnson and DeVito were in Mexico doing publicity for their movie, Jumanji: The Next Level. While the co-stars relaxed after a long week of press, they heard a wedding party going on. They then decided to crash the wedding.

‘The Rock’ posted a video to his Instagram, showing how it all went down.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B5QZOE_Ftm7/

In his caption, ‘The Rock’ said, “I’ve never crashed a wedding, but with DeVito this was truly UNFORGETTABLE”.

He also made sure to congratulate the happy couple on their nuptials and on their beautiful family, calling them the “Brady Bunch”. Instagram users in the comment section were excited to see that this is what the duo had been up to and expressed themselves accordingly. @akbvalancius said “I would die” and @bslater9 said it was one of the best things he ever got to see in person. They also received many comments from multiple Instagrammers enquiring about whether the duo would be available to crash their respective weddings.

While this is not how a normal wedding crashing would go down, we think the couple and their guests were quite happy with the visit from their unexpected guests. Who wouldn’t be?! Having Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Danny DeVito crash your wedding is a once in a lifetime experience.

Image: Instagram/therock

In Celebs

Lady Zamar surprises fans with secret wedding

November 15, 2019 No Comments

It seems that South African singer and songwriter Lady Zamar is now a married woman. In a series of Instagram posts, she shared images from her nuptials to model Faustino Muhongo.

When Zamar took to Instagram to share images of her big day, however, many fans thought they were from a music video. Fans are now questioning if the wedding is actually real. Many do not think the wedding is real because there was no announcement that she was even engaged.

Zamar and Faustino reportedly met a few months ago at a photoshoot and immediately hit it off.

Real or not, the wedding itself looked beautiful. The outdoor wedding was decorated with bunches of white and pink roses, and the chairs were draped with pink fabric.

???????????? pic.twitter.com/4E8g9SI0gj

— MONARCH?? (@Lady_Zamar) November 14, 2019

https://www.instagram.com/p/B42qz1aAA2C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The popular musician wore a beautiful off-the-shoulder dress from Bride and Co SA and a stunning diamond snake necklace. Her hair was styled in a half-up half-down do.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B42N7TdAG06/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/B42UvCoAqVM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

If this wedding was real, we wish them happiness and success!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B42qtKqgTzs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Two Aces???? pic.twitter.com/hTVygiuEgr

— MONARCH?? (@Lady_Zamar) November 14, 2019

Image: Instagram / Lady Zamar

In Accessories

Bridesmaids trade bouquets for puppies

November 13, 2019 No Comments

Bouquets have come to be the classic accessory for bridesmaids to carry as they walk down the aisle. A bride in Plant City, Florida, however, decided on something different. When Andee Ondina and Tina Krasinski wed on Monday, their bridesmaids strolled down the aisle with puppies instead of flowers.

The bride, Ondina, made this unorthodox decision in the hopes of raising awareness for rescue animals and to persuade people to adopt, not shop. Adoption applications were even available at the wedding reception.

The bridal party included 10 adoptable five-week-old puppies. Ondina told WFLA-TV that she decided to nickname her furry bouquet substitutes “puppquets”.

This unconventional choice made the day even more special by adding an adorable flare to the ceremony. The couple’s decision to use their wedding for a good cause is likely to have an even happier ending. From stories we’ve seen in the past, these kinds of thoughtful gestures usually end with most, if not all, of the puppies ending up in happy and loving homes.

It isn’t just the Krasinski’s getting into the puppy spirit. In 2017, North Carolina bride Meghan Bulter also opted for puppies instead of bouquets for herself and her bridesmaids at her wedding. Like Ondina, Butler had decided on this in the hopes that she would raise awareness for puppies who needed rescuing. After the wedding, Butler told People that all the puppies had since been adopted.

Similarly, Sally Burky told Insider that after her wedding, which also showcased adorable dogs who were up for adoption, four out of the total five dogs were adopted. On this occasion, having the puppies at the wedding not only allowed for the adoption of four puppies, but also drew a lot of attention to the rescue home that the dogs were living in. The rescue home, Haven of the Ozarks, was overwhelmed by the support they received after Burky’s wedding.

So, to us, having bridesmaids carry puppies is cool and unconventional but also heartwarming and adorable. It may just be the pawfect decision.

Image: Facebook/Wishing Well Barn

In Emotional

Widow honours late husband with annual photoshoot

November 6, 2019 No Comments

When we marry, its with the intention of being with someone forever. But for some, that forever is cut short at the blink of an eye. Such is the story of Vanessa Lanktree and her late husband and best friend, high school sweetheart Eric. Years after his passing, Vanessa honours her late husband in a touching annual photoshoot.

Canadians Vanessa and Eric met back in 2006 when they were still in high school. They fell in love, and in 2011, firefighter Eric proposed to Vanessa on Christmas Eve.

“He was my first boyfriend, my first love,” Vanessa told SWNS. “Our relationship through the years was so strong because it started so young. I had no doubt about our lives together.”

They married on September 8, 2012 in a beautiful church ceremony.

“As I walked down the aisle with my dad, Eric was bawling his eyes out,” she said. “I already knew I wanted to marry him but when I saw him crying, I thought how lucky I was.”

Two years after their wedding, however, tragedy struck. Eric was killed in a head-on collision with a truck in November 2014 while he was making his way home from a vacation in Vegas. He passed away soon after the impact, before Vanessa could even make it to the hospital.

“I felt like I was the only one at that age that had lost somebody that young like their husband,” she told CBC News. “Our lives had just started — it takes time to finally feel like you’re not in a cloud anymore.”

Years later, on the day after what would have been the couple’s four year anniversary, Vanessa suddenly decided to don her wedding dress again. In her dress, she danced around her kitchen to their wedding song, Keith Urban’s “Making Memories Of Us”. Putting her dress on again was a cathartic experience, one that soon became an annual tradition.

“It has felt so good to put my dress on,” Lanktree told CBC News. “I love putting it on and just felt good and I felt good in it that day and I still feel good.”

“Grief doesn’t go away but somehow you find little things to help you cope, like putting on your dress,” she said to SWNS. “Most people get to go out with their husband for supper or a date night on their anniversary, and this is my thing that I get to do without him.”

Putting her dress on became a symbol of an incredible relationship and marriage, and a way to honour their time together. Vanessa says that she will most likely do this yearly for the rest of her life.

She has since found love again and her boyfriend, Kurtis Isbister, is very supportive. This year, he took pictures of her in her wedding dress whilst in a sunflower field.

Vanessa hopes that this tradition inspires others to deal with their grief and live their life to the fullest.

“Eric would have wanted me to continue on with life and find some happiness somewhere,” Lanktree said. “The thing is to somehow find a way that you can honour that person. You can still find a little bit of happiness.”

Image: Vanessa Lanktree

In Advice

Lucky and unlucky days to get married

October 17, 2019 No Comments

Your wedding day is a wonderful moment to celebrate love, one you want to go off without a hitch. According to many, every aspect of the wedding process will affect your Big Day, even the date you choose to celebrate it on.

Setting the date is often the first big step in the wedding process which will frame every consequent decision you make. Religion, superstition, astrology and culture argue that there are certain days, dates and months more auspicious for weddings, while others are no-goes if you want good luck on your Big Day. If you are particularly superstitious, you might want to avoid some of these wedding days.

Lucky wedding days

Judaism:

In various religions, certain days are favoured as lucky. Those that practice Judaism are likely to consider Tuesdays to be particularly good days for weddings, because the Book of Genesis says “And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10 and 12) twice in the verse about the creation of the third day.

Jewish couples also favour the beginning of the month for weddings, as their religion’s calendar is lunar and believes that the moon renews itself every month.

Astrology:

Astrology believers should look to the moon for guidance. According to astrologers, the position and look of the moon and planets can have a deep impact on our lives. Changes in its shape and appearance are said to affect our inner beings. A waxing moon is considered lucky, while a waning moon is seen as unlucky.

A full moon is considered highly lucky on your wedding day. Astrologers believe that a full moon brings harmony, as the lunar yin energy is perfectly balanced with the solar yang energy. As the forms of the moon is said to influence our feelings, a full moon encourages people to express their inner feelings fully. The full moon also brings seeds of intention to fruition.

The new moon is the first lunar phase, representing the resetting of the lunar cycle and letting go of restrictions or fears holding you back. This allows you to move forward with clarity. Couples looking to follow astrology should plan their wedding at least 12 hours after the new moon for optimal results.

Astrology lovers should consult the their zodiac signs before setting a date, as dates for auspicious marriages range in luck depending on personal star signs. Auspicious dates are said to bless the couple with a good and prosperous marriage while unlucky dates will curse them.

Roman mythology:

April and June seem to be the most auspicious months to get married according to Roman mythology. April is closely linked with Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, while June is named after Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and commitment. Juno was the wife of Zeus and lorded for her unwavering commitment to him. She also was the one that paired soulmates, making her the mastermind behind ancient marriages, according to Roman mythology.

Chinese culture:

Chinese culture considers August 8 a particularly auspicious date because the word for the number eight sounds similar to their word for wealth or fortune. As a result, the eighth day of the eighth month is a highly symbolic date to get married.

Unlucky wedding days:

Judaism:

Jewish couples are less likely to marry on a Friday because in their religion Friday is the day of rest, also known as Shabbat.

Folklore:

An ancient Celtic folk rhyme suggests that Saturdays are unlucky days to wed. The rhyme goes: “Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, and Saturday no luck at all.”

According to folklore, July is an unlucky month for weddings. An old rhyme from the 1800s lamenting the fates of married couples based on their wedding dates predicted July marriages would curse newlyweds.

“Marry when June roses blow, Over land and sea you’ll go,” the rhyme goes, “Those who in July do wed Must labour [sic] for their daily bread”.

American folklore records from the 1930s echo this sentiment, saying that marriages from this month “are apt to be crisscrossed with sunshine and shadow”.

Roman mythology:

July also contained many mourning days for the ancient Romans, where they commemorated battles and no religious practices were followed, making many parts of the month off-limits for weddings.

Another unlucky month is May, according to Roman mythology. This month is said to be unlucky because it is between April and June, the two months closely associated with Roman goddesses Venus and Juno. Marrying in May could thus be seen as an insult to the two goddesses. This month was also traditionally when Romans celebrated Lemuria, a festival of the dead.

Chinese culture:

Chinese culture views April 4 as a bad day for a wedding as their word for the number four is similar to their word for death, thus symbolising bad luck for the fourth day of the fourth month. Many Chinese buildings and apartments even omit the fourth floor completely because of this superstition.

Unlucky number 13:

The number 13 is considered unlucky across various cultures in the world, and as a result, the 13th of any month is often seen as bad. Friday the 13th is considered particularly unlucky as it is closely associated with the horror film franchise of the same name.

Some Italians are superstitious of Friday the 17th, as the roman numeral form of the date, XVII, can be rearranged into “VIXI”, which translates from Latin into the meaning “my life is over”.

Picture: Unsplash