The power of love can bring us all together. That’s exactly what happened this past weekend in Yemen as the city of Aden came together to celebrate a stranger on his wedding day, after he posted a plea for wedding guests.
Mohammed Ali Abdullah married his life partner on July 18. Prior to his big day, he took to Facebook to write an open invite to his wedding, saying he did not have that many friends.
“Hello, my name is Mohammed Ali Abdullah, or as they call me, ‘Mohammed the blind’. I’m so happy that my life has become tinted in rose, although I don’t know what that looks like, but I hear roses are beautiful. I have finally found my life partner,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
“I have few friends and wish you can all be my friends and join me in my celebrations, as I want to prove to the world that I also have the right to be happy like other normal person. I will not see you at the wedding, but I will feel your presence,” Abdullah said.
This post quickly went viral, encouraging the city of Aden to join in on the festivities. The hashtag ‘We All Are Your Friends’ began trending
A blind man in Aden got married today. Prior to his wedding, he posted this Facebook post as an open invite for anyone to come, mentioning he had only a few friends
It quickly became a massive affair, with local businesses and companies reaching out to offer the groom gifts and financial support for their big day.
Come wedding day, hundreds of locals took to the streets to meet and celebrate the newlyweds.
#ابشر_كلنا_اصحابك
في بادره هي الاولى من نوعها في العاصمة عدن ابناء العاصمة عدن يزفون العريس الكفيف محمد علي عبدالله بموكب كبير شارك فيه الألاف من الشباب والسيارات التي جابت بالعريس في شوارع العاصمه حيث اغلقت عدد من الطرقات نتيجة الازدحام pic.twitter.com/ntfuylwe4V
Weddings as we know them are no longer, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In some countries like South Africa, weddings are not currently allowed as they constitute as public gatherings. Other countries have slowly reopened the industry and allowed lovers to tie the knot in a safe and hygienic way.
Wedding vendors have had to get creative with their offerings to accommodate this new way of life. No longer can we kiss and hug to celebrate each other, or sit close to one another.
Taking simple precautions can make a big difference. Wedding planners must now incorporate social distancing measures into the big day to ensure the safety of all guests. If this is not done, you run the risk of spreading the virus further, which we’ve seen happen in Kwazulu-Natal and in India.
Once weddings are allowed again in South Africa, we expect to see aspects like distanced seating, custom masks for your guests, and sanitising stations at every event. Here’s how planners have been doing it around the world.
After battling stage 4 cancer for six months, terminally ill patient Tash Young was told she had weeks to live. Not wanting to waste it, the 25-year-old from Southampton planned a wedding in four days and married boyfriend and long time love Simon Young at her hospital during lockdown.
Tash had a rare spindle cell sarcoma, which unfortunately was not responding to treatment. Simon had been waiting for the right time to propose but after receiving the heartbreaking news, they realised they did not have the luxury of time. Together with the team at Southampton General Hospital, they planned a wedding in just four days.
Their big day was beautifully captured by Sarah Bassett and Emily Ford for the BBC.
Unfortunately, Tash lost her battle with cancer a month after they tied the knot. Her family is raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and anyone who would like to support may donate here.
In lockdown and dreaming about your future wedding day? Netflix has you covered with more wedding inspiration. The popular streaming service’s latest offering ‘Say I Do’, promises to be a tearjerker.
The show is by the creators of ‘Queer Eye’ and follows a team of experts, including interior designer Jeremiah Brent, fashion designer Thai Nguyen and chef Gabriele Bertaccini, who work together to help make eight unique couple’s dream weddings come to life. The experts assit the groom in planning a surprise proposal as well as the big day, all in the space of less than a week.
Each couple featured on the show have wanted to marry for a long time but were never able to make it happen, for various reasons. Their love story is explored in depth to showcase what love means to them and what’s most important to them on their big day.
Take a look at the trailer below:
This show follows the success of Netflix hit ‘Love is Blind’, and could be another win for the streaming channel’s venture into original reality TV.
June is Pride Month in the United States. This month has been set to recognsie and uplift the important history and contributions LGBTQI+ individuals have made in American history.
To honour the LGBTQI+ community, we want to highlight the love they have for each other. Same-sex marriage is legal in South Africa, and Wedding ETC is a firm supporter of LGBT rights.
LGBTQI+ love is real and it is valid. To prove it, here are some stunning images that will give you all the feels.
A bride in Campbell River, Vancouver Island made sure her dying stepfather was a part of her special day by marrying at the senior home he stays in.
Caroline Scheck and fiancé Rodney Scheck originally planned to marry in August. However, Scheck’s stepfather Brian Devlin’s health was rapidly declining. They then decided to move the wedding date up to May so that Devlin could be in attendence.
“We planned a wedding at a long term care facility we both work at because my stepdad is palliative and he wanted to walk me down the aisle,” said Caroline Scheck. “We are uncertain on how long he has to live and I wasn’t about to wait to get married and not have him be there!”
They moved their wedding date to May 15, and scrambled to pull all the elements together in a short amount of time.
“It’s unbelievable to have planned a wedding during a pandemic and within three days while working from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. on all the days beforehand,” Scheck said.
On the wedding day, all the residents on the facility watched from their windows, waving and smiling as the couple said their “I dos”. Of course, Scheck’s stepfather was there too. He had been wheeled down to the garden where the wedding was held, and symbolically walked his stepdaughter down the aisle.
“My stepdad was wheeled down dressed up and he was coherent the whole time he was present, something he hasn’t been prior to. He talked about fishing and was happy to see his family. He was proud and that’s why we did this on such short notice. It truly was a wonderful moment!”
“When we said ‘I do’ all three floors of the facility were banging on the windows, some were present outside with us, and they all stood at the windows and watched the ceremony with smiles on their faces. We had some fellow co-workers in the crowd cheering us on and taking pics for us.”
A few days later, Devlin passed away on May 24, aged 79. Scheck is eternally grateful that her stepfather could be a part of her wedding before he died.
Everything seems quite uncertain right now. One thing remains stable through all of this, however, and that is love. Not even the uncertainty that cancer brings could stop this couple from celebrating their love and making it official.
70-year-old Roy Wilson, a man with terminal bone cancer, wed his long term partner, Joy Hird, in a hospital wedding. The pair had not seen each other in almost a month. Wilson was admitted to the hospital on April 1 and visiting restrictions were in place as a result of the coronavirus.
The couple were married by Rev Simon Airey, the chaplain at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital where Wilson was being taken care of.
Being diagnosed with terminal cancer was a wake up call for Wilson. The frightening news made him realise that there is no time better than the present, and so the pair decided to tie the knot. However, much like many other stories these days, there was a small hiccup surrounding the issue of coronavirus.
Wilson began showing symptoms of COVID-19, and was concerned that this would be the end of his upcoming wedding. After a negative test result on Friday, April 24, everyone was relieved and things were back on track for the ceremony on Monday, April 27.
According to a post by The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, the staff “pulled out all the stops to make the day as special as possible for the couple, creating handmade decorations and sourcing food.” They even ensured that a professional photographer was there on the day.
Apparently, Rev Airey went out of his way to make sure the wedding could take place. Since the coronavirus pandemic has essentially halted all wedding ceremonies, it was difficult for him to provide a legal marriage. However, he managed to get special permission from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
For all the efforts of the hospital staff, the newlyweds are tremendously grateful. “This has been a long time coming. It’s been a really special but emotional day. I’m absolutely exhausted but it’s been wonderful. We can’t thank the staff and chaplain enough for making this happen for us,” said Wilson.
“What a day. It’s been absolutely lovely from start to finish, it’s certainly been a day to remember for us both. A big thank you to the wonderful hospital staff for all that they’ve done for us,” said Hird.
The coronavirus pandemic has postponed wedding plans across the globe for the foreseeable future. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate love!
Johannesburg-based couple Kyle Hyam and Gaby Trathen were meant to get married this past weekend on April 26. However, they were left heartbroken that they had to postpone their big day.
“Initially it was a tough decision, but when President [Cyril] Ramaphosa forbid social gatherings and closed borders the decision was made for us – it was out of our control, which somehow made it easier,” said Trathen to Times Live.
“The entire celebration will now be moved to 2021, when travel bans will hopefully be lifted so all our international guests can join us and large gatherings are permitted.”
Despite the day being cancelled, their friends and family decided to help put a smile back on their faces and still celebrate.
“Although friends and family could not celebrate with them the way we had planned, we decided to ensure they had something happy from us all on what would have been their wedding day,” said Hyam’s sister, Taryn Wiebols.
Friends and family from across the world all sent in videos of themselves dancing to Pharrell William’s Happy. The song was chosen to encourage the couple to not let the current tough situation get them down.
“The song ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams has an overall theme that nothing can bring you down if you believe in the power of love and happiness. We danced to this song in our homes all over the world. We danced in our kitchens, lounges, cars, on rooftops and even in the rain,” said Wiebols.
“This is now ‘Take 1’ of their wedding party. We are so ‘Happy’ they have found each other and we cannot wait to celebrate ‘Take 2’ in person when it is safe to do so.”
A friend in Australia edited the clips together into one fun, uplifting video. Watch it here:
Anthony and Cleopatra. Romeo and Juliet. Justin and Hailey. These are iconic love stories, a legacy that will forever endure.
Justin and Hailey Bieber’s love story was 10 years in the making. Now married and blissfully happy, we take a walk down Memory Lane to see how Justin turned Hailey into one less lonely girl.
2009 – The beginning:
Back when ‘Baby’ was still playing on the radio and Justin was influencing the youth with his famous bowl-esque quiff, he met his future wife backstage at The Today Show. At the time Hailey was a Belieber, naturally, so her father Stephen Baldwin organised for the pair to meet. Luckily for all of us, that incredibly awkward meeting was caught on camera.
2014 – Rumour has tt:
By 2014, Justin had ended his famous on-again, off-again relationship with Selena Gomez for another countless time. Single and ready to mingle, Justin and Hailey (and Kendall Jenner) were spotted hanging out at Hillsong Church in New York City. Rumours began to fly that the pair were a little more than friends, but Hailey denied them.
“I’ve known him since I was so young — since I was like 13 — and we’ve just been good friends over the years,” she told E! News after the images surfaced. “We have just stayed close and there’s nothing more to it than that.”
The pair became very close, spending New Years together.
2015 – Are they or aren’t they?
The pair continue to be spotted together. However, in 2015 Justin and Selena are photographed on a stroll and rumours begin flaring up that the couple are back together after Justin admitted that ‘Sorry’ was written about his former love.
To complicate the matter even further, in December Hailey shared an image wearing Justin’s sweatpants, on which he commented “Gimme back my sweats,” to which Baldwin replied “No sorry they look better on me”.
Both Justin and Hailey confirmed that they are casually dating. “We are not an exclusive couple,” Baldwin told E!. “He’s about to go on tour. Relationships at this age are already complicated, but I don’t really like to talk about it because it’s between me and him.”
However, six months down the line the situationship came to an end and Justin moved on with Sofia Richie. Justin unfollowed Hailey and the pair were not spotted together for almost two years. Justin also briefly got back together with Selena Gomez during this time frame.
2018: Reunited and it feels so good
The beef was squashed by 2018 and the pair were once again spotted by paparazzi and fans looking very cosy. They soon became the King and Queen of PDA.
Speaking to the Times UK, Hailey said, “We went through a long period of time when we weren’t friends. We didn’t speak for quite some time and there was a lot of weirdness that went on. We’ve moved past that.”
In July 2018, a month after the pair got back together, Justin went down on one knee to propose while on vacation in the Bahamas.
“When I saw her last June, I just forgot how much I loved her and how much I missed her and how much of a positive impact she made on my life,” Bieber told Vogue. “I was like, ‘Holy cow, this is what I’ve been looking for.'”
Rumours that the pair quietly got married at a courthouse begin to circulate in September after the pair were spotted getting a marriage licence in New York. In an interview, Hailey’s uncle Alec Baldwin confirmed that the pair secretly married.
Justin later confirmed the news on Instagram with his caption, “My wife is awesome.” A day later, Hailey changed her social media handles to “Hailey Baldwin Bieber”.
The pair have their official religious ceremony in Montage Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, South Carolina on September 30.
Hailey stunned in an off-the-shoulder gown designed by Virgil Abloh and a statement veil with the words ’till death do us part” stitched onto it in white block lettering. But she didn’t stop there. She had two reception looks: a Ralph & Russo halterneck and a Vera Wang slip dress that she paired with sneakers.
Their second nuptials were attended by their many famous friends, including Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Justine Sky, Jaden Smith, Joan Smalls, and Justin’s manager Scooter Braun.
Even in the time of coronavirus, love conquers all. It finds a way around all barriers, even hospitalisation. This elderly Italian couple celebrated their 50th anniversary, in an intensive care unit (ICU) after medics arranged for them to be together.
Sandra (71) and husband Giancarlo (73) both contracted COVID-19 and were thus hospitalised at the Murri Hospital in Fermo, in the eastern region of Marche.
Roberta Ferretti, a nurse at the hospital, heard that the couple’s 50th anniversary was coming up and decided she would organise a a celebration with the help of some other medics. “Sandra cried a lot, not for herself; she was worried about her husband. He told me how much he still loved her, after so many years. When I found out that it was their anniversary, I thought they had to celebrate it,” said Ferretti to a local media outlet.
According to the Daily Mail, the celebration lasted only 10 minutes, and a candle was placed on a cake without lighting it since it cannot be lit close to the oxygen.
The couple held hands as the medics played the Wedding March.
In a Facebook post, Ferretti said that Sandra was crying tears of joy, and her husband only spoke about how in love with her he is.
