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In Weddings

Mass, mariachis and much more: Mexican wedding traditions

August 5, 2020 No Comments

Mexican weddings today are a fantastic mix of modernity and age-old cultural practices. Their weddings are treated as family events (and reunions) and are larger than life!

“Mexican weddings are very festive,” says Father Ryan Zamora Carnecer to Brides. “Many times there are mariachis that play during the mass, and the church is beautifully decorated with flowers and colorful decorations. At the same time, it’s very faith-based, and there’s a focus on God and our Blessed Mother, Mary, to guide the couple through this journey.”

With family, religion, culture, and modern trends all in the mix, Mexican weddings are quite interesting. Here are some Mexican wedding traditions you may see at their ceremonies:

Las arras matrimoniales – Wedding Coins

The arras, 13 gold coins, are placed inside a gold box and are given as a gift from the los padrinos y madrinas, or a special group of people, similar to godparents, who are chosen by the couple. During the ceremony, the pastor blesses these coins and give them to the bride.

The tradition signifies the groom’s commitment to the bride, and is a representation of Jesus and his 12 apostles.

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Mass

Mexican weddings take place within a mass, similar to a Sunday mass. However, this mass also has marriage rituals, including exchange of vows and the marriage blessing.

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Mariachis

Often, the couple will have mariachi bands present to sing hymns during mass and at the reception.

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El lazo – Wedding Lasso

This tradition symbolises unity and everlasting love between the couple. A string of flowers and rosary beads (the lasso) is placed on the shoulders of the couple; first the bride and then the groom. This happens after the vows are completed. The lasso is placed on their shoulders in a figure 8, while the priest blesses the marriage.

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La Callejoneada – Wedding parade

Taking place after the wedding ceremony, the mariachis lead a parade. Walking, dancing, and celebrating in the streets, the parade escorts the guests from the ceremony to the reception.

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Image: Unsplash

In Accessories

Exquisite heels for the glamorous bride

August 5, 2020 No Comments

If you’re all about the glitz and glam, heels are for you. Many people love shoes, but the glamorous bride adores them. Your wedding is your chance to wear the most extravagant, sexy and gorgeous pair of heels you have ever laid eyes on!

Remember, choose a style that speaks to you. You have to be comfortable walking and dancing in them (unless you’re planning to change shoes for the reception).

Make sure they are good quality, as you don’t want to lose a crystal or snap a strap on the big day.

Here are our favourite high-drama heels:

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Image: Usnplash

In Celebs

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Liveley apologise for plantation wedding

August 5, 2020 No Comments

Actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are owning up to their past mistakes. In an interview, Reynolds apologised on behalf of the couple for hosting their 2012 wedding at Boone Hall, a former plantation in South Carolina.

Speaking to Fast Company, Reynolds said the decision is “something we’ll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for.

“It’s impossible to reconcile. What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy. Years ago we got married again at home—but shame works in weird ways. A giant f*cking mistake like that can either cause you to shut down or it can reframe things and move you into action. It doesn’t mean you won’t fuck up again. But repatterning and challenging lifelong social conditioning is a job that doesn’t end.”

Original coverage of their wedding glazed over the venue, but the controversy began in 2018 when Reynolds tweeted out his support of the Black Panther film, which had a majority black cast. Many accused Reynolds of being hypocritical for supporting black people in public but marrying at a venue that has such racist connotations.

This is the first time the pair have directly spoke about the controversy. Earlier in 2020 at the start of the protests that began after the death of George Floyd, they posted on Instagram “We’re ashamed that in the past we’ve allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is. We want to educate ourselves about other people’s experiences and talk to our kids about everything, all of it … especially our own complicity.”

They also announced they had donated $200 000 to the NAACP legal defense fund.

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The wedding industry has also since acknowledged the dark history of American plantations. In December 2019, Pinterest, The Knot Worldwide, Brides and Zola 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.

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

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.

Feature image: Instagram / Ryan Reynolds

In Celebs

Sean Penn secretly married actress Leila George in ‘COVID wedding’

August 5, 2020 No Comments

Sean Penn is a married man yet again. The famed actor secretly said ‘I do’ to actress Leila George.

In an interview on the Late Night with Seth Myers show, Penn confirmed his recent nuptials by raising his left hand and showing off his wedding band when asked whether reports of a secret wedding were true.

“We did a COVID wedding,” he told Myer. “By that I mean it was a county commissioner on Zoom, we were at the house, my two children and her brother, and we did it that way.”

Penn and George have been together for two years, reports Vanity Fair. Rumours of their undercover nuptials began when philanthropist Irena Meavoy posted a since-deleted Instagram post congratulating them on tying the knot.

This is the third marriage for 59-year-old Penn and the first for George. He was previously married to Madonna from 1985 to 1989, then actress Robin Wright from 1996 to 2010. He shares two children with Wright: Dylan (29) and Hopper (26).

Feature image: Instagram / Leila George

In Do's And Don'ts

Crazy things couples have expected of their wedding guests

August 5, 2020 No Comments

Planning a wedding can be incredibly stressful, turning the best of us into bridezillas. While some rise to the occasion, others crash and burn.

A quick glance at the internet will prove that brides and grooms can get a bit too crazy when planning their big day. Here are some of the strangest things couples have asked of their wedding guests:

Let’s weigh this one up:

Dress codes are standard for weddings to give guests a guideline to match the overall aesthetic of the big day. However, one couple got a bit too specific. Reddit user @insanepeopleonfb shared a screenshot of a bride’s requirements for her guests, in which she determines what people may wear based on their weight. She also expected the outfits to cost at least $1000 to match the 24k wedding theme.

She has a way with words:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a bride has had to cut down on her guest list and thus requested that guests write two 250-word essays explaining why they want to attend her destination wedding. In a reddit thread, her sister says she refused to write the essays, which has caused a major rift in the family as the bride says she may not come to the wedding unless she responds.

Seafood or safety?

It’s your wedding and you shouldn’t have to compromise on your big day because of someone else. However, if you know your wedding could cause severe harm to someone, we’d suggest rethinking. This bride really wants to serve seafood on her big day, although her fiancè’s sister-in-law is severely allergic to it. Should she risk a life for a plate of paella?

Dirty dancing:

In a post to Facebook group, ‘That’s it, I’m wedding shaming” a woman explains that she got kicked out of her former roommate’s wedding for dancing. The bride had become a very conservative Evangelical Protestant and was outraged when her guests took to the dance floor at her wedding.

“When the DJ opened the dance floor, she was in the bathroom, so I guess she didn’t know that people were dancing. I started dancing with our mutual friends (and my brother, who had not been invited to the ceremony, but WAS invited to the reception. Becky said that she “didn’t think he’d be comfortable at a church, because he’s gay.” Now, I wish that one or both of us had said, “*itch, he’s gay, not a vampire.”) Becky came storming out of the bathroom, yelling at everyone on the dance floor for being disrespectful of her beliefs and dancing at her wedding. (To clarify, there was no “dirty dancing.” Mostly just hopping around.) She demanded that everyone who was dancing leave, which left just the old folks.”

BYOM – Bring Your Own Meal

Catering for a vegetarian is understandably difficult if you are not one yourself. You want to make sure your guests are all catered for, regardless of their eating habits. One bride, however, did not have any vegetarian options on her menu and asked if her guest would bring her own meal to the wedding.

Crowdfunding not a crowdpleaser:

Weddings can be pretty costly, and couples will have to scrimp and save to turn their dream into a reality. It is common for people to ask family to financially contribute to the big day. Asking your Facebook friends, however, is a little strange. This couple created a Facebook fundraiser to pay for their big day. The amount they wanted to raise? A whopping $73 205 (R1 274 165).

Feature image: Unsplash

In Engagements

Man accidentally sets flat on fire during proposal

August 5, 2020 No Comments

When somebody plans out their proposal idea, they usually consider all things that could go wrong. Will it be interrupted? Will there be distractions? However, one would never envision their romantic proposal going up in flames; and we don’t mean that metaphorically.

A man from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, planned to propose to his girlfriend on Tuesday, August 3. He filled a room in his flat with hundreds of tea lights, balloons, and a nice bottle of wine.

After setting up his romantic gesture, he went to pick up his girlfriend to bring her to the flat. As they returned, their flat was on fire. According to the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, the cause of the fire was the tea lights.

The Fire and Rescue Department posted a series of Tweets, talking about the incident.

THREAD: Look closely. What do you see? That’s right, hundreds of tea light candles! ?️

Want to know what happened here? We thought you did. It involves a romantic proposal that didn’t quite go to plan, and includes an important lesson around candle use.

Lets go! ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/p8aU6pQAUF

— South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) August 4, 2020

“Last night three crews were mobilised to a flat fire in Sheffield. They dealt with it quickly, as ever, before trying to establish what caused it,” they said.

“So, a quick chat with the occupant revealed that this room had been filled with 100s of tea lights,” they said, adding “This was going to be the scene of a romantic proposal and the occupant, a chap who we shall not name, had really gone to town!”

After noting what was in the apartment and what had gone wrong, they said that the firefighters dealt with the fire quickly and nobody was injured.

Not to worry though, it’s not all doom and gloom! There is a silver lining.

“As a bonus, she said YES!” Fire and Rescue said.

However, the department noted that despite being sweet and romantic, candles can be quite dangerous. They urged that if people decide to make use of candles that they must ensure they are extinguished properly after, they are not placed near flammable items, and that they are most definitely not to be left unattended in an empty flat as you leave to fetch your girlfriend.

Image: Twitter / South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR)

In Wedding Gowns

Artist turns wedding dresses into colourful works of art

August 4, 2020 No Comments

White is traditional when it comes to a wedding day, but that doesn’t mean it’s required. This talented artist is elevating wedding gowns by turning them into colourful works of art for a truly unique, spectacular finish.

Artist Taylor Ann Linko got the inspiration to start this business through her own wedding dress. The bride wanted a unique gown to match her colourful personality, so she began painting the bottom of her dress using airbrushes.

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“White was banned from the closet due to the fact I would probably get paint on it. I was also banned from paint and any other form of art the week prior to the wedding, just to avoid any skin stains or mishaps. Heck, nice things were banned from my room/studio in the fear they would never make it out alive and unpainted,” Linko explains.

“I might be shy, I kinda hate being the center of attention, but that’s never stopped me from wearing my heart on my sleeve. Just so happens, my heart is filled with art. Painting, sculpting, sewing, drawing, makeup….and that tends to show though, from doodles on my arm to paint on my wedding dress.

“For my wedding, the same was certainly true. I painted, sculpted, crafted, just about everything I could. Made the flowers, colored my hair, painted a giant jenga game, DIY-ed the invitations, sculpted the centerpieces.”

For her dress, she decided to paint her gown purple, blue, red, orange and yellow. The first two colours represent her and her husband’s favourite colours, and yellow for her grandfather’s favourite colour. Orange is symbolic of friendship, which she chose because she was friends with her husband for a long time before it turned romantic. All together, the colours represented a sunset.

“The shock and awe of my dress helped me feel calm and confident. My colorful personality was shining through and everyone there loved it. I wasn’t trying to make some big statement it’s as simple as wanting to wear something I felt beautiful in. It’s the Artistic personal flare. For me, life is my canvas. I look for any and every opportunity to add that personal flair and artistic touch, I wasn’t about to hold back because it’s normal to wear white.”

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The images from her big day soon went viral. Since then, Linko has been inundated with requests, as hundreds have asked her to paint their wedding dresses. She now runs a full-time business creating these one-of-a-kind gowns. She also upcycles gowns to sell online.

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Feature image: Instagram / Taylor Ann Art

In Celebs

Signed, sealed, delivered: The Somhale love story

August 4, 2020 No Comments

Somizi Mhlongo and Mohale Motaung have gone down in history as having two of the most extravagent weddings South Africa has ever seen. This iconic couple has dominated gossip columns since they came together, and keep us constantly entertained.

They have also become beautiful examples of love, and have inspired many to be their true selves. Here’s how this iconic South African couple came to be.

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Idols judge Somizi met actor and businessman Mohale in 2017 at a book signing for Somizi’s book Dominoes: Unbreakable Spirit – The Somizi Mhlongo Story.

“I knew from the minute I saw him. He thought I was joking when I told him because he was at my book signing,” Mhlongo told Sowetan Live. “With everyone I was signing SM, but when he came I signed ‘thank you for your support, dear future husband’.

“He laughed it off and two months later, we met for dinner. We met at 8pm and the date ended at 3am. We went through eight bottles of champagne and we have never been apart since then. He slept at my house. I knew then that this is the man I’m going to marry,” Mhlongo says.

Their relationship has not been without its fair share of controversy. Initially, the 22-year age difference surprised fans.

Many also criticised Mohale of faking his love for Somizi for fame. When Mohale appeared on Somizi’s reality show Living the dream with Somizi, viewers said Mohale seemed disinterested and unaffectionate towards his partner. The couple also faced infidelity rumours when Mohale was allegedly caught with another man.

On March 10, 2018 Somizi popped the question to Mohale at Pont des Arts, the ‘lock bridge’ in Paris that overlooks the Eiffel Tower. Of course, Mohale said yes.

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The pair tied the knot in what many believe was the wedding of the decade in 2019, first with a traditional wedding in 2019 and then a white wedding in early 2020.

For their traditional wedding, the couple wore matching outfits and made multiple changes throughout the day. Their first look was designed by Gert Johan Coetzee, who was inspired by a North African theme.

A host of local celebrities were in attendance, including Bonang Matheba, Casper Nyovest, Kelly Khumalo, Lerato Kganyago, Pearl Thusi, Julius Malema, and Thando Thabethe.

According to Liquid Image Consulting, the creative team behind the wedding, the pair had a particular dress code for guests. “Dresscode: #Somhale wanted to showcase African Tradition and they personally selected a region from Africa for each guest detailing what they should wear and sent extensive dress code mood boards to ensure everyone stayed on theme!!” they wrote in an Instagram post.

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Not one to be outdone, Somizi made sure their second wedding was even more lavish than their traditional wedding of 2019. Their extravagant white wedding on Thursday, January 30 was attended by celebs like Minnie Dlamini-Jones, Casper Nyovest, Khanyi Mbau, DJ Zinhle, Shimza, Lerato Sengadi, Thando Thabethe, Ayanda Thabethe and Bonang Matheba. Guests were instructed to wear white and red-bottom shoes.

According to reports, Somizi had three outfit changes, each of which were accessorised with different Christian Louboutin red-bottom shoes. Celebrity designer Gert-Johan Coetzee was at the helm of at least one of these looks.

Their nuptials were captured in all their glory in a 4-part special on Showmax, which broke viewing records and became the most streamed show when it premiered in February.

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The pair had planned a third wedding in Italy this year, but had to cancel plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s clear that there is a lot of love in this couple. We can’t wait to see what they do next!

Feature image: Instagram / Mohale

In Advice

How to have a spectacular lunch wedding

August 4, 2020 No Comments

In light of the national night-time curfew from 10pm to 4am during lockdown, wedding celebrations are looking a bit different. Even though large gatherings are not permitted yet, couples may be legally married at the Magistrate’s Office and then usually have a small intimate celebration with their immediate families.

If you don’t want to worry about breaking curfew, have a lunch celebration. Spring is drawing near which means lovely outdoor weather, perfect for a day time feast. Here are our top tips on how to pull it off.

Decide on indoor or outdoor

For a daytime wedding, both outdoor and indoor venues will work. Decide which you prefer, taking into consideration the season and the climate, as well as factors like space and accessibility for your guests. If you live in a very windy city, an outdoor option might not work if the area is not protected from wind. However, if you’re planning a summer wedding in an area with good weather, an outdoor venue will be exquisite.

Have a fabulous drinks station

Even though we are still under an alcohol ban, there’s no excuse for skimping on the drinks station. As the season’s change, cater appropriate drinks. Fresh fruit juices and cold ice teas are vital on a hot summer’s day, while coffee and tea are a much-needed comfort during winter.

Replace the dancing

Since the wedding will happen during the afternoon, your guests likely won’t be strutting their dance moves while the sun is still out. Instead, have fun games to entertain guests, like croquet, giant Jenga, giant Scrabble, or ring toss. If games are not your vibe, add a fun element with karaoke, or provide tables with board and card games.

Consider the weather

Depending on the season and what part of the country you live in, the weather probably differs throughout the day. Even in summer, late afternoons can get chilly, especially for older guests. Provide blankets, just in case. Similarly, if it’s very hot and an outdoor wedding, provide fabric umbrellas or Chinese fans for guests to cool down with. Take into account whether or not it is likely to rain and make sure there is a cover, if so.

Images: Pinterest

Featured image: Unsplash

In News

Couple sneak wedding into iconic church, guests infected with COVID-19

August 4, 2020 No Comments

It seems that many still don’t think that breaking the rules has consequences. Not only can you get in legal trouble from breaking lockdown regulations, you also put your family and friends in danger, especially when having large gatherings.

A couple in San Francisco tried to sneakily have a wedding ceremony in the city’s iconic Saints Peter and Paul Church. Dozens of their loved ones including friends and family were present at the event. Now, several of those who were members of the wedding party have been infected with COVID-19.

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple had intentions to marry early this year. However, when the outbreak and the resulting movement restrictions came into play, they rescheduled their wedding to July, according to The Denver Channel.

With the replanned, illegally held wedding, guests were instructed to make use of the church’s underground parking. The Chronicle reported that the bride’s father emailed guests three days before the wedding to explain safety guidelines they had put in place.

However, officials from the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office caught wind of the ongoings, and tried to stop the wedding. According to Business Insider, the officials told the couple and their guests that the wedding had to be held outside, as the city currently allows up to 12 people to gather in open spaces, without food or drink.

It was reported that thereafter, the couple took their ceremony to a nearby basketball court and had several guests tune in from a live stream. The bride, groom, and at least eight members of the wedding party later tested positive for COVID-19.

This was not the first time this church had broken rules. In June, the San Francisco city attorney’s office issued a cease-and-desist letter to several churches, including Saints Peter and Paul Church, after they held indoor masses.

Infectious disease expert John Swartzberg at UC Berkeley told The Chronicle that instances like this “infuriated” him.

“This is the perfect example of why public health officials have been trying to convince people of the problems with getting together in crowds,” he said. “And I would be shocked if we didn’t see this consequence. This should be the poster child in why people should take responsibility.”

Image: Facebook / Saints Peter and Paul Church San Fransisco (Alexey Speranksy)