But there’s one aspect of this wedding you might not have heard about yet: it was a surprise to the entire guest list.

Chan had graduated from medical school during the week, and she and Zuckerberg sent out invitations to a graduation party. But when guests arrived, well, Chan was wearing a white gown and veil and the next thing guests knew, they were witnessing the start of a new marriage.

While this approach certainly isn’t for everybody, I have to say I like the concept. It’s low key, so it’s easier to avoid jitters. Nobody is expecting a wedding, so they don’t worry about shelling out money they can’t afford on new clothes and gifts. You don’t have to corral your nearest girlfriends into the bridal salon to argue over which available dress they hate least as a group. Nobody can accuse you of boring them to death with wedding details. Nobody has a chance to object to the aspect of the wedding that means the most to you.

In short, all you need to do is organize a party in a place you like, invite the people you’re closest to, nab yourself an officiant, get a license, and give everyone there the surprise of their lives! It’s up to you whether to plan for months or do it on a couple days’ notice, whether to include traditional trappings or drop every wedding convention except the vows.

I took a long time to plan my wedding to Mr. Twistie. I enjoyed the entire process. I loved sharing my plans with others. But there’s definitely something to be said for keeping an exciting secret, too.

So how about you? Would you ever consider a surprise wedding?

Yes, this is Sandra and Andrew’s wedding. Yes, everyone is covered in mud.

Sandra and Andrew’s first date was a morning run, and they’ve shared a love of running ever since. Last year, a friend of Sandra’s ran the Gladiator Rock’n Run in a wedding gown as a runaway bride. So when Andrew and Sandra decided to tie the knot, they thought it would be fun to have the wedding party run the same race.

Sandra bought her $8 wedding gown and the $8 bridesmaid’s dresses at a local thrift store, and the couple sent out tongue-in-cheek invitations that read:

“Some say it’s fast, we say it’s slow/Our love has grown — they just don’t know/And so we continue at our own pace/Off to get married in a Mud Run Race.”

No word on how they finished in the race, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone is well satisfied with their performance.

Hearty congratulations to the new family! I think it’s great when couples have weddings that are good, clean fun… even if they wind up a little muddy.

But not every bride is so serene.

On your wedding day you may cry,

Or you may laugh.

The important thing to remember is that no matter how you react emotionally at the altar, it’s okay. You’re allowed to cry, you’re allowed to laugh, and you’re allowed to do a bit of each. You’re allowed to be utterly serene and unflappable.

Just be you.

Everyone will understand.

The Gearys engaged the photographic team of Ian McCloskey and Nikki Carter to photograph their wedding at a price of seven hundred fifty pounds sterling.

Lest you think that first photo is a complete fluke, here’s another example of McCloskey and Carter’s Work:

The entire album is brimful of blurry, poorly composed, amateurish shots just like these. In fact, in the picture of the Gearys signing their wedding register, there’s a disembodied hand holding a toy motorcycle where McCloskey and Carter attempted to edit out the bride’s small nephew… and failed.

When the Gearys saw their photos, they thought at first it was a joke and the real pictures would come soon. They soon discovered this was no joke. They demanded their money back.

It was not to be. McCloskey and Carter had already disbanded the business in the face of a string of disgruntled customers demanding their money back.

Gee, I wonder why.

But the really sad thing is that this entire situation could have been avoided. How? The Gearys could have taken a little time and trouble to check out McCloskey and Carter’s credentials.

When picking a vendor to handle any aspect of your wedding, always be certain to ask to see recent examples of their work and get references… then call the references and ask them about both the quality of the work and how it was working with that vendor. Do a quick Google search and see if you find complaints filed about them – and for what.

Finding a good photographer on a really tight budget isn’t easy. If you’ve got less than the average to spend, you may find yourself choosing between mediocre pictures of the entire event or a smaller number of pictures that are done better. Only you can decide which better suits your needs. But I can guarantee you one thing: pictures this bad shouldn’t ever happen for pay.

In fact, I got better pictures of my wedding from guests who barely knew which end of a camera was which!

But we also have a beautiful album of professional shots that make me smile every time I look at them.

Well, Norwegian explorer Borge Ousland and his bride, Helga, found one place that hadn’t yet been used: the North Pole.

The couple gathered the wedding party together on the Russian Barneo ice base, and then took a helicopter to the pole, where the actual wedding took place. The bride wore a white silk wedding gown and the groom traditional Norwegian wedding attire. There was a cross of skis, candles, champagne, and fireworks, all of which were scheduled. What was not scheduled was the appearance of British explorer Mark Wood.

Wood was skiing to the North Pole to bring awareness to climate change, but wound up adding another layer of normalcy to the Ousland wedding: a wedding crasher.

The happy couple seems to have taken things in good stride. They invited Wood to join in the champagne and stay to watch the fireworks.

My very best wishes to the happy couple! May they take all future surprises equally well.

Her story was a sad one. A young mother with terminal leukemia dreamed of a fairy tale wedding to the father of her child. It was the one thing she wished for.

Everybody wanted to help, and help they did with a twelve hundred dollar wedding gown, a honeymoon in Aruba, rings, flowers, and all the trimmings.

That was in 2010.

This is Vega now, upon being arraigned in New York on charges of grand larceny and scheming to defraud. She has been extradited to California to face those charges.

You see, the one problem with Vega’s funding of her dream wedding is that it was based on a lie. She is not now and has never been dying of cancer.

The scheme was exposed when husband Michael O’Connell contacted Vega’s doctor to ask some questions about her treatment, only to learn that the doctor was not treating her at all. O’Connell left Vega and broke the story to the Times-Herald Record. He filed for divorce.

Strangely enough, though, the couple has since reunited and had a second child. Why? Because O’Connell wants his kids to grow up with their mother.

We’ll see how that works out for them.

Oh, and Mr. O’Connell? You might want to start any wedding funds now so history doesn’t repeat itself.

And so it was that she chose to take a city bus part of the way to her wedding at the Sutton Register Office in London. She and her bridesmaids walked the rest of the way.

The one downside to her choice? Says the bride:

‘I think they thought it must be a practical joke. No one even offered me their seat.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2125534/Bride-Jenny-Klochko-takes-BUS-to-church-Sutton-south-London.html#ixzz1rSuVpman

After the wedding the entire wedding party climbed aboard a party bus chartered for the occasion to take them to the reception in Wimbledon.

I don’t know about any of you, but I rather like the simplicity, practicality, and charm of a bride sharing the joy on public transportation… not that there’s anything at all wrong with a carriage or a limo. But life is a little more whimsical when at any moment a bride and her attendants might join you on a bus ride. I’m in favor of more whimsey in the world.

All the same, I think the groom was right in advising Jenny to give herself two hours’ leeway in case of snafus. You just never know with public transportation in some areas.

Tip #1 for Wedding Guests: Do not attempt to slow dance with one of the people who just got married unless that person married you. Stick to fast dances with the bride or the groom. This guest decided slow dancing with the groom was a good idea. It was not.

Tip #2 for Wedding Guests: If you do make the mistake of slow dancing with the groom and the bride wants to cut in, let her. The guest in question decided that her wanting to slow dance with the groom outweighed the bride’s right to dance with her new husband. This did not end well.

Tip #3 for Wedding Guests: If you don’t want to stop slow dancing with the groom, this does not mean you get to attempt to slug the bride.

Tip #4 for Wedding Guests: If while in a drunken state you do slow dance with the groom and then attempt to slug the bride, do not attempt to wrest your car keys from the good people trying to stop you from driving drunk and quite possibly killing yourself on your way home, not to mention endangering the lives of everyone on your path.

Tip #5 for Wedding Guests: If the local constabulary arrive to try to sort out the situation, do not ever slug the cop. Trust me, this will not help your case.

Tip #6 for Wedding Guests (which probably ought to have been number one): Do not get drunk at weddings. Pace yourself with the liquor. Break it up with non-booze-based drinks.

As for the Bride and Groom, well, I’ve got a couple tips for them, too.

Tip #1 for Bridal Couples: Save the slow dances for the person you just married. Seriously, save it for your spouse.

Tip #2 for Bridal Couples: Really don’t dance with people who are drunk. Be nice, but escort them to the sidelines and make sure someone takes their car keys away.

Tip #3 for Bridal Couples: If you do find yourself slow dancing with a drunken guest, be sure your new spouse knows you’re just humoring a drunk person to minimize the ruckus. The corollary is that if you see your new spouse slow dancing with a drunken guest, try not to overreact. Do your best to come up with a distraction rather than a confrontation. It’s a lot easier to end the situation without violence that way.

Tip #4 for Bridal Couples: Keep your sense of humor. You’re going to need it.

Tip #5 for Bridal Couples: If a guest gets drunk enough to take a swing at you, call them a cab as well as wresting the car keys away. If that person gets behind the wheel of a car and causes serious damage to property or people along the way home, you could find yourself legally on the hook for part of the damage. If your crowd runs to heavy drinking, have a plan for getting the keys away and cabs to the site.

Tip #6 for Bridal Couples (which probably should have been number one): Make sure guests have non-alcoholic choices at the bar and on the tables. Consider limiting the amount of liquor available if drinking is a problem in your circle. There is nothing impolite about holding a dry reception or keeping the liquor list to wine and beer. Hosts are required to provide refreshments, but that does not mean they are required to provide every form of alcohol known to man in copious amounts.

Also, feed your guests well. Plenty of food reduces the likelihood of guests getting hit hard by what they drink. It’s a lot easier to get drunk on an empty stomach than a full one.

Guests do overindulge at weddings and get drunk. It happens. The important thing is to watch carefully for the signs, and handle the issue as quietly as possible.

After all, you don’t want your wedding remembered for the drunk guest who tried to assault the bride and got arrested, do you?

I didn’t think so.

When Abigail Kirk and Andy Weeks were kicking around ideas about their February 5 wedding, it was important to him that they share a last name, and she said she really didn’t want to use his. They were already planning a Twilight Breaking Dawn wedding because Abigail is a Twihard, so Andy suggested they just change both their last names to Cullen.

And so it was that Abigail wore Alfred Angelo’s commercial version of the gown Bella wore in the film, they used the Breaking Dawn soundtrack throughout their wedding… and then the took the surname of the vampire clan in the books and movies.

What do I think of it? Well, if you’re going to use a theme, I think it’s best to use one that both of you are really into. Andy hasn’t read the Twilight books. Still, if one partner wishes to indulge the other in something that’s meaningful to him or her, I’ve got no beef. And I do think it’s entirely up to the couple in question to decide the whose name to use issue for themselves using their own criteria. I’m down with couples changing their name to one that doesn’t come from either side, if that’s what works for them. So long as they aren’t trying to defraud anyone or evade the long arm of the law with their choice, I think it’s between them and the deity of their choice.

It’s a big old world and a free country, and I wish them well. And that’s about all the opinion I’m going to admit to having… but no power on earth can make me read those books or watch those movies.

Also? There are worse names to change to. I’m a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and that one leaves open the option of changing your surname to ‘the Bloody.’

At least Cullen is a name.

The happy couple had booked the Manchester Town Hall for their event, and about four weeks before the wedding, they were contacted and told that a VIP would be in the building that day: no less a personage than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The queen and Prince Philip were going to be attending a banquet in honor of the queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Being fans of the royals, John and Frances decided to send an invitation, more as a bit of light-hearted fun to share with friends than out of any belief that anything would come of it.

But when the ceremony was over, the staff asked the wedding party to wait a minute in the corridor, and who should come by but the Queen and Prince Consort offering congratulations!

I offer up mine, as well, but that probably isn’t as exciting as actually meeting the Queen of England.

PS: Don’t forget to enter the contest! You have a couple days left.