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.

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.

But one thing I have noticed is that a lot of these guides aren’t really talking about serious disasters. They’re talking about minor to middling snafus that truly can be planned for and dealt with. And even then, some of them are full of questionable advice.

Really? Most weddings have so many potential crashers that a doorman is necessary? No woman can do her own make up without looking like a clown? Speaking as a bride who did her own makeup and looked almost as though she wasn’t wearing any, but without getting washed out in the photographs taken in natural light on a sunny, California afternoon, I really don’t believe a professional makeup artist was something I needed to spend the money on. All your guests are such lushes that you have to issue a very limited number of drink tickets to keep them all from getting plastered and causing mayhem? Okay, that might be the case in some circles, but I honestly doubt that it’s a universal situation.

And pretty much the only thing on that list I can imagine turning into a true wedding disaster is if one of those drunken sots you invited managed to overpower the bartender, drink himself nearly blind, and go out and get behind the wheel of a car… or fall over your cake barrier into dessert.

So things run a little late, or someone gets a spot on her dress, or a guest needs to have their car keys taken away until they can sleep it off. So what? These are not disasters. So you have to find random fill-ins at the last minute because the best man forgot the rings. So what? Chances are someone in the audience has reasonable rings you can use for that moment… or you can even forego the ring part of the ceremony, since it’s actually an optional thing in legal terms. Find them and put them on later. Even missing bouquets or ill-fitting tuxes – while certainly not happy things – aren’t true disasters. And in some cultures, it’s considered good luck if there’s rain on your wedding day. As long as you have a back up plan for your outdoor wedding, that’s not a disaster, either.

Let’s put this into perspective. Take a look at this article about real wedding disasters. If nobody at your wedding gets: nearly killed by a runaway horse and carriage, assaulted, severe food poisoning, or arrested… chances are your wedding wasn’t a true disaster.

So relax. Plan for what you can plan for, and leave the rest up to fate. Take what comes with the best humor you can, and realize it could pretty much always get worse.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m seriously starting to think about springing plots… er… plans for a vow reaffirmation on Mr. Twistie if I can figure out a way to fit this place into the budget for it.

Flowers, dresses, food, rings, invitations, linens, transportation… it all adds up quickly. It’s not surprising that some people do begin to ask whether it’s all worth it.

In fact, a recent article on The Huffington Post Canada asked just that question. Is a wedding worth the expense?

Unfortunately, the article itself doesn’t do much questioning, let alone in depth answering of that question. It just tells us about a couple of couples who spent a lot more money than they might have found comfortable to do on their weddings, and let one of the brides say that she’s happy she had a wedding because it was important to her to be married. Full stop.

The thing is, while the article promised consideration of how much is spent and whether that money is best spent that particular way… it just blithely assumes that a wedding will cost what it costs and there’s no real way to make it cost less, so the question comes down to whether or not it’s important to be married at all. Once you say yes to that, well, better make sure you can scrape up thousands and thousands of dollars to make it happen!

Funnily enough, a wedding and an expensive wedding are not necessarily the same thing. One can get married quite economically, if one so chooses. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a wedding will cost precisely what you’re willing to spend on it. If you determine that it’s worth the price of a marriage license and an officient’s fee, then that’s what it’s worth to you and you are just as married as a couple who decides to spend the gross national product of Lithuania on their wedding. And so long as you can afford the cost, spending the gross national product of Lithuania on your wedding does not make you either a bad person or a mindless puppet of the wedding industrial complex.

You and your intended are the only ones who can answer the question of whether a five hundred dollar budget, a fifteen thousand dollar budget, or a five million dollar budget is right for your situation. You are the ones who need to decide whether you can afford it, how you’re going to fit your dreams into your wallets, and what trappings are and are not necessary. It’s worth it if it’s worth it to you.

Just do keep your actual ability to pay the bills in mind and don’t do what Kirsty Rimmer Lane did last fall and pay for your wedding by defrauding – and nearly bankrupting! – your boss.

Lane embezzled close to two hundred thousand pounds from the video conferencing company where she worked as a part time accountant. That money paid for: two live bands, an open bar, an award-winning chef, matching black UGGs for all the bridesmaids, a magician to entertain guests, a fireworks display, feather masks for all the guests, a balloon artist for the kiddies, and bridesmaids’ gifts of jewel-encrusted iPods… among other things.

Possibly the biggest mistake Lane made? She invited her boss to the wedding.

Yeah, not the brightest thing she ever did.

Said boss – one Peter Sutton – wondered how a part time worker and single mom who made fifteen thousand pounds a year was able to afford such a lavish wedding.

As the happy couple headed off to a mini-honeymoon in the Lake District before going on their main honeymoon in Mexico, Sutton headed back to the office to double check the books.

Somehow, I don’t think that wedding was worth the cost.

Figarelle wore a black suit provided by Men’s Warehouse, and McArthur wore a strapless white gown sent from Kleinfeld, setting of Say Yes to the Dress and it’s myriad offshoots.

In a statement to the Associated Press, Figarelle said:

‘It’s unfortunate it’s not more understood or accepted in our country. Love is genderless. It’s two souls, that’s it,’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101001/Lesbian-couple-Alaska-sex-pair-wed-Empire-State-Building.html#ixzz1mesndXX3

I couldn’t agree more.

In all, four couples won weddings in the Empire State building. Aterwards, all four couples’ weddings will be voted on again to decide which had the nicest one. That couple will win a $100,000.00 cash prize.

I hope you’ll join with me in wishing the very happiest of marriages to all four couples: McArthur and Figarelle, Phil Fung and Shawn Klein (the first male/male couple to marry in the Empire State Building), Angela Vega and Lubin Masibay, and Paula Cubero and Enrique Cattler. Whoever wins the prize money, you have all begun an amazing journey. Best wishes!