Groom Turns Canceled Wedding Reception Into Epic Charity Event

Phil Laboon was supposed to get married this weekend in Pittsburgh. But well, stuff happens and sometimes totally altruistic, big-hearted, and -- dare I be shallow and say it -- handsomemen get their weddings called off. So the 32-year-old was faced with a conundrum: drown his sorrows in tequila all weekend -- okay, that's probably what I would do and not what Laboon suggested -- or think of those who have even bigger problems than lost love and turn his pre-paid reception into a huge charity fundraiser.
Laboon, who is a CEO of an Internet marketing company, won't go into detail about why his wedding was called off. He had the idea to sell tickets to his reception and donate the proceeds to Surgicorps International, which provides plastic surgery to children who were born with birth defects or disfigured from burns.
He even came up with a super-cute name for the event: "LemonAID," which reminds us to make lemonade when life gives us a bunch of lemons. His efforts have helped create quite a few buckets of lemonade: he expects to raise about $50,000 from ticket sales.
This is the part where you're probably wondering why a person who is capable of doing something so sweet could still be single while Chris Brown is out there scoring beautiful women. And the only answer to that is that the world is a strange place where absolutely nothing makes sense. The follow-up answer to that is: he won't be single for long. Laboon has already received 500 Facebook friend requests, mostly from women or moms and grandmothers looking to set up the young ladies in their family.

So, there you have it. Things don't always work out in life and especially love, but as Laboon proves, how you handle them is often the most important thing of all.

How did Brangelina keep their wedding secret?

How'd they do it? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie managed a no-leaks wedding in France after some nine years and six kids together, and years of speculation on when and if they'd marry.
"A majority of celebrities are doing everything they can to keep their weddings private," said David Tutera, a party planner whose celebrity wedding clients have included Star Jones and Shannen Doherty.
"Her camp always creatively provides at the right moment the pieces of the puzzle that eventually get put together - intentionally," said Tutera, who has not worked with Kardashian.
Tutera, who stars on WE tv's David Tutera's Celebrations, said when it comes to keeping the wedding secret it's all about the ironclad confidentiality agreement, for vendors anyway. The legal document binds them to monetary fines for sharing celebrity secrets.
And it's also about keeping the actual planning process and execution short, he said. "Vendors are the first to leak. A shorter time frame of planning helps minimise that," Tutera said.
Splashy or simple, high-profile or private, celeb couples have been all over the place on how they've handled the attention. Here's a look back, including another highly anticipated wedding day - that of Pitt and his first wife, Jennifer Aniston:
THE JEN YEARS
In contrast to Brangelina's intimate, tight-as-a-drum ceremony, Pitt's last wedding was over the top. The US$1 million ceremony in 2000 included a 40-piece gospel choir, floating lotus flowers, a 13-minute fireworks display and imported candles from Thailand.
The newlyweds released a single photo of themselves from the wedding and reportedly struck a deal for the rest with the French magazine Paris Match, giving the undisclosed payment to charity.
They divorced 41/2 years later.
KIM KARDASHIAN AND KANYE WEST
Did your invitation get lost in the mail? No worries. The lead-up in France to Kimye's May 24 wedding in Florence, Italy, will be included in two upcoming Keeping up With the Kardashians episodes.
Before exchanging vows, the two held court in Paris, paraded for cameras and posted photos on Instagram from fashion designer Valentino's 17th-century Chateau de Wideville. There were costume changes, including a sexy open-front white number for the new Mrs. Kardashian West.
And there was a welcome dinner at Versailles for only 150 guests, the reality TV star told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "We shared what we wanted to and we kept things private," she said.
The rap mogul put a ring on it in 2008 after six years of unconfirmed dating. They got married in his Manhattan apartment and tried to keep the fancy party under wraps. No such luck. The paparazzi snapped arriving guests, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, who recently "consciously uncoupled" while Bey and Jay remain hitched.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS AND CATHERINE ZETA-JONES
Glitz overtook privacy when these two brought old-fashioned glamour back for their swanky 2000 wedding. They married at The Plaza Hotel, drawing several hundred gawkers who craned to see inside arriving limos. The cost? A reported $2 million.
Douglas and Zeta-Jones, who remain together, served the paparazzi hors d'oeuvres the night before.
ELLEN DeGENERES AND PORTIA de ROSSI
The pair gave People an exclusive interview and photos after their 2008 wedding, and the talk show hostess with the mostest showed off video on air. But only their closest family and friends watched them exchange vows at their Los Angeles home.
Both brides wore designs by fashion darling Zac Posen, the actress in a backless princess gown of white with a frothy light pink skirt and DeGeneres in a white tuxedo vest and matching trousers.

The couple sat on floor pillows during the ceremony with author Wayne Dyer, who officiated.

Ultra-Zionists protest Muslim-Jewish wedding saying miscegenation is ‘gravest threat to the Jewish people’

While the Israeli army continues to pummel the Gaza Strip and its residents for a second month, the upsurge in anti-Palestinian sentiment in Israeli society shows no signs of abating. As even mainstream Israeli politicians threaten the Palestinians of Gaza with ethnic cleansing and genocide, Israel’s far-right figures take to the street to rile up racist supporters and to chase Palestinians out of public spaces and enforce racial-religious separation.
On August 17, 2014, the Israeli anti-miscegenation group Lehava protested a party in central Israel city of Rishon Letzion celebrating the union of a son of Muslim Palestinian citizens of Israel and the daughter of Jewish citizens of Israel. A bus brought activists from Jerusalem to the venue, so that they could harass wedding guests as they arrive, chant “Death to Arabs!” and hear speeches from followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane extolling the virtues of racial-religious purity.
Since the state only permits weddings within faith-based communities, mixed Jewish-Gentile married couples are exceedingly rare in Israel. Regardless, the far right has made fighting the phenomenon a centerpiece of its political platform. The Kahanist Knesset representative Michael Ben-Ari was denied re-election in 2013 by a narrow margin, as center-right lawmakers adopted his rhetoric and vacuumed up his votes. The Kahanists continue to organize on the ground and push the Zionist consensus even further to the right.
It is important to note that the vigilante vanguards of Lehava have received funding from the Israeli government, via its sister organization Hemla. Lehava has also testified to the Knesset that 1,000 Jewish Israeli woman have been kidnapped and forced to marry Palestinians. While the Israeli police deny that any such cases exist, it also works in tandem with anti-miscegenation patrols throughout the country that try to deter young Israelis and Palestinians from socializing.

Clearly, the most precious Palestinian rights to be violated in recent weeks have been the rights of Gazans to life and health, to safety and security, to food and shelter. But while the Israeli government seems intent on destroying any possibility of peace with Palestinians for the foreseeable future, ultra-nationalists are trying to snuff out what little hope there is of coexistence by vilifying those few Jews and Palestinians who are, against all odds, living examples of the possibility that we can all get along in the land as equals.

George Clooney Marriage To Amal Alamuddin: Julianna Margulies Says She’s ‘Thrilled’

The upcoming marriage of Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney to his fiance, human rights attorney Amal Alamuddin, is a going to be a big one, at least in terms of media attention, if nothing else.
Julianna Margulies, who co-starred with Clooney and is his “old friend,” spoke to E! News on Saturday night at the Variety and Women in Film’s Emmys party at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood, sharing with them her feelings about the upcoming union.
“I’m thrilled!” She said, adding simply that Amal is “a great girl.”
As was reported by the same publication last month, Clooney, 53, will marry Alamuddun at his Lake Como home, Villa Oleandra, in Laglio, Italy, next month in what is slated to be a very intimate family affair.
A source said about the September wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin.
“George has always loved Como, he finds it very peaceful and relaxing and now Amal has fallen in love with the area as well. They want to start their married life there with the beautiful lake as a backdrop.”
The wedding is set to be so small, in fact, that it’s likely, according to many, that Marguilies won’t be in attendance when Amal says, “I do” to George.
The source continued.
“This is not going to be a huge Hollywood wedding with Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock flying in to Italy for a week. George and Amal don’t want a media circus with paparazzi helicopters flying overhead and motorbikes chasing after them as they all arrive at the airport in Milan from Los Angeles. They want the wedding to be intimate with quiet but happy and fun dinners and lunches after they’ve said short but meaningful, hand-written vows in front of their loved ones.”

No doubt, there will be a whole lot of media attention on the forthcoming wedding of the year, even if George Clooney and his wife-to-be are planning a quiet ceremony, the media will be there, in order to get the latest scoop.

Best destination wedding hotels in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Choosing among the three U.S. Virgin Islands for a wedding or honeymoon can pose a happy challenge since each has outstanding hotels and beaches. It helps to understand how each differs in order to select the one that best suits you.
The busiest and most developed of the three is St. Thomas, which also is the major airline hub. Its main city, Charlotte Amalie, is one of the region's great shopping ports and often crowded with tourists during the day. Of course, most of the major resorts are located well away from downtown.
Neighboring St. John has frequent ferry service from St. Thomas (about a 20-minute trip). Mostly a protected national park, some of the best beaches are on St. John but they can be crowded if a cruise ship is anchored offshore during the day.
St. Croix (pronounced "St. Croy"), 40 miles south of St. Thomas, has direct air service from Puerto Rico and sea plane shuttles from St. Thomas. St. Croix, almost as laid back as St. John, contains two wonderful old Danish cities, Christiansted and Frederiksted, well worth exploring on foot. Famous Buck Island Reef National Monument is a short sail offshore.
On the other hand, maybe you don't care about which island you visit; you're more interested in the right resort for you. Here's a selection of the best beachfront wedding-destination hotels on each island. Space permits only two descriptions for each island plus a third listed option.
Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Beach Marriott Resort
This property contains two very different resorts in one. The Frenchman's Reef Tower sits on a palm-fringed hillside offering dramatic views of the Caribbean and Charlotte Amalie Harbor. The Morning Star Beach Club is closest to the beach and tends to attract families. Among its many features are a fitness center (with complimentary classes), spa with eight treatment rooms, three poolside cabanas and a private plunge pool. Adults enjoy their own infinity pool. The hotel has a smoke-free policy and Marriott rewards can be redeemed here.
Hosting numerous destination-wedding groups, the resort offers certified wedding andeven a separate website to help plan your event. Wedding venues vary from formal indoor affairs to casual ceremonies on Morning Star Beach, though many couples prefer the wedding gazebo located on a high bluff over the Caribbean for its spectacular scenery. For small parties, the wine cellar called the Beacon Lounge (seating up to 12) is a memorable event location.
The Marriott's wedding packages start with the basic Joy package including event arrangements, site cost and officiating at the wedding ceremony ($1,099) to the ultimate Romance package, which adds digital photography and professionally edited video, wedding cake, live music and more ($3,199).
This is not only a luxurious hotel but a top choice for honeymooning couples. Overlooking Great Bay on St. Thomas' eastern coast, this 30-acre waterfront estate has 180 guest rooms that include ocean view suites, Ritz-Carlton Club Level rooms and regular guestrooms, all with king beds and loveseats that convert to single beds and private balcony or terrace.
The hotel's wedding venues are varied, including private ceremonies for two in an ocean-side gazebo, large-party oceanside weddings as well as indoor ceremonies in elegant locations featuring vaulted ceiling and marble floors. The website features an impressive wedding advisor containing all the necessary requirements to hold a destination wedding on St. Thomas, how far in advance to reserve a date, even the average food and beverage costs per person.
THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE: High-end Caribbean honeymoons
Long ranked among the Caribbean's top resorts, this luxury property was built by multimillionaire Laurance Rockefeller who also purchased about 60% of the island and later donated the land to the U.S. National Park Service. The 166-room resort enjoys one of St. John's prime locations — a 170-acre peninsula with seven beaches adjoining the lush Virgin Islands National Park. Situated on the grounds of an old plantation, the resort is famous for ignoring the outside world: no telephones or TVs in guest rooms. A member of Leading Hotels of the World, Caneel Bay Resort also is known for its understated elegance and fine dining.
The popular wedding resort offers three packages starting with "Simply Us" for two, featuring wedding arrangement and fee for the wedding officiant, plus bridal bouquet and boutonniere, a single tier 6" wedding cake and a romantic dinner for two on the beach (from $1,500-$2,500 depending on day of the week with rates being highest Thursday-Sunday). For a wedding party with a minimum of 30-50 guests, added features include an evening sunset cocktail cruise ($5,000). Regardless of package, the bride and groom receive a Caneel Bay Memory Box to hold all keepsakes of the event.
Westin St. John Resort
With 47 richly landscaped acres, The Westin St. John Resort borders a beautiful 1,200 foot-long, crescent-shaped beach. With all this space, the resort contains only 96 guest rooms, all 100% smoke-free. All rooms feature Westin's wonderful Heavenly Bed, marble baths, flat-screen TV and refrigerator. Westin St. John Resort is a Starwood Preferred Guest Member Favorite where Starwood members can spend their points. Note it also charges a $40 per day, per room, resort fee in addition to the daily room rate.
The hotel is a popular destination for both honeymooners and business travelers, who usually mix well. Wedding venues include the resort's outstanding private beach or the Garden Gazebo near the Caribbean shore. For large wedding parties, the resort's 3,500-square-foot grand ballroom easily handles up to 200 guests for dinner and dancing. Catering is provided by award-winning executive chef Roland Czekelius, who offers a nicely varied reception menu.
Another popular St John honeymoon option is the oceanfront Gallows Point Resortin Cruz Bay close to numerous restaurants and shopping.
With 340 groomed acres and an 18-hole golf course, the 138-room Buccaneer hotel has a long history of welcoming guests dating back to the 17th century. One of the Historic Hotels of America, the family-owned Buccaneer has long been regarded as one of the Caribbean's great hotels. The stylish rooms are available in a variety of locations, from the hilltop main house to the beachfront. Rooms have satellite TVs and minifridges but lack the lavish bath furnishings (Jacuzzi tub) some couples demand. For most guests, the attentive staff, excellent dining, three fine beaches, challenging 18-hole golf course and 8 tennis courts more than compensate.
The Buccaneer's varied wedding packages are designed to accommodate groups of varying sizes, starting at just two. The basic couple's "Elope to Paradise" includes private round-trip taxi from the airport, welcome champagne and chocolates, taxi to the territorial court for legal paperwork, wedding at the 18th-century Sugar Mill or beside the beach, services of a non-denominational minister and witnesses, one hour of professional photography and online gallery of all images (but no prints), champagne and wedding cake for $1,350 for weekday ceremonies, $1,550 for weekends, with a minimum three-night hotel stay. For larger groups, the $5,500 Sugar Mill Wedding Package for 12 features a three-course Sugar Mill dinner with hors d'oeuvres, open bar, champagne toast, wedding cake and farewell breakfast for wedding guests staying at the hotel. The Buccaneer provides an excellent wedding FAQ section.
The Palms at Pelican Cove
The 40-room Palms at Pelican Cove sits on seven acres of palms and beachfront close to the historic town of Christiansted. With an emphasis on the casual, prices at this small hotel even during the winter high season shouldn't break anyone's budget. The award-winning Palms restaurant features both Caribbean and American foods, and its steak have been voted the best on the island. Daily snorkel trips, tennis courts and intro to scuba course are offered without charge, and wireless internet access is available in guest rooms, the lobby, pool area, restaurant and bar.
The resort's beach deserves special mention: as this is written, the resort enjoys the only Blue Flag Beach in the entire U.S. Virgin Islands. A Blue Flag Beach is a coveted, singular honor since it attests to the water's outstanding quality and other environmental factors. Pelican Cove Beach is a season designation (from the end of November to June, since water runoff during the hurricane season could cause temporary issues). The Blue Flag Organization is a non-profit organization headquartered in Denmark that certifies beaches in 48 countries.
The Palms at Pelican Cove Beach is a perfect one for dancing barefoot at a wedding party. Couples have been getting married at the Palms for more than 20 years, usually at the waterfront coconut palm grove and often at sunset. The "Just The Two of Us" wedding package ($1199) offers private transfers from the airport, all necessary court-required paperwork, on-site wedding ceremony with officiate and required witnesses, professional photographer for 1 hour (36 pictures), wedding cake and half-day island tour; room not included. For those wanting a second honeymoon, The Palms "Passion Package" for two includes beachfront room with all taxes included, private round-trip airport transfers, breakfast with mimosas your first morning there, one candlelight three-course dinner with wine, sunset sail for 2, couples massage and more. The Passion Package, requiring a minimum stay of 5 to 7 nights, costs $2,699-$3,299 during the winter season and drops slightly during the summer season.

Another good wedding destination option is the sprawling Renaissance St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort & Spa on Davis Bay with large guest rooms featuring kitchenettes, large screened-in porches and free Wi-Fi.

Inside George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin's Lake Como Wedding Prep: Get the Details!

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin's wedding day is getting closer!
The 53-year-old actor and his fiancé will likely marry next month at his Lake Como home Villa Oleandra in Laglio, Italy, multiple sources in the area tell E! News.
"George has always loved Como, he finds it very peaceful and relaxing and now Amal has fallen in love with the area as well," a source tells us. "They want to start their married life there with the beautiful lake as a backdrop. George's home on the lake is like a very well oiled machine. He has the local mayor fully on his side and the locals too and he can ensure that press and paparazzi are kept away."
"Doing the wedding in another area of Italy would involve too many people that he doesn't know or trust and George wants to make sure that Amal and both their families enjoy the big day," the source adds. "They want it to be about them celebrating their love and respect for each other with their loved ones watching. And they can do that in Como while keeping everything fully under their control."
Another source says that the wedding will be very "small and intimate."
"This is not going to be a huge Hollywood wedding with Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullockflying in to Italy for a week," explains the source. "George and Amal don't want a media circus with paparazzi helicopters flying overhead and motorbikes chasing after them as they all arrive at the airport in Milan from Los Angeles. They want the wedding to be intimate with quiet but happy and fun dinners and lunches after they've said short but meaningful, hand-written vows in front of their loved ones. They want their guests to enjoy it as much as they do and they know that if the guest list reads like the Oscars invite list with lots of big Hollywood names there it will be intimidating for their families. They can do a party for movie industry friends in Los Angeles at a later date."

As for Clooney and Alamuddin's relationship, a source who recently saw the couple on a romantic date together in Lake Como says, "There's no way this is a fling, it's true love. George is like a different guy now. He seems so much happier and healthier and focused and he looks at least ten years younger now Amal's in his life. When she talks he sits back and listens with a huge proud smile on his face. It's like he can't believe his luck. And she clearly adores him. It seems to be a meeting of hearts and minds and with his power and position of influence and her brains they could take over the world together."

Having kittens over wedding dance

My fiance Nick's dream wedding was going on a hike with a bunch of friends and family and then having a party in a mountain village.
I had many problems with this: How was I going to wear a wedding dress on a hike? How could our grandmothers join in? What if someone broke a leg on the way down? No, really his plan was not practical.
We agreed on a more traditional yet simple option. Our ceremony and party would take place in a little restaurant by the sea in my home town. There would be no intricate flower arrangements, no invitations, and he wouldn't wear a tie.
But Nick was keen to keep one tradition - the first dance. Given our natural talents, this meant lessons.
Learning to dance made me nervous, especially a dance where you have to switch partners every two minutes. Besides, I've never been able to co-ordinate my body to music.
Nick was upbeat though: He found a style (Ceroc), a school and enough motivation to drag me to the first lesson.
On that night it was cold and raining and I was tired.
"I think I need a nap," I said 10 minutes before it was time to go, and slipped into bed.
"Maybe this isn't the right night."
This was eight weeks before the wedding.
"We're going tonight," Nick said.
We arrived at the Selwyn social club to find rows of middle-aged men and women. Some of the women wore glittering dresses; some of the men wore shoes with a heel. They were ready to rock their bodies. Nick started signing up for the "six-for-three lessons" starting offer.
I dragged him out of the room.
"What if we don't like it?"
He did not want to give us a chance to chicken out - he went back inside to pay for the six lessons.
I contemplated an escape. Maybe I was nervous about the dancing classes the way I was nervous about the wedding? Maybe it made it all too real and parts of me were terrified and wanted to run away?
The music started and it soon appeared that the dancing we had signed up for was sexist.
The rules are simple and may not be broken: The man leads, the lady follows.
On the stage, the teacher said: "Your lady doesn't want to be driven like a tractor. She's a Ferrari."
This made me want to scream with feminist rage but then I realised the teacher was being ironic and I'd had one of my traditional sense-of-humour failures.
"It's easy for the ladies, they don't have to think about anything. While you spin around, ladies, just giggle and think of kittens. Men, laugh deeply and think of tractors," he said.
Jokes asides, it was true. Ceroc was easy. All I had to do was walk in and out, sometimes to the side, and spin a lot. By the end of the class, Nick and I were grinning as we managed to master our first moves.
Would it have been better if we were both into hiking weddings? Maybe. But I like it that we open each other's horizons to new things. And I'm still a feminist: I will laugh deeply and think of tractors as I spin around at our wedding party.

*That is not Nick and I pictured, although we are working towards that level of skill!

Family wedding included sweet 'Nothings'

August is well underway, and 2014 is more than half gone. Time just goes faster and faster. It is amazing how the years go by, one after another. What matters most is that we live our lives pleasing to God. The world is full of temptations, and we as parents need to pray daily that God will guide our children in the direction of His will.
Thursday was a beautiful day as niece Marlene and her bridegroom Chris exchanged their marriage vows. Three-hundred-fifty pounds of chicken was fried for the noon meal. Also on the menu were mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken and noodles, dressing, lettuce salad, mixed vegetables, cheese, homemade wheat bread, butter and strawberry jam. Desserts were tapioca pudding, sliced peaches in a fruit glaze, angel food cake with a strawberry topping, and pies (pecan, blueberry and cherry). Sausage links were added to the menu for supper.
“Nothings” (also called “Knee Patches”) were on the tables. They are a thin, sweet pastry made from eggs, flour, sugar and cream. The dough is rolled out very thin and then deep-fried. Sugar is sprinkled on top and the pastries are put on stacks on a dinner plate. Plates of Nothings are set around the tables and people can enjoy them all day. In our Amish community, Nothings are never made for weddings. When I was a young girl everyone in my home community had Nothings and celery sticks on the tables at a wedding. They didn’t have celery sticks at this wedding, so I’m not sure if this isn’t a tradition anymore or if some just decide not to have celery.
They didn’t have a wedding wagon, so kerosene stoves were borrowed, as well as many pots and pans. The food was all prepared in a summer kitchen area that connected to the pole-barn-type building where the tables were set up. In yet another building, the wedding ceremony was held.
Brother Amos and his wife Nancy have eight daughters and two sons. This was the fourth daughter getting married, so I’m sure they are well practiced to prepare for a wedding.
I was a cook at the wedding and my job was to help mash potatoes. All the potatoes were mashed by hand. In some of the wedding wagons there are mixers that are run off a generator, which makes it a lot less work to mash the potatoes. This was how the potatoes were mashed at niece Irene’s wedding. It is always interesting to see the differences from one Amish community to the next.
At weddings in our Amish community, all the children go to the table to eat. At weddings in Berne, Indiana, the children eat cafeteria-style. At this wedding, 130 adults could eat at one time and the tables were reset quite often. There were around 250 to 300 youths who came for the evening meal. Berne is a large community compared to ours.
We were happy to have nephew Chris Schwartz Jr. spend the evening here on Saturday. We cooked supper outside on the grill and open kettle. Pork steak, ribs, hot wings, and banana and jalapeño poppers were grilled. Chili soup was made in the kettle. Chris is 30 years old and still single. He runs a construction crew and was working nearby.

Blueberries will only have a short season here in our area this year. Try this blueberry pie with fresh blueberries.

Gay couples check out wedding expo in Falls

With the legal obstacle to gay marriages in Pennsylvania cleared away, lesbian couple Jeanette Elliott and Beth Bevington are looking forward to their wedding next August in Pottstown.
To help plan and get the services they need for the ceremony and reception, they attended Sunday afternoon's The Same Love, Same Rights Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Wedding Expo at the Sheraton Bucks County in Falls.
Elliott and Bevington, who live in Pottstown, were one of hundreds of gay couples who checked out the expo put on by the Rainbow Wedding Network.
Representatives from many wedding related businesses like caterers, photographers and disc jockeys were there to help couples plan their weddings and get the food, entertainment and other services they need for the event.
"We want to make sure everything goes smoothly and make sure we find businesses that are open and friendly to gay and lesbian weddings," said Bevington.
Glenn Jackamonis and Gus Munkenbeck, of Warrington, who are planning a March wedding in Burlington, New Jersey, and a reception in Bristol Township, attended Sunday afternoon's event for many of the same reasons.
"We've been together for 18 years and always said that when Pennsylvania permitted gay weddings, we'd get married," said Jackamonis. "The businesses here are very helpful about planning and giving you ideas for things. I mean, you can do a certain amount over the Internet, but it's always better to meet people face to face and arrange and plan things."
Danielle Richards, of Danielle Richards Photography in Teaneck, New Jersey, said she has set up a booth at eight or nine gay wedding expos.
"For me, it's not so much about actually booking things — though I do some of that here — but about building relationships with other vendors and making people aware we're out there and what we offer," she said.
Richards said it's nice for gay couples to find so many businesses ready and willing to help them in one place.
"I've heard stories of gay couples walking into individual businesses looking for wedding services and getting refused, and that is just blatantly wrong," she said.
Karen Ferry, event specialist for Talamore Country Club in Lower Gwynedd, said she was there to help celebrate the passing of the new law and see if she could interest couples in holding their wedding receptions at the country club.
"We want to let them know we welcome all," said Ferry.
That's the spirit of all the businesses attending the expo, said Cindy Sproul, co-owner of the Rainbow Wedding Network along with Marianne Puechl.
Sunday afternoon's was the 122nd LGBT wedding expo held by the network in 28 different states, said Sproul.

"The businesses here are all advocates of equality and are as excited for the couples as the couples are about getting married," she said.

Lost Wedding Ring Discovered Five Years Later Under Vail Ski Lift

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
David Brenner, of Littleton, Colorado, lost his gold wedding band five years ago while on a skiing trip with his family in Vail.
“He was on the chairlift going up the mountain and he got a business phone call and he needed to take it,” Brenner’s wife, Sue, told ABC News. “He had to take off his glove and that’s when he must’ve lost it, but he didn’t realize it was gone until later that night.”
As soon as the family realized the ring was missing they reported it to lost and found, unfortunately with no luck. Not giving up hope quite that easily, they checked back six months later during the summertime after all the snow had melted, still to no avail.
“Nothing happened, they never found it,” explained Sue, 54. “We said, ‘OK, it will never be found.’ So we started shopping and bought him a new ring. At that point we felt it was just a possession, we’re still happily married, and life goes on."
Life did move on until last week, a full five years later, when a series of random events suddenly thrust the once cold case of the missing ring wide open again.
“I truly believe the way I found it may have been less likely than that ring being found itself,” Brenner, 57, said of fortuitous series of events.
“I’m a mortgage lender, I meet with clients,” he added. “Greg and Sue were my clients I was meeting with yesterday. I’ve been doing this job for 30 years and I’ve taken thousands of loan applications and of all those times, I may have mentioned my wife’s name four times.”
But on this particular occasion, Brenner just happened to mention that he and his wife, also named Sue, had just returned from an Alaskan vacation.
“The gentleman sitting here says, ‘Wait your wife’s name is Sue? Did you lose a wedding ring?,’” Brenner recalled.
As the client was sitting in his meeting with Brenner, he was receiving text messages from a friend about a local news story trying to find the owner of a gold wedding band with the inscription, "All my love, Sue,” that had recently been found at a Vail ski resort.
Brenner’s client had never lost a ring, so he casually asked Brenner if he possibly had, since both of their wives shared the same name.
“He’s sitting in front of me getting this text and just happened to have heard my wife’s name,” said Brenner. “Had this guy never said a word, that could have been the ring and I would have never known and the ring never would have found its owner.”
The wedding band had been discovered several weeks ago by a maintenance worker doing routine checks at the ski lift where it must have slipped off Brenner’s finger.
On July 29, the Vail social team posted photos of the ring, plus the inscription, to their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages in hopes that the power of social media could help return the ring to its rightful owner.
Local affiliate, KMGH, picked up on the story, which was the link being texted to Brenner’s client, and because Brenner has been on vacation in Alaska, he had never heard about a ring being found.
“It was just the perfect storm, in a good way,” said Brenner.
“It gives us a very warm feeling when we had all that disappointment when we lost it,” Sue added. “The whole thing is just amazing and surreal and just one of those feel-good news stories.”

Vail Mountain ski resort is now offering the happy couple a free night’s stay when they come to retrieve the lucky gold band. And although Brenner has already replaced the once lost wedding ring, Sue says, “It will be a keepsake and we’ll pass it down to our kids.”

Get Ready For Nude I Dos, There’s Going To Be A Dating Naked Wedding

Dating Naked seems to be working!! VH1 is thrilled to announce that their controversial new dating series is actually proving to be a success story when it comes to pairing off partners, and one couple from the series is actually going to be tying the knot in a televised event you won’t want to miss! The Dating Naked wedding special will air on September 18th at 9PM ET/PT and we’ll reveal just which couple is taking the plunge on air on August 21st. For more info about the nude nuptials, read on!
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO VH1’S FIRST “DATING NAKED” WEDDING SPECIAL!
TV’s Most Daring Dating Show is Also the Most Successful with 60% Success Rate.
VH1’s “Dating Naked” began with a bold question as its premise: “Do you find love easier when you truly have nothing to hide?” The answer is a resounding “I do!” as VH1 announces an astounding 60% matchmaking success rate* and the first “Dating Naked Wedding Special,” premiering Thursday, September 18 at 9 PM ET/PT.
This season a rotating group of frustrated singles answered the show’s challenge to “bare it all” in the quest for love. After embarking on a series of blind dates, twelve people currently consider themselves “in a relationship” with someone they met on the show. Now one couple is ready to take their relationship to the next level by exchanging vows in front of family, friends, and some of their fellow new “Dating Naked” couples. Who will tie the knot? Tune in to “Dating Naked” on Thursday, August 21 at 9pm ET/PT for the reveal.
“Dating Naked” is a one-hour weekly series that explores the pursuit of romance free of pre-conceived notions, stereotypes — and clothes. Filmed in a remote exotic locale, each close-ended episode follows a man and a woman both going on three naked dates, including two with other suitors and one with each other. At the end of the episode, the romance seekers analyze what they’ve learned from their dates and themselves before deciding whether or not to move forward with a prospective love match. Once everyone has stripped away the artifices of our modern world and revealed their ultimate, honest selves, the results are surprising. Hosted by Amy Paffrath, the series consists of 10 one-hour episodes edited according to network standards.
“Dating Naked” was created and is produced by Lighthearted Entertainment. Executive producers are Howard Schultz, Rob LaPlante and Jeff Spangler. Executive Producers for VH1 are Susan Levison, Jill Holmes, Kristen Kelly, Fernando Mills and Tricia Biggio.

*60% success rate based on 6 couples formed out of 10 episodes.

Wedding Fashions From 1800s to Today

Wedding dresses from the 19th century to the present day are featured in a new exhibit showcasing the changing styles of American brides, from a 1900s dress with a lace choker collar to a beaded flapper dress from the 1920s to a 1980s satin confection with an explosion of organdy ruffles.
More than 40 wedding gowns spanning from 1844 to last year are featured in the free exhibit in the North Texas city of Denton. Most of the dresses are from the University of North Texas’ Texas Fashion Collection — which includes more than 20,000 historic clothing items, while others were loaned from private collections.
“It’s going to bring up a lot of memories and sentiment,” said exhibit organizer Myra Walker, director of the Texas Fashion Collection.
“American Brides: Inspiration and Ingenuity” runs through Oct. 24 at the Greater Denton Arts Council’s Patterson-Appleton Center for the Visual Arts (www.dentonarts.com).
Walker said the exhibit not only shows the changing styles over the decades, but also highlights the elements that keep re-emerging. A Victor Costa-designed dress from 1993 for a wedding in Scotland features embroidered thistles and style elements from the late 1800s, including a dust ruffle beneath the dress, covered buttons on the sleeves and a long train.
“It’s got a 19th century flavor but it’s really a 1990s dress,” she said.
A gown from 1982 with billowing sleeves inspired by the dress Princess Diana wore the year earlier when she married Prince Charles stands beside a Gibson Girl-inspired gown from 1894 with similarly voluminous sleeves. Walker said American style began to come into its own beginning in the 1890s with illustrator Charles Dana Gibson’s portrayal of American beauty.
“The show is not really about the white wedding dress, it’s really about the essence of American style,” said Walker. “It is fashion history, social history, the birth of modern fashion and the birth of the American woman and the American woman becoming a fashion icon.”
“It really is like a walk through fashion history,” Walker said.
The exhibit also showcases dresses that stray from the traditional white, including an 1878 dress of deep plum silk satin featuring a boned bodice. “Everyone did not get married in a white wedding gown,” Walker said. “Often it was your best dress.”
Walker’s own wedding dress, from 1974, is part of the exhibit — an example of the earthy style of that decade. A neighbor made the cotton dress with a fabric featuring tiny flowers from a Vogue pattern for her outdoor wedding.
Dresses from last year include a strapless Michael Faircloth gown with a bodice featuring leather and a dress designed by Nardos Iman with a skirt of ostrich feathers.
A gown from 1952, of white cotton organdy embroidered with floral motifs, was what Janie Stidham chose to wear to her 1994 wedding. She found the dress, featured in the exhibit along with one she designed, in a Dallas vintage store window after realizing she was too tall to wear her mother’s tea-length wedding gown as she had planned and not finding exactly what she wanted in upscale stores around town.
“It was perfect because we were in this old chapel and we rode from the chapel to the reception in a 1930s limousine,” she said.
When Stidham, an associate professor at University of North Texas who teaches fashion design, created the 2007 gown for an Alaska wedding, she took inspiration from the location, choosing a gray satin fabric and embellishing the neck and wrists with shredded silk and organza to evoke the icy surroundings.

Steven Porterfield, who owns Cat’s Meow vintage store in the West Texas city of Midland and loaned several gowns from his collection, noted that wedding dresses have a special place in women’s wardrobes: “That’s one thing women keep,” he said.