Photo of the Day
Paper garlands are a fun and inexpensive way to dress up your wedding portraits!
Paper garlands are a fun and inexpensive way to dress up your wedding portraits!
Does it ever feel like everyone on your Facebook news feed announces their engagement or shares their gorgeous wedding photos around the same time? According to TIME's new app, there's a reason for that — your real-life social network often influences your feelings about marriage.
The tool predicts the age you'll tie the knot based on the median age of your Facebook friends who list their relationship status as married, engaged, in a domestic partnership, or in a civil union.
Obviously, it's not 100% accurate — it told me I should've gotten married two years later than I actually did (oops). But it's still fun to see how your age of marriage compares to that of your friends. Try it out, and let us know your results!
—Kristen Klein
Monica Nikchemny and Felix Komrash planned the wedding of their dreams at Crystal Plaza in Livingston, New Jersey. They hired Brooklyn-based videographers Visualaz to capture their fairy tale day.
But the couple claims their dreams turned into a nightmare when they received the edited film, which cost them $13,000. The bride compared it to a Seinfeld episode, alleging that it included sound effects and an applause track edited in — far from the production quality they expected based on the samples they'd seen. They also say that the videographers showed up with just a fraction of the equipment promised, missed key moments, and spliced together scenes in an order that made no sense.
"It was the worst thing in the world," the bride said. "I was really, absolutely hysterical and I almost had a nervous breakdown." She received the video while pregnant and claims she suffered medical issues due to stress.
Here's the controversial part: the couple is now suing their videographer for $122,000, presumably the cost of the entire wedding plus "damages," rather than just seeking a reimbursement for the $13,000 they paid.
Finding it difficult to fit daily exercise into your jam-packed schedule? This is a super easy workout that you can do every morning from now until the wedding. As part of your morning routine, use these easy fitness steps to work each letter:
Walk with high heels from the bed to the bathroom. This means you step out of bed into those heels instead of those comfy slippers. The height forces your instep, and you’ll be working those calves.
Exercise your legs while brushing your teeth; do three sets of side leg lifts, or keep alternating until your toothbrush timer runs out. Don't forget to do both legs!
Drink a glass of water. Water wakes up your metabolism and is always good for you.
Doorways should remind you to engage those abs — fix your posture every time you walk through one. Place your shoulders back and down; your chest should be slightly up, with your head held high.
Isolate the abs. While you're waiting for your coffee to percolate or the water to heat up for tea, do side bends. Standing straight with your legs hip-width apart, place your hands behind your head and, without moving the bottom half of your body, bend from the waist on each side, alternating. Do at least 10 on each side.
Natural foods are what you want to eat, so if you can't pronounce one of the ingredients on the list or any of them say modified, don't eat it.
Planning a Valentine's Day celebration? We love this heart-style braid for the flower girl. Recently, I spoke with Cozy Friedman, the founder of Cuts for Kids in NYC a salon dedicated to the lil' ones, and she shared with me this adorable hairstyle. With love and hearts always a theme apropos for weddings, I thought I would share this darling look with you!
Heart How-To:
Step 1: Starting with damp hair, use a wide-tooth comb to detangle the hair. Then, using a fine-tooth comb, part the hair down the middle of the head. Clip one side up right above the ear.
Step 2: On the other side of the part, use the fine comb to gather a thin section of hair from the crown. This section should measure about two inches from the hairline to the top of the head.
Step 3: Divide this section into three, and begin a French braid starting at the crown and curving toward the temple, then toward the back of the head, like the top lobe of a heart. You will be lifting hair into the braid only from this side of the part. Leave no loose hair in front of the ear.
Step 4: When you reach the center part at the back of the head, secure the braid with a ponytail holder. If the hair is very long, end the braid about midear; the ends will hang down the back.
Step 5: Unclip the hair on the other side of the part and repeat the process. Secure with a pony tail holder.
Step 6: Join the two ends of the braids together in the back with a ponytail holder to form the bottom point of the heart.
Valentine's Day is all about celebrating love. In honor of the holiday, we pulled together some of the most romantic wedding photos we've ever seen. Which is your favorite?
Stunning Portraits
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Messina
Photo Credit: Isabel March Photography
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Messina
Since Arianna Dubovik planned on doing a first look before her and Ryan Pflederer’s wedding ceremony, she wanted to find some other way to surprise him as she walked down the aisle. When she remembered that her mom sang down the aisle when marrying Arianna's stepfather, she decided to carry on the family tradition.
Secretly, she practiced her grand entrance with the church's piano player, choosing Carrie Underwood's "Look at Me" after falling in love with the lyrics. When she started singing at the ceremony, She certainly got the reaction she was hoping for — her shocked groom was so touched that he couldn't hold back his tears! Watch the sweet video:
—Kristen Klein
Instead of traditional vases, turn your florals into a table runner!
Photo Credit: Mary Ellen Mathews/Disney
What do Miss Piggy and Carrie Bradshaw have in common? Both fashionable ladies chose to wear Vivienne Westwood for their big-screen weddings...which may or may not actually happen.
"Vivienne Westwood is fabulous—just like moi," she told WWD. "When I asked her to design this wedding dress for moi's new movie, Muppets Most Wanted, she was thrilled and I was thrilled. The only one a bit 'iffy' about it was the frog."
We'll have to wait until the movie's release on March 21 to see if Miss Piggy and Kermit actually make it down the aisle! Regardless, we're loving that the couture gown is also eco-friendly; it features corset detailing and paillettes made from recycled plastic bottles.
—Kristen Klein
Photo courtesy of the McDonald family via NJ.com
Even death couldn't keep Olympia and Michael DeNittis apart. After 67 years of marriage, they passed away within 32 hours of each other; what's even more remarkable is that Michael didn't know his wife had died.
Olympia lost her battle with pneumonia on February 2nd at JFK Medical Center’s Haven Hospice in Edison, NJ, and her family made the difficult decision not to tell Michael, who was suffering from cancer in another hospital just seven miles away. "I saw him in the hospital (and) there was a glimmer of hope we might be able to bring him home," his granddaughter, AnnMarie McDonald, explains to NJ.com.
However, despite their attempts to shield him from the sad news, it appeared that Michael had a gut feeling something was wrong — he told his relatives he had a dream that he had died the night before and he also asked about his wife's prescription medication.
"I knew that she knew that he loved his life and wanted to continue living it," AnnMarie tells CBS News. “So I think she wanted to predecease him, to some extent, to kind of welcome him into heaven."