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Lavish Delhi Wedding Defies Congress Calls to Cut Spending

11 June 2011 By

The Hindu marriage ceremony of Lalit Tanwar and Yogita Jaunapuria on Tuesday night at a family farmhouse near Delhi has been reported to have raised the bar in extravagance.

It took 1000 workers 40 days to prepare the venue. The celebration included 100 dishes (no meat or alcohol were served as per Hindu tradition) and 12 giant TV screens to broadcast proceedings.

The exact details of the wedding which united two prominent political families have been fiercely disputed. Some reports say 18,000 guests were in attendance, others put the figure closer to 30,000. The Times of India calculated the total cost of the occasion at $21.68 million, while the Mail Today quoted $55 million.

The groom himself wore a garland made of banknotes and received a helicopter as a gift. His barber was also awarded a $5,500 gift.

The lavish occasion went ahead despite pleas from Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party leader, for government members and affiliates to cut back on spending.

It has also been reported that in addition to the main event, millions were spent on celebrations beforehand.

Filed Under: Asian weddings, Culture, Extravagant, Hindu weddings, Indian weddings, Planning, Unusual, Wedding Exhibitions & Events, Wedding Finance & Insurance, Wedding Planners Tagged With: ,

Google Launches New Wedding Planning Service

4 June 2011 By

Search engine giant Google is now expanding its reach further with the introduction of a new service that allows couples to effectively plan their entire wedding.

Lisa Conquergood, Google Senior Product Marketing Manager explained their latest move on the Google Blog, saying that “to help you plan this important day we’ve created wedding-specific templates in Google Sites, Google Docs and Picnik, and gathered tips and tricks for using these and other Google products at google.com/weddings. From wedding websites to save-the-date cards, these tools simplify wedding planning, letting you focus your time on the fun things—like tasting cakes!”

Google stated it has teamed up with New York wedding planner Michelle Rago, and will also be running a competition that offers the winners $25 000 towards their dream wedding.

Founder of rival UK wedding site gettingmarried.co.uk, Chris Kelly, has responded by saying that Google is entering a growing business. He commented: “In just over a year, we’ve grown to over 40,000 soon-to-be-married members, all of whom are already happily creating their free wedding websites.”

Google has a track record of entering market sectors where existing providers already exist, with both successful and unsuccessful results.

Filed Under: Planning, Wedding Finance & Insurance, Wedding Planners, Wedding Tips & Trends Tagged With: ,

Costco and Top Bridal Dress Designer to Offer 6 Creations at 40% Discount

27 May 2011 By

Cash-and-carry retailer Costco has partnered with top bridal designer Kirstie Kelly to sell six exclusive wedding dresses at approximately 40% off their usual price.

The handmade designer gowns will range from £429 ($699) to £858 ($1,399) and are being showcased in a series of four-day trunk shows in one-off events around the UK.

Although the Kirstie Kelly Signature bridal dresses are not cheap for those on a tight budget, they are a steal compared to the designer’s mainline collection, which can cost up to £2,454 ($4,000).

Ms Kelly commented: ‘Kirstie Kelly Signature is designed to ensure each bride looks and feels radiant in a dress that complements her natural beauty… The Signature line looks gorgeous on any bride and gives her the look and feel of splurging on the dress of her dreams, without the overwhelming cost or guilt.’

The exclusive dresses are embellished with Alencon lace, crystal and pearls. They come complete with luxury fabrics such as organza, satin and taffeta. Veils are also available for purchase.

The Costco company website is advertising the event dates – expectant brides can either book an appointment or walk in.

Filed Under: Planning, Style, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Finance & Insurance Tagged With: ,

UK Vintage Wedding Car Hire Providers in High Demand

18 May 2011 By

Limo Broker, a leading UK supplier of luxury, chauffeur driven transportation, is currently seeking vintage wedding car hire providers to join its national network of wedding transport providers.

Vintage car hire for weddings is a growing market and Limo Broker has reported a surge in demand for classic cars in preparation for the peak wedding season during May, June, July, August and September.

Many of Limo Broker’s current agents are already fully booked for these peak wedding dates, so the company is keen to recruit new operators as soon as possible to service the public interest.

They are recruiting all ranges of suitable providers, from sole traders and small start-up’s to large established companies with a fleet of vintage wedding cars. Since Limo Broker operates throughout and the UK and in parts of Ireland, location is highly flexible.

In addition to its high web presence, the chauffeur company has recently added viral videos to their marketing strategy – professionally shot videos demonstrate the cars, services, and experience that Limo Broker agents can provide.

Filed Under: Planning, Style, Wedding Cars, Wedding Finance & Insurance, Wedding Tips & Trends Tagged With: ,

India Gold Buying Rise 15% for Wedding Season

11 May 2011 By

India, the world’s largest consumer of gold, is set to see a 15% increase in gold sales ahead of the wedding season that starts next month, regardless of record high prices.

The wedding season officially begins from the second week of April. Purchases start a fortnight before that and make up approximately half of all sales.

Jeweller Bachhraj Bamalwa, founder partner of Nemichand Bamalwa, commented: “Price rise has not stopped people from buying gold jewellery for the wedding season. We are expecting a 10-15% growth in gold jewellery buying this season.”

While the rise in gold prices has not stemmed people’s appetite for it, this factor has brought a change in design trend – people are increasingly opting for light-weight jewellery with a heavy look. To cater to this, most of the jewellery chains in West Bengal have created light gold designs that suit the pockets of the middle class, who are the largest consumer of gold jewellery in India.

However, jewellers also say traditional heavy jewellery continues to be popular for marriages.

Filed Under: Asian weddings, Culture, Hindu weddings, Indian weddings, Wedding Finance & Insurance, Wedding Jewellery, Wedding Tips & Trends Tagged With: ,

Traditional Versus Digital Wedding Planning

29 April 2011 By

Increasingly, couples are choosing more modern methods of arranging their perfect wedding – the trend is turning away from the traditional formalities and traditions in favour of the convenience of current digital technology.

Couples are sending out colourful personalised invites via email rather than post, using mp3 devices to play preset wedding music rather than hiring a DJ and in addition to hiring a professional video service they’re creating lots of extra footage with handheld video cameras and other devices.

Shopping for the event online also makes costs easier to account for and manage, without the need for receipts to be kept due to an electronic paper trail.

By embracing the digital age in this way, couples are dramatically reducing the cost of their wedding day, with the elimination of wedding stationary saving hundreds of pounds alone as well as the expenses involved in hiring event planners or music professionals.

There are other advantages too, with E-cards being a lot more environmentally friendly and saving the waste on paper products that would otherwise be used on the wedding invitations.

Not everyone is so keen on the advancements though, with some detractors feeling that modern technology is an improper way to arrange such an important event and falls short of proper etiquette.

Filed Under: Planning, Wedding Finance & Insurance, Wedding Planners, Wedding Tips & Trends Tagged With: , ,

Latest Shift in Wedding Destination Trends

25 April 2011 By

MarryAbroad.co.uk has unveiled figures which show the newest location trends chosen by couples tying the knot abroad.

Canada has topped the list of most popular countries for British couples – marking the first non-European country to reach this status in three years.

Other popular wedding destinations, France, Greece and Cyprus, remain in the middle of the list and Sri Lanka has made a noteworthy debut at number two.

India has also made an appearance at number ten, while Italy has dropped to third place, Australia has dropped to ninth and Thailand has disappeared from the list.

Marry Abroad’s Charlotte Hand commented: “It’s always interesting to see which countries grow in popularity over the years. The usual countries will remain attractive to UK couples due to their close proximity and good weather, but we have been surprised by some of the changes.”

She added: “Canada has progressed steadily over the years and now claims the top spot, possibly thanks to its reasonable costs and attractive venues. Though previous favourites Thailand and Australia have dipped, the rise of Sri Lanka and India testifies that couples are being more adventurous in their choice of wedding destination, perhaps fuelled by the desire to avoid expensive European venues.”

Filed Under: Destination Weddings, Planning, Wedding Finance & Insurance, Wedding Planners, Wedding Tips & Trends Tagged With:

Wedding of the Year Competition worth £10,000 Launched Today

22 April 2011 By

The Daily Post and Llandudno’s Cae Môr Hotel in North Wales have partnered to create an exciting wedding competition worth over £10,000.

The winning couple will be provided with everything they could want for their special occasion.  The bride will even be given a hen night previous to the big day which will include a limo to a VIP party at a Llandudno nightclub.

For the wedding itself, both the bride and groom will be dressed in style. The venue will be held at the Cae Môr Hotel on Llandudno’s sea front, with cars, photography and rings provided.

In addition, the lucky winners will receive all the extras, such as wedding invitations, a will-writing service, balloons, flowers and colour co-ordinated chair covers, not to mention cake, wine and a magnum of champagne for the top table.

They will also be treated to a wedding breakfast for 50 people and for the evening a disco with buffet at Cae Môr for up to 70 guests.

Everybody who enters the competition will receive a 10% discount on a Cae Môr wedding. When the winning couple is chosen on May 22, there will be a further 50% discount for the runner-up and 25% for three other couples.

Since 10am today, the Wedding of the Year Competition can be entered by visiting www.dailypost.co.uk/mydailypost.

Filed Under: Planning, Wedding Exhibitions & Events, Wedding Finance & Insurance Tagged With: ,

Benefits Fraud Uncovered By Facebook Wedding Photos

11 April 2011 By

The Barbados wedding pictures that Hazel Cunningham posted on her Facebook page have landed her a jail sentence for the benefits fraud of falsely claiming thousands of pounds.

The 47-year-old Ashford resident was unveiled as a benefits cheat by her local authority’s fraud investigation team, which discovered she was enjoying holidays to Turkey up to three times a year at the same time as claiming an average of £170 per week for council tax benefit, income support, and housing benefit.

Mrs Cunningham must now repay all the money she falsely claimed, amounting to just under £15 000. She has also been sentenced at Folkestone Magistrates Court in Kent to 120 days in jail after pleading guilty to four charges of making false statements and one of failing to notify a change in circumstance.

She had further claimed she was a single mother when she was actually living with her husband and neglected to tell the authorities about maternity pay she was receiving from her employer.

An Ashford Council spokeswoman said: “Our investigators use Facebook as a routine tool when looking at someone’s claim that they are single and not married.”

Peter Wood, Leader of the Ashford Council, commented: “The message is clear: people who commit benefit fraud will be caught.”

Filed Under: Extravagant, Mishaps, Planning, Unusual, Wedding Finance & Insurance Tagged With: ,

Read the latest wedding news!

25 February 2011 By

The Wedding News is your source of entertaining and interesting news on wedding related matters. It is brought to you by Camera Creatives – the UK’s leading wedding photography & video specialists. Whether you’re a wedding industry professional or a couple planning to get hitched, we hope to inspire you with exciting stories covering culture, style, celebrity..as well as the unusual!

 

Submissions - if you have an interesting story or would like to join our regular contributors, we’d love to hear from you!  Please contact the editor.

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