Archive for the ‘Wedding Winners’ Category
5 fun movies with a honeymoon theme
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Suzie Rodriguez – Examiner.com
Mention honeymoon travel, and almost everybody starts thinking about tropical islands, romantic cities, luxury cruises, national parks gifted with nature’s wonders, and all the world’s other fabulous destinations.Right?
So tell me why it’s nearly impossible to find a honeymoon movie that takes place in a gorgeous locale. Most of the time the destination isn’t even identifiable. Not to mention you wouldn’t want to spend your honeymoon or any other moments of your life around some of the deranged characters (ax murderers, for instance) found in many of these films.
The Internet Movie Database lists more than 200 movies about honeymoons. Here are a few highlights of the good, the bad, and the downright horrible:
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992): A comedy with James Caan, Nicolas Cage, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Honeymoon Locale: Las Vegas. Very funny, with lots of comedic twists and turns—who can forget the Flying Elvises? Caan, Cage, and Parker are all at their considerable comedic best. Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Definitely one of the better honeymoon movies to be found.
Once upon a Honeymoon (1942): A war-time drama/romance with Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. Honeymoon Locale: Europe. Grant is a radio correspondent in 1938 Europe, when he meets and falls in love with Rogers—who is married to an Austrian Baron (who, unknown to her, is a Nazi spy). Grant tries to expose the Baron, and complications ensue. These two superstars from the past are something to watch.
What Happens in Vegas… (2008): A comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Honeymoon Locale: Las Vegas. Two strangers vacationing in Vegas get drunk and wake up married—and totally disliking each other. A judge refuses a quickie annulment, ruling that they live together for 6 months before splitting the huge jackpot they won the night before (which precipitated their big drunk to begin with)…and the plot, such as it is, thickens. As one reviewer put it, “…the filmmakers assume everyone in the audience has both attention deficit disorder and dementia.”
The Honeymoon Killers (1970): A thriller starring Tony Lo Bianco and Shirley Stoler. Honeymoon Locale: Various seedy spots in the USA. When a womanizing con man and a no-nonsense nurse fall in love, they travel across the country as brother and sister. Their goal: to swindle and kill, in increasingly bloody fashion, the lonely women he marries. Based on the 1940s real-life “Lonely Hearts Murders,” the black-and-white film has a gritty reality and deserves a wider audience. New Wave French film director Francois Truffaut supposedly called this his favorite American film.
Haunted Honeymoon (1986): A comedy-thriller starring Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, and Dom Deluise. Honeymoon locale: Who knows? A genius of a comedy trio! Wilder & Radner are caught in his aunt’s big, spooky house out in the country with lots of wacky/scary people—and a werewolf on the loose. Wilder also directed.
Wedding bells ring amid food-on-a-stick
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
Heidi and Scott Komorouski
From New Richmond News
Once upon a time, a young River Falls couple entered a contest to win a fairytale wedding.
Three weeks ago, 22-year-old Heidi Foster and 24-year-old Scott Komorouski learned — on live TV — they’d won the $18,000 package that includes everything from clothes, flowers and cake to rings, a honeymoon suite and the coolest of venues.
The couple weds on live TV at the Minnesota State Fair Friday, Aug. 28 during the 3-4 p.m. KSTP/5 Eyewitness News show, “Twin Cities Live.”
“Our first official date was at the State Fair,” said Komorouski.
Their history with the fair was one thing that swayed contest judges to pick their application over the other 199 received. Their wedding planner, Gretchen Culver, helped judge the contest.
She said judges looked for 1) a good State Fair story, 2) someone who would appreciate the opportunity and 3) true love and excitement about a life together.
Their application was one of only two submitted by a husband-to-be.
Foster saw the contest online and told Komorouski about it. She said he completed and sent the form with essay questions.
He found out they won on a Wednesday — two days before they were scheduled to appear on TCL as contest finalists. Keeping the secret, he went shopping at Wedding Day Diamonds to pick a ring that would replace the 50-cent gumball-machine plastic piece he’d given his love nearly two years before.
The excitement nearly swept Foster off her interview chair as she sat on live TV, found out they’d won and got a new ring to replace the plastic one.
“He proposed to me on the show on Aug. 7,” Foster said.
Komorouski said he was just praying as he got on a bent knee that he wouldn’t fall off the tall stool while getting in position to pop the question.
Theirs will be the only wedding taking place at the fair this year, according to the TV station KSTP (5 Eyewitness News). As far as Foster and Komorouski know, it’s the first time a couple has wed during a live TV broadcast from the fair. It’s also the first time the 1-year-old TCL show has held the contest.
Dream wedding details
As the beaming couple approaches the big day, they describe a whirlwind two weeks of dress and tux shopping, cake tasting and lots of meetings with Culver, who they frequently characterize as “awesome.” Both say despite the short time frame, planning has gone smoothly and easily for them.
They say planners have focused on their preferences during the entire process.
Foster said her two bridesmaids will dress in fuchsia-colored dresses. She found herself a beautiful gown at Pearls & Lace too but won’t reveal too many details.
As of last week, they said the only outstanding detail is to take dance lessons. The honeymooners will also spend their wedding night in Minneapolis at the Hotel Ivy.
The couple’s parents live in New Richmond and, along with other family and friends, will come to the fair for the ceremony and a reception afterward. The bride and groom were given a small number of admission tickets to offer guests.
She said about their loved ones, “They’re really excited.”
Foster and Komorouski met four years ago through mutual friends introducing them. They began dating about two years ago.
They’d planned on marrying but never made it any more official than Valentine’s promises made on the plastic ring.
The two moved to River Falls from New Richmond in the last few years. She just graduated UW-RF with a degree in communications and works as a marketing coordinator in Inver Grove Heights.
He says a small layoff at former employer O’Keefe left him between jobs and thinking about returning to school.
Foster and Komorouski say the whole FAIRytale wedding experience feels surreal, like a dream. They’re excited and welcome everyone to share in their joy by watching the broadcast or joining them live at the fair for the wedding.
He said, “Everyone’s invited.”
She said, “We’re making history here!”
The FAIRytale wedding comes to Foster and Komorouski courtesy of KSTP/TCL, Bellagala, Wedding Day Diamonds, Pearls & Lace Bridal and Formalwear, Men’s Wearhouse and the Hotel Ivy.
