Scott Almeida

Wedding Payment Plan      Founder: Scott Almeida

A wedding is one of the most important days of your life. It can also be one of the most expensive, running $28,000 on average, according to some estimates. For those who don’t have that much, there’s a new company out of Norwell, Mass., that could help: Wedding Payment Plan will finance your wedding.

Scott Almeida, 35, says he got the idea from watching a family friend succeed at financing orthodontia and Lasik eye and cosmetic surgery. “My first thought wasn’t weddings; it was funerals,” he laughs. “But weddings are a lot more fun.” He wrote up a business plan as a nighttime MBA student at Babson College and began raising money from family and friends. He also tapped $100,000 from an account that he and nine former classmates had set up to back whoever came up with the best startup idea.

In 2007, he left his day job as a venture capitalist to work full-time on Wedding Payment Plan. The average loan runs about $10,000 with a fixed 9.9% interest rate paid back over five years. The company hasn’t yet financed 500 weddings, but in the last year applications have jumped 333%. Almeida is raising $500,000 to go national and says the lending venture could turn profitable as early as mid-2009.

Fergie & Josh Duhamel wedding

From ChinaDaily.com
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Almost a year after their wedding, Fergie and Josh Duhamel have renewed their vows, according to Us Weekly.
The couple reportedly embarked to Santa Barbara, Calif., for the private ceremony, held with only the two stars and a minister on Wednesday evening.
“It was a total surprise for Fergie,” a source told the mag.
A source close to the couple described the scene, held at the Bacara Resort & Spa, as “really romantic, great views of the Pacific, sunset ceremony.”
Following the 15-minute ceremony, the two shared a private dinner at the resort’s Miro restaurant, exiting before the dinner crowd arrived to head back to LA.
The two wed in Malibu one year ago, on January 10, 2009.
Last year, just months after their marriage, the pair battled tabloid rumors of Josh’s infidelity, which they both denied.

From MyFOXOrlando.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – Disney is offering a wedding custom designed for Sam’s Club members at Walt Disney World Resort. As part of the package, you will receive celebrity wedding planner David Tutera, a “once-in-a-lifetime” Magic Kingdom ceremony, reception, photographer/videographer and four nights’ deluxe accommodations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

It can all be yours for the price of $198,000. One wedding package is available for 50 guests.

Your package for two includes:

• A Two (2) Day Planning Session with dedicated Disney’s Fairy Tale Wedding Wedding Planner and a meeting with David Tutera for the Bride and Groom
• Four (4) nights deluxe accommodations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for the Bride and Groom, to be used during the wedding event
• Four (4) days Royal Treatment with Disney’s Special Activity Host/Hostess for 8 hours per day, to be used during the Wedding event
• Transportation for the Bride and Groom and Wedding Guests the day of the Wedding for the Ceremony and Reception
• Photography and Videography package for the Wedding Ceremony and Reception from Disney Fine Art Photography
• Save-the-Date and Wedding Invitations
• Custom-designed Ceremony, Dinner Reception and Dessert Party for 50 Guests to include floral, décor, entertainment and menus

Ceremony Details:

• Once-in-a-lifetime wedding ceremony inside Magic Kingdom® Park during park hours with Cinderella Castle as your backdrop
• Everything begins at Swan Boat Landing where draped chiffon, flowers and ribbons create a lovely space. In this charming spot within the Magic Kingdom® Park, with Cinderella Castle as your backdrop, your ceremony is staged.
• Draped chiffon fabric and flower balls grace your ceremony space while swaged chiffon and flower balls adorn the railings. More chiffon and garlands wrap the poles, finishing off the look.
• An alter piece or unity arrangement adorns the ceremony area and topiaries grace either side of the water railing
• Chiavari chairs, decorated with flower balls and trailing ribbons await your Guests. -A “Just Married” sign and flower garland hangs from the back of the landeau coach marketing this momentous occasion

Reception Details:

• Custom-designed dinner reception in a secret location, surrounded by Disney magic
• Set in the mysterious backstage area of Magic Kingdom® Park, your reception will delight and amaze your family and friends. Here, everyone enjoys dinner surrounded by Disney’s magical Parade Floats. Then, to cap it all off, you experience a private viewing of Wishes Nighttime Spectacular!
• The Bride and Groom arrive on a float adorned with parade dancers
• The dancers perform a parade-style musical number created just for the Bride and Groom
• A delicious dinner is prepared by our award-winning Disney Chefs is served backstage at the Magic Kingdom® Park Parade Float Area
• Following dinner, Guests will dance the night away among the Parade Floats
• From the Parade Float Garage, the Bride and Groom, along with their Guests, will be able to step outside to see “Wishes” Fireworks Spectacular from this backstage vantage point!
   

The wedding package is available, beginning November 18 exclusively for Sam’s Club members.

Prince William and Kate Middleton

From News.com.au

There is new speculation that Prince William could marry long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton in 2012 – same year as the summer Olympics in London and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that a royal wedding in 2012 is now being talked about at Buckingham Palace.

The Prince, who turns 30 in 2012, completes his RAF training in September next year. He has dated Miss Middleton for six years.

“William is in no hurry to be married, so there is every chance it could be 2012 and the fact that it is now being talked about at the Palace between a select few means the ball is now rolling,” the Mail on Sunday quotes a royal aide as saying.

“The Olympics is not being taken into account although obviously there wouldn’t be a clash. As far as the Queen is concerned, she wants her Jubilee kept away from the Olympics.”

A spokesman for Clarence House declined to comment on the report.

By Anita Guidera – Irish Independent 

A FAIRYTALE wedding venue with old world elegance and that all-important privacy is what celebrity couple Amy Huberman and Brian O’Driscoll can expect from a Co Leitrim castle next summer.

Management at the 19th century Lough Rynn Castle confirmed last night that the couple had booked the historic venue for their wedding bash on “a date in July”.

But General Manager, Kieran Reidy dismissed as “inaccurate” reports that the 42-bedroomed hotel had been block booked for five days by the rugby star and ‘The Clinic’ actress and novelist.

“I can confirm that the couple have booked their wedding for a date in July, which I am not prepared to disclose, but no one has talked to us about a five-day event,” he said last night.

Exclusivity

Lough Rynn Castle

The bride-to-be has described the location as fantastic.

“We’re just about making it our own. It’s a fantastic location with private grounds and we can run amok. Brian has a big family so it will be a big wedding, but not monstrous,” she said.

The meticulously-restored castle, the ancestral home of the Clements family and the notorious Lord Leitrim, has been a popular wedding venue since opening three years ago, but Mr Reidy said that the O’Driscoll and Huberman wedding was their highest profile event to date.

“What we can offer is exclusivity. They are a very private couple and they were looking for an intimate wedding with family and friends,” he said.

He added that their choice of Lough Rynn was a great vote of confidence in the hotel and in County Leitrim.

Its location, close to the village of Mohill, and on 300 acres of grounds surrounded on three sides by water and the original estate walls, will afford the couple maximum privacy. Inside, the wedding party will be able to enjoy many of the original castle features, with huge fireplaces and wood paneled rooms adding to the old-world feel. The bridal suite is given particular attention with an emphasis on detail, said Mr Reidy. Special extras include a unique fireworks display in the castle grounds, carriage hire and a personalised ice sculpture.

The couple who have planned their nuptials to coincide with the return of Brian and his Irish teammates from their last international match of the summer in Australia on June 26, have rubbished suggestions that they will be selling their wedding pictures to a glossy magazine.

“We’re not doing any selling of photos or anything like that. It’ll be our own day,” said Huberman.

The couple got engaged last March after the actress celebrated her 30th birthday.

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.  

from NYTimes.com

Ivanka M. Trump, the daughter of Ivana M. Trump of Palm Beach, Fla., and Donald J. Trump of New York, is to be married Sunday to Jared Kushner, a son of Seryl Kushner and Charles B. Kushner of Livingston, N.J. Rabbi Haskel Lookstein is to officiate at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

The bride, 27, will continue to use her name professionally. She works in New York as the executive vice president for development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, her father’s real estate company. She is also a principal in a jewelry company, the Ivanka Trump Collection, and is a host of “The Celebrity Apprentice” on NBC. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.

The bride’s mother founded two companies in New York: Ivana Inc., which handles her speaking engagements, books and other commercial ventures; and Ivana Haute Couture, which sells jewelry, perfumes and cosmetics on television.

The bridegroom, 28, is the publisher of The New York Observer. He graduated from Harvard and received a law degree and an M.B.A. from New York University. The bridegroom is also a principal in the Kushner Companies in New York, which owns and manages commercial buildings and apartments in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The bridegroom’s father, who is a founder of his family’s real estate business, stepped down as the company’s chairman in 2004, owing to his legal problems, and has since resumed his title.

By JOHN COLES – TheSun.co.uk

A NEWLY-WED couple choked with embarrassment when their wedding cake turned out to be made of POLYSTYRENE.

Bride Aimee West had paid £270 in advance for a three tier sponge decorated with white and dark chocolate icing and flowers.

But she was stunned when just as she cut into it with groom Tony, her mum declared: “The cake’s a fake.”

Horrified Aimee, 27, sliced through a layer of chocolate icing — then hit a block of white polystyrene underneath.

She said: “It was a terrible shock – I felt so embarrassed in front of all our family and friends.

“It was a lovely occasion and the ceremony was going to be the icing on the cake – only there was no cake.

Compensation                                               

Bank worker Aimee and Tony, 26, had tied the knot in Cyprus a week earlier then flew home for their reception at a plush hotel.

They had pre-ordered the cake from confectioners Creative Cakes in their hometown of Llanelli, West Wales.

But just four hours before the evening reception was due to start Aimee discovered the cake company had forgotten to bake the cake.

Aimee said: “They admitted their mistake and said: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get you a cake.’

“They turned up that evening and the cake was put on a table for all to see.

“We were just about to cut it when someone discovered the cake people had left four layers of sponge cake in the hotel reception.

“That set alarm bells ringing and when my mother checked the cake she found it was made of polystyrene.”

Aimee and apprentice plumber Tony said the cake cock-up ruined their reception at Ashburnham Hotel in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire.

The pair took Creative Cakes to the small claims court and were awarded £310 compensation.

District Judge Marjorie Taylor told them they could have made even more if they had filmed the cake cutting ceremony and sold it to TV’s You’ve Been Framed!

After the case Aimee said: “We are delighted to have been given our money back.

“We could have asked for compensation for cutting the cake in front of all our guests but we wouldn’t be able to put a figure on that.”

Karen Williams, who runs Creative Cakes from her home in Llanelli, blamed it all on a mix-up.

She said: “By the time Aimee contacted me it was too late to make the proper cake.

“I would never have the time to bake a cake and ice it in that time.

“I explained I would be delivering an artificial cake – they are quite common at weddings these days.

“I offered them a refund so there was no reason to take me to the Small Claims Court.”

She was given three months to repay the couple plus their costs.

Sara Brady – YourTango.com

What will your favorite star couples dance to on their big days?

We haven’t attended a whole lot of famous people’s weddings, but we imagine they are fantastic affairs with peacocks wandering around and ice sculptures of the happy couple and passed hors d’oeuvres that are never too small or too messy. And of course, given that the famous people are often trained performers, we expect a lot out of their reception dancing. Surely they can do better than that couple from Minnesota! But not every famous couple can be Khlodom, slow-dancing their way into a lifetime of bliss to the dulcet strains of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross singing “Endless Love.” Here are some couples and what we’d like to see them play at their lavish destination weddings.

Madonna & Jesus Luz

Jesus Luz and Madonna

The twice-married Madge has said she’ll never tie the knot again, but if she did make an honest man out of her boytoy, model Jesus Luz, we imagine their reception playlist would go a little something like this:

“Cradle of Love,” Billy Idol

“Grown Woman,” Mary J. Blige

“What Child Is This,” Sarah McLachlan (but only if they get married in December)

“Like a Prayer,” by the blushing bride herself

Justin Timberlake & Rihanna

Justin Timberlake and Rihanna

Justin  has dated a basketball team’s worth of beautiful women, and now that he’s moved on from Jessica Biel to Rihanna (um, maybe), we’re wondering if the Bahamian beauty could be the one. Their nuptials would blend blue-eyed soul with reggaeton in a particularly odd way.

“What Goes Around,” J.Tim (we didn’t write the song, he did!)

“On to the Next One,” Jay-Z

“Better Be Good to Me,” Tina Turner

“Southern Man,” Neil Young

Kirstie Alley & Jamie Foxx

Kirstie Alley and Jamie Foxx

Kirstie spent the week tweeting frantically about her torrid affair with Jamie Foxx, which makes us feel weird in ways we cannot explain. Come on, that is a strange pairing. Stranger than Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg. But, you know, we wish them the best, and that Jamie would also take to social media to express his feelings for all the world to see. Their wedding songs would all have titles 140 characters long or fewer.

 “Fat Bottomed Girls,” Queen (Kirstie would think it’s funny)

“Digital Girl,” remixed by the groom

“Black or White,” Michael Jackson

Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

Look, it’s been on the cover of OK!, so obviously the Twilight lovers will be getting hitched any day now. We’re sure that out of deference to their many passionate fans, they’ll choreograph the wedding itself to match every detail so lovingly set down by Stephenie Meyer, right down to the part where Kristen gives birth to a telepathic vampire baby six weeks later. And also, Kristen will ride to the ceremony in a Popemobile in case some addled Twihard takes a shot at her. But before all that nonsense, they’ll dance like the precious undead butterflies they are.

Everything ever written by Vampire Weekend and Muse

“Go All the Way (Into the Twilight),” Perry Farrell

“My Boyfriend’s Back,” The Angels

“Pocketful of Sunshine,” Natasha Bedingfield

“Delilah,” Tom Jones

Kevin Jonas & Danielle Deleasa

Kevin Jonas and Danielle Deleasa

These two actually are getting married, and we’re pretty sure they’re the kind of Christians who wear promise rings but don’t ban all pop music and dancing. (That would be ironic, right?) One thing you can bank on: The reception probably won’t include anything by Miley Cyrus. Or Taylor Swift.

“Like a Virgin,” Madonna

“White Wedding,” Billy Idol

“When You Say Nothing at All,” Allison Krauss

“I’d Rather Dance With You,” Kings of Convenience

By Amelia Robinson – DaytonaDailyNews

According to eyewitness accounts, the youngest bridezilla in the history of the world exploded last week at the Target near the Dayton Mall.

There was gnashing of teeth and crocodile tears after the little angel didn’t get exactly what she wanted – a glossy bridal magazine.

As a source close to the investigation reports, the 5-year-old tenderly asked her mom to purchase the magazine that no doubt features tips on floral centerpieces design and “something blue.”

“The mother said, ‘No, we’re not getting married anytime soon’,” my source reveals. “The little girl went nuts and said, ‘But, I want to get married!’ ”

Not to say I don’t relate to this child, but when I was that age, I was more concerned with developing a career as a shoeless tap dancer and/or an internationally known jelly and peanut butter swirler.

But alas, kids think the darnedest things and love fairy tales.

I was no different. OK, a little different.

For years and years, I thought my grandfather’s bodiless friend lived under his four post bed. The disembodied head, Frank, would roll out every morning to discuss the Cuban missile crisis with my grandpa.

There was no reason for my irrational thinking. My granddad never spoke of Frank and I never actually saw him (or did I?).

But in my head there was a head named Frank — and in that little girl’s brain there was a million dollar wedding to plan.

The mother was blocking progress.

The girl probably has a very good reason to think she’ll nab a husband by second grade.

It seems the thing to do — nearly 2.2 million couples said I do in 2008, according to TheWeddingReport.com.

And if that little girl doesn’t do it by, let’s say 23, she figures she’ll be a big, fat loser with a hairy face mole and Sour Patch Kids in her teeth.

Not to say having a lavish wedding ceremony isn’t wonderful, (it can be), but come on?

Why is being matched with a man and parading around in an expensive white dress still so critical to a woman’s identity?

Aren’t there other fantasies little girls should be having, too?

All things bridal are everywhere. Look no further than chick flicks like “29 Dresses.”

And more are likely to come a TV set near you.

Rainbow Media Holdings last week announced the launch of the Wedding Central channel and www.wedcentral.com.

The Web site and channel, now only available on Cablevision in New York, will feature weddings and relationship stuff all the time.

Shows include “My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding,” “I Do … Let’s Eat!,” and “Bride vs. Bride.”

It seems the tiny bridezilla isn’t the only one obsessed with wedding fairy tales.

According to Rainbow, the company behind We-TV, the women who like bridal programming are most likely to be in their 30s with a median income of about $58,000. They are 33 percent likely to have a household income of more than $100,000 and make the key decisions about household purchases.

With that in mind, it’s a wonder there aren’t more major meltdowns at Target over glossy magazines.