With This Allen Key I Thee Wed: Australian couple get married in IKEA, saying the homeware store has 'brought them closer together

If you were beginning to wonder if true romance had vanished from the face of the planet, fear not! 

It does still exist, but seems to have emigrated to Australia this Valentine's Day. 

An Australian couple have declared not only their love for each other but also for IKEA by tying the knot at the Sydney store on Valenetine's Day.

Click here to read the entire article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2278613/Australian-couple-married-IKEA-saying-homeware-store-brought-closer-together.html#ixzz2KtjKSUEt 

Anyone for Cricket? Or an Underwater Wedding?

WeddingsAbroad.com - Underwater Wedding 

Introducing sporting events at weddings is one way to get creative. For destination weddings especially, location-specific sports are included as part of the activities. For instance, at a destination wedding in Kerala, the couple wanted to organise boat races for the guests, says Pereira. And at a destination wedding at a palace in Jodhpur, with more than 1,000 people in attendance, a polo match was organised between the groom’s and the bride’s families, says accessory merchandiser Aashumi C.

Cricket has become a huge part of such wedding celebrations, says Jarret of Marry Me Wedding Planners. Matches are organised to keep guests entertained. Adds Ashumi, for a cricket match at wedding, the couple had organised a cricket match with customised T-shirts and caps — red for the bride’s side and blue for the groom’s — complete with a third umpire and cheerleaders.

Treasure hunts spread out from Bandra to Colaba with clues hidden in 5-star hotels also helps keep guests engaged. And Ashumi recalls a wedding where a fashion show was the entertainment. “Top models had been hired to walk the ramp. Dressed in traditional attire and laden with jewels, the models gave way to the bride and the groom, who were the ‘showstoppers’ for the evening,” she says.

These weddings aren’t just fun to attend, they’re also a lot of fun to organise, say wedding planners who enjoy catering to clients’ whimsical demands. Gaurav Karia of Saffron Celebrations says: “My dream is to organise an underwater wedding. I’m just waiting for a client who can afford it.”

Of course here at WeddingsAbroad.com....we DO Underwater Weddings in the Cayman Islands...to see further details please click here...

  

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Big fat Indian weddings travel to exotic locations abroad

MUMBAI: Casino Square is popular among Grand Prix fans for being the best spot in Monaco to drown in the adrenaline-boosting, collective roar ofFormula One racing cars. Horses and elephants are not the kind of four-legged beasts one expects to see on this track. Over here, the word 'horse' is always paired with 'power' to talk about car engines and not about the animal whose female species leads the traditional North Indian baraat.

But on a nippy day in March last year, Casino Square changed gear and the thunder of race cars was replaced by a cacophony of noises that came from a fat, slow-moving Indian baraat. Riding a white mare, the Indian groom, the CEO of a luxury company, led a procession of guests, backed up by two elephants, all making their way to a five-star hotel in Monaco for an even fatter, Rs 44 crore Indian wedding.

Monaco may have not seen anything quite like that, but there are quite a few destinations across the globe where Indian weddings are not a rare sight. In the last three to four years, Indian weddings have not only been exported to unusual venues like Formula One tracks, but also to places conventionally preferred by couples in the West, like beaches, mountains and jungle resorts (in this context, the term, Indian wedding refers to couples who reside in India, but fly abroad with their family and friends to get married). These weddings are multi-crore events and evidently so, it is a niche segment. That is probably the only reason why foreign tourism bodies that are otherwise meticulous in data collection have not yet culled statistics to monitor the growth of the Indian wedding market. But there is enough anecdotal evidence that suggests that the past few years have seen a rise in Indian weddings made in foreign locales.

Last week, tourism officials from Mauritius flew into Mumbai with itineraries that included meetings scheduled with wedding planners. "In the last three years, at least 13 to 14 big Indian weddings with 200-1,200 guests have been held in Mauritius,'' said Micheal Yeung Sik Yuen, Mauritius's tourism minister. Though there are flights between India and Mauritius, Air Mauritius operated about five charter aircraft during these years to ferry the wedding guests. Though Mauritius does not attract as many Indian tourists, it has turned into a favourite wedding destination for the desis. So much so that last year, a special committee was formed by Mauritius to exclusively handle the wedding segment.

Another favourite wedding destination is South Africa, which has made its appearance on quite a few invite cards.

Hanneli Slabber, country manager, SA Tourism, India, said, "We probably receive 10-15 Indian inquiries per year. However, not all these are from Indians living in India, but from Indian couples living around the world. They include multi-cultural weddings where one of the couple is Indian."

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*New* Weddings Abroad - Dubrovnik Weddings

Dubrovnik, Croatia

 Couples in search of romance are flocking to this wondrous city on the southernmost stretch of Croatia’s coast, as enchanted by its beauty today as the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, who once proclaimed, "If you want to see heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik." 

The city has been magnificently restored to its former glory to emerge as one of the most fashionable vacation spots in all of Europe. Dubrovnik's resurgent popularity should come as no surprise, however – this “jewel of the Adriatic,” as the coastal resort town is often referred to in tourist brochures, is breathtakingly beautiful and a magnet for dreamy-eyed lovers in search of a romantic getaway. 


The city's fortified old town overlooks the dazzling Adriatic from a shelter of limestone cliffs and its marble-paved streets are lined with marvellously preserved churches, stately palaces, squares, and terracotta-roofed townhouses. Meanwhile, down below, along the seaside coast, fine beaches beckon – as do a slew of offshore islands – making Dubrovnik uniquely appealing to just about any taste. - Source Shermans Travel




Click here to see our new selection of destination weddings in Dubrovnik from WeddingsAbroad.com

Barcelona FC player Andres Iniesta marries longtime girlfriend

Barcelona FC player Andres Iniesta marries longtime girlfriend - hellomagazine.com

The longest bridal train in the world: Record-breaking wedding dress stretches over TWO MILES of Italian church steps

Brides seeking a showstopping dress to ensure all eyes are on them for their big day need look no further.

This incredible silk and tulle concoction, designed by Gianni Molaro, boasts a record-breaking train measuring almost two miles in length.

It was modelled today on the steps of Rome's Trinita dei Monti in Italy to celebrate the opening of Molaro's new workshop, the sheer white material rippling out over the Renaissance stonework to complete the fairytale effect.

Tourists snapped away as three spectacular looking brides posed on the Spanish Steps in front of the Fountain of Four Rivers.

The incredible cream veil was worn by Elena De Angelis for her wedding in the Naples village of Casal di Princice last September.

 

Her train - which was around 28 times the length of Manchester United's Old Trafford pitch - was carried by an army of volunteers as Miss De Angelis was driven through the streets in a vintage car.

Around 20,000 people attended her wedding to Ferdinand Pucci last year to see the outfit that took dozens of seamstresses months to make.

Made from 1.86-mile (three kilometres) of tulle bordered by six miles of silk, the endless train is apparently tied for the title of world's longest with a design by Andree Salon for this year's Wedding Fair in Bucharest.

A model wearing the silk and lace gown took to the sky in a hot-air balloon in March, allowing the gargantuan train to billow out over the Romanian capital.

Mr Molaro said of his creation last year: 'I was really grateful to be asked to design this veil. I met tens of thousands of people on the way to the church who complimented my idea.

'I wanted this veil to symbolise peace and hope and I think we have achieved this.

'This has been one of the biggest moments in my career as a designer.'

There would be no making a dash for it at the altar in this supersized outfit.

Experts estimate it would take Usain Bolt almost five minutes to run its full length, running at blistering world recording pace.

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Autumn Weddings in Italy - Limited Availability

Getting married this coming Autumn season 2012 in Italy will be the most beautiful time of the year! September and October are the months of the wine harvest, when the Italian countryside is full of the most colorful Autumn landscape.
It is the best time of year to experience the areas of Tuscany, Piedmont, Cinque Terre, Puglia and Sicily.
The backdrop for your wedding can be vineyards in full bloom and rolling hills filled with the beautiful gold’s, red’s, oranges and yellow’s, making for a true Italian romantic dream wedding!
You and your guests can take part in the wine harvest and enjoy the wine tastings to the fullest on properties with the richest vineyards in the world!

Here are a few of our speciality wedding locations in Italy:

Perugia Town Hall

The monumental walls and bristling crenellation of Palazzo dei Priori mark it as Umbria's finest public building. The facade is decorated with symbols of Perugia's past power: the griffin is the city's symbol and the lyon denotes Perugia's allegiance to the medieval Guelph (papal) cause. Among its finely decorated rooms is the Sala dei Notari (1295), originally an assembly hall for the people of Perugia, which is frescoed with scenes from the Old Testament by Pietro Cavallini.

Castle in Tuscany

This property is situated in the Tuscan countryside and is a cluster of Tuscan farmhouses forming a small village on high ground with a spectacular 12th century castle. You can marry and have your reception at the castle and stay in the accommodations.

To find out more about our Italian Weddings Abroad please email info@weddingsabroad.com