Johnny Gonzales The Wedding Ceremony Cocktail Hour Reception Guitarist

Imagine this: You're single and feel totally  fine with it, and suddenly you get a call from your college bestie. She's getting married. Yay for her! Do you want to be her bridesmaid? Of course! But what if you knew it'd cost you $1,466? Would you still want to do it? Read more from New York Magazine

The wedding of a tycoon's son was the place to be this weekend, apparently!   WOW!!!!!!!!!   Jennifer Lopez ,  Enrique Iglesias and Sting all made the trip to Moscow this weekend to play a classy AF wedding, a gigantic party Russian energy tycoon Mikhail Gutseriev threw for his son. The family is  reportedly one of the wealthiest in Russia and threw a hefty amount at the artists. There were fireworks, a cake the size of Alaska and a  wedding dress that weighed 55 pounds.

Check lists, appointments, to-do lists, and more swirl around in your head throughout the wedding planning process. Chances are if you're even a remotely organized bride-to-be, you have measures in place to ensure you don't forget any of the important stuff. Unfortunately, even some of the most detail-oriented brides get so overwhelmed on their wedding days that they forget the most important things of all — enjoying the special, smaller moments with their new husbands. We're here to help. Check out our top three things you can't forget to do with your new husband on your big day. Read this great reminder from Brides

Tired of marching down the aisle and leaving with nothing more than leftover wedding cake and a wilted bouquet? Plan a trip to “Mantana” and you might come home with more “beefcake” than cheesecake! Read more from Tamra Bolton at Parade

Long story short: She won, and I'm still not over the drama. Weddings are, by nature, an emotional cesspool of fantastical expectations and frenzied reality. Add to that an argument over a wedding dress (a seven-year saga, actually), a complicated mother-daughter dynamic, and bad weather and you have all the ingredients for a perfect storm. Or, in this case, my nuptials.   Read more from Good Housekeeping  

It’s always a bit disconcerting when two big things on your weekend calendar fall on a Saturday night and a Sunday morning. If you have a bit too much fun at your event on Saturday evening, it can threaten the potential fun of the morning after’s event, and this weekend, readers, we are guessing there might be more than a few of you with a wedding on your Saturday-night docket—and then some sort of Easter brunch/church/egg-hunt extravaganza with the family in the a.m. hours the next morning. You might be feeling a bit worried. (We might be right there with ya.) Read more from Philadelphia

Ben-Israel to judge Let Them Eat Cake Contest Updated: March 23, 2016 — 3:18 PM EDT   City of Hope’s  Let Them Eat Cake competition will take center stage March 28 at 6 p.m. at the Loews hotel. Dozens of pastry artists create over-the-top wedding cakes, and judging categories are taste, originality, artistry, and this year’s theme, "animation." Read more from Philadelphia

Extraordinary wedding photographs from an Ultra Orthodox Jewish wedding in Israel yesterday offer a fascinating insight into the more traditional elements of the ceremony. The wedding, between the grandson of the Rabbi of the Tzanz Hasidic dynasty and the granddaughter of the religious leader of the Toldos Avraham Yitzchak Hasidic dynasty, in the central Israeli city of Netanya involved a guest list of thousands, with people lining the streets to welcome the bride.  Inside, a floor-to-ceiling gauze curtain separated men from women and male well-wishers dressed all in black wore the traditional shtreimel hats Read more here

The Texas Renaissance Festival King and Queen are seeking the worthiest couple in the land upon which to bestow a free fairytale wedding ceremony to be held at the nation’s largest and most acclaimed Renaissance theme park, during its 2016 season, kicking off Oct. 8 through Nov. 27. Couples wishing to marry for the first time or renew their vows must prove their worth in a two-part challenge of love, dedication and unity, as well as champion their cause in a Tournament of Love at the Renaissance Run on Saturday, May 21, 2016. Read  more here

Brace yourselves, lovebirds. On Wednesday, March 23 there's a lunar eclipse in Libra, the sign of partnerships and commitment. Your interpersonal affairs department is about to buzz with activity! Eclipses are game-changers that bring swift and surprising events. Since this one falls at a full moon, it can bring sudden closure or manifestation of events in a key relationship. Romantic wake ups, shake ups, and even breakups may be on Cupid's docket this week. But relax! There could be swift and positive developments too, like a black velvet box proffered from bended-knee or the revelation of a long-held, secret crush. Lunar eclipses are the masters of surprise; the illuminators of shadows — literally, since the sun casts the shadow of the Earth onto the moon, and metaphorically too, as these lunations tend to call out our hidden desires and even put our bullshit on display. Eek! Read more from ELLE

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM When I wake up the first thing I do is take my dog for a walk. Then, I feel like I need to start every day with a clear mind so that I can be the most active and attentive to every aspect of my life, so I start with a Hot Yoga class or a cardio based class. Between the stresses of starting my own company and planning a wedding, I need an outlet where I can unwind and really focus on myself and my health. I find starting my days with yoga or a workout makes for a much more productive day. Read more at the Huffington Pos t

You guys. Big news. Tomorrow is National Proposal Day! Can you believe you didn't know about this magical holiday? Have you been living under a rock!? Or maybe you celebrate your engagement on the day of your actual engagement? Or even — GASP! — not at all!? No, that's crazy.  In celebration of National Proposal Day,  Whisper  gathered proposal statistics from its 20 million users and now we know that North Carolina is filled with people who love to talk about getting engaged: Laura Beck reports here

  In this day of adversity and turmoil its good to be reminded why love prevails despite ills all. Here is poetic inspiration for today's groom and unwavering love to his bride: Stanza's To Augusta Though the day of my destiny's over, And the star of my fate hath declined, Thy soft heart refused to discover The faults which so many could find; Though thy soul with my grief was acquainted, It shrunk not to share it with me, And the love which my spirit hath painted It never hath found but in thee . Then when nature around me is smiling, The last smile which answers to mine, I do not believe it beguiling, Because it reminds me of thine; And when winds are at war with the ocean, As the breasts I believed in with me, If their billows excite an emotion, It is that they bear me from thee . Though the rock of my last hope is shivered, And its fragments are sunk in the wave, Though I feel that my soul is delivered. ...

Jen Glantz is a "Professional Bridesmaid" and the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire . She's the author of All My Friends Are Engaged and frequently wears old bridesmaid dresses to the grocery store and on first dates. For her latest BRIDES column, Jen lends her expert advice to brides on the best time to ask their bridesmaids to be in their wedding. Read more from Brides

Do you like a nylon guitar sound for your wedding? Do you like a steel string guitar sound for your wedding? It depends if you like roses or lilacs. To be honest with you, its all a matter of taste. Your taste. No one else. If you like it, then IT WILL be great at your wedding. If you really want the bottom dollar reason for nylon VERSUS steel string; it is all in the arrangement. By that I mean it depends if you like how the tune sounds on nylon or steel string. On average, classical music is played on nylon guitars. Why? Its been arranged that way. If you go online to You Tube and search for your favorite song you can actually find different arrangements on that one particular song. There are many jazzy arrangements on your favorite classical song. Sometimes, its arranged in a special style, sometimes its a Readers Digest condensed style, sometimes its done for two or more entertainers. Sometimes all of the above...

Most of us know what a traditional South Indian wedding looks like — they are rich with oodles of flowers and women draped in precious silk saris sporting tonnes of gold jewellery. Akshaya and Sriram's typical Tamil-Brahmin wedding had all of that — plus a little surprise for all the guests. On their wedding day, singer Akshaya and heavy metal drummer Sriram performed, like they had done together many times for their band — growling to pulsating beats and extended guitar solos. The Huffington Post pens more

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Nearly 100 classic Prince belongings are up for auction online by his first wife Mayte Garcia and his original manager. The auction began Thursday and will run through March 17. The highest priced item is a combo package of his 2.2-karat diamond engagement ring and handwritten marriage proposal notes to Garcia, available for a minimum bid of $100,000. Her wedding dress, which bears the label of Prince's costumer Bonnie Flesland, of Minneapolis, is also available starting at $25,000. Among other Prince classics being offered is a velvet sequined stage jacket for $15,000, a Gibson guitar used by Prince to record early demo tracks for $60,000, and handwritten “In Love” lyrics by Prince for $7,500. Read more from Fox9

I arise from dreams of thee In the first sweet sleep of night When the winds are breathing low, And the stars are shining bright. I arise from dreams of thee, And a spirit in my feet Has led me ― who knows how? ― To thy chamber-window, sweet! The wandering airs they faint On the dark the silent stream ― The champak odors fail Like sweet thoughts in a dream; The nightingale's complaint, It dies upon her heart, As I must die on thine, O, beloved as thou art! O, lift me from the grass! I die, I faint, I fail! Let thy love in kisses rain On my lips and eyelids pale. My cheek is cold and white alas! My heart beats loud and fast: O, press it close to thine again, Where it will break at last.

When Gabriella Campagna got engaged to Mario Milana, she knew immediately where she wanted to have her wedding. “We wanted to get married at my grandparents’ country house in Cali, Colombia,” she shares. “It’s called La Mañanita, which means ‘The Little Morning.’ It was a very special and magical place for us to visit growing up, and I always imagined doing it there.” The logistics proved to be a little tricky, though. After all, the bride is an actress born and raised in New York, while the groom is an Italian furniture designer originally from Milan. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy to get everyone down there,” laments Gabriella. “But thankfully, in the end, those who made it loved discovering Cali.” Read more from Vogue

Once every four years, the calendar presents us with a leap year. As if we don’t have enough days in the year to make mistakes, once every four years we have one extra day to make it right, but why can’t leap day be in the summer? An old Irish tradition says that in a leap year, it is socially acceptable for a woman to propose to a man. As a society we have moved past so many antiquated traditions, yet when it comes to marriage and the rules of love, is it wrong to take the other path instead of the one laid for us by our ancestors? I am the first to admit that I am a traditional girl when it comes to certain customs. I want to get married in the same church as my parents and grandparents. I want someone to get down on one knee, present me with a diamond ring, and ask me to be his wife. I want my big day to include the old, new, borrowed and blue and I want to have my daddy walk me down the aisle. Read more from here