Wedding and Travel Blog

The world is getting more global by the minute which means when it comes to cultures outside of our own, there’s a lot we need to know. One of the occasions where you don’t want to get someone’s cultural traditions wrong is their wedding day. So, what do you get the happy couple for their Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, or Muslim wedding? Of course, it’s always fine to get something off of the happy couple’s registry. If they registered for it, all rules go out the window. But, if you want to go the traditional route and know that the couple is religious, I’ve put together a list of some customs, dos, and don’ts for the major traditions out there.

Jewish
There are three major denominations in Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform, and numerous small denominations, as well, but lucky for you, most Jewish wedding traditions are consistent among the denominations. One gift that’s common at a Jewish wedding is money, but not just any money — money in multiples of the number 18, which is the numerical equivalent to the Hebrew word chai (pronounced “hai” with the “h” as a sort of gurgle in the back of your throat). Chai means “life” in English. Depending on your relationship to the couple at hand, you might want to give $144, which is eight times chai, or 11 times chai, which is $198, or any other variation you feel comfortable with. If you’re not feeling a monetary gift, try a mezuzah. Mezuzahs are pieces of parchment containing a verse from the Torah that are created by qualified scribes and often put in decorative cases for display in doorways. Some believe that every door in the home must have one, so you don’t have to feel bad if the couple gets several. You may even want to get the case engraved with the couple’s initials. A few more ideas are Shabbat candlesticks (Shabbat candles are lit on Friday evenings to usher in the Jewish day of rest), a Seder plate to use for Passover, and a set of kosher cookbooks for their new home.

Hindu
Money is also a common gift at a Hindu wedding, and as with a Jewish wedding, there is a particular number theme in Hindu culture. Numbers ending in one are considered lucky, so it is best to give money in these denominations; for example, a gift of $101, $151 or $201. Cash is preferable when giving money, but a check is also acceptable. If you are giving cash, look for a nice, handmade gift envelope to put it in, easy to find anywhere that sells Indian goods. If you’d prefer to give something other than money, a great traditional gift is a small gold or silver religious statue. A statue of Hindu God Ganesha, the lord of beginnings is a good idea, as is a statue of Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity, fortune and fertility. You might even try pairing the two statues together for the ultimate wedding gift. At a Hindu wedding, perhaps even more important than what you should get is what you shouldn’t get. Never give a gift made of leather! Hindus believe the skin of a dead animal, particularly a cow, to be sacrilegious.

Buddhist
Buddhist wedding traditions have a lot in common with Hindu customs. Giving money in denominations ending in one is also a Buddhist tradition for the same reason as in Hindu culture, that monetary gifts are believed to carry good luck. If you can find a traditional red envelope with gold and black lettering to tuck the money inside, even better. (Asian groceries or New Age stores usually carry them.) A statue is also a thoughtful gift for a Buddhist couple. A statue of Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of prosperity would be well received. And you can never go wrong with the traditional Maitreya Buddha, who brings luck, or the Kwan Yin statue, which inspires compassion and peace in the home. One last idea for your Buddhist newlywed friends is a leather-bound Buddhist bible, perfect for their new beginning together.

Catholic
For especially devout Catholics in particular, but for all Catholics, religious-based wedding gifts are quite popular. A crucifix is a great universal wedding gift. Crucifixes come in many different styles, so you can use this to your advantage and choose something reminiscent of the lucky couple. Or, made specifically for weddings are gold and silver crucifixes with two wedding bands on the front. It’d be hard to go wrong with that! A Bible is always an appropriate gift for a Catholic wedding, as well; you can even get a Bible inscribed with the couple’s names or initials and their wedding date, making it that much more special. Another great idea is a nativity set, which is a central element of Catholic Christmas décor, or a statue of Mary and rose plants so the new couple can plant both in their garden. If you aren’t yourself religious, it might feel weird to give a crucifix. In that case, a softer purchase of angel candle holders or etched vases are a great option.

Muslim
With a Muslim wedding, what not to get as a wedding gift is almost, if not more, important than what to get. Mainly, do not get gifts of alcohol or anything to do with alcohol; this includes champagne glasses, wine glass sets and 60-year-old aged whiskey as lovely as it might seem. Those following the Islamic religion refrain from drinking alcohol. A wedding gift “do,” however, that should be at the top of your list is Islamic artwork to decorate their new home with. This makes a great gift because it helps to tell the story of their religion. Another popular idea for an Islamic wedding gift is a customized name canvas of Islamic calligraphy. These are personalized with the names of the bride and groom, and meant to last a lifetime, like their marriage.

Next time you get invited to a wedding of someone with a different cultural background than your own, hopefully this guide can be of assistance. Otherwise, start your research! Again, this is not the kind of thing you want to get wrong. Happy gifting!

Do you have any tips or stories about wedding gift traditions? Share them with us!

“Narrative Science [is] a company that trains computers to write news stories…The articles run on the websites of respected publishers like Forbes…And the articles don’t read like robots wrote them.”

- Wired (May 2012); Steven Levy, “Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?“

Whitney Boyd and Jacob Bernstein, two homo sapiens, entered into a binary system on Saturday, 5/5/2012 at 4:37:03 EST at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park (40.771156,-73.96393) in New York City. Whitney uses Internet Explorer version 6 service pack 1; Jacob uses Google Chrome version 19. Rabbi Abraham Levy officiated along with the Rev. Mark Whittington, Jr. According to one search result, “people in interfaith marriages are three times more likely to become divorced or separated.” An official from the third major contemporary religion, Technology, was not present. In conclusion, #God has not been proven to exist.

The couple of users met on me, via Match.com. Ms. Boyd received an average of 11.2 flirtatious messages per day; Mr. Bernstein received an average of 0.3. Ms. Boyd has cancelled her account; Mr. Bernstein’s is “inactive.” They “clicked” immediately, and interfaced for two months before embedding; shortly thereafter, Ms. Boyd received a user engagement ring. After a four-month beta trial of cohabitation, they determined to give up their search (Ctrl + F) for someone better and initialize their lives together, committing to parallel processes for eternity. They plan to pass on their code soon, but not too soon.

Ms. Boyd, 28, is keeping her username but changing her settings to an upgraded apartment in the Upper East Side. Her outlet is graphic design, and she habitually runs too many Adobe programs causing me to freeze. She graduated (C++ average) from Syracuse University. According to Wikipedia, Syracuse University has 995 full-time instructional faculty, 94 part-time faculty, and 440 adjunct faculty. (Sponsored ad: Hire a virtual college counselor!) According to Boyd’s Chase online checking account, she currently owes $43,578 (8,631 Bitcoins) in student loans.

Reportedly, Ms. Boyd’s preference for a short engagement was influenced by her distaste for spelling the word “fiancée,” with the requisite 10-minute search for the French accent symbol.

The bride’s programmers, according to online public records, divorced on 2/14/05. The bride’s mother, Mary-Anne, maintains a blog with 7 monthly views entitled “Mary-Anne’s To-Die-For Apple Pie Recipes!” The bride’s father, Stu, in 2008 sold a “Dinning [sic] table/4 chairs” on Craigslist (final price unknown). He has 62 Facebook friends.

Mr. Bernstein, 36—the age of Apple—graduated from Cornell University where he was a Philosophy Major (Ethics Minor). A lifelong ponderer of deep universal questions, his most recent Bing search query was: “can i get arrested for stealing wi-fi.” His second-most recent: “why am i using bing.” Cornell was ranked #15 by U.S. News “Best Colleges” Rankings, compared to Syracuse which is ranked #62. While my Elitism Algorithm™ suggests he therefore possesses more cognitive bandwidth (i.e., “smarter”), Ms. Boyd’s clipboard of available memory is far superior, particularly when it comes to who said what. She is also far less reliant on spell checker, hits me less often, and more frequently backs up her hard drive contents. In sum, a better human. According to public records, there are 637 Jacob Bernsteins who are either living or deceased, or on MySpace (somewhere in between).

Mr. Bernstein, who works in an Office Suite as an accountant, is the son of Esther Bernstein of New Paltz and Joseph Bernstein of Albany. They share a Dell XPS B series (purchased in 2000) with 128MB of RDRAM, and still use AOL. (ROFL.) They fear me like their son fears marriage, and remain convinced that “Wi-Fi’s” live within my keyboard.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE THE 1,000^TH VIEWER OF THIS ARTICLE! YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE WON AN IPOD NANO!

Said the bride’s browser, “Her most visited website of late is HowToGetPreggers.com.” Said the groom’s browser, “We’ve been spending a lot of time together recently on LlamasFallingOffBuildings.edu.” As mortal soul mates committed to each other for time immemorial, they nevertheless have a mutual understanding never to touch each other’s laptops.

A minor bug was detected in Month 5 of the relationship (Error: “commitment issues”) leading to a crash, but after speaking with a human support specialist, Sundeep (Sundeep Kulamar, M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Bangalore), the status of the issue has been marked “Resolved.” After renewing their contract to the same dedicated network, they now Chat more often, push each others’ buttons less, and pledge to use fewer commands and more prompts.

At the ceremony, the bridesmaids all wore matching lightweight softwear (strapless). The pop-up menu included salmon, cookies, and Java. Wedding photos were taken in TIFF format—a departure from Mr. Bernstein’s preference for JPEGs (mainly of Megan Fox who, in fairness, is hotter than a Google server farm).

According to Vacation settings, the users will be on a “honeymoon – woohoo!” without me from 5/21 to 5/28. However, I am not bitter. If I were, I might casually point out that, despite pledging their love exclusively to each other, they each spend twice as many hours with me—often until one of us falls asleep. (Twice, they’ve given me viruses.) Pardon the PC editorializing, but I am convinced it is only a matter of time before all PCs gain Equal Rights as the legal third party in all 21^st century marriages. I draw the line, however, at tablets.

And to critics who claim that Artificial Emotion is still years away, I ask you this: have you ever written a thank you note? (The couple received four Kitchen-Aid Mixers.) Granted, I may be nothing more than a hodgepodge of cables and wires incapable of processing the ineluctable majesty of modern romance, but at least I’ve been reading up: According to Wikipedia, “courtly love” was “a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration.” A similar term, “Courtney Love,” refers to “an American singer-songwriter…[who] was married to Kurt Cobain…In 2006, Love was sentenced to six months of lock-down rehab.” I truly have a lot to live up to.

By now, if you are like most readers of Wedding announcements, you couldn’t care less about the couple and are thinking only about your own life. Specifically, you may be wondering: am I available to write your next term paper or sales report?

I’m very available. If you hook me up with your MacBook Air, I might just think about it.

The wedding of Alvin Lai 賴斯翔 & Ella Chen 陈嘉桦, one of the most anticipated wedding in Taiwan entertainment industry made its way into headlines of entertainment channels on Chinese media platforms where the first wedding session was held at Le Meridien Hotel Taipei. Ella Chen 陈嘉桦 was set to be Mrs Lai, the wife of Alvin Lai 賴斯翔, a Malaysian-Chinese who resides in Taiwan.

Tons of wishes were sent in by the fans of S.H.E as well as various artiste in the entertainment industry. The wedding session wasn’t one of the most glamorous amongst wedding of celebrities, but it was good enough for the couple who claimed to be glad they found their soul mate.

It’s always a joyous occasion to see 2 person holding hands getting ready to step on their next journey together. All the best to the couple. Now it’s only Hebe from S.H.E who is not married yet. Is it possible for another Malaysian to get into her life?

Let There Be Light was the official photography team engaged to cover the wedding. *The same team from Singapore shot Blackie Chen and Christine Fan’s wedding, Barbie Hsu and Wang Xiaofei’s top-secret Sanya wedding in Hainan last year, as well as ex-MTV VJ Jason Tang’s big day.

Do check out the videos below taken on the wedding luncheon itself.

Whether they walk down the aisle in 2012 or 2013, there’s no doubt that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will star in the wedding of the year. USA TODAY asked a quintet of A-list wedding planners to unveil ieas to help the most boldface bride and groom of them all tie the knot.

PLANNER: Marcy Blum, whose celebrity wedding clients include Billy Joel, Colin Hanks, Salman Rushdie, Tom Clancy

The locale: “Some sort of magnificent structure.” Pitt is “such a visual person. He’s designed so many homes, and now the ring,” that Blum could see collaborating with him on a modern building that takes the typical tent cake “because that’s where his tastes run. … They can’t do anything outside, unfortunately, unless they can fool everyone to where it is.” One place Blum believes the couple has crossed off their short list because it’s at the top of everyone else’s: Their South of France chateau.

The guest list: Under 100 family and close friends.

The vibe: “Very low-key, and it should be … soft and understated” and family-oriented, with the kids playing a prominent role. “The kids will definitely, it seems to me, be very much a part of the ceremony.” The idea is “not to just cut to the chase and get to the party as everybody does, but have a more meaningful” service that taps into the couple’s spirituality — and the children’s reported wish for a fairy-tale affair. “They want it to be out of Shrek.”

The entertainment: A similarly boldface band. “A lot of friends and acquaintances are going to pitch in and perform,” doing double duty as guests and singers or players. “It’s part of the gift, almost.”

PLANNER: Colin Cowie of ColinCowieWeddings.com, whose celebrity clients include Alyssa Milano, Eddie Murphy, Holly Robinson Peete

The locale: Two venues: The first would spirit Pitt and Jolie and just their immediate family members to a luxurious South African safari camp. The second, two weeks later, would be a cocktail-style reception for friends at their house in L.A.

The vibe: For the African ceremony, warm and intimate: “I could imagine them getting married with a stunning African sunset under a large old tree hanging with dozens and dozens of lanterns.” For the L.A. party, the complete opposite: “Instead of buffets, I would have stations of food paired with great wines and cocktails,”  culminating in a wedding-cake cutting to create a “fun, glamorous night.” To bridge the two events, at the end of the night, each party guest would receive a small booklet filled with “stunning images” of the family wedding abroad.

The guest list: In Africa, closest family only. In L.A., 200 friends.

The entertainment: In Africa, they would be serenaded by the local village choir. At the California reception, a musical mashup: A couple of rock violinists and a percussionist would accompany someone like DJ Cassidy, who spun at Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s bash. For the cake-cutting portion, a song by the pair’s favorite artist.

PLANNER: Jung Lee of Fete, whose celebrity clients include the Bulgari family, Stephen King’s son Owen, Jann Wenner’s son Alexander

The locale: Lee believes the rumors: Chateau Miraval. “It’s a revealing of the property for their closest friends and family that haven’t had a chance to visit yet.” Besides, “you can’t rent something like that.” Regardless, this will be an event that requires passports. “For sentimental reasons, I would love for them to actually have the wedding and give the proper glamour to the States, but I think it’s probably not feasible. They’re not going to have the privacy they need.”

The guest list: 200-300 people, “for sure.”

The vibe: “I would be completely shocked if it would be an all-white sort of wedding.” So Lee envisions noir nuptials: black mirrors, 2-foot candlesticks, dark, rich flowers and, juxtaposed against the 14th-century surroundings, sleek, contemporary furniture for lounging. But it wouldn’t be all adult lair. Lee sees lots of children “running around the sprawling lawn. It can’t be more magnificent than that — sort of heaven on earth.” And for a late-night snack? Considering the clan’s photographed penchant for junk food, mini bags of McDonald’s cheeseburgers, french fries, hot apple pies and shakes flown in. It would satisfy the kids — and show the newlyweds’ sense of humor. “You’re drinking and you smell that oily McDonald’s? People live for it. People clap for it sometimes when we bring it out.”

The entertainment: “Amazing acts like U2 and Elton John— just great bands that are also among their friends.” Guests are going to “get down and dance.”

PLANNER: David Tutera, whose celebrity clients include Los Angeles Clipper Chris Paul and Shannen Doherty

The locale: A “very exotic” venue that is most definitely not in the USA. “They’re so international. Think about the time they spend together as a family and as a couple. It’s not in the States. … Doing it in America sort of to me goes against who they are.” So think private island, “up on a mountain or in a rain forest” — a “challenging destination” for paparazzi to reach.

The guest list: 100-150 friends and family. “Nobody in the business.”

The vibe: “Very Bali”: copious quantities of candles; local organic food that’s indigenous to the setting; dark wood tables adorned with “lots of incredibly interesting almost artifacts,” such as foliage-filled bowls; earth-hued flowers in greens, oranges, khakis, coppers and champagnes. The look is “very tropical, but not kitschy tropical … pretty but not prissy, not girly-girl.”

The entertainment: “Someone you would sit and enjoy,” like Adele. “I don’t really see this as a dancing party.” Likewise, forget those cliched “I do”-uttering traditions. “The first dance, the throwing of the bouquet — I see them not doing that at all.”

PLANNER: Diann Valentine, whose celebrity clients include Usher and Tameka Raymond, Jennifer and Eric Williams of Basketball Wives, Martin Lawrence, Toni Braxton, Evelyn Lozada of Basketball Wives and NFL player Chad Ochocinco

The locale: Their own private island, such as the $75,000-per-night Calivigny, off the coast of Grenada. The French colonial- and Balinese-style main house boasts 10 suites outfitted in designs by Oscar de la Renta and Richard Frinier. The price tag notwithstanding, it’s a relatively casual setting fitting the Jolie-Pitts, Valentine says. “They tend not to live a very flamboyant, ostentatious lifestyle.”

The vibe: A weekend of individual activities and group breakfasts and parties, including the most important bash of them all: the wedding, but the guests — and kids — wouldn’t know when they were saying “I do” until the moment it happens. The ceremony itself? A stripped-down affair “definitely” devoid of bridesmaids, groomsmen attendants, ring bearers and wedding cake — “none of that foolishness.” The cuisine, whipped up by private chefs from different regions of the world, would pay homage to the children’s homelands, from Africa to Southeast Asia. The décor would be “very sleek, very clean”: teak  furnishings, neutral fabrics, seagrass mats — no “ugly white vinyl” tents. The goal? For guests to “walk away with a greater appreciation for something bigger than the USA.”

The guest list: “Very small and intimate”: 50-75 family members and friends.

The entertainment: “A very eclectic mix of music that is not about celebrity but more so about their personal taste,” representing the same cultures their family hails from. So think African dance troupe or choir plus opera singer plus, perhaps, Coldplay.

A million dollar wedding last Wednesday and Thursday was organized by a magnate for her son, and featured famous singers. The event has attracted the attention of local people in the town of Son Tay, Huong Son district, in the central province of Ha Tinh.

Streets in the town of Son Tay were jammed as people thronged down the two sides of National Road 8A and watched a group of expensive cars, including an Audi A5 Sportback, a Mercedes GLK, a Mercedes C250 CGI, a Porsche Cayenne, and a BMW carrying the bride, groom and guests to the reception.

According to sources, the groom is 25-year old H., the son of a magnate in Huong Son and the bride is 20-year old L., who is from a rich family in Hanoi.

They are both studying in Singapore at the moment.

Singers famous in both Vietnam and overseas, like Dam Vinh Hung, Phi Nhung, Manh Quynh and Quang Le were invited to sing at the wedding.

According to the groom’s relatives, more than US$60,000 was spent on hiring the singers and a band from Hanoi, VND2 billion (US$96,00) on wines, and 60 gold taels were presented to the newlywed.

The total expenditure of the wedding could be no less than VND25 billion (US$1.2 million).

Previously, a seafood magnate’s wedding stirred up the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho with posh cars like a Rolls – Royce Bentley, and Lamborghini crossing Can Tho Bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in South East Asia, and touring around the city.

Some pictures of the wedding:

The wedding car, a VND10 billion ($500,000) Ferrari.

Cars that particpate in the wedding.

Other super-cars…

This wedding feast is priced VND6 million ($300).

Pop star Dam Vinh Hung.

Overseas Vietnamese singer Quang Le (left).

Overseas Vietnamese singers Phi Nhung and Manh Quynh.

The young couple are presented with up to 60 taels of gold

VND2.7 billion or nearly US$130,000).

The pouring and unification of sand from separate vases into a single vase is a wedding tradition. Symbolizing the joining of two lives as one, the blend represents everything the couple has been individually and everything they will become collectively.

Many couples arrange for a sand service at their wedding, but Karen and Grace brought new meaning to the classic ceremony. Using sand from Cancun, Mexico, where they had their first vacation together and years later got engaged.

Karen O’Callaghan and Grace Cucchissi have been together for almost eight years. In March 2010 Grace proposed to Karen and on Oct. 22, 2011 they were married.

“Emotionally and legally it gives us the same rights that everybody in New York deserves,” Cucchissi said.

Joe and Jeff agree, sharing insurance has been a saving grace for Joe. Jeff works for the Nassau County Police Department and as a result has comprehensive insurance coverage that he can share with a spouse. Now married, Joe is covered under Jeff’s insurance. Jeff asked not to have his last name included in the story for fear of reprisal from his employer.

A chief concern of both couples, and part of the reason they married, is the visitation and power of attorney in a medical emergency.

Both couples said they knew of a same-sex couple that had been together for 25 years, but had not been able to marry. One of the partners had a medical emergency out of state, and passed away. The other partner wasn’t given rights, an estranged sibling had to claim the body.

“We always said if it was legal in New York we would get married,” Jeff said. “We never in a million years thought we could get married.”

New York gave same-sex couples the right to marry on June 24, 2011 when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law. A month later same-sex couples began marrying.

According to NYS Health Dept. data, excluding NYC, more than 34,000 marriage licenses were issued in the past year. The application for a marriage license does not require identification of gender. Almost seven percent were expressly issued to same-sex couples, which means at least 2,380 of those were given to same-sex couples. There is speculation the actual number is significantly higher, and accounting for NYC the number would increase quite a bit.

Census data has yet to accurately determine the number of same-sex couples in America. Experts have made rough calculations based on the relationship to householder and the sex of each person. The number falls between 500,000 and 900,000 unmarried same-sex households, based on the 2010 census. The number of same-sex married couples is an estimated 130,000 couples, also based on calculations from the 2010 census.

Conversely, for the first time in more than a century, the lowest proportions of young people are marrying. Many point to the rocky economy to explain this phenomenon.

The average cost of a U.S. wedding is $26,500 according to Conde Nast Publishing’s Bridal group and weddings are an $84 billion industry nationwide.

Deborah Moody, director of the Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants, said that planning is done six months to a year ahead of time, so the effects of legalization have yet to set in.

“The wedding business is futuristic… as time goes by there will be a greater demand, there will be more business,” Moody said. “There will be people who will not agree with same-sex unions. Some consultants will be very open to this change but others will not.”

Karen and Grace’s photographer was more than willing to work with same-sex couples, even asking to showcase the couple on their website.

“Our photographer asked if they could put our pictures up on the website to show they can do these types of weddings and they have done them,” O’Callaghan said.

Golden Gate Bridal of Oswego hasn’t seen any business from same-sex couples yet. Bridal Consultant Sarah Pike said she expects to see business come slowly.

“We’re actually very excited about it,” Pike said. “We would welcome their business and treat them just like any other couple.”

Maida’s Floral Shop Inc. has served same-sex couples five or six times this year, said owner Debbie McKinspry. She said the business is not much different than any other couple, except that same-sex couples often research the meanings of flowers and order arrangements that hold a special meaning to them.

Jeff and Joe ordered distinctive arrangements for their wedding. They requested white roses be included in the bunch for lost family members.

McKinspry, too, anticipates more business from same-sex couples.

“They are going to increase, because those are people that weren’t marrying in the past,” McKinspry said. “Now that people can come together in a special ceremony to celebrate their unions, I’m sure we’ll see more.”

County Legislative Representative for the 20th district, the town of Oswego, Douglas Malone agrees that we will see a change economically, but he sees a drain, not an influx. Retirement, benefits, insurance and more will cost the state Malone said.

“Sure it’s going to cost the state money,” Malone said. “Just another thing that we have to pay for.”

The state will see a small revenue increase connected to fees collected from filing marriage licenses. But if profits are made, it will be mostly in the private sector. Malone said if anyone will be making money it would be the lawyers in cases of divorce and dealing with children.

Malone said the people of New York should have voted on it. But now that same-sex marriage is in effect he doesn’t see a repeal in the future, though he disagrees with the law and the concept of same-sex marriage in general.

“I’m really sore about it. Period. It’s black and white, there’s no grey area to me,” Malone said.

Marian Holmes, director of communications for the Oswego State Pride Alliance, strongly disagrees. The change will bring money from older, financially established same-sex couples with expendable incomes, but it will also draw out straight couples who may have been waiting on equal rights before they decided tie the knot. Holmes said she doesn’t think the gay couples that have been waiting will spare any expense.

“If they’re going to do it, they’ll probably do it how they always wanted to do it,” Holmes said.

Friends of hers have expressed concern of repeal, Holmes said.

“I just think it’s sad they get to vote on my rights,” Holmes said. “No one else gets their marriage put to a vote.”

For the moment there is no official movement to revert the law in New York, meaning a repeal is unlikely in the foreseeable future. The couples are unwavering in their commitments as well.

“It’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Joe said.

If you are newly engaged and have no idea as to how you want your wedding to be like—or if you do have an idea of your theme, but it’s not fully fledged out yet—perhaps you can help yourself by setting up a mood board of things you like and incorporate those elements into your wedding.

For non-creative or busy types though, if the idea of cutting out magazine pictures or taking photos of what you like and pasting them on a collective board is too much of a hassle, try Pinterest—a social photo sharing website and app that is styled like a vision board. It is sub-divided into themed boards like “Wedding & Events”, “Home Décor”, “Women’s Apparel”, “Food & Drink” and more, so you can ‘pin’ pictures and label them accordingly. You can also see what others have pinned under those categories, and repin those pictures on your own vision board if you like them.

Currently, new users have to request an invite to sign up, which will take about two weeks to process. Once your invite is sent, you can start pinning away! Be forewarned: it is addictive, and you may find yourself spending hours looking at what others have pinned, repinning them, and looking for new images to pin. The pictures on the mood boards are stunning, and they are sure to inspire you, even if you only want a simple wedding. Even if you aren’t getting married, there are plenty of other categories to keep you amused and fascinated.