Latest news with #elopement
New York Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
For a Unique Venue, Look No Further Than Your Childhood Home
Alma Carolina de Leon and David Gonzalez got engaged in May 2023, but it took them about a year to figure out how they would celebrate their nuptials. Finances were a primary concern. 'Weddings are very expensive nowadays,' said Ms. de Leon, a brand manager at Meriton, a network of HVAC companies. Ms. de Leon, 29, and Mr. Gonzalez, 31, a project manager for CORE Construction in Frisco, Texas, ultimately decided on a private elopement ceremony on June 5 in Santorini, Greece, followed by a honeymoon. But before that trip, the couple, both from Dallas, hosted a 70-person celebration for family and friends on May 17 in the backyard of Mr. Gonzalez's childhood home in Fort Worth, Texas. The couple incorporated several traditional wedding elements into the gathering, including bridesmaids and groomsmen dressed in coordinated attire. They even hired a mariachi band in a nod to their shared Mexican heritage. 'We couldn't stop talking on our honeymoon about how much we loved what we did,' Ms. de Leon said. Home weddings and celebrations have a long history in the United States, dating back to colonial days, when they were the most practical option. 'People were very spread out,' said Nick Leighton, a creator of the weekly etiquette podcast 'Were You Raised by Wolves?' 'There wasn't a church in your town necessarily. There weren't catering halls.' By the turn of the last century, couples began to have weddings elsewhere, Mr. Leighton said, though at-home receptions were still taking place. He noted that home weddings rose in popularity during World War II, as well as during cultural shifts in the late 1960s and into the '70s and, most recently, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides the ability to save money, one perk of marrying at home, or at your childhood home, is that the venue is unique. No one else, except for maybe other family members, will be able to say they were married there, said Hovik Harutyunyan, the founder of Harutyunyan Events in Beverly Hills, Calif. Hailey Hanks, 30, wanted to prioritize individuality when she married Drew Hanks, 31, a filmmaker and television writer, in her childhood backyard in Richland, Wash., on Sept. 14, 2024. 'There's so much sameness within the wedding industry,' said Ms. Hanks, a Los Angeles-based postproduction coordinator for the sitcom 'Bob's Burgers.' 'This memory is for our family and our friends and for my husband and I, and it will never be replicated,' she added. Sydney Stephens and Giovanni Lagnerini, both 25 and from Charleston, S.C., hosted a 150-person wedding on June 28 at Ms. Stephens's childhood home, a working farm in Wytheville, Va. 'When it came down to it, I was like, 'I can't imagine doing it anywhere else,'' said Ms. Stephens, the senior social media coordinator for Beyond Yoga, which is based in Los Angeles. 'It just has so much sentimental value.' Like many parents preparing to host a child's wedding at home, Ms. Stephens's mother and father used the celebration as an opportunity to check off household projects from their to-do list. 'They really put in so much effort and energy,' Ms. Stephens said. Being able to easily go back to visit the site where your celebration took place is another benefit of taking the at-home approach. 'We'll be able to bring our kids and be like, 'Hey, look, this is actually where we got married —in this backyard,' Mr. Gonzalez said of their wedding there. 'And so it allows it to be a lot more intimate than your traditional wedding.' Hosting a wedding at home, however, will require significant organization, wedding planners say, and it may not always save couples money. 'You just need so much infrastructure that a traditional venue would've already provided you,' said Kate Reavey, the owner of Cygnet Events and Design in Chicago. She cited key factors to consider, including landscaping, neighborhood noise constraints, bathrooms, electricity, climate control, vendor vehicles and parking attendants. And then, of course, there are the tables and chairs to rent, along with food catering and other expenses. A tent with electricity, including an additional catering pop-up tent, might cost as much as $20,000 to rent, while a dance floor could run $4,000 and a restroom trailer could be $5,000, according to Ms. Reavey. Ms. de Leon and Mr. Gonzalez spent around $9,000 on their backyard reception, which included renting restroom trailers. Hosts must also establish backup plans in the event of bad weather. 'We are always going to require a tent if we're doing a wedding at home, even if they don't use it,' Ms. Reavey said of her Chicago-area celebrations. On the wedding day, it's important that guests treat the home with respect — ideally not entering it at all, given that it isn't a commercial space, she said. 'Even if you have a really close relationship to the property, making sure you know what the boundaries are for the event to help everything go smoothly is really crucial,' Ms. Reavey said. Couples whose families aren't up for the hosting challenge — or those who have already been eyeing an outside venue — can still find ways to integrate their childhood home into their wedding. Mary Kate Fallon and Sam Keenan, both 33, decided to marry on Nov. 2, 2024, at St. Gregory Parish in Boston. Ms. Fallon's parents and maternal grandparents, as well as Mr. Keenan's parents, had all wed there. The couple held their reception at a nearby restaurant, Venezia. To minimize logistical concerns, Ms. Fallon, a writer living in Washington, D.C., decided that she and her four bridesmaids would get ready at her parents' house in Braintree, Mass. 'We all slept over here the night before the wedding, which was so fun, like an old-school sleepover,' Ms. Fallon said. 'One of my bridesmaids was painting her toenails in my childhood bedroom.'
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Conjoined twin Carmen Andrade elopes with boyfriend of four years
Conjoined twin Carmen Andrade has eloped with her boyfriend of four years. She has revealed she married Daniel McCormack in front of their families on Lover's Leap Bridge in New Milford, Connecticut. Carmen - who is a conjoined twin with sister Lupita Andrade - announced the news quietly at the end of a YouTube video titled Overdue Update! 'We should probably also address something else pretty big,' Carmen said in the clip. 'I did get married.' The bride, 25, then flashed her wedding ring and laughed when Daniel came into view, proclaiming: 'I got an upgrade. I'm the husband now.' Daniel, 28, explained that the wedding was a 'small get-together' with 'local family' only - rather than extending the invite wider. 'I don't like those weddings where they invite like the third cousin twice removed,' he said. 'I'm sorry, but great uncle Patrick, whom I haven't seen since I was three, you're not worth a f***ing seat at my table, I'm sorry.' Carmen added: ''It was very pretty. It was in autumn, which made it even prettier.' The content creator then shed some insight about her wedding dress - which she wore alongside her sister. 'I did not wear white. Don't regret it. I don't like white. Not my thing,' she explained. The twin instead decided to wear a long, sparkling emerald gown on her special day. Pictures flashed on the screen as they chatted about the wedding, showing the couple side by side at their outdoor venue. Daniel was dressed in a classic tuxedo and a dark green bowtie to match his bride's shimmering gown. Carmen also made sure to clarify who actually got married in October. 'Before anybody gets it twisted: We got married,' Carmen said, pointing to herself and Daniel. 'But we did not get married,' she added, then including her conjoined sister. The pair met on dating app Hinge in 2020. The newlyweds are now trying to win America's Favorite Couple contest, for which they are in ninth place. Lupita identifies as asexual and said: 'I don't want to get married... because I don't want to.' Before meeting Daniel, Carmen said dating was a 'learning process for everybody.' The sisters previously claimed they have often been inappropriately 'fetishized' over the idea that someone is 'having sex with two people at once.' The Mexico-born twins, who have lived in Connecticut since they were two years old, are attached along their chest walls down to their pelvis, where their spines meet. They have two arms, but only a single leg each, with Carmen controlling the right leg and Lupita the left. The sisters were only expected to survive for three days after they were born in 2001. They were told their separation could result in their death or years of intensive care, so they chose to stay together and have expertly adapted to living life with one another. Both women don't see themselves as disabled either - after admitting that it is only 'a disability if you make it a disability.' When Lupita and Carmen were young, they spent years in physical therapy learning how to sit up and work together to use their legs, and when they were four years old, they took their first steps together.
South China Morning Post
09-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
Indian dad, 55, elopes with son's fiancée, 22, and takes off with family cash and gold.
A father of six from northern India has eloped with the fiancée of his teenage son and taken off with the family's gold and cash. Advertisement Shakeel, 55, from Uttar Pradesh, is also a grandfather of three. According to the local media outlet NDTV, he had arranged for his 15-year-old son Aman to marry Ayesha, a young woman from a nearby village. His family initially opposed the engagement for financial reasons, but Shakeel pushed ahead with the plan. Shakeel, left, fled to Delhi with his daughter-in-law-to-be Ayesha, tearing his family apart. Photo: handout The 22-year-old Ayesha was described as gentle and sweet, and Shakeel often visited her home under the pretence of arranging his son's wedding.
Irish Times
23-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Ireland's niche tour guides: Holidays for foodies, newlyweds and baby-boomers
For US couple Mollie Lyons and Ryan McGrady, hopping from one microbrewery to the next while on a tailored bus tour offered a perfect opportunity to elope. The Pennsylvanians wed overlooking Dunquin pier in Co Kerry , with their parents as the only guests. They poured pints in Páidí Ó Sé's pub and celebrated in 'some of Dingle's finest establishments afterwards over a three-day tour', Mia Tobin recalls of what was, for her, a standout trip in April. It is not the only quirky story that Tobin of Brewery Hops shares with The Irish Times. Her firm is but one of a proliferation of small-bus tour companies established over recent years that offer visitors a more intimate, experiential and tailor-made holiday in Ireland. A windy wedding: Mollie Lyons, Ryan McGrady and tour guide Mia Tobin at Dunquin. With the Central Statistics Office tourism numbers pointing to a continuing decline in inbound visitors, some operators are seeking to stay ahead in a toughening climate by operating in a niche market. READ MORE Such companies provide a welcome addition to the tourism sector's portfolio of guided holidays, according to Fáilte Ireland and, it says, 'they complement rather than compete with larger coach operators, offering diversity in the market and helping to increase dwell-time in destinations'. 'The growth of boutique tours reflects evolving visitor preferences for more immersive tours and often appeal to culturally curious travellers seeking authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences,' says Paul Keeley, director of regional development, Fáilte Ireland. For Tobin, the quirkiness of these smaller tour groups has included couples getting engaged and old college friends enjoying reunions. She is a Tipperary native and became smitten by the potential of a tourism career while working for a tour company in the wilds of the Yukon in northern Canada. 'By the time I came back home, I had decided to leave the corporate world and never wear a suit again,' she says. Tobin started working with Vagabond Tours in Co Wicklow in 2011 and stayed with them for seven seasons while slowly developing Brewery Hops and going full-time in 2018. 'My customers are mostly couples and friends from North America, typically aged from 40 to 70, culturally curious and with a love of food and drink,' she says. 'They are happy to get off the beaten tour track to meet the local producer and taste their craft produce.' However, day-to-day issues such as rising fuel and accommodation costs, and even the closure of many cafes and restaurants on Mondays and Tuesdays, can cause challenges, she says. Parking can prove difficult depending on the area, while 'Kerry welcomes buses, you are fined in Galway city if you stay over an hour'. Larry Coady, of Anam Croí, talks about Charles Fort at Kinsale Harbour. It was during Covid that Tobin's former colleague at Vagabond Tours, Larry Coady, who had worked as the company's general manager, began to develop his small tours concept, Anam Croí. After being laid off during Covid 'the seed germinated' for his business, which began in 2022 and offers tours for a maximum of 13 people. 'Many of our clients are pretty seasoned travellers. They may have previously done coach tours and are now looking for a more personal experience.' He says 'accessibility to places, unreachable by big coaches, allows [them] to reach some hidden gems while avoiding the crowds at major visitor attractions'. Like with many small tour groups, the majority of Anam Croí's clients are North American and Australian, with 'baby boomers' – people born between 1946 to 1964 – encompassing the main age profile. A group on an Anam Croí tour 'People are increasingly attracted by our scenery as well as the culture, heritage and, of course, the people. Most are pleasantly surprised and blown away by the high quality and freshness of our food,' he says. Discovering familial roots remains a factor, albeit one that is tapering off, Coady says. Rob Rankin's Vagabond Tours has a fleet of 25 small buses on the road When Scottish native Rob Rankin started Vagabond Tours with one Land Rover pulling a trailer in 2002, his friends thought he was mad. Today, Vagabond and Driftwood Tours, based in Greystones, has a fleet of 25 small buses on the road. 'We were the first multi-activity adventure tour company here, blending the outdoors with culture and history as part of a scheduled experience,' Rankin says. He says Vagabond's pioneering concept had led to at least 10 of his former guides having started their own specialised bus tour companies, with a good working relationship with all of them. 'When we started out in 2002, there was very little infrastructure here for outdoor leisure activities. There were no greenways, no bike-hire companies, for example. While land access for hiking can still be a problem, Fáilte Ireland has done really good work over recent years,' he says. He stresses that 'farmers have every right to protect their lands and not be exposed to insurance claims', but that 'more marked trails would, on the other hand, be insured by government and provide an important educational resource for these tour companies'. Rankin says the 'essence of what people want has not changed much since we started. They are still looking for an authentic and quality experience of Ireland, with a relaxed social element'. All three operators are happy to confirm the Trump factor has not been an issue to date 'fingers crossed'. Although tellingly, Tobin says, 'return guests who want to come back next year have said their equity in stocks has plummeted, which is the fund for the Ireland trip'. 'If there is a large economic recession in the US, we will certainly feel the repercussions in tourism in 2026,' she says.
CBS News
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Couple elope at Chickie's & Pete's in Northeast Philadelphia: "It's about who you're with"
Crab fries, crab legs and true love set the stage for the elopement of newlyweds Heather Hanson and Eric Ghegan. Instead of going with a traditional wedding, they opted for a venue near and dear to their hearts: Chickie's & Pete's on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia. The source of inspiration for the couple? They said it was their desire for a personal, intimate wedding amid rising costs. "It's not about how much money you spend or how big the party is, it's about who you're with," Hanson said. Chickie's & Pete's is a Philadelphia-based restaurant and bar known for its "Crab fries." The restaurant serves as a fan hub, especially for Philly sports fans on game days. But on a fateful Saturday night, a booth turned into a wedding venue. Chickie's & Pete's "Growing up, I never thought my wedding would be at a local restaurant. Every girl wants that big fairytale wedding, but it was absolutely beautiful. They made it feel so special," Hanson said. The newlyweds grew up as best friends and officially began dating following Ghegan's time in the Army. "It ended up lining up. We hit it off. We actually went to Chickie's & Pete's straight from the airport ... it's like he never left," Hanson said. The whole elopement was captured on video, racking up thousands of supportive comments. Some big-name witnesses even made an appearance on the day. Heather Hanson "So, the original Pete's grandson, Pete, and the GM — they were all so excited and so enthusiastic when we told them they had to sign our stuff. Obviously, they had never done that before," Hanson said. The elopement will forever live on in Chickie's & Pete's history — photos of the milestone will hang on a wall inside the restaurant. "I recommend everyone do it because it was a good time, it really was," Ghegan said. CBS News Philadelphia intern Sydney-Leigh Brockington contributed to this story.
