How I Married Your Mother

Another great US sitcom has drawn to a close, and with it came many surprises! But this is not a review of How I Met Your Mother’s final episode, it is a recap of the beautiful weddings and relationships that made it memorable.

Marshall Eriksen and Lily Aldrin

Lilypad and Marshmallow are one of my all time favourite couples. College sweethearts who are in no way perfect but are absolutely perfect for one another. During the show’s nine seasons we saw them overcome many a fork in the road, but they always chose each other.

At the start of episode 21 ‘Something Borrowed’ in Season 2, Ted says “The wedding you set out to have is almost never the wedding you end up with”, and as the episode goes on, the intimate wedding they wanted turns into a much larger event where many things go wrong, including an ex crashing the wedding, no photographer, late flowers, a trashed veil, a harpist in labour and a groom with a shaven head.

Despite it all, they end up having the intimate outdoor wedding they wanted as they meet at the gardens before the official ceremony, with Barney officiating their first marriage of the afternoon. In a stunning Monique Lhuillier gown, Lily marries Marshall with just their close friends present, the music of an acoustic guitar and words of love in place of written vows.

Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky

The 9^th season of the series (excluding the finale) is a countdown to Barney and Robin’s nuptials, two people who through the series are portrayed as the most unlikely to marry, yet against all odds they do, with the wedding taking place in episode 22 ‘The End of the Aisle’.

Although it’s Barney and Robin’s big day, one of the most inspiring moments comes from Marshall and Lily, when they realise they have broken every vow they made to each other and decide to update them because as Marshall said “wedding vows need to be real commitments”.

“I vow to keep updating them as we go, because one set of vows, it can’t cover a lifetime of growing and changing with you, of raising children with you, falling more and more in love with you every day, which is what I vow to do for the rest of my life.”

Barney is inspired by his friends’ moment and makes only one vow to his wife-to-be: to always be honest with her, and during a ceremony at Long Island’s Farhampton Inn, which sees Robin walk down the aisle in the beautiful Monique Lhuillier ‘Addie’ dress, followed by a ring bear (yes an actual bear), they become man and wife, despite the many twists and turns in the run up to that legendary day.

Ted’s wise words at the end of the episode lingered with me: “None of us can vow to be perfect, in the end all we can do is promise to love each other with everything we’ve got, because love is the best thing we do”.

Ted Mosby and Tracy McConnell (The Mother)

Nine years is quite the build up for one wedding. Throughout the show, viewers patiently waited to meet ‘The Mother’, and with the final season offering many flash forwards to how they fell in love, the finale of the series finally sees Ted marry the woman he searched for all his adult life, the woman of his dreams, his perfect match.

Although Ted and Tracy originally plan a lavish wedding in a 17^th century castle in France, a baby bump changes their plans and the celebration is postponed, but fear not because the episode reveals that seven years and two children later, the couple finally tie the knot in a simple and heart-warming ceremony.

On a Thursday afternoon, the gang gets together at MacLaren’s Pub for pre wedding drinks, and Tracy makes and appearance to capture the moment, looking breathtakingly stunning in her elegant vintage strapless gown. The ceremony takes place during a voiceover from Ted, and I’m certain many hearts skipped beat when he finally kissed his bride.

“It was at times a long, difficult road, but I’m glad it was long and difficult because if I hadn’t gone through hell to get there, the lesson might not have been as clear. You see kids, right from the moment I met your mom, I knew, I have to love this woman as much as I can, for as long as I can and I can never stop loving her not even for a second”.

Kim and Kanye on VOGUE

Kim Kardashian on the cover of Vogue… never thought I would see this day! Not because I believe her to be ‘undeserving’ as many of the twitterati do, but because of the enormous steps American Vogue has taken over the years to distance itself from the reality TV star.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the cover features Kim looking flawless and elegant in a Lanvin strapless wedding gown, her brunette locks styled into an impeccable chignon, with smokey eyes, nude lips, and nothing but her Lorraine Schwartz designed 15-carat diamond engagement ring as an accessory.

Kim is the epitome of a Vogue cover girl with fiancé Kanye West tenderly wrapping his arms around her. Vogue readers may not deem her lifestyle worthy but for the purpose of this cover, she certainly looks the part.

As Vogue readers and fashionistas everywhere are voicing their outrage about Anna Wintour’s controversial choice, I applaud the distinguished editor, for keeping up with the times (no pun intended). I especially admire how she has, from the get go, stood her ground regarding this decision, made with complete awareness of the reaction it would cause.

In the Editor’s letter, she not only acknowledges the social and cultural effect of the West-Kardashian relationship, but claims responsibility for her choice as her own, squashing the rumours that Kanye West used his friendship with her to obtain this high fashion honour for his beloved.

“Part of the pleasure of editing Vogue, one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it. I think we can all agree on the fact that that role is currently being played by Kim and Kanye to a T. (Or perhaps that should be to a K?)

As for the cover, my opinion is that it is both charming and touching, and it was, I should add, entirely our idea to do it; you may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancée on Vogue’s cover. He did nothing of the sort. The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn’t true.

There’s barely a strand of the modern media that the Kardashian Wests haven’t been able to master, and for good reason: Kanye is an amazing performer and cultural provocateur, while Kim, through her strength of character, has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight, and it takes real guts to do that.”

Truth be told I enjoy watching KUWTK, it doesn’t add any intellectual value to my life but it sure is entertaining, and everyone likes a little escapism every once in a while, regardless of its shape or form.

Kim Kardashian may have began her career with an X-rated tape but has since worked hard and tirelessly to build herself an empire in the spotlight, and that has a lot of merit. She has had more than her fair share of 15 minutes of fame, and considering the uphill battle she has faced to get the renowned Editor's ultimate seal of approval, these will be ones she will certainly enjoy. Well done Kim, you are living proof that against all odds, dreams do come true.

Mrs Kelly Clarkson Blackstock

Huge congratulations to Kelly Clarkson, the original (and most loved) American Idol, who on October 20th, tied the knot to fiancé Brandon Blackstock!

The happy couple celebrated their nuptials with a romantic and intimate country rustic wedding at Blackberry Farms in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

The bride donned the beautiful Jessamine dress from Temperley Bridal’s Iris collection, and accessorized her stunning lace gown with a headband from Maria Elena Headpieces and a bouquet of Sunflowers and Bluebonnets.

During her engagement shoot earlier this year, Kelly stunned in creations from Marchesa and Monique Lhuillier, and it was clear from those pictures that the wedding was going to be a beautiful and romantic affair.

Kelly and Brandon kept the details of the wedding preparations very much under wrap, and although at one point they had thought about a big wedding, they instead opted to elope, in the hopes of maintaining the intimacy of the day intact.

Kelly then shared a short but sweet video of her big day, allowing her fans to share their love and joy...

The American songbird and her talent manager husband got engaged last December, after which Kelly proudly shared her yellow canary diamond sparkler with a few extra diamonds around it, for good measure. Talk about a gorgeous ring.

And even though she didn’t have a big wedding, she certainly made sure not to miss out on the bridal experience. Back in July she tweeted an absolutely stunning photo from her engagement shoot, in which she looks absolutely angelic, even a little like a princess, one might say.

Shortly after, in August, Kelly tweeted another shot from the engagement photo shoot, this one a romantic embrace with her soon to be hubby.

And if the stunning pre-wedding photography wasn’t enough, she even released a song about getting hitched. Her video for Tie It Up was released last August and is a feel-good country blues tune that every bride-to-be will love.

Congrats again to the blushing bride and groom!

All the best, Gaby xXx

Happy Anniversary Brett & Kate

Kate Voegele is one of my favourite artists. I have been a fan since seeing her on One Tree Hill and her rendition of Hallelujah is my favourite version of that beautiful song.

So naturally on this, the first anniversary of her wedding to Lacrosse player Brett Hughes, I’d like to say congratulations on finding your soul mate and I hope you two have many more happy years and adventures together!

On this day last year, Kate’s hubby-to-be tweeted “My best friend and I got some stuff to take care of today!”, to which she responded “let’s do this!!! :)”.

And earlier today she shared this lovely snap of their wedding day last year in New Orleans, with the caption “1 yr ago I married my best friend in my favourite city! Great to be in Nola again! Happy anniversary @Bret_Hughes!”.

But Kate isn’t the only one who brags about her other half. In an interview last January with I AM THAT GIRL, when asked to share about a girl in his life who rocked, Brett said “It would be very easy to say my wife Kate Voegele as she is the girl that rocks me every day with her amazing heart for others. She’s the most humble and honest person I know and the girl that puts up with me day in and day out.” Awwwww!

Here are a couple more pictures of the happy couple’s big day, courtesy of Kate’s website:

All the best, Gaby xXx