Defying Gravity: Couple has First "Weightless" Wedding

A New York couple got married June 20 while floating upside down alongside their family and friends in an aircraft soaring above Florida. The unconventional event was made possible by Zero G Corporation, a company that makes zero gravity accessible to the public. According to a press release, the couple, Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan, wannabe astronauts that always had an obsession with space. “When we started talking about marriage, Noah joked that we should have our wedding ‘in space,’” said Erin as quoted in the press release. “Although most girls would take this to mean Noah didn’t want to get married, I knew he was sincere, and that this was a serious request.”

The couple turned to Zero G who made their dreams come true. The aircraft the couple were married in consisted of a zero gravity “playroom” with padded floors, walls and a video camera to capture all the interesting hijinks. In fact, the couple plan to broadcast their marriage on their website.

Zero G can host other things besides weddings, too. Can you imagine a weightless proposal? Of course, you’ll have to figure out a way to explain to your girlfriend why you’re dragging her into an anti-gravity aircraft. But still, it’s something to think about…

Engagement 101 at Pandora’s Pink Tea Event

Engagement 101 was invited to Pandora’s Pink Tea Event here in New York City on June 11. Pandora is a Danish jewelry company known for its famous charm bracelets, so we were excited to attend yet another event hosted by them (we also attended the grand opening of their new store in Vegas). While at the event we learned plenty about Pandora and were also given one of their charm bracelets! The Pandora charm bracelet comes in silver, gold, leather and even wood. There are more than 400 charms to choose from and they make excellent bridesmaid gifts. In fact, they just released a new bridal charm (pictured below). Check out the rest of the pictures from the event:

Real Couple: Dez and John

Take a look at these gorgeous shots taken by Boston photographer Lisa Rigby. The photos were taken at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., which prove it’s OK to take engagement shots at untraditional locations. According to Lisa’s blog, the couple chose to have the pictures at the museum since it’s where John proposed.

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The USB Engagement Ring

Came across this photo of a USB engagement ring made out of Swarovski crystals. My first reaction was, “Hmm, a little lame.” But after toiling with the idea for a bit, I realized the idea is actually kind of sweet.

The USB engagement ring, like the average flash drive, plugs into any computer and can hold photos, music, files, etc. I guess if a guy was giving this to his girlfriend he could fill it with photos of them together, romantic music or badly written poetry. But aren’t engagement rings supposed to last forever? Technology evolves so fast; so what happens when USB flash drives are no longer relevant? That’s like walking around with a floppy disk dangling around your neck. How embarrassing.

Love and Dating Blogs for Guys

A few days ago I was put on a project to find relationship blogs targeted toward men. I assumed the task sounded easy enough, and right away I started digging through Google for blogs for guys.

Unfortunately, the search turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. Of course, the most obvious mistake I made in my search was looking for “relationship” blogs. Whether the guy is in a relationship or not, that word seems to act as some kind of repellent of some sort. So even though it might be the same content, if it’s targeted toward men it’s hidden under the veil of “love, dating or sex.”

OK, so that was my mistake. I’ll admit that. So I started searching for “love/dating” blogs for guys. The results? Tacky, cheap blogs (some that haven’t been updated in months, years) all targeted to “how to get the girl.” These blogs seemed more interested in landing the hot chick, how to be a ladies man and how to talk to girls if you’re an unattractive, socially awkward loser. Most of these sites and blogs also sold eBooks, which meant if you were actually interested in learning the 10 dating tips you would need to know to date Megan Fox, you would have to pay $19.99 for it.

So my question is: Why is there no good love/dating blogs for guys? I found a few nice ones on my hunt (I’m keeping those a secret for now), but they don’t seem to have a large audience. I guess I don’t really have much to say about the matter; I just think it’s strange is all. Anyone here know of any relationship blogs targeted to just men and men only?

Tall Women/Short Men Relationships

The Huffington Post has a photo slideshow of famous tall woman/short man Hollywood couples. Included in the feature is Mick Jagger and designer L’Wren Scott, Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupree, and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The feature ignites the age-old question: Would you ever date a guy shorter than you?

The whole stigma of short men seems to come from years of outdated advice that gets passed along to women since they were young girls. When you start dating men you have to look for these key things: They have to be slightly older than you, they have to be taller/larger than you, and they can’t be more attractive than you. So whenever someone finds themselves in a situation that goes against the nifty check list, suddenly there’s a sense of uneasiness.

My dad used to always make it a big deal that he’s two years younger than my mom. Two! “Your mother was robbing the cradle,” he used to joke (much to my mother’s annoyance). But is it really that big of a deal? I mean, so what?

Note: I tried looking for some tall woman/short man wedding photos and couldn’t find any. Hmph!

Is there anyone here in a relationship like this or similar?

Free concierge service means you’ll never have to buy an engagement ring alone

The grand ‘ol debate around these parts is who should buy the engagement ring. It seems most women are frightened at the idea of their boyfriend being left alone in a jewelry store, but luckily, jewelry designer Ritani just launched something that should put those worrisome thoughts to rest. Their recently launched free concierge service allows guys to poll their friends and family over what ring they think is best.

Using the jewelry poll is easy. Once you set up an account, simply add rings into the Wishlist, which is emailed to friends and family. They can then rank which rings they like and which rings they really like.

Other features included in the concierge service are eCards. If you want to give your fiance a hint, simply add rings you like and the eCard will arrange them into a photo slideshow for your future fiance to browse. You can also create a quiz about yourself using the Treasure Chest, browse the Interactive Jewelry Guide, play the Wheel of Jewelry game, and Ritani Solitaire. Isn’t technology grand?

Cities where women outnumber men have low proposal rates

According to a research conducted at The University of Michigan, places where women outnumber men have low marriage rates. The reason? The overabundance of women help young men feel less pressure to settle down since there are so many women fighting over them. In a podcast with researcher Daniel Kruger he mentions how in the early Middle Ages, when men outnumbered women, men had to step up their game to woo women. He also mentions the “southern belle” era of the 19th century where women were expected to be chased and “won,” while the men were expected to take care of them.

Obviously a lot has changed since then, and if we fast forward through the baby boom and the feminist movement of the ’70s we have a very different modern equation. But not all is lost. The research showed that older men are more likely to settle down regardless of the ratio between men and women. Kruger explains this is because women subconsciously look for men with good physical genes. As men get older and they start losing their looks, there is more pressure to settle down and get married.

In a way, this new scientific revelation isn’t much of a revelation at all. Everyone always says finding love in the big city is daunting. Plus, it’s not just men who are waiting later to get married. So what exactly does this information mean? What kind of action needs to take place? Should everyone pack up their stuff and move to the sticks in hopes they’re the only female there? What do you guys think?

A-Rod’s Many Romances: Who was the best?

The rumor mill is constantly spinning about baseball player Alex Rodriguez’s various Hollywood hookups. But from pop legend Madonna to romantic comedy sweetheart Kate Hudson, being linked to A-Rod seems to be the only thing they all have in common. But the most important question amongst all this is…who is your favorite? Because I know that’s what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about it right now, aren’t you? Well, to make your decision easier, we decided to use super scientific data to produce this handy table below. So which one will it be? Power driven Madonna, sarcastic Bethenny from The Real Housewives of New York City, or bohemian Kate Hudson? Find out below!

	Madonna	Bethenny Frankel	Kate Hudson
Age	50	38	30
Most known for…	Singing, adopting babies and getting divorced.	Writing the book Naturally Thin and participating in a famous fight with Kelly Bensimon on Real Housewives.	Starring in similar romantic comedies alongside Matthew McConaughey.
Personality Pluses	Outspoken, intelligent, powerful and assertive. Guy Richie wasn’t called Mr. Madonna for nothing!	Her dry, sarcastic humor was a much needed relief to the rest of the Housewives cast.	Was amazing in her debut film Almost Famous and is a Hollywood offspring.
Personal Style	This well-toned mom has a penchant for leotards.	The naturally skinny lady is often found in jeans and tees or simple cocktail dresses.	Bohemian all the way — flow-y shirts and skirts.
Overall rating	7	8	6
		Winner!

Who do you think is the deserving winner?

Guys vs. Girls: Jewelry Market Week RECAP

So I know we’ve been hyping our trip to Vegas for weeks and we’ve been entertaining you with our live reports from the trade shows, but now that’s it all over I gotta say…I’m happy to be back. Although Vegas, being the thriving city of many vices, was the perfect backdrop for a week-long adventure, our time covering Jewelry Market Week was informative yet exhausting. After all, what do you expect with a convention hall full of jet lagged citizens?

But flying across the country every year isn’t just our excuse to go to Vegas. Jewelry Market Week is our chance to report on all the latest trends, the hottest products and the best deals for engaged couples that we later share in our print magazine and online. So really, it’s all about you.

But a big part of what we learned from this year’s event was how relatively preserved the industry is. Couples don’t stop getting engaged, and regardless of which direction the stock market is going, couples are still going to shop for a ring that’s perfect for them and fits within their means.

In addition to all the trends we saw and all the events we attended, another astonishing thing we noticed was a solid male mentality about proposals. We never got around to writing about it before, but every male we interviewed was 100 percent against shopping for an engagement ring together. They all agreed that guys could shop for the ring alone. Of course, the women 100 percent disagreed. They said a couple should shop for the ring together. Hmm, an interesting conundrum indeed. And an interesting way to conclude Vegas. Men. vs. Women. Which one do you agree with?