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Joy

Newlyweds are getting a lot of love for their beautiful $500 wedding. Here's how they did it.

They focused on what really matters.

affordable weddings, wedding tiktok, kiara brokenbrough

A couple exchanges wedding rings.

Having a big, expensive wedding seems like the worst way for a young couple to start their lives together. For those who get mommy and daddy to foot the bill, no problem. But in the U.S., 28% of couples reported going into debt when paying for their weddings and the average celebration costs $29,200.

“It’s one of those life events that’s really tied to emotion, to your values, what’s important to you,” researcher Elyssa Kirkham told CNBC. ”[People are] willing to take on debt and do that trade-off if it means they can get closer to achieving their dream.”

Kiara Brokenbrough and her new husband Joe have received a lot of attention recently because they bucked the trend and had a beautiful wedding for just $500. The wonderful thing about the celebration is that its focus was on the couple and those who love them.

"You have a wedding, with witnesses there to witness you, vowing to your spouse, vowing to God that you guys are going to stay together for life," Kiara told “Good Morning America." ”And then you celebrate with food, drinks and dance. And that's exactly what we did."


​After trying on a few $1,500 dresses at a traditional wedding shop, Kiara decided to save some money by purchasing a dress for $47 at Shein, an affordable online fashion store. She revealed her money-saving decision in a TikTok video that went viral.

@kiarabrk

Reply to @maalikaelise dress included! $47 on @SHEIN 🤩🤩 #weddingtiktok #weddingdress #cheapwedding #blackbride

The dress impressed a TikTok user named Kristen. “I be tryna tell yall cost of things don’t matter. It’s how you put it together and wear it. AND BABYYYYY YOU PUT IT TOGETHER AND WORE IT,” she commented on the video.

The couple also cut costs by having the runner and flowers donated by her family. As for the venue, they chose a free location overlooking the ocean on the California coast. "Our goal was to just be as minimal as possible," Kiara told “Good Morning America." "And to spend the least amount of money as possible."

The Brokenbroughs saved money on the reception by having guests pay for their food and drinks. "The people we have there, they understood the assignment, they understood the things that we were trying to do, and they really supported us," said Kiara.

The Brokenbroughs’ decision to have an affordable wedding to start their relationship on a good financial footing was an incredibly savvy move and according to research, it could bode well for the couple’s future.

The most recent study on how wedding spending correlates with a couple's longevity was done in 2014 and found that "marriage duration is inversely associated with spending on the engagement ring and wedding ceremony."

If the research still holds up, the Brokenbroughs’ attitudes toward finances could be a predictor of a long and happy marriage.

“It could be that the type of couples who have (an affordable wedding) are the type that are a perfect match for each other,” one of the study’s authors, Hugo M. Mialon told CNN. “Or it could be that having an inexpensive wedding relieves young couples of financial burdens that may strain their marriage,” he added.

Sponsored

3 organic recipes that feed a family of 4 for under $7 a serving

O Organics is the rare brand that provides high-quality food at affordable prices.

A woman cooking up a nice pot of pasta.

Over the past few years, rising supermarket prices have forced many families to make compromises on ingredient quality when shopping for meals. A recent study published by Supermarket News found that 41% of families with children were more likely to switch to lower-quality groceries to deal with inflation.

By comparison, 29% of people without children have switched to lower-quality groceries to cope with rising prices.

Despite the current rising costs of groceries, O Organics has enabled families to consistently enjoy high-quality, organic meals at affordable prices for nearly two decades. With a focus on great taste and health, O Organics offers an extensive range of options for budget-conscious consumers.

O Organics launched in 2005 with 150 USDA Certified Organic products but now offers over 1,500 items, from organic fresh fruits and vegetables to organic dairy and meats, organic cage-free certified eggs, organic snacks, organic baby food and more. This gives families the ability to make a broader range of recipes featuring organic ingredients than ever before.


“We believe every customer should have access to affordable, organic options that support healthy lifestyles and diverse shopping preferences,” shared Jennifer Saenz, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer at Albertsons, one of many stores where you can find O Organics products. “Over the years, we have made organic foods more accessible by expanding O Organics to every aisle across our stores, making it possible for health and budget-conscious families to incorporate organic food into every meal.”

With some help from our friends at O Organics, Upworthy looked at the vast array of products available at our local store and created some tasty, affordable and healthy meals.

Here are 3 meals for a family of 4 that cost $7 and under, per serving. (Note: prices may vary by location and are calculated before sales tax.)

O Organic’s Tacos and Refried Beans ($6.41 Per Serving)

Few dishes can make a family rush to the dinner table quite like tacos. Here’s a healthy and affordable way to spice up your family’s Taco Tuesdays.

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 22 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of O Organics Grass Fed Ground Beef ($7.99)

1 packet O Organics Taco Seasoning ($2.29)

O Organics Mexican-Style Cheese Blend Cheese ($4.79)

O Organics Chunky Salsa ($3.99)

O Organics Taco Shells ($4.29)

1 can of O Organics Refried Beans ($2.29)

Instructions:

1. Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until thoroughly browned; remove any excess grease.

2. Add 1 packet of taco seasoning to beef along with water [and cook as directed].

3. Add taco meat to the shell, top with cheese and salsa as desired.

4. Heat refried beans in a saucepan until cooked through, serve alongside tacos, top with cheese.

tacos, o organics, family recipesO Organics Mexican-style blend cheese.via O Organics

O Organics Hamburger Stew ($4.53 Per Serving)

Busy parents will love this recipe that allows them to prep in the morning and then serve a delicious, slow-cooked stew after work.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 7 hours

Total time: 7 hours 15 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb of O Organics Grass Fed Ground Beef ($7.99)

1 ½ lbs O Organics Gold Potatoes ($4.49)

3 O Organics Carrots ($2.89)

1 tsp onion powder

I can O Organics Tomato Paste ($1.25)

2 cups water

1 yellow onion diced ($1.00)

1 clove garlic ($.50)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp Italian seasoning or oregano

Instructions:

1. Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until thoroughly browned; remove any excess grease.

2. Transfer the cooked beef to a slow cooker with the potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic.

3. Mix the tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, onion powder and Italian seasoning in a separate bowl.

4. Drizzle the mixed sauce over the ingredients in the slow cooker and mix thoroughly.

5. Cover the slow cooker with its lid and set it on low for 7 to 8 hours, or until the potatoes are soft. Dish out into bowls and enjoy!

potatoes, o organics, hamburger stewO Organics baby gold potatoes.via O Organics


O Organics Ground Beef and Pasta Skillet ($4.32 Per Serving)

This one-pan dish is for all Italian lovers who are looking for a saucy, cheesy, and full-flavored comfort dish that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Total time: 27 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb of O Organics Grass Fed Ground Beef ($7.99)

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 can O Organics Diced Tomatoes ($2.00)

1 can O Organics Tomato Sauce ($2.29)

1 tbsp O Organics Tomato Paste ($1.25)

2 1/4 cups water

2 cups O Organics Rotini Pasta ($3.29)

1 cup O Organics Mozzarella cheese ($4.79)

Instructions:

1. Brown ground beef in a skillet, breaking it up as it cooks.

2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder

3. Add tomato paste, sauce and diced tomatoes to the skillet. Stir in water and bring to a light boil.

4. Add pasta to the skillet, ensuring it is well coated. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the lid, sprinkle with cheese and allow it to cool.

o organics, tomato basil pasta sauce, olive oilO Organics tomato basil pasta sauce and extra virgin olive oil.via O Organics

Our home, from space.



Sixty-one years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to make it into space and probably the first to experience what scientists now call the "overview effect." This change occurs when people see the world from far above and notice that it’s a place where “borders are invisible, where racial, religious and economic strife are nowhere to be seen.”

The overview effect makes man’s squabbles with one another seem incredibly petty and presents the planet as it truly is, one interconnected organism.


In a compelling interview with Big Think, astronaut, author and humanitarian Ron Garan explains how if more of us developed this planetary perspective we could fix much of what ails humanity and the planet.

Garan has spent 178 days in space and traveled more than 71 million miles in 2,842 orbits. From high above, he realized that the planet is a lot more fragile than he thought.

“When I looked out the window of the International Space Station, I saw the paparazzi-like flashes of lightning storms, I saw dancing curtains of auroras that seemed so close it was as if we could reach out and touch them. And I saw the unbelievable thinness of our planet's atmosphere. In that moment, I was hit with the sobering realization that that paper-thin layer keeps every living thing on our planet alive,” Garan said in the video.

“I saw an iridescent biosphere teeming with life,” he continues. “I didn't see the economy. But since our human-made systems treat everything, including the very life-support systems of our planet, as the wholly owned subsidiary of the global economy, it's obvious from the vantage point of space that we're living a lie.”

It was at that moment he realized that humanity needs to reevaluate its priorities.

“We need to move from thinking economy, society, planet to planet, society, economy. That's when we're going to continue our evolutionary process,” he added.

Garan says that we are paying a very “high price” as a civilization for our inability to develop a more planetary perspective and that it’s a big reason why we’re failing to solve many of our problems. Even though our economic activity may improve quality of life on one end, it’s also disasterous for the planet that sustains our lives.

It’s like cutting off our nose to spite our face.

Actor William Shatner had a similar experience to Garan's when he traveled into space.

"It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered," Shatner wrote. "The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna … things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind."

“We're not going to have peace on Earth until we recognize the basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality,” Garan said.

However dire the situation looks from the surface of Earth, the astronaut has hope that we can collectively evolve in consciousness and wake up and embrace a larger reality. “And when we can evolve beyond a two-dimensional us versus them mindset, and embrace the true multi-dimensional reality of the universe that we live in, that's when we're going to no longer be floating in darkness … and it's a future that we would all want to be a part of. That's our true calling.”


This article originally appeared on 12.16.22

Images provided by P&G

Three winners will be selected to receive $1000 donated to the charity of their choice.

True

Doing good is its own reward, but sometimes recognizing these acts of kindness helps bring even more good into the world. That’s why we’re excited to partner with P&G again on the #ActsOfGood Awards.

The #ActsOfGood Awards recognize individuals who actively support their communities. It could be a rockstar volunteer, an amazing community leader, or someone who shows up for others in special ways.

Do you know someone in your community doing #ActsOfGood? Nominate them between April 24th-June 3rdhere.Three winners will receive $1,000 dedicated to the charity of their choice, plus their story will be highlighted on Upworthy’s social channels. And yes, it’s totally fine to nominate yourself!

We want to see the good work you’re doing and most of all, we want to help you make a difference.

While every good deed is meaningful, winners will be selected based on how well they reflect Upworthy and P&G’s commitment to do #ActsOfGood to help communities grow.

That means be on the lookout for individuals who:

Strengthen their community

Make a tangible and unique impact

Go above and beyond day-to-day work

The #ActsOfGood Awards are just one part of P&G’s larger mission to help communities around the world to grow. For generations, P&G has been a force for growth—making everyday products that people love and trust—while also being a force for good by giving back to the communities where we live, work, and serve consumers. This includes serving over 90,000 people affected by emergencies and disasters through the Tide Loads of Hope mobile laundry program and helping some of the millions of girls who miss school due to a lack of access to period products through the Always #EndPeriodPoverty initiative.

Visit upworthy.com/actsofgood and fill out the nomination form for a chance for you or someone you know to win. It takes less than ten minutes to help someone make an even bigger impact.

Photo credit: Canva, @anabelmadrigal/TikTok

This is going to really gross some people out.

Few condiments are as polarizing as mayonnaise. There’s seemingly no middle ground—you’re either grossed out at the mere mention of it, or you love to slather it on practically everything.

For those that fall into the latter category, it might come as no surprise that recently, mayo-loving Costco customers bonded over the woeful fact that the retailer does not offer mayo packets for their famous 1.50 hot dogs.

The conversation got so passionate that Hellmann’s Mayonnaise ended up getting involved.


Perhaps it all started with this TikTok below, in which a Costco customer who “doesn’t even like mayo that much” but swear that the condiment on a hot dog hit different” showed themselves taking a ziploc bag of mayo from home and layering it onto the Costco dog as though frosting a cake.

Let’s just say…not everyone was on board with this.

@anabelmadrigal like not even the little pack of mayo, WHAT IS THE REASON ?! 😫😫😫 i also dont like mayo THAT much but it hits different on a hotdog >> 😫 #costco #costcofood #hotdog #mayo #humor #fyp #diy #food ♬ sad SpongeBob music - michael

“Mayo on hotdog is a disease. Get well soon,” one person wrote.

Still, many mayo lovers banded together in support of the idea.

“Finally, I found my people,” one person wrote.

Meanwhile, another said, “as a mayo lover you just opened my eyes.”

Quite a few even admitted to carrying personal mayo packets themselves.

A similar conversation blew up on the Costco subreddit, where the original post read ““I don’t understand why my Costco doesn’t have mayonnaise for the hotdogs. They’re my favorite condiment for them and no matter how many requests I do they don’t even respond.”

Funny enough, the top suggestion to solve this problem was to “Buy a giant box of single serve packets from Costco Business Center. Put a few packs in your pockets. Put the mayo on your hot dogs.”

Eventually word got to Hellmann’s, which unveiled a hilarious—though undoubtedly fake—contraption to end this grievance for good on the company’s Instagram page.

“It’s come to our attention that some of you are bringing your own mayo to hot dog spots where mayo isn’t offered,” the caption read.

“So today, we’re announcing the development of the Mini Mayo Dispenser: an innovative, miniaturized mayo delivery device designed to support mayo-on-dog lovers everywhere–especially consumers of our friends’ iconic, delicious, and beloved $1.50 hot dogs.”

Take a look at this very official looking set of blueprints below:

And oh how the mayo fans rejoiced.

“Now 🌭 THAT 🌭 is 🌭 innovation,” one person wrote.

“Genius! 👏” commended another.

As for the folks who have read this far in an article about mayo and have been resisting the urge to vomit: we commend you for our bravery, and there’s also some interesting reasons behind that visceral reaction.

According to an article from The Takeout, one could be that the combo of colorlessness and slippery texture can remind us of certain…bodily fluids, which our “lizard brain” associated with rot and decay. That would definitely explain why some anti-mayo folk can easily handle more colorful alternatives like aioli.

Either way, as long as there are egg yolks, oil and vinegar in this world, mayo-heads will fight the good fight to keep it in its rightful place…which is everywhere.

Joy

Man honors mom's passing with a tattoo of her handwritten diary entry from the day he was born

"The second I saw it I thought to myself, 'Oh my god, these were her first thoughts about me.'"

Photos courtesy of Jake Bley

Jake Bley wanted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his mother's passing.



When kids are growing up, they often see their mother in one dimension—just "Mom"—without much thought for the life she lived before kids or who she is outside of that role. It's usually not until we reach our own adulthood that we recognize, "OH, Mom is much more than just my mother," and if we're lucky, we then get to know her in a whole new light and celebrate all that she is.

Jake Bley is lucky to be getting to know and celebrate his mother, Nicki—but in a very different way than most people do.

toddler in mom's arms and adult son with arm around momJake as a toddler and as an adult with his mom, NickiPhotos courtesy of Jake Bley

Nicki Bley was only 46 when she died after a year-long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in 2014. Jake, one of Nicki's five children, was in his early 20s when she passed.

"As a young mother, our relationship was closer to a friendship than a usual mother/son relationship," Jake tells Upworthy. "I could go to her about anything, and she was always supportive…she was one of my best friends."


woman bald from chemo laughing with her adult son

Jake and Nicki just months before Nicki passed

Photo courtesy of Jake Bley

Shortly before she died, Nicki gave each of her kids a special gift. To Jake, she handed over her collection of handwritten diaries she'd kept from the time she was 8 years old.

"When she gave each of her children our gifts she was very sick," he says. "But she told me she gave me the diaries and other sentimental items because she knew I would value them, and I could process her thoughts throughout the years. Get to really know who she was and value that. The good and the bad."

"It has been 10 years since she passed, and I only started really looking at the items recently," Jake shares. "It has been too hurtful to explore them until now. That's when I found the little red Collins from 1989, the year I was born. From there, I flicked to the day I was born and that was when I saw her entry—'only a little fellow.'"

Jake had been born prematurely, weighing only 5.7 pounds at birth, and Nicki had jotted "Only a little fellow" as a note beneath his statistics.

"The second I saw it I thought to myself, 'Oh my god, these were her first thoughts about me," Jake says. "I couldn't stop thinking about it."

As part of his healing journey, Jake decided to tattoo the phrase on his leg, in his mom's handwriting, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her passing.

"I took the day off work, very nervous, and I walked into a local tattoo artist studio with no booking," he says. "Up until then I didn't feel like I could commit. My tattoo artist Riley was incredible. I told her the story, and she took the 1989 Red Collins diary and copied the handwriting on to a transfer for the tattoo."

"I love meaningful tattoos," she told him. It was Jake's first time getting a tattoo, but he says that all of his nerves instantly vanished when he saw the final product.

"It was perfect. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and it was a happy moment. When I got back to my car I cried happy tears, because for the first time in a very long time I was letting myself feel my emotions."

He shared a video documenting the tattoo experience on TikTok:

@jakebley

TW: GRIEF. I know shes watching over me. #Tattoo #Grief #griefjourney ❤️

Jake says his grief over his mother's death has been complex. "It's not until years later that I started to understand the impact of losing a parent, and the need to not only experience, but feel my emotions," he says. "Taking the time to rediscover my mother, and getting this tattoo a decade later has been part of my healing journey."

Jake's story has gone viral on social media, with people offering their words of comfort and their own experiences with remembering their loved ones, which has given a whole new dimension to Nicki's legacy.

"It has been so wonderful seeing the love pouring out from the community," Jake tells Upworthy. "The thought that 10 years on my mother's handwriting, love and memory not only lives on but is celebrated by so many truly fills my heart."

Study showing increased divorce when wife is ill is wrong

It was the study that shook views of marriage across the country. Researchers concluded that men simply couldn't handle the "sickness" part of their wedding vows, consistently bowing out of their marriage if their wife became sick. The results of the study were cited everywhere and you can still find them being regurgitated in hot take internet think pieces.

The paper is titled “In Sickness and in Health? Physical Illness as a Risk Factor for Marital Dissolution in Later Life," and the findings were reported on by large publications. But it turns out the results have serious flaws causing the authors to rush to correct their mistake.

According to Retraction Watch, the first author, assistant professor at Iowa State University, Amelia Karraker "seems to be handling the case quickly and responsibly." The beauty of peer reviewed research is that there are multiple sets of eyes to check your work, which is what led to the discovery of the paper's flaws.


It was her colleagues from Bowling Green State that discovered the error while trying to duplicate the findings. The numbers kept coming up short of what was reported in the original paper.

"I sent them the statistical analysis file, which documents all of the steps as to how we came to all the estimates in the paper. And they pointed out to us, to our horror, that we had miscoded the dependent variable," Karraker tells the outlet.

The mistake had already been printed and republished on multiple media outlets, but the original writers of the paper contacted their editor to alert them of the error. While this error plays a large role in the high risk of divorce when a wife becomes ill, it doesn't completely eliminate it. The risk does still increase but it seems to increase in one health circumstance–heart problems. Other illnesses did not seem to have the same level of divorce risk. So what happened?

Woman in hospital bed

Photo credit: Canva

Well, according to Karraker, not all of the participants finished the study. Turns out the ones that left before the study ended were accidentally coded as having gotten divorced, when that couldn't have been determined since they were no longer participating. Karraker and her co-author got the participant information and data from a previous study conducted by University of Michigan which included data from 2,701 heterosexual marriages.

The study focused on four serious diseases: heart disease, stroke, cancer and lung disease showing an increase in divorce risk if the wife falls ill versus the husband. While Karraker's results were flawed due to the unfortunate mistake, other studies who don't use her results show a significant increase in divorce rates when the wife becomes seriously ill.

In the study "Gender disparity in the rate of partner abandonment in patients with serious medical illness" by Michael J. Glantz, MD et al, the authors explain, "female gender was found to be the strongest predictor of separation or divorce in each cohort." Glantz shares that divorce rate was 11.6% for cancer patients, which is similar to the average. "There was, however, a greater than 6-fold increase in risk after diagnosis when the affected spouse was the woman (20.8% vs 2.9%; P < .001)"

via Kelsey Dawn Williamson / Facebook

An unexpected statement on a Frog and Toad T-shirt.



Kelsey Dawn Williamson, 23, from Benton, Illinois has ordered over 50 shirts from AliExpress, an online retailer based out of Hangzhou, China. But when the Frog and Toad shirt she ordered on May 10 arrived, she "literally did not know how to react so I just took a few moments to stare at it and try to process."

The infant-sized shirt has a picture of the iconic reptiles from the children's book series riding old-fashioned bikes with "FUCK THE POLICE" written at the bottom.


Williamson posted a photo of her daughter Salem in the shirt on Facebook and it quickly went viral.

The shirt that was delivered looked exactly like the one in the online store, just without the caustic N.W.A. lyric.

China, comedy, NWA

Frog and Toad T-shirt that was advertised.

aliexpress.com

While it seems utterly bizarre that someone would create a shirt with "FUCK THE POLICE" written beneath a picture of Frog and Toad — a duo who've never been known to harbor ill will against law enforcement — there's a good reason.

Memes featuring Frog and Toad are so popular they have their own subreddit. The shirtmaker, who probably doesn't have a license to use Frog and Toad, must have got the photo from a Google search. The person who made the shirt was most likely Chinese and either didn't speak English or has a very poor eye for detail.

After Williamson received the shirt, she Facetimed her husband and they screamed together. "We both just lost it, dying of laughter," she told Buzzfeed. "All he could say was 'Oh shit.'"

"I've told [Salem], 'People really like your frog shirt!'" Williamson said. But she's not letting her child wear the offensive shirt to preschool. "It's going in her baby box so we can bring it up when she's older."

Unfortunately, the incident has been all laughs for Williamson. She's received messages from people who've fat-shamed her daughter.

trolling, body shaming, negative feedback

The online trolling.

via Kelsey Dawn Williamson / Facebook

Frog and Toad memes, memes, fuck the police

Nothing nice to say.

via Kelsey Dawn Williamson / Facebook

e-commerce, Facebook, children\u2019s books

A positive message.

via Kelsey Dawn Williamson / Facebook

"People were actually messaging me just to say mean things about her," she said. "A ton of people calling her fat, asking me what I feed her to make her so big, telling me the shirt I bought was too small."

But Williamson has remained strong and fought back against the shamers. She edited her post to address her daughter's weight but refuses to take it down. "SHE SEES SPECIALISTS FOR HER WEIGHT. SHE CANT HELP IT. I CANT HELP IT. MY HUSBAND CANT HELP IT. IT IS OUT OF OUR CONTROL. JUST LAUGH AT THE FUNNY SHIRT," Williamson wrote on Facebook.

That's right people, just laugh at the funny shirt, and stay out of people's business.

children\u2019s literature, encouragement, education, social behavior

Frog says, “Come at me, bro!"

This article originally appeared on 06.01.19