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wedding

Pets

Couple includes 19-year-old dog in emotional wedding ceremony days before crossing rainbow bridge

"As much as it's our celebration, it's a celebration of Jack as well so everyone we love can say goodbye."

jamierossweddings/Instagram (used with permission)

Senior dog Jack is part of his owners' wedding ceremony days before he will cross the rainbow bridge.

Dogs are more than pets—they are family members. They are there for big life events and the mundane days. For couple Ryan and Libbee, their wedding day would not have been complete without their 19-year-old dog, Jack. It was a bittersweet day of celebration—and one of Jack's last with them.

Wedding videographer Jamie Ross (@jamierossweddings) shared in an emotional video on Instagram the story of how Ryan and Libbee chose to honor their pup Jack on their big day, allowing family and friends to say their final goodbyes (and "good boys") at their ceremony.

"I don’t usually get emotional at weddings these days—I stay pretty focused on filming, but this story got me," he captioned the video. "When I arrived on the wedding day, it was immediately clear how much Jack meant to his Ryan & Lib, and I knew I had to capture whatever I could."

In the video, it begins with bride Libbee sharing about Jack. "So Jack, he's 19. He turned 19 three weeks ago. And he's going to go to Heaven on Monday. So this weekend, as much as it's our celebration, it's a celebration of Jack as well so everyone we love can say goodbye to him," she says. Scenes from the wedding day are played as the couple cuddle and kiss Jack together.

She explains that Jack traveled everywhere with them all over the world. "I feel like he's touched a part of everybody's lives in his 19 years, so celebrating him," she added.

In another clip, Ross captured the couple's vows, which included a special anecdote about Jack. Groom Ryan says, "And even though our trio is about to become a duo, I know it won't be long until we are filling the backseat again," he says through tears.

Groom Ryan (@ryandyer21) shared more about what it meant for Jack to be a part of their special day in the video's comment section. "@libbeedyer and I are so blown away by all the love and amazing comments from so many people! I’m sure Jack would be absolutely thrilled by all the attention. We hope he’s watching us from up above while working through an endless pile of bones 🦴 🤍," he wrote.

Following the wedding, Ryan shared a post following up on Jack's final journey. "Earlier today we had to say the hardest of goodbyes to our beautiful boy. Over 19 years of the most amazing memories that we’ll cherish forever. So incredibly grateful for the time we had but it will never be enough," he wrote.

In the carousel, he shared a photo of them holding Jack's paw in his final moments. "Navigating through this next phase of life won’t be the same without you. You’ll always have a piece of our hearts 💔 Rest easy our forever best friend ❤️," he added.

The couple's emotional wedding video got an overwhelming response from viewers in the comment section. "Crying 😭 this is such a beautiful tribute to Jack. Rest easy sweet boy 🤍," one wrote. Another shared, "This has ruined me 💔🥺🥺 what a special family ❤️." Another viewer commented, "Jack said: my life is complete, these two are going to do so well together and they will have lots more pups in their life, approved and sent by me 🥹🥹🥹🥹."

Courthouse wedding photos are glamorous on a budget

Weddings are personal. While many weddings have a style or theme that is popular during whatever decade they tie the knot, most people add their own unique touches. For some a large wedding in a beautiful historic venue is the only thing that will feel like them, while others may go for something much smaller.

But it doesn't matter the size of the wedding, they can be bank breaking, even if things don't go over budget. According to Zola, a wedding planning website, the average wedding in 2024 cost $33,000. That's clearly not the most expensive wedding someone could have, but that price tag is outside of a lot of people's budgets. But large wedding parties and fancy venues aren't the only way to commemorate the big day.

One couple decided to skip the fanfare and go small–really small by skipping all the fanfare involved with a long guest list and heading to the courthouse. Their decision to buck the traditional wedding march and opt for a tuxedo and bridal gown in front of a judge likely saved them tens of thousands of dollars. It also ended with absolutely stunning wedding photos.

Happy I Love You GIF by LifetimeGiphy

Many courthouses are beautiful, some being there just as long as the town making the architecture a historical focal point. Bride Chelsey McAllister and her husband just proved that with a dress, suit and the right photographer, the day can be just as glamorous. A wedding photographer can run between $2,000-$3,000 according to The Knot, and if you're planning on courthouse nuptials this may just be the area to splurge.

In the video uploaded to Hock Pro Weddings videography page, you get to see a glimpse into how the couple got these amazing photos. You see the bride beaming running through the court building donned in a mermaid style white gown holding the hand of her husband who is wearing a tux. The photos that followed are pure magic. If a stranger saw these images hanging from a wall they would never guess there wasn't an extravagant wedding that made capturing these photos possible.

"There is something so beautifully nostalgic and romantic about the simplicity of a civil wedding. So many courthouses are archeologically beautiful to capture such perfect moments like this," one person writes.

"This man’s pictures are a canvas to many of our hearts… there is so much beauty in all your pictures," another commenter says.

Every single shot gives the feel of luxury and the couple didn't have to spend upwards of $30k to make the day perfect. In today's economy more couples are refocusing where they spend their money on their wedding. Some people choose to elope on an island, others go to the magistrate and spend their money on a reception, while some couples decide it's best to put a downpayment on a home instead of a wedding.

Season 1 Wedding GIF by NBCGiphy

"Beautiful. Better then my way overpriced wedding. Don’t get me wrong it was amazing but these photos are fire. Not sure I have anything as authentic and beautiful as any one of these," someone shares.

There's no wrong way to have the wedding of your dreams. That special day is supposed to be about you and your future spouse, so have a destination wedding in Paris or have your uncle marry you at a family barbecue. Whatever you decide, will be perfect for you because it's your day and this couple proves you don't have to have a million dollar wedding to have photos that look like you did.

Some girls out at a bchelorette party.

A recent story posted on Reddit shows how sometimes trusting your gut can be the best thing you can do, even if following it will seriously impact your friendships. It all started when a 24-year-old woman with the username Yslbabycat went to a bachelorette party with 5 other friends in Italy.

For brevity’s sake, we’ll call our main character YBC. One night, the six girls went bar and club hopping and met some new friends. “We met some young people, and they invited us to a party. We went and danced and met more people. The night kept going on longer, and we were very far from our lodgings. These young men with 2 women in their group told us to stay with them for the night,” she wrote.

That’s when she had the first strong gut feeling.

“I wasn’t feeling this situation. It felt unsafe, but the group voted and I was in the minority,” she continued.”I didn’t trust these men. Something seemed wrong. But I was at a loss as I could not split from my group and didn’t feel safe separating from them in the middle of the night.”

Even though the girls locked their doors that night, the men could enter their rooms. But the girls, besides YBC, all wanted to stay another day because the men promised to show them around Italy.

“I didn’t want to get into a car with them because I found them creepy. There were women in their group but it didn’t matter. They seemed even more suspicious to me, being overly friendly,” She continued. “The whole morning, I found the men staring at me a lot and also making some comments about my ethnicity—I am Korean and they could tell and it seemed that they were interested in me because of my ethnicity, asking me strange questions …including if I’m a virgin or not.. so in my head I could only think of perverted reasons for these questions because I thought these guys were sketchy and sizing us all up for some reason I couldn’t figure out yet.”

YBC's friends tried to tell her that it was just cultural differences and that the men weren’t being creepy, but she decided that she wanted to leave. So, she called her boyfriend in France, a few hours’ drive away, to come get her. She met him at a local store, where YBC called the bride-to-be and informed her she was leaving.

The bride-to-be screamed at her on the phone and chastised her for spoiling the “mood of the trip” and told YBC to essentially “f*** off.”

After YBC left, the other 5 girls went on a boat with the men who all tried to get them “extremely” intoxicated. They then began to aggressively pressure the girls into having sex. At the night's end, the girls got away from the men and found another hotel.

Even though YBC’s suspicions were confirmed, the bride-to-be was still upset with her, and YBC did not attend her friend’s wedding.

In the end, Reddit commenters overwhelmingly thought that YBC did the right thing by trusting her gut.

“So all the other girls but the bachelorette confirmed that you were right and the guys were super creepy and yet the bachelorette is still pissed at you for getting yourself out of there?” YouSayWotNow wrote. “All of them are very lucky nothing really bad happened, and frankly, they should be embarrassed they didn't take you seriously at the time.”

“You may have saved the entire group by leaving early, as the men realized that you knew where they lived and could ID them,” RobinC1967 added. “Please don't ever feel bad for getting yourself out of a sketchy situation. Stay Smart!”

Most would agree that YBC did the right thing by trusting her gut and trying to lead her friends out of a potentially dangerous situation. Psychology Today supports her decision to trust her feelings. In an article entitled, “3 Reasons Why You Have to Trust Your Gut,” Susanna Newsonen says that your intuition is encoded in your brain like “a web of fact and feeling” and is helpful because it’s “shaped by your past experiences and the existing knowledge that you gained from them.”


This article originally appeared last year.

Modern Families

10-year-old boy gives blessing for his mom's boyfriend to propose and tears ensue

"My 10 year old son gave my boyfriend permission to marry his mom 🥹 This was the reaction."

boy and girl walking on gray road during daytime

The holiday season is time for parties, parades...and proposals. And while proposals are traditionally tear jerkers, for TikToker Jess Harpell's 10 year old son Luke, it was extra sentimental. He captured the special festive moment between the couple, with "I'll Be Home For Christmas" playing in the background.

Harpell shared a video of her boyfriend's proposal on her page, with the caption, "My 10 year old son gave my boyfriend permission to marry his mom 🥹 This was the reaction."

As she and her boyfriend start to pose for photos under a fully lit Christmas present, her boyfriend kisses her on the forehead and proceeds to get down on one knee to propose. Luke is recording the special moment, and you start to hear sniffles and audible sighs and gasps for air as he is overcome with emotion. As the ring is slipped on her finger, his little brother off camera asks him, "Luke, why are you crying? Luke's crying!"

And Luke has the most tender reply to him. "I'm just happy, buddy," he says, to which the little boy responds, "Don't worry, Luke! We're happy with mommy!" Clearly, Luke is crying happy tears, and he says again to reassure the worried sibling, "I'm just happy, buddy."

The video ends with Luke still sniffling as his Harpell and her now-fiancé are hugged by two little boys and start to make their way to comfort cameraman Luke.


@jessharpell

And just like, next year all of us become one family. #engagement #proposal #blendedfam #bridetok #loveofmylife💍 #glowup

"And just like, next year all of us become one family. #engagement #proposal #blendedfam #bridetok #loveofmylife💍 #glowup," Jess captioned the video.

And the internet is crying (sobbing) tears of joy, too.

"Your little boy got us all sobbing!!!! Well done mama! You raised that kiddo right 🥺🫶🏻," one TikToker commented. Another added, "His reaction behind the camera just shows how special he feels to be apart of this moment 💖." And another wrote: "In da clurb, we all crying with Luke. 😭"

And viewers were quick to commend Harpell's fiancé for consulting Luke and asking for his permission for his mom's hand in marriage. "Congratulations. I love that your fiancé asked your son permission that shows respect. But your lads reaction had me crying my eyes out. You have 2 adorable boys," one wrote. Another touched viewer shared, "Aww, this is beyond sweet and also kind that your boyfriend discussed it with him beforehand. Congratulations to you both 🥂." And another chimed in with, "as a stepmom, this reaction speaks volumes for you as a mother, but also what a man your boyfriend must be to your son. i wish you all the absolute best forever🥰."

Harpell was genuinely shocked by the proposal. After one TikToker commented, "wait your son is the one recording???😭😭😭 Omg you’ve raised such a sweet boy!! congrats momma💍💍," she replied, "I thought he was taking a photo! 😂 My fiance asked him to record it 🙈."

If you need a box of tissues after watching this sweet video, you are not alone. Congratulations to the happy couple and family!