Rainbeau Mars asked guests to
participate in a Vegan cleanse in
preparation for her wedding day.I
nstead of teacups, she wants a
new cup size, and she’d rather
you do a juice cleanse than buy
her an actual juicer. Oh, and the
wedding theme is Star Wars (so
don’t forget your Light Sabre). Meet the
outrageous brides-to-be who aren’t afraid
to push their guests to the limit in the
name of the ‘perfect’ wedding.
The wedding invitation arrives in the
mail, embossed in beautiful raised red
lettering and tied up with a bow. You
browse through the accompanying garb,
scouring for a gift list so you can pounce
early, before all the good (and let’s face it,
reasonably-priced) stuff gets snapped up.
Hmm, you think, maybe there will be some
nice fluffy towels! But hang on a minute,
what’s this? A gift card from a cosmetic
surgery clinic. The bride wants....a boob
job! Um...WHAT?
This was likely the response of bride-to-
be Louise Hampson’s guests when the 33
year-old Brit asked them to give her a
boost — of the cup size variety — in her
wedding wishing well.
‘My wonderful wedding guests have
given me the greatest boost to my married
life — new boobs!’ cooed Brit Louise, who
asked that her guests stump up the $2000
she needed to go from a D cup to a DD, in
lieu of actual gifts.
As outrageous as Louise’s request may
be, the now newlywed isn’t alone. ‘You’ve
got the groom, the venue and the dress.
Now don’t forget to add plastic surgery to
your to-do list or wedding gift registry,’
screams the online portfolio of Miami clinic
Coral Gables Cosmetic Surgery. ‘Some
blushing brides get liposuction in places
like their stomach, buttocks, hips, thighs,
upper arms and even the knees. Dieting in
anticipation of the big day can be
nerve-wracking — you already have so
much to do!’
Fair enough, you’d like a nip and a tuck
for your wedding day, but isn’t it quite
another thing to ask your guests to pay for
it? ‘We have already got a kettle and a
toaster, crockery, dinner mats andguests. ‘We felt that it was an additional
offering/gift for anyone that was invited to
the wedding, but perhaps wasn’t going to
be able to fly to the destination,’ she says.
‘The invitation was truly that. We did not
intend for all of our guests to do the
cleanse — only the ones that wanted to!
We had 73 people involved in the
programme and about 300 people invited
to the wedding.
‘All our guests were included in the
pictures and our intention was for
everyone to feel like they were all part of a
series of ceremonies.’
Whilst this kind of guest request is
admittedly extreme, today’s bride is
definitely bolder when it comes to her
wedding demands, says Kathy
Apostolidis, wedding planner and stylist at
Sydney’s Nightingales. ‘Social media has
exposed prospective brides to a world of
creative and beautiful inspirations so they
are constantly enchanted every minute of
the day and build a portfolio or wish list for
their wedding,’ she explains diplomatically.
Kim Smith of UK company Stylish
Events recalls an extreme guest-
interaction scenario, which saw wedding
attendees dressed in the colours of the
bride and groom’s favourite obsession
— Star Wars. ‘Everything was Star Wars
themed. The guests all had to dress in
Star Wars colours and each person had a
light sabre on the table, which they had to
use when they danced. The balloons,
chair covers and sashes were Star Wars
colours and they had a Star Wars cake.
It was the most bizarre wedding I have
been involved with!’
Despite a couple of complaints during
the course of the day, Kim — who
decorated the venue with an array of Star
Wars coloured balloons and chair sashes
— says that for the most part, the Star
Wars fans were a happy bunch of guests
— light sabres and all.
In keeping with the theme of guest
participation, are the elaborate wedding
flash mobs that pop up on You Tube,
where for the most part, friends and family
are more than happy to put themselves
out there in the most mortifying manner in
a bid to please the happy couple.
Sydneysider Anna Bell recalls being
asked to learn a particular dance when
she was a bridesmaid for one of her oldest
friends at an upscale wedding venue in
Ireland. ‘The entire bridal party and their
partners had to do Michael Jackson’s‘My wonderful
wedding guests
have given me the
greatest boost to
my married life
— new boobs!’
matching coasters,’ says Louise’s
husband Les matter-of-factly. ‘So rather
than something we’ve already got, we
[told guests we] would appreciate money
for Louise’s boob job!’
American health guru and author of The
21-Day SuperStar Cleanse Rainbeau Mars
was labelled a ‘bridezilla’ the world over
for her own unique wedding ‘demand’.
The bride-to-be asked her 300 guests to
do a three-week pre-wedding vegan juice
cleanse ahead of her wedding to husband
Michael Karlin on the Hawaiian island of
Kauai. Rainbeau’s publicist released a
statement ahead of the event saying,
‘Rainbeau hopes that by requesting her
guests try out a vegan, and subsequently
live food diet for 21 days, everyone will
look and feel their best for her big day.’
Consequently the 36 year-old copped a
great deal of flak for her out-there demand
(‘Self-indulgent rubbish. Trying to impose
her lifestyle choices on her guests.
Unbelievable!’ blasted one outraged online
commenter) and was forced to defend
herself against a torrent of viral abuse.
However, Rainbeau insists the vegan
cleanse was not, in fact, compulsory for259 | bridetobe.com.auWEDDING TRENDS