Don't Eat the Wedding Cake!!

No wonder Bride's stop eating before their wedding day - there's a risk of dying!!

"A bride was left "distraught" after a guest died and eight others became ill with salmonella poisoning after her wedding, her family said tonight.

Rene Kwartz, 82, was one of four guests who needed hospital treatment after the wedding of Stephen Wicks and Jennifer Harris at the Hilton Suite hotel in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.

Three of those taken to hospital recovered and were discharged but Mrs Kwartz died last week.

Five others who attended the traditional Jewish celebration on August 8 were also infected, health officials said.

Lawyers representing the guests are now taking legal action against the outside caterers to the function.

Mrs Kwartz was described tonight as "lovely" by her niece, mother-of-the-bride Norma Harris.

In a statement, Mrs Harris claimed that up to 50 of the guests became ill after the celebration.

She said: "We are devastated by what has happened.

"As many as 50 of our 150 guests were ill, most feeling unwell on the Tuesday after the wedding.

"My lovely Aunt Rene has now died and whilst it is too early to say it was as a direct result of what she ate at the wedding, she was confirmed as having salmonella.

"Jennifer and her husband, Stephen, are distraught and cannot even bear to look at their wedding photographs.

"We simply want answers as to what caused the illness our guests suffered and at least try to make certain lessons are learnt from this tragedy."

Environmental health officers from Bury Council and specialists from the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit (HPU) and NHS Bury are investigating the outbreak.

Dr Marko Petrovic, from the HPA's Greater Manchester HPU, said: "It's very sad that a patient associated with this outbreak has died and our thoughts and sympathies are with the family. We are looking into the circumstances of the case. Deaths from salmonella infection are rare."

The external caterers are cooperating fully with the investigation into the outbreak, the HPA said.

Dr Peter Elton, director of public health for NHS Bury, said: "Illness arising from the salmonella bug can be debilitating, especially for young children and older people.

"It is important for anyone with symptoms of salmonella infection, which may include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, or fever, to maintain their fluid levels and take the utmost care with hand-washing and hygiene generally."

Clare Campbell, a partner at Manchester law firm Pannone LLP, confirmed she is acting on behalf of 14 people affected by the suspected food poisoning.

She said: "This is a terrible tragedy arising from what was supposed to have been a joyous occasion and our sympathies at this time are with the family and friends of the deceased.

"We will be monitoring events very closely and doing our utmost to assist all those affected." " from Yahoo News 2 September 2010

The Wedding Song by helen begley

The Wedding Song by helen begley

Do brides choose fat bridesmaids to make themselves look good?

The latest research from the UK suggests the personality and friendship isn't everything when choosing bridesmaids.

British women admitted that they would choose an overweight friend as a bridesmaid Credit: With planning your wedding comes the decision of deciding who will stand beside you as your bridesmaids. Do you chose old friends or new, family or just your best friend? To add complexity to this weighty decision comes the latest research findings from the UK. "One in three engaged British women admitted that they would choose an overweight friend to be their bridesmaid in order to make them look comparatively slimmer," quotes the the survey results conducted by Slim.Fast. The findings continue: "Despite this, many brides still profess themselves unhappy with their appearance in their wedding pictures, with two in five saying they felt insecure alongside slimmer guests." Bride to Be talks to newlywed Lisa about choosing her bridesmaids. "When I chose my maids, my intention was to have friends that I could rely on. I wanted to make sure they'd tell me if I had lippie on my teeth or calm me down when I felt overwhelmed. Their actual weight had nothing to do with my decision." Says Lisa, who married on the 28th of November 2009. However, bride-to-be Sarah who is marrying on the 6th of December this year, says that this research from the Slim.Fast survey in the UK did ring true. "This is the biggest day of my life", she says. "When I chose my bridesmaids, I didn't want my size 8 skinny friends standing next to me when I'm a size 16. I would rather we look the same size, or me a bit smaller," adds Sarah. Fiona Hunter, nutritionist from UK Slim.Fast, said: "Women are obviously feeling such pressure to look good on their big day that they're resorting to selecting bridesmaids larger than themselves." In Australia, Bride to Be's 2008 Cost of Love survey also found that Aussie brides were focusing on their pre-wedding body prep, but in a healthier, holistic manner. Rather than resorting to crash diets or choosing 'fat bridesmaids', Bride to Be readers indicated they are investing heavily into their quest for a buff bridal body via exercise and healthy habits. Instead of dieting alone, 48% of engaged women now start a fitness regime. Of these, 61% start their own exercise, 43% join a gym, 22% hire a personal trainer and 11% start outdoor fitness bootcamp. For ways to  supersize your exercise, read our article with tips from The Biggest Loser's Michelle Bridges.  www.bridetobe.com.au

My Mother's Wedding Dress

My mother's wedding dress is stained with sherry from a spill at the wedding breakfast.  The beads, once white, have oxidised and blackened.  The zip is broken and some of the beads from the train are missing, gone to decorate another dress which has long since been donated or cut up or has simply been lost in numerous moves.  But like the marriage, the wedding dress survives.  It is older, no longer pristine, it is stained and altered, it doesn’t do up properly but it is still beautiful.  It was made to last: a carefully constructed garment that rustled with promise.  Its lining was chosen for its durability and strength.  A long marriage has been stitched into its seams.  I wonder if it would pass on its secrets if worn by another bride?

My sister and I used to play with the dress and a missal.  We discovered the ceremonies in the book; the funeral ceremony, the baptism and the wedding vows.  Sometimes we would dress up in the wedding dress and put on the veil and get married to our teddies.  Once we even married our father while our mother was playing the organ at church.  The groom wore pyjamas and a dressing gown and sat on a dining room chair smoking.  First he married my sister, but he began to grow tired of the game when it came to my turn.  Before we could go through with it, he put a stop to the proceedings. 

This turned out to be one of my great disappointments as it was the only time I came close to wearing a real wedding dress at a marriage ceremony.

When my father married my mother at 11am on November 7^th 1964, he wore a black suit. My mother wore the dress which is now 45 years old.

The Bride

THE BRIDE

It all started with a country road and a ghost and ended up as an album I called “The Bride”. My friend Shaun says the songs are sung with a voice of experience; all world weary but still potent. The characters on the album go to extraordinary lengths in their search for relationship; some win, some don't.

One character is so desperate to marry that she ends up marrying the first man that comes along because she is too afraid to let him go for fear she'll never find anyone else. Ironically she has to let him go anyway when he starts gambling and doesn't stop drinking.

I wonder exactly how many young women have married for fear of losing him rather than the joy of being with him?

http://www.myspace.com/helenbegley