Tying The Knot recommends using a reputable wedding planner to ensure everything goes to plan on your big day.
Go here to read the rest: Tying The Knot Urges Caution for Couples Planning Their Big Day
Ikea may have spent 25 years filling our homes with flatpack furniture. But what every couple really wants to know is: will we still be together after shopping at the superstore?
The most satisfying Ikea experience I’ve had was when my boyfriend had crippling food poisoning. I’d hold up a
Category : Stocks
LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM–(Marketwire – Nov. 2, 2012) - Many people often look forward to attending a wedding – even in the winter months. However, a growing number of people are often stuck for what gift to present to the new couple. Asda Money reveals the top five wedding gifts that will appeal to a number of different newlyweds.
Go here to read the rest: Top 5 Wedding Gifts
Two suits didn’t fit, the groom’s was ready three hours after the wedding and the shop tried to charge me an extra £208
I hired six suits for my wedding from Moss Bros. I paid in full, but when I collected them I was told there was an outstanding balance of £208. It took staff 20 minutes to discover this was an administrative error.
Two of the suits didn’t fit, replacements had to be ordered, and when I collected them I was again told I owed £208. But the replacements were wrong, and the groom’s couldn’t be collected until three hours after the wedding. They agreed to source one sooner, but when I rang the night before they had forgotten to place the order. Each time a suit was returned we were asked for the £208. When my best man refused to pay, they threatened to charge my credit card and I had to sort it out while on honeymoon. DB, Alfreton, Derbyshire
This is the second wedding suit disaster to affect Observer readers in a month, and you, like the previous groom, say the sartorial stress has sullied your memories of your big day. Not surprisingly, you asked for a refund of the £423 you paid for the suit hire, and, not surprisingly given the incompetence you’ve already experienced, you say you’ve received no reply to your two emails of complaint. By a remarkable coincidence, however, the company contacts you a day after I email head office, and offers you a not-quite-so-generous £240. This, a spokesman tells me, covers the “items which were the subject of complaint”. Moss Bros admits its standards fell short, but claims it did reply to your emails and asked you for further details. You say you did not receive its messages.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include an address and phone number.
 Boston.com |
Suicide bomber kills 23 at Afghan wedding
Boston.com KABUL, Afghanistan—A suicide bomber blew himself up among guests at a wedding hall Saturday in northern Afghanistan, killing 23 people including a prominent ex-Uzbek warlord turned lawmaker who was the father of the bride. The attack was the latest to … Suicide Bomber Kills 23 in Northern Afghanistan Suicide bomber kills top official, 22 more at Afghan wedding
Russian oligarch attended weddings and holidays with men he accuses of threatening him, claims lawyer for Michael Cherney Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire metals tycoon and friend of Lord Mandelson, had close ties with men he says were criminals extorting from him – including attending family weddings and holidays, allowing them to pay his credit card bills and making one of them godfather to his second child. Details of the businessman’s relations with men he is now portraying as organised crime bosses were revealed in London’s high court on Monday by lawyers acting for Michael Cherney. The Uzbekistan-born Israeli is suing Deripaska for $1.2bn for allegedly cheating him out of his share of Rusal, the giant aluminium corporation the Russian controls. Deripaska claims that the two men never had a business partnership and instead their relationship was that of a legitimate businessman being extorted by a mob boss. He says that Cherney, along with associates Anton Malevsky and Sergei Popov, forced him to pay protection money – or krysha – after threats made in the mid-1990s. But Mark Howard QC, for Cherney, argued that Deripaska’s behaviour at the time was not consistent with being the victim of an extortion racket. He told the court: “There are photos and videos of [Deripaska] attending weddings and going on holiday with them … Mr Deripaska made Mr Popov godfather to his second child.” Cherney’s written evidence added that his company financed “multiple credit card accounts on behalf of Mr Deripaska which Mr Deripaska did not shirk from making heavy use of … Mr Deripaska was invited to, and attended Mr Cherney’s daughter’s wedding in April 1998.” The evidence was submitted on the first day of a long-awaited hearing into the pair’s dispute, which revolves around two documents and a $250m payment made by Deripaska to Cherney after a 2001 meeting in London’s Lanesborough hotel. Deripaska’s defence is that the money was his final krysha payment and that a contract signed after that meeting was a sham. He further disputes a supplementary contract relied on by Cherney which purports to show Deripaska agreeing to pay his rival the equivalent of 20% of the value of Rusal shares, less the $250m. Deripaska is known in the UK having been a long-time friend of Mandelson and financier Nat Rothschild. He achieved notoriety in 2008 after entertaining George Osborne on his luxury yacht, thereby creating a scandal about an alleged request for a political donation to the Conservative party before the last general election. Deripaska says he began making the krysha payments to Cherney in the mid-1990s after receiving threats. At that time, Deripaska’s associate, Valery Tokarev, was shot and seriously injured along with a colleague. Cherney, an Interpol fugitive who is wanted for questioning in Spain in connection to a money-laundering case, lives in exile in Israel from where he will be giving evidence by videolink during this case. He filed his lawsuit against Deripaska in 2006 in London on the grounds that he could face assassination if he returned to Russia, where he also fears he might not gain access to a fair hearing and may face trumped-up charges. “According to the Wall Street Journal, the entry ban related to concerns by US law enforcement officials that Mr Deripaska had ties with organised crime in Russia.” Cherney’s spokeswoman said: “Michael Cherney has never stood trial for any crime and has never been convicted of any crime.” Deripaska, who “vehemently” rejects Cherney’s claim, has travelled to the US since 2008 while also being photographed at public events in America. The case, which is being heard before Mr Justice Andrew Smith, is expected to feature evidence from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich on behalf of Deripaska.
Elegant Wedding Venue Awards Newlyweds With Luxurious Escape During and After Their Wedding The rest is here: Complimentary Honeymoon Awaits Couples Who Book Gastown Vancouver Hotel Wedding The dressmaker from Channel 4′s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding,’ Thelma Madine, is about to be put in the spotlight with her own show, helping ten girls from the traveller community learn her trade. Read the original: VIDEO: Gypsy wedding dressmaker goes solo lia sophia Offers Insights on Fashion Jewelry to Complement Today’s Wedding Trends Read the original post: As June Ends, the Wedding Season Gathers Momentum
NatWest’s online forum becomes a diary of disillusionment as those unable to go to the bank’s branches run out of money Customers affected by the NatWest fiasco are venting their fury on the bank’s online customer forum, which has became a diary of distress, distrust and disillusionment. Some feared running out of food and electricity as they were unable to physically get to the bank’s branches to withdraw cash. Others claimed if direct debits went unpaid, homes and holidays, theatre and gig tickets, even weddings were at risk from missed payments. And with some still unable to access online accounts on Sunday afternoon, there were calls for compensation. The posts indicated the breadth of the disruption across the UK, and the knock on effect on those who were not themselves customers. “You have stuffed us,” wrote philsmiler, from near Corby, Lincs, on the NatWest forum. “We have to attempt to get to your bank in the morning. I’m disabled in a wheelchair and my daughter’s autistic but we have to as we have no food left and electric on less than 50p. Family of 6 it’s unfair and ridiculous”. “I should of been paid Friday,” wrote nothing left from the Midlands. “I have cancer and I’m very ill at present. I’m down to my last pence and can’t afford electric meter”. “When will this be sorted out,” pleaded Barrow, from Rickmansworth. “I have my wedding next Saturday. Will we have food to eat as I can’t pay caterers and disco, so no money, no wedding. thank you”. “Mum was relying on her pension on Thursday, she’s 74 and she couldn’t access her account or savings for money. I travelled 32 miles to give her the pension money, and I’ll have to travel another 32 to get it back off her. Shame on you’s for all of this,” was another contribution. Anger remained the overwhelming emotion, with many spelling out the extreme disruption caused to their daily lives. “Unable to get petrol yesterday and missed a full day’s work which will be unpaid, very unhappy,” said one from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. “I only have enough diesel to get to work 50 miles away. I have no money in the bank until tomorrow which will enable me to get back home. Will my wages be in my account? inquired another, from Portsmouth. Some suggested physically taking payslips into NatWest branches as proof to withdraw cash. Others, on benefits which had not registered as being paid, would be unable to do so. “Not had any money in my account since Friday, carers allowance, child tax credit. Went into bank who told me they can’t give me any money if it does not show on my balance, so how to they expect me to buy food.” Others were concerned about incurring penalty charges for late payments. “Can’t pay credit card, got £12 charge, NOT GOOD. Got D/D going out soon will these be affected?” wrote a customer from Kent, who called for a gesture of goodwill from NatWest ‘”to all its inconvenienced customers who could receive charges from 3rd parties due to ‘lack of funds’”. By 11am on Sunday one employer from Harlow was “still trying to pay 8 guys wages from Friday, most are young lads that rely on this money”. A customer from south Gloucestershire complained his mobile phone had been “cut off because you have not honoured my direct debits from both my business and personal accounts”. The bank’s extended opening hours, including opening on a Sunday for the first time, did little to appease many. “Absolutely pathetic,” wrote Ken from Warrington. “I don’t even bank with NatWest but my wages are paid out of it. It’s not as if I can go into a branch and ask for money. Why was there no back up system in place?” A another bemoaned: “Still can’t access account online. Am in Bulgaria… obviously I can’t get to a local branch.” One resident of Aberdeen wrote: “After an 11-minute call to the premium-rate 0845 call centre number I was assured that Aberdeen’s only branch of NatWest would be open Saturday . After an 18 miles round trip I found it was not open at all. LIARS. Next branch is Dundee – 60 miles away.” Some, however, managed to remain sanguine. “No pension, no gas, no electricity. However, things have been worse in life and I am not dying. Mistakes happen to everyone,” wrote a contributor, from West Cornforth, County Durham.
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