• Bridegroom shot dead at wedding in Thailand

    GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains a graphic image that some viewers may find disturbing. 

    A Thai bridegroom was shot dead at his wedding in front of his bride and 100 stunned guests, The Bangkok Post reports:

    Yutthana Juyure, 27, the bridegroom and his bride Nurasatilah Masae were walking around talking to guests and posing for photographs.

    The bridegroom, at one point, walked away from his bride to meet some guests eating under a tent nearby. While walking back, he was followed closely by a man who shot him six times in the body with a 9mm gun at close range, killing him on the spot.

     

    EPA

    Nurasatilah Masae standing in front of her bridegroom who was shot dead during their wedding in the Muslim majority province of Pattani, southern Thailand, on June 10, 2012. The groom was shot dead in the presence of his bride and more than 100 guests, and the gunman then fled, police said.

  • Spanish town short of brides buses gals in from city

    Alberto Di Lolli / AP

    Bernardo, 77, left, talks to a young woman during a meeting between men and women in the village of Candeleda, Spain, April 21. Sixty-eight women were bused in to the village to meet with the local men with the hope that some will form relationships and settle in the village, where the main population is male.

    Alberto Di Lolli / AP

    A group of women arrive in a bus before a meeting between men and women in Candeleda, Spain.

    Inspired by a Hollywood western, a Spanish dating association is trying to slow a population drain from the country's beleaguered central villages, introducing bachelors to women bused in from the big city of Madrid with hopes of ending a bride shortage.

    Candeleda, a town of 6,000 on the banks of the picturesque Lobera River, hosted a weekend fiesta to welcome 68 women for a meet-and-greet with the village's single men. Ancient cave paintings show Candeleda has been inhabited for some 5,000 years, and resident Jose Miguel, 67, said he would hate to see its population dwindle after such a long history.

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

     

  • 'Running of the Brides' kicks off in New York City

    Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

    Women run to find wedding dresses at the annual "Running of the Brides" sales event at Filene's Basement in New York on Friday, June 3. The annual sale is known for its long queues and frantic shopping among brides-to-be hoping to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on designer wedding gowns.

    Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

    A shopper tries on bridal dresses during the Filene's Basement "Running of the Brides" bridal dress sale in New York on Friday.

    Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

    Women search for wedding dresses at the annual "Running of the Brides" sales event at Filene's Basement in New York on Friday.

    Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

    A shopper carries bridal dresses during the Filene's Basement "Running of the Brides" bridal dress sale in New York on Friday.

    Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

    A shopper tries on bridal dresses during the Filene's Basement "Running of the Brides" bridal dress sale in New York on Friday.

    Justin Lane / EPA

    Avernell Joseph, of Brooklyn, New York, has a moment of indecision while trying on a wedding gown in the men's shoe department during the 'Running of the Brides' at a Filene's Basement store in New York on Friday.

    Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

    Shannon Osborne carries a bridal dresses during the Filene's Basement "Running of the Brides" bridal dress sale in New York on Friday.

    By Elena Grothe

    It appears that wedding season is, well, off and running. Full story here.

  • Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

    Sergey Kaunov, a member of a local winter swimmers' club, carries his bride Irina Kuzmenko out of water as they celebrate their wedding on the bank of Yenisey River where the air temperature was about -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degree Fahrenheit) in the Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Jan. 22. Irina does not practice winter bathing, but she did it on the day of their wedding after heating up in a sauna.

    The things we do for love: Bride takes a chilly dip for her groom in Russia

  • Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

    Afghan bride Zahara, 24, is held by groom Gulam Ali as they leave for their wedding ceremony in a taxi on Oct. 14, in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. At local beauty salons, behind drawn curtains, isolated from the males, Afghan women spend hours getting ready for engagement parties and weddings. In accordance with Afghan culture the men are required to be segregated from the women with the exception of the bride and groom.

    Afghan bride

    Photographer Paula Bronstein captured in this image what I perceive to be a subtle moment that suggests the challenges that many women still face in the conservative Afghan culture despite the end of Taliban rule.

  • Lee Jae-Won / Reuters

    A bride takes a nap as newlyweds attend a mass wedding ceremony of the Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, Oct. 10. The Unification Church founded by evangelist reverend Moon Sun-myung in Seoul in 1954, performed its first mass wedding in 1961 with 33 couples. Seven thousand and two hundred couples attended the mass wedding on Sunday.

    iPod, iSleep, iDo

    So much for this being the most exciting day of her life.