– A beautiful bride made her own cake, invitation, flowers, decorations, gifts and more for her big day

– She saved over £10,000 for the wedding

A very creative bride has wowed us!

32-yr-old Marrianne Mercer who wanted her things perfect and made by herself, made her own cake, invitation, flowers, decorations, gifts and more for her big day.

Marrianne Mercer, a graphic designer from Tonbridge, in Kent made sure she handcrafted everything which was going to be used for her wedding to 35-year-old husband-to-be David.

The bride even made her own veil and buttonholes the entire wedding party, candles and pillow that carried their rings.

“David and I had been to quite a few weddings that were rather large and overwhelming. We wanted something smaller and more personal which gave me the idea to make everything myself.

“We publish craft books at work so I took a lot of inspiration from them and the Internet proved invaluable.

“I would just Google everything I needed and was able to buy the materials cheaply online.

“It was quite daunting at first but once I had mastered different techniques, it gradually got easier. The worst moment was when I went to put the wedding cake in the oven and the tin nearly didn’t fit.

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“I was lucky to have a very tolerant fiancé and lots of help,”Mercer told UK Express

The bride saved over £10,000 for their wedding and most expenses went to the rented hall and food vendors.

The only thing Marrianne didn’t make was her wedding dress which was a gift from her along with the couple’s wedding car – a 1960 white Chevrolet Bel Air.

“It did take up my evenings, lunch breaks and weekends but it was well worth it,”

“It gave me an amazing sense of achievement and satisfaction, knowing I had made so much and that it had cost so little,” the bride said.

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Donna Karan introduced her famous Seven Easy Pieces in 1985, as she was introducing the world to her namesake label. Based on a black bodysuit with simple added pieces such as a wrap skirt, classic trousers, or a suede jacket, it was a lot more than a convenient wardrobe: It was a conceptual shift in fashion. Karan was trying to tell working women that clothes could work for them, and not the other way around. And that they didn’t need to wear buttoned-up suits to look professional.

It’s a time of great transition for Karan, 67. In the summer, she announced she was stepping down from her signature Donna Karan collection to focus fully on her Urban Zen company and foundation, which along with designing clothes promotes health care, education and preservation of local culture in countries like Haiti.

What’s more, she has a memoir out – “My Journey,” a volume chock full of very personal, entertaining anecdotes (like that time Barbra Streisand came in and insisted on taking a sweater that had been determined to be too flammable. They became great friends.) Karan didn’t know, when writing, that she’d have to add a new final chapter about her farewell to her famous label. But, she says “that’s how my life happens” – beginnings and endings, always at the same time.

Karan sat down to chat with The Associated Press in her sweeping, tranquil Urban Zen space in Greenwich Village. Here are Seven Pieces of Wisdom from a pillar of American fashion.

wedding dresses uk is about dressing – and addressing

“When Donna Karan started, I felt there was a really enormous need for women to be addressed as women. Because they were either wearing men’s clothes – suits and ties and shirts, kind of buttoned up – or they were the ladies who lunched, and kind of wearing cocktail dresses. So who was really expressing the working woman? She was just not being addressed.”

Clothes need to work all day and all night – and black is best

“I wanted clothes that could go from the minute I got up in the morning to the minute I went to bed at night. I wanted clothes to go through that whole cycle, because I found that I didn’t have time to go home and change. It was like, if I put them all in a suitcase and went off to Europe, what would I pack? So jewelry was an important aspect. And I love black. I never get out of it. Black took me from day into night.”

Shoulders never gain weight – so show them!

“I remember Women’s Wear Daily REALLY did not like my cold shoulder look (exposed shoulders, covered arms.) Just not at all. And then Liza Minnelli decided to come into my closet one day and pick up this discarded dress. Everybody loved the way she looked in it. Next thing, I see Hillary (Rodham Clinton, then first lady) wearing it at the White House. For me, the cold shoulder was so obvious. It is the only place where women never gain weight. You gain weight EVERY OTHER place on your body except on your shoulders.”

It’s great to have fans in high places

“One of my dearest friends, Barbra Streisand, wears the clothes magnificently. I’ve dressed her for practically every concert she’s ever done. And I’ve always said that we worked together on it. It was a ‘We,’ not a ‘Me.’ We designed it together. And certainly when I designed her wedding dress, that was the ultimate for me. Her style is fluidity, simplicity, elegance. It was never too much. It was so that she – the woman, the voice – came through. And that’s how I feel about clothing. I always want the person to come through, not the clothes.”

Don’t hide yourself

“You know, a woman has a certain point of view about the way she can dress. And what I did was, I threw that a little bit to the side. Like pencil skirts. I love women in pencil skirts. No matter if they’re a little bigger on the bottom, they’re better in a pencil skirt because it narrows them out. Women don’t really understand that: They think the bigger the clothes the more they hide. Well sometimes, the narrower the clothes, the leaner they look.”

We all need a deadline

“Putting on four (Fashion Week) shows a year? It is a LOT of work. It’s exhausting. But at the same time, it’s a high. So when you’re in the zone, it’s an adrenaline rush. And then you crash. That’s a guarantee. But I always felt, ‘Oh my gosh, if just had one more week QueenieBridal sweetheart wedding dresses, two more weeks, three more weeks.’ But a deadline is a deadline. And that’s what brought me into the next season. I was always late for the next collection. Most designers need deadlines. You’re still designing as those clothes go onto the runway.

Creativity is great, but fashion needs to produce clothes you can actually wear

“I think it’s much more difficult to work in fashion today than when I started. Fashion is going at warp speed – What’s new? What’s new? –and with the red carpet, and with the communications, everybody sees it so quickly, so fast. There’s so much to handle, and (the clothes) really do take on each person’s individuality, which is the good news of it. But I think we’re also pushing the limit of what a woman can actually wear.”

When it comes to weddings, I’m not usually one of those women that dons a gigantic hat or a fascinator.

It’s just never been my ‘thing’.

I’m more than happy to have my head and hair free of such decorations, I mean do they really add that much to an outfit?

The only wedding I’d ever had anything in my hair/on my head at before was my own, and let’s face it, that’s different. However, that was until just recently.

A good friend of mine was getting married at the weekend and she absolutely loves hats and fascinators.

She was one of the last in our group of friends to get married and at every other wedding, including mine, she’s had some sort of head gear.

So, it seemed appropriate that for her wedding I should take the plunge and buy my very first fascinator.

I figured she’d really like it if I made a special effort and wore a fascinator especially for her big day. I say a fascinator, as no matter how much she may have liked it, a hat would definitely have been a step too far for me.

With a black and white dress already in the wardrobe waiting to be worn I set out on my search for a piece of head gear to complement it.

How hard could it be, especially with a plan in my mind to go for a black fascinator that would go with said black and white dress, as well as the black shoes and the black bag I intended to wear?

Surely a black fascinator would be something that was easy to find.

picture: QueenieBridal sweetheart wedding dresses

Well, here’s where I learnt a brand new lesson. Apparently there’s a season for fascinators and that season has been and gone for this year. Who knew?

It’s apparently in spring and summer that you’ll find a whole host of them in the shops. Forgive me for thinking that fascinators are wedding attire and that weddings can happen at any time of the year and in any season.

I appreciate that many people want their weddings during the spring and summer months in the hope of good weather, I have after all been through the search for wedding venues and come across everywhere being booked up every weekend from April to September, but I never thought that would have an impact on finding a fascinator.

A search around several High Street shops proved the comment made by the assistant in one department store - “they are out of season just now” - was accurate.

It was disheartening to discover that had I just been that little bit more organised and thought about the fascinator thing a month or two earlier then there would have been a much more abundant choice.

After searching multiple retail outlets, including a specialist hat shop while visiting York, I struggled to find something that didn’t make me feel as though I looked like I would be mourning my friend’s loss of singledom, rather than celebrating her marriage.

Thankfully just days before the wedding I found one that matched the dress and did the job for the day.

After all that hassle though to find it, I now feel as if I should really wear it again, but we’ll see!

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Make sure your heels are high and your suit is pressed, the critical eye of fashion is setting its sights on Dubai. With New York and Paris Fashion Week now at an end, it's Dubai's turn to showcase our design talent. Fashion Forward Dubai (FFWD) has announced its full programme for the Spring Summer '16 event, taking place this October 22 - 25 and expectations are higher than ever.

After cementing its place in the fashion landscape of the region, FFWD now wants to point the spotlight solely on designers. With a great push to expose and elevate locally based designers into an international platform, as well as educating designers and fashion enthusiasts, FFWD is nurturing the fast growing fashion industry in Dubai.

"We are trying to position Fashion Forward Dubai as the definitive platform for the region with a very global perspective," Bong Guerrero, FFWD founder, says of the development of the regional event and the designers who have been involved, "our designers are truly making waves in the region and its almost happening organically."

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This year's FFWD event will keep a strong focus on regional designers with 33 catwalk shows and presentations by the region's best couture and ready to wear designers. Debates, discussions and panel talks are also on the agenda. The 'd3 Fashion Talks' will explore issues facing the region's fashion industry, with iconic names from the international fashion industry, including Karen Buglisi Weiler, Global Brand President of M·A·C Cosmetics, Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist, and Imran Amed, Founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion. It's this academic focus that will push the real growth of local designers, says Ramzi Nakad, COO of FFWD.

"We are continuing our academic partnership with Domus Academy and London's College of Fashion. From inception, the whole idea is to offer a developmental platform that is free of charge, which is accessible to all the enthusiasts and designers in order to help them improve their craft."

As a city, Dubai seems to be the perfect hub for designers from the Middle East to congregate. Showcasing their works through platforms like FFWD can give a local brand the opportunity to be exposed on an international scale.

"The good thing about Dubai is that if you do something right here, it grows exponentially," Bong says, "there's a bit of truth to the city's natural inclination to be the best. We're quite quick to adapt, we learn every season and we take feedback seriously."

With FFWD gaining international interest as the fashion event in the Middle East to scout potential new talent, both the event and the designers involved are gaining real attention within a short space of time.

"Like the designers. the platform has been through great leaps and bounds," Ramzi says, "we've had so much attention not just from the regional media but also the international media. To our joy, everyone is speaking very highly of Fashion Forward - about the designers that are participating and the quality."

Attention and recognition from the right places is acting as a catalyst for the regional fashion scene and for events like FFWD. However, growing our regional talent is no overnight process. Ensuring that their platform remains relevant and progressive is the key to the success and longevity of FFWD.

"For us to create our versions of Donna Karans and Calvin Kleins, we need to celebrate the designers," Says Bong, "FFWD is a platform, it is a uniform platform that you see every season. What changes is the evolution of our consistent designers that join us every season and the influx of new designers that come on board, which makes a healthy creative mix. We can only grow stronger and bigger with seasons to come."

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Fashion brands have been falling all over themselves to snatch a piece of thegrowing market for stylish athleticwear (aka athleisure), but it's not as easy as just throwing a few leggings into a line and hoping people wear them to SoulCycle. A new collaboration between Derek Lam and Athleta, launching Wednesday, should be an example to fashion brands looking to get athleisure right.

Nancy Green, Athleta's president, met Lam after being introduced by Khajak Keledjian, the founder of Intermix. (Both Intermix and Athleta are owned by Gap, Inc.) "I wanted to do a collaboration with somebody who's a really important designer, who would understand and really get this category and this woman," Green says. "Derek understands the modern woman who lives her life on the go and he's very interested in this category." Both sides had much to learn, though, before this capsule collection — which includes both lifestyle pieces and true activewear — came together.

Leather joggers and shorts were initially a shock to Athleta's design team. "We'd only worked in leather once," Green recalls. "[We thought], it's a really cool idea, but how are we going to make that work?" Green says that it was especially difficult to fit the leather pants, but the team managed to do it without the dreaded bunchy "pooch" in front. (Readers, I bought them. At $398, they're more expensive than anything else Athleta carries, but compared to this $695 pair from Vince, they're a bargain.) Similarly, a parka had to be reimagined in nylon because the team could not get the fit and proportions with the original fabric right. The cashmere sweaters are a perfect example of the combined vision — a gorgeous oversized, fashion-y drape with a flattering, butt-covering fit.

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Lam has struggled to introduce true performance-wear into his own 10 Crosby Derek Lam line. "Before this, we'd added pieces, but I was really never satisfied because we could never get the technology to be something you could use [for working out]," Lam says. "I've looked at other people who are ready-to-wear designers doing athletic clothing and sometimes I feel like it looks like it but it doesn't really work like it." He cites challenges sewing technical fabrics and constructing pieces, like bras, seamlessly.

Besides the leather pieces, the elongated, color-blocked bra tops are Lam's favorite items in the collection. "That was technically so challenging for the factory, but they solved it," Lam says. The matching performance leggings were also carefully designed so that the seams curve in such a way that they're extremely flattering on the body. (I bought the blue color-blocked cropped version, too. They have the best waistband I've encountered in workout pants in awhile.)

So what will both brands get out of this three-season collaboration? It's hard to say. For Lam, he says he's willing to design at lower price points "if it’s bringing something fresh and new" to the marketplace. "I'm not so into fast fashion, but if there's an intriguing story behind it, then I go for it." He says that this type of clothing is the new sportswear, and he clearly gained some valuable insight into the technical production process. For Athleta, success will be defined by a multitude of factors, such as how many new customers the aspirational collaboration nets the brand. Green was noncommittal about her plans for future designer collaborations, saying that this first one was a learning experience.

However, it seems that the collection is already resonating with customers. While it launches broadly online and in select larger stores on Wednesday, Green says the company is already seeing promising early sales from its online preview session. "This line will bring new customers into the brand and it will also very much appeal to a customer who really loves fashion and who knows about Derek."

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In an industry notorious for transience, flux and experimentation, it's counterintuitive to consider that the fashion system is stuck in a rut when it comes to materials and real sustainability. Year after year, season after season, there's this feeling of velocity, of working towards something better. Sure, there are a million ways a shirt can look, but if the way that shirt is made never changes, are things actually changing - or is it simply an illusion of progress?

Designers, press and editors alike continue to rationalize what happens to animals caught up in the fashion industrial complex as a necessary evil in achieving the highest quality, performance and most luxurious fibers, as if mother nature herself were meticulously positioning a leopard's spots or softening a goose's down for the sole purpose of human use. And more often than not, the more rare an animal or cruel a process - from fetal lamb (also known as astrakhan or karakul) and calfskin to angora and fur, the more heightened the perceived payoff will be. This is a strange psychological equation to say the least, but one that rules in the realm of luxury fashion. While animal agriculture is the single most environmentally problematic aspect of the fashion industrial complex, the need to actually breed, farm, trap, confine and kill animals in order to attain their fibers will soon be obsolete thanks to a burgeoning sector of biofabrication startup businesses.

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Leather without cows? Shearling without sheep, silk without spiders and furs without foxes? At first glance, something sounds wrong about this. The word "unnatural" gets thrown around when criticizing the cellular farming, synthesizing or culturing of animal materials. We think of frightening laboratories, test tubes, and scientists crouched over bubbling chemicals who are 'playing god' or at least Dr. Frankenstein! Our food and clothing should be coming from those bucolic images we see in ads of the quintessential farm with a red barn and two or three happy sheep lazing in a field, right? We cling to the marketed myths of where animal products come from because the images of factory farms, fur farms, leather tanneries or commercial shearing operations are not likely to stir up nostalgia, legacy and heritage. Outrage would be a more accurate reaction, which is why the reality of these industries are kept hidden - and now with AgGag laws, its illegal in many states to even document what's happening inside these operations.

Enter Bolt Threads, BioLoom, Modern Meadow, Biocouture, Pembient, and BioFur. They are among the existing and emerging synthethic biology companies who are redefining agriculture, textile manufacturing and the fashion industry in general through innovation on a systems level. Bolt Threads has already developed an exact replica of spider silk without spiders, as Bloomberg recently reported. Modern Meadow is developing lab-grown leather and designer Ingvar Helgason is developling BioFur, which is lab-grown pelts. Pembient has grown Rhino Horn in the lab, and will soon take on elephant ivory, while Biocouture developed a leather-like cellulose and now is a biofabrication and design-application consultancy and BioLoom has made lab-grown cotton. The exciting thing about these companies is that this is just the beginning. This is a field of development and production that will be endlessly customizable, increasingly high-performance and efficient, and inherently more sustainable and less cruel than raising animals to kill them.

It seems that if you have an idea for creating sustainable animal products without actual animals, you'll be in luck because a huge trend in the field of synthetic biology is taking the greatest causes of the worst environmental problems, like animal agriculture, and finding visionary solutions. IndieBio, the San Francisco-based synthetic biology accelerator, recently announced that it's offering $250,000 in seed funding for people with ideas for these types of startups.

It's also happening with food. New Harvest, a nonprofit that describes itself as "advancing technologies to feed a growing global population", has helped launch companies like Clara Foods. Clara foods makes real eggs without hens. New Harvest also led Muufri, a company engineering yeast to produce cows milk without cows, to a similar accelerator. Modern Meadow, in addition to leather, has developed cultured meat. The there's Soylent and Impossible Foods, among others.

The Biofabricate conference, heading into its second year, is a fantastic way to place your finger on the pulse of this movement.

We are on the brink of an industrial revolution and cellular agriculture is at the center of it. Companies like Ouro Botics are figuring out ways to take these developments into our homes and places of work by combining 3D printing technology with Bioprinting, so we'll soon be able to print three-dimensional objects with organic and biological materials. Electroloom is mastering the technology of spray-on clothing, so clothing could be made of healthy, organic substances that are recyclable or biodegradable and always fit. We have only scratched the surface of what is possible.

This is why the fashion community must stop kowtowing to the most sluggish and démodé symbols of luxury: fur, leather and wool that are still grown on an animals' back.

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With every round-trip from her hometown in Tel Aviv, Israel, techie Ruti Zisser would lug more and more coveted pieces of clothing from the Holy Land back to her studio in Palo Alto to sell at trunk shows to her friends.

Soon, with more designer items to import and an unstoppable growing list of clients, she opened the first Ruti store in Town and Country Village across from Stanford University.

This brick-and-mortar boutique now has five locations, with the youngest living in the bustling fashion district on Abbot Kinney Blvd. Ruti brings a rustic yet modern style to the boho-chic fare typically seen on the street. This multi-brand store brings hard-to-find clothing and accessories from Tel Aviv to an otherwise homogenous American fashion.

Owner Zisser has said in the past that she looks for clothing that is flattering to women of all shapes, sizes, styles, and opinions. She either designs or handpicks every piece in the collection.

“My stores tell my story – a story of love and fashion,” Zisser said on her retailer site. “I showcase a mixture of women’s ready-to-wear shoes, bags and jewelry which, together, create a singular, carefully-curated collection. Chic and modern, the collection combines my love of fashion with my Israeli roots, as most of the brands my stores carry are Tel-Aviv based.”

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With established locations in the Bay Area and another on Montana Ave. (their first store opened in Palo Alto in 2009 and spread from there), Ruti is regularly bringing Middle Eastern sensibilities to the West Coast. What’s more, Ruti emphasizes fair trade and sustainable handwork; items range from $60 to $200.

“Everything that we carry in our boutique is all-Israeli inspired and all manufactured there, as well, in the city of Tel Aviv,” said Alyson, the Ruti merchandiser.

So, what’s hot this summer?

One of their best-selling garments is the Gloria dress, a geometrical dolman-like frock synched by a thin belt that hides inside the back.

“We get it in a lot of different colors and patterns throughout the year … it’s just an easy, very lightweight fabric. It’s also very flattering and women seem to find it easy to wear for any occasion, from casual to a wedding even. And it seems to be something that’s easy but also very chic and effortless.”

Another bestselling item if you’re looking for a non-body conscious outfit is Ruti’s Kisim Vest, meaning “pockets” in Hebrew.

“Basically it’s just a really great, versatile piece, again effortless-chic. It adds a lot of dimensions to any outfit really. So you can pair it with a dress, leggings, skinny jeans, shorts. We’ve sold out of it quite a few times.”

It’s safe to say Ruti is fit for all shapes and sizes. Their loose-fitting clothing plays well with L.A.’s year-round Mediterranean climate. But that’s not all they have.

If you’re hunting for European-inspired accessories, Ruti sells unorthodox jewelry and handbags. Chunky gold cuffs, necklaces with lava rock, and earrings made of bent metal pair well with the fine leather bags that eschew the current trends – this is essentially the Ruti principle.

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There are endless decisions to make when it comes to planning your wedding style: (mainly!) what dress to wear, your hair and makeup vision, etc. And if you're all about the details, then your manicure will factor into that. You can't just wear any old pink or blush — it needs to perfectly complement your rings, skin tone, and, of course, the bouquet!

To help with the latter we enlisted beauty darling Christy Meisner Doramus ofCrowns by Christy to create elegant bouquets, all handpicked from NYC flower farmers markets. Then we called in the manicure pros from Glamsquad (specifically, Christina Harris, Lillie Le, and Tashi Lhamo) to create chic nail looks that show off some of the dreamiest bridal lacquers on the market. And if that's not enough to send your Pinterest button into overdrive, then swoon over the rings featured from iconic jewelers like De Beers to more untraditional designers like Anna Sheffield. Basically, there's something for every taste and style — whether you're classic to the core, a bit more bohemian, or full of flair.

But before you screenshot every one of these manicure, bouquet, and ring pairings, read some savvy advice from Glamsquad creative director Giovanni Vaccaro on how to choose a nail shade for the big day.

POPSUGAR: How should the dress affect a bride's manicure selection?

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Giovanni Vaccaro: A bride should always consider the texture, style, and fabric of her dress. If her dress has intricate details or a more sophisticated fabric, opt for a lighter, more neutral shade. If the dress is sleek and simple with no extra embellishments, she should feel more comfortable to opt for a slightly more interesting or vibrant polish shade.

PS: How does season affect the shade choice?

GV: The choice of flowers in a bouquet is always seasonal, plus skin tone may vary from season to season. For Winter weddings, opt for cooler colors such as beiges, creams, and dreamy light blues. For Spring and Summer weddings, pick warmer colors like pinks, corals, and tans. White also works for warm-weather weddings but appears too harsh for Winter weddings.

PS: How does skin tone play into it? What hues look best on what skin tones?

GV: You must consider skin tone when choosing your polish and avoid any shades that will wash you out. If you break skin tones into three categories; dark, olive, and porcelain, here are the shades that work best for each.

Dark: Pale colors, off white, dove gray, peach.

Olive: Pale colors, off white, red (only if you're going for a scarlet red lip)

Porcelain: Sheer shades (Essie's Mademoiselle is great), light pinks, powder blues, and red (only if you're going for a scarlet red lip). Stay away from off white, beige, and pink shades that will wash you out.

If you aren't sure what shade works best for your skin, purple is always a safe choice. Lilac is a beautiful bridal shade that complements pretty much all skin tones.

PS: How many days before your wedding should you get your manicure and pedicure?

GV: For regular polish, you should paint nails the day before your wedding. If you're getting gel, you can go three days before the wedding, but definitely no more!

PS: What are your thoughts on gel vs. nail polish for a wedding?

GV: Either! Stick to what you're comfortable with. If you usually get regular polish, opt for that. If you prefer gel, get gel. Gels are great if you're going on the honeymoon directly after the wedding and want the polish to last.

Keep reading to find bridal manicure, ring, and bouquet inspiration!

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To an outsider, Jim and Ruth Perry’s wedding ceremony might sound more like something that would happen in Las Vegas today not 75 years ago in Lovington, NM. The couple, married onstage in a double wedding, had not necessarily started out with those intentions, but their unique beginning in 1940 continues, decades and many family members later, with memories still being made.

According to their son, Gary Perry, his parents were one of three couples in a planned triple wedding June 12, 1940. In line to get their marriage licenses, one couple dropped out as the bride was too young. The plan was to go out onto the courthouse grounds, along with a few friends and family and Brother Dowell, their preacher, and have a simple ceremony. Someone approached Jim and Ruth and asked if they would like to be married on stage that night at the Mesa Theater, which was premiering a new movie, “The Doctor Takes a Wife” starring Loretta Young and Ray Milland. They were promised $50 and gifts from local merchants. When the couple disclosed that they were having a double wedding with J. T. Owen and Jewel Warren, the offer was changed to $37.50 per couple. Being adventuresome, and thinking of all they could do with that much money (hamburgers were a nickel!), they accepted (That’s the equivalent of about $6,000 today).

Well, the rest is history. Ruth said four of their kids were born in New Mexico and in 1953 they moved to Midland. They adopted their youngest son Jeffrey in the late 60s.

Ruth said they rarely fought. Having grown up in a house where her parents argued a lot, Ruth told Jim if they had something that needed to be discussed, she wanted it to wait until they put the kids to bed so they would not hear.

“By the time the kids were asleep or we were alone, we’d forget what we were arguing about,” Ruth said.

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Jim served in WWII in Army Ordinance according to Ruth, going to the South Pacific in 1943. When he left she said they had two children and one on the way.

Upon Jim’s return from the war, he worked at a tire shop in NM for a couple of years before getting hired by Philips Petroleum. The job took them to Midland in 1953, where Jim continued his 31-year career with the company.

“They’ve been Sunday school teachers, national treasurer for a church women’s group, school board trustee, bank teller, gas refinery operator, church deacon, pre-school volunteer, teacher assistant, Meals on Wheels drivers, and so much more,” Gary said.

Ruth stayed busy raising the kids until Noni went to college, then she decided with two kids in college they could use some help. She became a bank teller at First National Bank where she worked until she and Jim retired together.

They moved to Colorado to be near their daughter Libby and spent their retirement days, gardening, fishing and more she said.

Eight years ago Ruth and Jim moved back to Texas after their son Gary, concerned about their health, offered to build them a house on his Wylie property.

“We did build them a house just next to ours – we call it “assisted living,” Gary said. “Nonie lives nearby, in Rowlett, and helps all the time.”

Sister Libby still lives in Colorado, brother Jimmy is in Oklahoma and brother Jeff lives in Kentucky. Gary said they visit as often as possible and help in any way they can from farther away.

Even though the couple doesn’t drive anymore they are busy. They rely on their children and grandchildren to get them places. Ruth said they often attend ball games, karate, dance, and soccer events of the great grandchildren. In addition, they visit the Senior Center to play cards three times a week.

Jim and Ruth are active in their church, Faith Lutheran Wylie, where Ruth helped form the Sew and Sow group a few years ago. The group meets Tuesdays to make lap blankets to give to senior citizens in need.

Their 75 years happily ever after continues. In addition to their five children, they are twelve grandchildren, twenty-three great grandchildren and three great-greats.

To celebrate the anniversary of their union, a cast of about 160 family and friends attended a big party at Southfork Ranch June 6. The kids honored their parents giving them the wedding reception they never had complete with a tiered wedding cake and a groom’s cake.

Their family, along with friends from everywhere, have filled their lives. And Jim and Ruth have filled theirs in return.

“It was a joyous occasion and a celebration of two great lives,” Gary said. “Remembrances were shared, cake eaten, photos shown and an album of best wishes (with new photos) made.”

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It’s been a rocky road this season for Stuart (Sir Derek Jacobi) and Freddie (Sir Ian McKellen) but we’re finally there – this week’s episode of Vicious is their long-awaited wedding day. With all the bickering finally sorted out last week, it’s bound to be plain sailing for our favourite elderly gay couple – right?

Well, of course not. For one thing, Violet (Frances de la Tour) is doing her best to upstage the pair because erstwhile husband Jasper has returned. Predictably, Jasper is a bad lot; he has only returned to Violet for money and proceeds to spend the episode having verbal swipes at her, culminating in Ash (Iwan Rheon) eventually knocking his block off.

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Much of the physical comedy is provided courtesy of Mason (Philip Voss) and – our favourite character – Penelope (Marcia Cross). Penelope is most definitely to Viciouswhat Jane Horrock’s Bubble is to Absolutely Fabulous – comedy gold. Mason and Penelope are dispatched to pick up the wedding cake for Stuart, blissfully unaware of the fact that the cake hasn’t actually been paid for. Having shelled out £250 to pick it up, they then have the ‘small’ task of transporting the huge cake to the venue. Disaster ensues and Penelope ends up wearing the cake – no less than three times. Yes, it’s predictable slapstick but the combination of Penelope’s battiness and Mason’s dour personality makes it laugh out loud hilarious.

Cake aside, the wedding ceremony itself is somewhat rudely interrupted when Stuart’s mother, having waited over 90 years for Stuart’s nuptials, ends up shuffling off the mortal coil whilst giving Ash a hug just before the ceremony. Hashtag – awkward. It’s left to Violet, in typically understated fashion, to break the news to Freddie

Seriously – we’re one step away from someone suggesting a ‘nice cup of tea’ will solve all these problems. Freddie resolves to carry on as normal and not tell Stuart that ‘mother’ has died until the end of the ceremony, so as not to ruin the day for him. Cue, comic (if in somewhat delightfully bad taste) scenes where Mason and Penelope are charged with the unenviable task of literally propping ‘mother’ up to maintain the pretence.

There are lots of traditional elements that make this a typical episode of Vicious – Freddie is on top form, remarking upon the fact that Violet has turned up in what looks suspiciously like a wedding dress with:

It’s funny because it’s McKellen saying it – that’s all. This aside, Freddie is noticeably on ‘best behaviour’ this week and there’s good reason for that. We’ve already passed comment on the fact that Freddie’s character has been mellowed and there’s been a conscious attempt to make him and Stuart appear an actual couple, as opposed to just a couple of bitches. Stuart is initially philosophical about his mother’s death, reflecting that the main thing is that she saw him married. Of course, this is simply denial and it is in the closing scenes of the episode that Stuart breaks down over the loss of his mother; it’s left to Freddie to comfort him, which he does with extraordinary tenderness. It’s a mature and very tender ending for the series, not to mention a fitting representation of how the series as a whole has changed and developed over the course of its second season.

All in all, this was a solid, funny and thoughtful close to this season of Vicious. We have seen the sitcom honed and developed in a coherent and intelligent fashion over the last 6 weeks. Good job.

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