Mr. Christopher from the My Wedding Favors blog with some encouraging news.  Muslim women in India have been touted by women around the world as the most mistreated and right-denied people on the planet.  Having to cover almost every inch of their bodies in public to avoid enticing men, being subservient to their men and forced to do many things that would have American women crying foul.

Well thanks to The All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) and the release of what’s called the “Shariat Nikahnama”, things are getting a lot more difficult for Muslim men in India to carry on their male chauvinistic ways towards their wives.   The organization established many new divorce laws that create more equality between Muslim men and women.  Muslim women now have the right to divorce their husbands if they’re caught having illicit affairs,  if he has AIDS and even if she is forced to do unnatural sex acts.

AIMWPLB President Shaista Amber says, “We have framed the new nikahnama strictly in accordance with the tenets of Islam, which clearly prohibit any kind of harassment or oppression of a married woman by her husband.” It also allows for a woman to get a divorce if the husband is denying to grant it.  Other ground breaking amendments include the ability to divorce if there has been no sexual relations for a year, if the husband doesn’t provide for the wife and family, if the husband has abandoned her in excess of 4 years,  or in the case of any kind of ill treatment or torture.

Basically this is huge progress for Muslim women in India and there’s much more to come.  Not to say that the Muslim women will take a stand and take advantage of laws designed to protect them, but at least there are laws now available for those women who say, “Enough is enough”.  The new laws have Muslim men shaking in their robes because this changes a once archaic view of marriage and begins to put things in line with the rest of the world.  Maybe there is hope on the horizon for equality among the sexes in India after all.  The opportunity exists, so hopefully Muslim women will stand strong and take advantage of these new laws afforded to them that have kept them in marital slavery for many generations.

Every year for the past 100 years, Hungarians in the city of Roma would bury a double bass to signal the end of the wedding season and also would confess their sins that were committed against the instrument. Then they followed up with an all night party. A strange custom to be sure, but a custom nonetheless. Well 2008 saw that custom nixed from Hungary’s event calender. The bureaucrats in Hungary basically forgot to put it on the list of festivals that has been held every year on the first Thursday of every February.

The festival is included along with the carnival that celebrates the arrival of Spring. The custom is really a tradition of the gypsy musicians who have carried on the tradition year after year. However, the strangest part is that the local government of Roma had no choice but to ban the ceremony since it wasn’t listed on Hungary’s Festival List.  So even if it was an accident, it doesn’t matter. It’s not on the list, so it doesn’t exist.

And you thought our government was strange.

As part of a very unusual experiment called “The Week The Women Went”, the women of a small Canadian town called Hardisty near Alberta decided to simply pick up and leave their husbands and children alone by themselves for a week. The husbands had to manage everything from the meals, housework, cleaning up, getting the kids to and fro, putting them to bed and the entire enchilada.For most reading this, your response may be “So what. I do that every day.” And that’s exactly what the study was set to find out. In Canada, over 70% of the households are run by women and most of which also had full time jobs. The study, which was caught on film, was going to find out if, A) the men could handle such a daunting task and B) if there would be an increased appreciation for what the women must do every day that they feel is being taken for granted.

One of the women named Kelly Weatherly stated “It will be a disaster, a complete disaster.” Others such as Heather Mills stated, “I don’t even know if he’s had them for a whole day.” Miller’s husband simply replied, “Two people to take care of, both under the age of five, how hard can it be?” And then there was the negative side of the coin where viewers like Andrew were annoyed by the mere premise of the show stating, “What a misandric (man hating) idea for show. What is wrong with Canadian society that we need to continuously promote how important women are to society at the expense of men?”

Not to spoil the outcome, but to the women’s chagrin, the result wasn’t what they hoped. The men faired very well with only minor speed bumps. One of the participants, the town Administrator and father of three named Tony Kulbisky stated, “It wasn’t that much of an ordeal. We just pre-planned everything, or tried to be as organized as we could be.”

There was a silver lining though as one man who refused to marry his girlfriend of 10 years even after the couple had 3 children together decided to plan a surprise wedding as a result of the time apart. The study will be aired on TV on a yet to be named network and viewers will need to tune in to see how the wedding went along with the antics of “The Week The Women Went” because it wasn’t all smooth. There are some very hilarious and entertaining moments that will be sure to have women and men alike murmuring, “He did not just do that.”

Meanwhile, we at My Wedding Favors will be here to celebrate all weddings from fairy tale to elegant to themed events. So husbands to be, show your respect for your lovely lady and tell her about My Wedding Favors to help do your part in planning your big day.

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Movie review: 27 Dresses
by guest blogger Donna L.
27 Dresses gets my two thumbs up! I had the pleasure of attending the special advanced screening of this hysterical chick flick last night in Atlanta. Of course, I brought three close friends with me — our first night out celebrating my December engagement! Hundreds of people lined up to see what turned out to be a very entertaining evening, complete with hors d’oeuvres and a delicious pink cocktail at the VIP reception.

Katherine Heigl (Jane) delivered an outstanding performance as the wedding-obsessed girl who is always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Her crush on her boss turns to jealousy and frustration when he falls in love with her kid sister. The movie follows her journey as she works through the now-strained relationship with her sister, her boss, and the journalist who relentlessly pursues her. I especially related to the scene where she tried on the multitude of ridiculous bridesmaids’ dresses that were crammed into her closet, and judging by the laughter in the audience, so did many others! We left with smiles on our faces and a fabulous goodie bag filled with Kate Aspen wedding favors and Vera Wang perfume to name just a few!

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