Hit comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral has been named best British movie in an internet poll.

The 1994 film narrowly vanquished Monty Python's Life of Brian in the survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Virgin Media.

Sir Anthony Hopkins shared the title of Britain's favourite actor with Sir Sean Connery, while Sir Michael Caine took third place.

Dame Judi Dench was named the country's favourite actress, ahead of Dame Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.

Trainspotting, the latest James Bond film Casino Royale and crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are among the other movies included.

"Seeing so many fantastic films in the list is testament to British film talent," said Virgin Media's James Kydd.

The internet site conducted the poll to mark the closing date of its Virgin Media Shorts competition, which is inviting budding filmmakers to submit short films.

A Saudi Arabian charity is spending millions of dollars helping people get married in mass ceremonies because inflation has put wedding costs beyond the reach of many would-be couples in the oil-rich kingdom.

On Tuesday night just over 800 men congregated at a conference centre in Riyadh to celebrate marriages contracted at the expense of a charity organization headed by Riyadh governor Prince Salman and various business sponsors.

"Tonight 24 million riyals ($6.40 million) has been spent on this project," Prince Salman said in a short speech. "Pious charity is the way of this state and this people."

Some social commentators and clerics who administer an austere version of Islamic law fear young people may not be prepared to wait until they have enough money to marry and will engage in a physical relationship anyway.

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As more and more couples decide to tie the knot abroad, it is becoming more difficult for wedding guests to decide on an outfit, it has been claimed.

The Birmingham Post reported that it is hard to know whether to wear a traditional posh hat and dress or a more casual summery dress to the big day.

"I am finding that more and more people are getting married at different kinds of venues," said IT buyer Emma Walls, who is attending two weddings this year - one in a stately home and one in Cyprus.

"The good thing is a lot of retailers are catering for the change in wedding locations and have a great selection of accessories which work for any type of wedding."

She recommended a strapless black and white floral dress for a glamorous wedding, whereas the newspaper claimed a sundress from with summery accessories is perfect for a beach celebration.

TWO DAYS after her friend Jacinth was married, Melissa called to get the details of her wedding night. To Melissa's surprise, she was given a laughing answer of, "Nothing happened, we were too tired". Melissa was more than shocked and was also disappointed as she had assisted Jacinth, her friend of more than 10 years, to select sexy red lingerie for her wedding night.

Contrary to expectations of wedding night sexual activity, nothing usually happens. Flair found that some couples, after getting married, are just too tired to have a sexually romantic wedding night.

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As one of the top wedding planners in the business, Mindy Weiss has overseen such high-profile nuptials as Gwen Stefani's and Gavin Rossdale's and Eva Longoria's and Tony Parker's, as well as baby showers for Nicole Richie and Jennifer Lopez. But in all her years in the business she has never planned a wedding for a same-sex couple. That's all about to change.
On the heels of the May 15 California Supreme Court ruling instituting statewide marriage equality, Weiss has nine weddings booked for gay male couples no lesbians yet. With price tags starting at $75,000, her ceremonies are for those with high-end desires and means and even then there's no guarantee she'll be able to fit you in. She took the time to speak to us between meetings in Las Vegas. According to Weiss, every bride wants the same perfect day even if that bride happens to be a man.

Have you been getting a ton of calls?

We have gotten several calls. They are all going to be quick because they all seem to want to get married before November and before the election. The first will probably be the last week in July. And so now we are looking for places and giving them options.

Is there a different style to a gay wedding?

Actually, all our weddings just take on the personality of the couple. So there is truly no etiquette, because I am handling it just as I would handle any other wedding. I mean, everyone I met with said "I'm the bride." [Laughs] So there is a definitive difference in who wants to be the bride and groom. They are so concerned about the wardrobe. That is the biggest thing. I am so thrilled, because definitely there is an attitude difference here, too. Number one, they are so excited that they are able to get married, but also they want to have a lot of fun. They want a serious ceremony, but they really want to have fun at the party.

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Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin may have spent £5m on a performance by Westlife, a lavish reception in an abbey and an extraordinary fireworks display but they could not stop the bride getting wet.

Sunshine on Italy's Ligurian coast in June is normally as reliable as it is in the Sahara, so the bride-to-be wearing a £200,000 dress and four-inch heels must have thought herself truly unlucky to have to make her way down the gangplank to a luxury yacht in Genoa harbour during a monsoon-like rainstorm yesterday.

Perhaps a kindly local was on hand to murmur in her ear the proverb sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata "sopping wet bride, lucky bride" with which Italians cheer themselves up on such occasions.

The couple, watched by just eight witnesses, became Mr and Mrs Rooney in a 20-minute civil ceremony in the town of Santa Margherita, conducted by the deputy mayor, Gianni Costa. It was the day's only low-key moment.

The proper celebrations took place at La Cervara a former abbey which has hosted three popes and imprisoned a French king. There, each guest was handed a butterfly in a box, to be released instead of confetti while the champagne flowed courtesy of OK! magazine, which paid a reported £2.5m for exclusive rights to cover the nuptials.

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A platinum wedding dress that costs 10 times more than most entire weddings goes on show in London Monday as part of the Hatton Garden Jewellery Week.

The £240,000 dress is made of 40 metres of fabric spun from silk and platinum thread.

It was designed by Italian Mauro Adami, who once made Keith Richards a platinum jacket.

He is the lead designer of Domo Adami, whose couture wedding dresses can be bought from its show room in Milan.

Adami learned his craft in different ateliers in Italy and abroad, and says he has had a 'passion for brides' since childhood.

'I couldn't help running when an adorned car was passing by, following my childish dream made of joy and deep emotion that the bride represented and still represents,' he said.

The wedding dress is in the window of the Wedding Ring Shop in Hatton Garden and is the centrepiece of the festival, held every year to celebrate the street's history of artistry and craftsmanship.

There are over 800 jewellers and manufacturers in the area,  accounting for more than a third of all jewellers in London.

The festival also includes a treasure hunt to win a £15,000 platinum ring and pendant.

In April, Sharon Naylor, author of more than 30 wedding planning books, said "I do" on a beautiful spring day with cocktails, a dessert buffet and family and friends.

Naylor said her No. 1 tip to brides is to pick the five aspects of a wedding they think are most important and spend their money on that. She splurged on food, her gown, the entertainment, photography and the flowers.

The newlywed said she has no regrets of the money spent on her big day.

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A Scottish couple have become the first to tie the knot on Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Stephen Tierney, 27, and Claire Tullan, 28, from Glasgow, climbed 1,437 stairs to reach a height of 134 metres above the water.

Wearing special climbing suits, complete with harnesses, they braved wind and rain to tie the knot in the unique wedding location.

Even the ring was attached to a safety rope, just in case.

The bride said: "I always wanted somewhere unusual to get married, and this was somewhere I've always wanted to visit.

"I'm so excited I don't believe I've actually done it."

It is estimated that over 1,700 couples have become engaged whilst climbing the bridge.

Those who have scaled its heights include Will Smith, Matt Damon, Kylie Minogue, and Prince Harry.

With the economy sagging, even the most dreamy-eyed couples are worried about how they'll pay for their big day.

Fishella Thomas, 25, had long imagined getting married in a custom-made gown. But as her wedding to longtime sweetheart, Joseph Williams, 27, approached, she decided to buy a dress off the rack at David's Bridal for $800, one-third the price of an original design.

That's not the only way this E. Flatbush, Brooklyn, couple scaled back on their wedding, held May 25 at Antun's catering hall in Queens Village.

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