Lifestyle
Some Couples Prioritize Wellness as a Key Part of Their Weddings

Kara Ladd-Blum said she was “pushed into the wellness world” after being diagnosed in 2016 with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer affecting the body’s soft tissues.
“I became hyper-aware of what I was putting on and in my body, and that evolved into this spiritual awakening,” said Ms. Ladd-Blum, 32, of Brooklyn, who has been cancer-free for eight years. Now, she works with wellness brands as a conscious marketing consultant and hosts a podcast focused on mindful living.
While planning their Sept. 15, 2024, wedding, she and her husband, Brandon Blum, 32, who runs a content marketing agency and apparel brand, were eager to incorporate some of their favorite wellness practices. On the morning of their wedding, they meditated and journaled together, as they often do at home, and incorporated healing crystals and tarot cards into the celebration.
“I feel like weddings are just an extension of people’s energies,” Ms. Ladd-Blum said. “We both love, live and breathe that world.”
For many couples, health and mindfulness are an integral part of their everyday lives, and they want their weddings to reflect these values. And with more event planners and venues catering to the needs of those who prioritize wellness, it’s easier to accomplish that.
“It definitely has weaved its way into weddings and events,” said Ali Phillips, the owner of Engaging Events by Ali in Chicago. She said around three-quarters of the weddings she planned each year contained a wellness element.
At Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster, Mass., wedding groups can enjoy candlelit floating sound baths, acupuncture happy hours and beach yoga sessions. At Canyon Ranch Woodside in Woodside, Calif., couples and their guests can sign up for spiritual growth sessions, botanical tea making and strength-training workshops.
Miraval Berkshires Resort and Spa in Lenox, Mass., specifically offers a mindful weddings program, which includes spa treatments and guided morning meditations. There’s even an anniversary “reflection visit” for couples, where they can participate in a sacred stone ceremony, hike or work out in a nature ropes course.
“We live in this fast-paced, extremely distracted world where self-care and also relationship care can often take a back seat,” Danielle Vega, a senior group sales manager at Miraval Berkshires, said.
On the morning of Ms. Ladd-Blum’s wedding, at Corrida, a Spanish restaurant in Boulder, Colo., she met with Maureen Dodd, the spiritual mentor she had worked with throughout her cancer treatment, to engage in a solo healing session, which she described as “a self-love ritual.”
“As someone highly sensitive to others’ energy, I wanted to anchor in my own energy and love before welcoming others into the space,” Ms. Ladd-Blum said.
While getting ready for the wedding ceremony, she listened to some of her favorite so-called love frequencies, or frequencies of sound waves believed to have healing properties. Ms. Ladd-Blum also performed other rituals like a lymphatic drainage massage. She then met a few of her closest friends and her mother for a bridal blessing, which Ms. Dodd, who is based in Phoenix and Sedona, Ariz., also led.
To ensure positive energy for the day ahead, Ms. Ladd-Blum placed her engagement ring and wedding band in a selenite crystal bowl, which is said to have protective properties. But her favorite practice from the day involved having guests — who received welcome bags that included palo santo sticks, which are meant to help get rid of negative energy — pass around and bless a heart-shaped twin crystal during the wedding ceremony. “They were all infusing it with good energy,” she said.
Samantha Cutler, 33, and her husband, Trevor Mengel, 36, who live in Delray Beach, Fla., have also actively embraced wellness practices as a couple, some of which they integrated into their May 4, 2023, wedding at the Addison of Boca Raton.
“Wellness and nutrition and all the pieces of health have really been a core foundation of my lifestyle and my relationship with my husband as well,” said Ms. Cutler, the founder of Mindfull, a meal planning and health coaching app. “There was wellness sprinkled throughout our entire wedding.”
She described the welcome bags that she curated for guests with Mr. Mengel, the founder and chief executive of Cloutdesk, a creator marketing platform, as a “wellness bundle.” The bags included vitamin supplements and a copy of “The Five Minute Journal,” which is designed to promote reflection and gratitude.
The day after their 69-person celebration, the couple hosted a wellness day at the Ray Hotel in Delray Beach, where guests were treated to matcha, vitamin B12 shots and drip IVs containing electrolytes and vitamins claiming to revive the body following alcohol consumption, stress and more. After a Pilates session led by one of Ms. Cutler’s fitness instructor friends, attendees could participate in a golf session or relax by the pool.
“It was just really fun seeing your husband and your best friends working out with your parents,” Ms. Cutler said. “It felt like a family affair in so many ways, without it feeling too gimmicky.”
Even an hourlong meditation session before the wedding can be helpful for wellness-focused couples. Katharina Kutscher, 30, and Zane Witherspoon, 28, who runs a tech startup, hosted a small wedding celebration on Aug. 30, 2024, in Central Park but started their day together at the Ludlow Hotel.
“I was very nervous for the wedding day,” said Ms. Kutscher, who lives in Manhattan. She tapped a meditation and mindfulness coach friend to lead a meditation session for her and Mr. Witherspoon via Zoom.
While completing breathing exercises and setting their intentions for the day, Ms. Kutscher, a content creator who also works in marketing, was able to reflect on what was truly meaningful. “The whole goal of this day is to get married to the love of your life,” she said, “and that’s the most important thing.”

Lifestyle
'Wait Wait' for May 17, 2025: With Not My Job guests GWAR, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Gad, and more!

Metal band GWAR performs live onstage for the Viva La Bam tour at Roseland Ballroom on November 2, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images)
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Roger Kisby/Getty Images
This week, we celebrate the arrival of spring with special guests Josh Gad, Gretchen Whitmer, GWAR, Kara Jackson, and Amber Maykut!
Lifestyle
‘Like Goldilocks.’ Nude intruder found sleeping in bed of LA home after ransacking it

An Echo Park resident made a disturbing discovery over Mother’s Day weekend when he found a stranger sleeping nude in his bed.
Michael Duarte, an NBC4 sports writer, found his home ransacked late Saturday night. Food from his pantry and fridge had been taken out and his miscellaneous items were found scattered across his kitchen.
“My first thought was – did some wild animal come into my home and damage everything?” he said.
Upon closer inspection, the homeowner noticed the glass of his back door had been smashed and used as a means to break in. While surveying his home, Duarte took a look into his bedroom and saw a man sleeping in his bed.
“To see a man not just sleeping in my bed, but completely naked sleeping in my bed … I was shocked,” he said. “Like Goldilocks from the Three Bears, and someone’s sleeping in my bed instead of the little bear.”
Following the alarming discovery, Duarte told his friend, who was waiting in a nearby car, to call police. Officers then arrived, dressed the man and took him to jail.
“As he was being walked away in cuffs and thrown into the back of the squad car, he was yelling to me and my friend and also the officers, ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Duarte said.
As if the break-in wasn’t enough, the intruder helped himself to the resident’s kitchen and ransacked the home in a bizarre way. The man clogged the toilet with towels, ate a box of ice cream sandwiches, ate a box of Beyond Beef burger patties and raided Duarte’s stash of chewing gum.
“I had a fresh pack with 60 inside unopened,” he said. “He opened it up, chewed all of them and then spit a big wad of gum about … the size of a softball.”
The intruder also killed a possum on the back patio by using a statue.
Neighbors said the bizarre break-in has left the neighborhood shaken.
“It definitely changes how you think about things and how safe you really are,” said Lindsey Savino, who lives in the community.
Law enforcement has not released the name of the suspected intruder. The case remains under investigation.
Lifestyle
'Final Destination Bloodlines' proves that you still can't beat death : Pop Culture Happy Hour

Kaitlyn Santa Juana in Final Destination Bloodlines.
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Kaitlyn Santa Juana in Final Destination Bloodlines.
Eric Milner/Warner Bros. Pictures
You can’t beat death. That’s the message of the Final Destination film franchise. Almost 15 years after the last new installment, we’re back with Final Destination Bloodlines, a movie all about the fact that you really, really, really can’t beat death. It will come for you, and in fact, it may come for your whole family — in the most convoluted, bloody, gnarly ways it possibly can.
Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture
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