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    Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s Wife, Is Thrust Into the Spotlight

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    Rama Duwaji, a 27-year-old animator and illustrator, married the presumptive Democratic nominee for New York City mayor this winter.Zohran Mamdani stood before a cheering crowd late Tuesday night at a Long Island City bar, his victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City all but guaranteed. His wife, Rama Duwaji, stood at his side, smiling, as he concluded his speech.Many already knew Ms. Duwaji, 27, from the wedding photos that Mr. Mamdani posted to Instagram last month, showing the couple holding hands on the subway and in the streets of downtown Manhattan.Ms. Duwaji is an animator and illustrator whose designs have appeared in The New Yorker, the BBC and The Washington Post, according to her portfolio website. She is ethnically Syrian and was born in Texas, a campaign spokeswoman said, and she holds a master’s degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York.Mr. Mamdani, 33, a state assemblyman from Queens, charmed younger New Yorkers throughout his campaign with his videos on social media, in which he speaks Spanish over a plate of sweet plantains, breaks down “halal-flation” while eating chicken over rice at a food cart and poses with celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski and Laverne Cox.Ms. Duwaji has an active social media presence, too, showcasing her work on Instagram to more than 70,000 followers (a number that has grown since Mr. Mamdani surged ahead in the primary). Many of her designs portray Middle Eastern life and champion social justice issues. Like her husband, she is a critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.Ms. Duwaji was not seen publicly throughout much of Mr. Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, prompting his critics to ask on X if he was “hiding” his wife. Mr. Mamdani pushed back in the May Instagram post showing off their wedding photos, declaring that he and Ms. Duwaji had married three months before.“Rama isn’t just my wife; she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms,” Mr. Mamdani said.The couple married in a civil ceremony at the New York City Clerk’s Office. Kara McCurdy“Omg she’s real,” Ms. Duwaji joked in a comment on the post.Theirs was a Hinge success story. Speaking last week on a podcast from The Bulwark, Mr. Mamdani said there was “still hope in those dating apps.”The couple married this winter in a civil ceremony at the New York City Clerk’s Office. Separately, they held an engagement party and a Muslim wedding ceremony known as a nikkah in Dubai, where Ms. Duwaji’s family lives.Early on Tuesday, before the election results had come in and while her husband was still canvassing across the city, Ms. Duwaji posted a carousel of images on Instagram that included a black-and-white photo strip of the two of them, a voter registration form tucked into a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a picture of Mr. Mamdani as a child.“Couldn’t possibly be prouder,” she captioned the post. More

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      You Only Get Married a Few Times. Why Not Go All Out?

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      As the Jeff Bezos-Lauren Sánchez nuptials approach, a look at how second weddings went from low-key to lavish. They were one of the world’s most famous couples, their future sealed when he renounced his throne for her and she renounced her husband for him. But so much disapproval surrounded the audacious affair between King Edward VIII of England and the American socialite Wallis Simpson that their eventual marriage, before a handful of guests in France in 1937, felt more like a perp walk than a wedding.“It was a sad little service,” Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, a wedding guest known as “Baba Blackshirt” because of her reputed Nazi sympathies, wrote in her journal. “It could be nothing but pitiable and tragic to see a King of England of only six months ago, an idolized King, married under these circumstances.”It seems quaint to remember the days when second weddings were typically quiet and modest affairs, especially after a bit of adultery. Perhaps there was a sense that everyone was allowed just one public spectacle-style wedding in a lifetime. Maybe it was considered indecorous to declare “til death do us part” once again, when death had clearly not parted you the first time you said it.That’s why former monarchs fled to France and commoners had small, tasteful celebrations, perhaps at City Hall, the brides wearing outfits like “a gray suit and a pillbox hat,” as the high-end event planner Bryan Rafanelli described it in an interview.In contrast, let us consider the 2025 version of a royal wedding: the forthcoming marriage in Venice between Jeff Bezos, the billionaire king of Amazon, and the ex-TV host and helicopter pilot Lauren Sánchez. Having entered public consciousness when their racy texts were leaked to the tabloids during their previous marriages, their relationship — buoyed and insulated by Mr. Bezos’ estimated $228 billion fortune — has always had the feel of an extended P.D.A. victory lap.Depending on what you read, the wedding will cost $15 million, or $20 million. Or maybe it will be scaled back to under $10 million because of the couple’s supposed decision to be “less ‘Marie Antoinette’” after the Blue Origin spaceflight this spring featuring Ms. Sánchez and a group of her famous female friends. The 11-minute mission suffered from a bit of a P.R. problem when the women donned sexy space outfits, discussed their extraterrestrial makeup routines and, in the case of Katy Perry, declared the intention to “put the ‘ass’ in astronaut.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Winnie Harlow and Kyle Kuzma’s Engagement Met With Star-Studded Congratulations

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      The couple’s happy news captured the hearts of celebrity friends and fans alike.The model Winnie Harlow and the N.B.A. player Kyle Kuzma announced their engagement on Tuesday, posting photos on Instagram and sharing details of the proposal in an interview with Vogue. Mr. Kuzma, 29, a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks, proposed to Ms. Harlow, 30, on Feb. 13.According to Vogue, he chartered a private plane to Turks and Caicos Islands for the long weekend, returning to a special spot where they had vacationed together in 2022. The plane was decorated with roses, balloons, chocolate and Champagne, but Ms. Harlow didn’t see a proposal coming, instead thinking it was a grand romantic gesture for Valentine’s Day.He read her a poem he’d written, which ended with the line: “Will you be my wife?” She said yes.The ring — an “8.5-carat oval-cut engagement ring with two baguette stones on the side,” per Vogue — was designed by Mr. Kuzma. He told the magazine: “I just wanted to draw a picture of what I felt resembled her — something that was elegant, but very timeless and simplistic at the same time.”After their plane touched down, Mr. Kuzma surprised Ms. Harlow yet again. Her family, Mr. Kuzma’s family, as well as some friends, were waiting at a private villa for them to celebrate their engagement all together.“I’ve dreamed of this moment ever since I was a little girl, and it was even more beautiful than I could have imagined,” Ms. Harlow told The New York Times in an emailed quote sent by a representative. “I’m overflowing with love for him and so excited to start this incredible new chapter of our lives.”By Wednesday evening, the couple’s joint announcement post on Instagram had more than 900,000 likes and thousands of comments. Stars of the entertainment, fashion and sports worlds and beyond commented, sending their congratulations to the couple.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lana Del Rey Wed a Swamp Tour Guide, Joining Other Celebrities Who Married a Normie

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      The pop singer and songwriter married her longtime boyfriend, Jeremy Dunfre, a swamp tour guide. Other celebrities have also wed someone who’s not rich or famous.The pop superstar Lana Del Rey has made it official with her longtime boyfriend, Jeremy Dunfre, an alligator swamp tour guide in Louisiana.Del Rey, 39, and Dunfre, 49, filed a marriage license with the Lafourche Parish clerk of court in Thibodaux, La., on Friday, according to The Associated Press, which reported that it had obtained the document.A Sept. 26 ceremony was officiated by the celebrity pastor Judah Smith, best known for being a spiritual adviser to Justin Bieber and as the lead theologian of Churchome, a megachurch outside Seattle, according to the document cited by A.P.Questions about whether the couple said “I do” hit a fever pitch online and on social media in recent weeks, and pictures of their wedding flooded the internet. According to The A.P., the singer and songwriter exchanged vows with Dunfre in Des Allemands, La., where Dunfre works as a captain at Airboat Tours by Arthur.It was unclear exactly when the couple began dating, but pictures posted to Del Rey’s Facebook page show the “Video Games” singer on one of Mr. Dunfre’s boat tours in 2019.Here are some other celebrities who have married someone they met out in the world, with no connection to their work or fame.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Job at a Popular Eritrean Restaurant Leads to a Special Romance

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      Jocelyn DeGroot-Lutzner grew up four blocks from Ephream Seyoum in West Philadelphia. But the two didn’t meet until she applied for a job at his family’s Eritrean restaurant.Jocelyn Rose DeGroot-Lutzner was thinking about her father when she wandered into the West Philadelphia restaurant Dahlak in 2013 to apply for a bartending job.The restaurant, a favorite local hangout, was a seven-minute walk from her parents’ house. “My dad and his friends drank at Dahlak,” she said. “I didn’t want to mess up his vibe.”When she got the job and began working there, she would eventually prove less of a distraction to her father than to the man who hired her, Ephream Amare Seyoum.Ms. DeGroot-Lutzner, 33, and Mr. Seyoum, 36, are West Philadelphia natives. Growing up, they lived four blocks apart but never met.Ms. DeGroot-Lutzner might not have applied for the bartending gig if it weren’t for an endorsement from a friend. “She said Ephream’s a really nice guy,” Ms. DeGroot-Lutzner said. She was also at a professional crossroads.Months earlier, she graduated from the New School in New York City. “I always thought I wanted to move to Brooklyn and be a fashion designer,” she said. But after earning a bachelor’s degree in urban studies and fashion photography, she decided to return home. “I tested the waters in New York,” she said. “I decided Philly was much more comfortable for me.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Norway’s Princess Martha Louise Weds Self-Proclaimed Shaman Durek Verrett

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      The nuptials of Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verrett attracted huge public interest and a streaming deal for a couple trying to reclaim their narrative after years of bad press.There was no castle, nor were there throngs of exuberant crowds to celebrate this royal wedding. Nonetheless, the nuptials on Saturday of a Norwegian princess and an American self-described shaman attracted public fascination at home and a Netflix deal abroad.The royal involved — Princess Martha Louise, daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway — wed the American, Durek Verrett, after years of often mocking public scrutiny, largely because of Mr. Verrett’s alternative views on health and wellness. The ceremony, a private affair in the remote, picturesque Norwegian village of Geiranger, attracted a gaggle of reporters and a modest crowd of curious residents.The couple sailed into Geiranger, nestled in the majestic Geirangerfjord, a world heritage site, on the royal yacht on Friday, along with members of the royal family, including King Harald and Queen Sonja, according to an official statement.The celebrations on Saturday began with brunch, with the option of a spa treatment available for all guests, according to a copy of the program seen by The New York Times. The day’s schedule also included an afternoon tea, early evening cocktails and a gala dinner. At 10:50 p.m., “the party begins,” the program said, promising late night snacks at 1 a.m.The ceremony itself was held in a marquee on a farm whose meadows overlook the fjords. The couple, stung by the years of critical news coverage, had tried — and failed — to keep the location a secret. The three-day event was privately financed, the royal family said, but that did not stop reporters from speculating about the cost of security arrangements for those attending.The ceremony itself was held on Saturday in a marquee on a farm whose meadows overlook the fjords.Heiko Junge/NTB, via ReutersWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Some Couples Are Charging Guests to Attend Their Weddings

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      As wedding costs continue to increase, some couples are charging guests to attend their special day.Planning a wedding has become so expensive that some couples are asking their guests to pay to attend their special day.Hassan Ahmed, 23, is charging his guests $450 for a ticket to his wedding next year in Houston, where he lives. Mr. Ahmed said he hadn’t heard back from many of his 125 wedding guests. But he has already spent over $100,000 on the wedding, including deposits for the venue, the D.J. and the photographer. In a video on TikTok, he said he was confused by the response, noting that many of his guests had spent more money on Beyoncé or Chris Brown tickets.According to a study by the wedding planning website the Knot, the average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2023 was $35,000 — an increase of $5,000 from the year before. The Knot surveyed about 10,000 couples who had married in the United States in 2023.But the approach of selling tickets to a wedding has mostly upset guests, many of whom have expressed the opinion that it is in poor taste for the couple to put their financial burden onto their guests and that there are more cost-effective ways for couples to have a wedding.Matthew Shaw, the founder of Sauveur, a wedding planning company in London, said that selling tickets “introduces a strange relationship between you and your guests, turning your guests into customers.”He added, “You’re no longer hosting — you’re offering them a paid experience, which introduces a very different narrative in terms of what guests are expecting.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Anant Ambani’s Wedding Guests Include Kardashians, Bollywood Stars and Prime Ministers

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      After months of lavish prewedding festivities that have captured the attention of onlookers worldwide, Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, married Radhika Merchant in Mumbai.After months of anticipation, Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, married Radhika Merchant, a daughter of a fellow business tycoon. Celebrities from Hollywood and Bollywood joined their extravagant multiday celebration on the red carpet.Sadiba Hasan for The New York TimesOn Friday afternoon, Sneh Zala, 24, waited for celebrities to arrive on the red carpet for the wedding of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, and Radhika Merchant, a daughter of a fellow business tycoon.The red carpet was set up in a room adorned with lanterns and red and orange garlands and floral arrangements. Mr. Zala, a photographer working for Manav Manglani, one of Bollywood’s top paparazzi, had already shot several of the couple’s prewedding functions, which began in March. It’s not every day that Kim and Khloé Kardashian, John Cena and Boris Johnson gather for an Indian wedding. All four were in attendance on Friday at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, India, in traditional Indian garb.Mr. Zala was one of about 100 media members clamoring next to the red carpet, not a common addition at most weddings. But given the sheer amount of celebrities present, including Bollywood superstars, several members of the Indian cricket team, former prime ministers and billionaire businessmen, and the fabulous Indian clothes on display, a runway seemed in order.Clockwise from top left: the Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and his wife, the producer and designer Gauri Khan; Tony Blair, the former U.K. prime minister, and his wife, Cherie Blair; the actor Sanjay Dutt; the actress Madhuri Dixit Nene.Atul Loke for The New York TimesJohn Cena stopping for paparazzi on the red carpet.Atul Loke for The New York TimesWhen Mr. Cena came out wearing a baby-blue sherwani, one photographer shouted, “Welcome to India.”As Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, a Thai businesswoman, and her husband, Somsak, posed on the red carpet, a young stylist interrupted to adjust Ms. Leeswadtrakul’s scarf. The stylist, who seemed to have been hired just to help guests be camera-ready, stood at the side of the room for the duration of the eight-hour red carpet.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, Marries Olivia Henson in Royal Wedding

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      Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, married Olivia Henson today at the Chester Cathedral in Chester, England, with Prince William serving as usher.The society wedding of the year — as it was called by British tabloids — went off without a hitch on Friday at noon. Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster and one of the richest people in the United Kingdom, married Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral, a centuries-old Gothic church in England.Despite the rapid winds, hundreds of observers and even a few protesters gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the duke, 33, the new duchess, 31, and William, Prince of Wales, a close friend of the groom and an usher at the wedding. (He attended without Catherine, Princess of Wales, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.)The Very Rev. Dr. Tim Stratford, the Dean of Chester, led and officiated the Anglican service. Ms. Henson arrived in a vintage 1930 Bentley with her father, Rupert Henson, wearing a floor-length silk crepe satin dress with a six-and-a-half-foot detachable train and an embroidered veil inspired by one that Ms. Henson’s great-great-grandmother wore in the 1880s. The look was designed by Emma Victoria Payne, who is based in London. A hefty dose of sparkle was added with the Faberge Myrtle Leaf Tiara, which various Grosvenor women have worn since its creation in 1906.Birch trees lined the inside of the cathedral, and flower decorations included roses and campanula. Many of the flowers will be repurposed as bouquets for local charities and other organizations.Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster and mother of the groom, waving alongside Rupert Henson, the bride’s father, after the ceremony.Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesPrince William, center, engages in conversation with other guests outside the Chester Cathedral following the wedding ceremony.Peter Byrne/Press Association, via Associated PressAfter the ceremony, the newlyweds shared their first public kiss as a married couple before around 400 guests celebrated their union at the nearby Eaton Hall, which has been the home of the duke’s family since the 1400s. Eaton Hall sits on an 11,000-acre estate in Cheshire County, a four-hour drive northwest of London.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More