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Who doesn’t love a good wedding?! The celebration of love, the food, the dancing… What normally doesn’t feature is a trip to hospital! But that’s what happened to poor bride Mary (p22) after she asked the photographer to snap a pic of her new husband on her back. While we didn’t have any wedding stories nearly as disastrous as that on the Take 5 team, I did love hearing from our writers with mishaps. One unnamed writer at a very posh wedding flashed the guests while busting out energetic moves on the dancefloor! And another who'd like to be anonymous confessed that she drunkenly swore at the mother of the bride who tried helping her to bed. If something (printable!) went wrong at your wedding, we’d love to hear. Don’t…

I ran away to find myself and came back with a teenager Jaci Ohayon, 45. Staring at the positive pregnancy test, my jaw dropped. This wasn’t part of the plan, I thought. It was 2016, and at 37 I never expected to fall pregnant because I had an IUD. My hubby, Stephane and I already had three kids: my stepson, 15, son, nine, and daughter, seven, and had plans to travel and open a restaurant. But our shock quickly turned into joy after my first doctor’s appointment. A blood test couldn’t determine how far along I was so I had an ultrasound. “We can’t find the baby,” the technician told us. After an agonising few weeks of more tests, it was determined I’d had an ectopic pregnancy. The embryo was…

I was trying to take a fun picture when disaster struck… Mary Greenwell, 28. I stood at the cash register behind the counter at McDonald’s, smiling when I saw my friend Blake walk in. “Hey,” he said. “How’s your day going?” I’d fancied Blake for a year, but I’d had a boyfriend at the time we first met when he came in as a customer. Now, I was free and single. When I dropped it into the conversation that my boyfriend and I had broken up, Blake’s eyes lit up. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, but his face told a different story. “You don’t look so sorry,” I teased. A couple of weeks later, he finally asked me out, and I happily accepted. Shortly after, we were a…

Chicken with tomato rice & pesto SERVES 4 PREP 15 MINS COOK 40 MINS 1.5kg whole fresh marinated chicken 1 lemon, zest finely grated and lemon sliced 400g small mixed tomatoes 2 x 250g packets microwave wild and brown rice 1⁄3 cup shop-bought pesto 1 Preheat a barbecue with lid to moderate. Place chicken, breast-side down, on a chopping board. Using kitchen scissors, cut along each side of backbone. Discard backbone. Turn chicken, breast-side up. Using the palm of your hand, press down on breast to flatten slightly (butterfly). Run a finger between skin and flesh of chicken to create a pocket. 2 Place lemon slices in pocket. Place chicken, breast-side up, on chargrill. Cook, covered, 30 mins. Add tomatoes to grill. Turn chicken. Cook, covered, a further 10…

Doctors said I couldn’t fly, but I was determined to get to New Zealand Bethany Hearn, 24. I sat gawping at my surgeon in disbelief. “What do you mean I can’t fly?” I said. “For how long?” “Truthfully, I’d never fly again if I were you. The pressure is too much for your condition,” he replied. “But travelling is my life!” I exclaimed. It was 2022, and I was in the hospital, having just woken up from surgery. After having problems with my ears from the age of three, I’d been diagnosed with a rare ear disease called cholesteatoma. It caused non-cancerous tumours to grow in my ear, and if they reached my brain, they could be fatal. I’d had surgery to remove one at 14 and had been told…

Wendy Hagan, 45, Townsville, Qld. Snuggled on the couch next to my partner Tim, 39, he popped on another wrestling video. He’d grown up watching wrestling and loved showing me clips. “There’s a wrestling event in town. Wanna go?” he asked me. “Sounds fun!” I replied. It was August 2022, and that weekend we took ourselves along to the event hosted by the Queensland Wrestling Alliance at a local school. Wrestlers emerged wearing amazing costumes and threw each other around the ring. The energy of these wild characters was intoxicating. “I’m hooked!” I told Tim, and we started attending matches regularly. After one, the event organisers told us about their training sessions for budding wrestlers. “Should we give it a go?” I asked Tim. We were both athletic but worked…

Healthy breakfast salad SERVES 4 PREP 15 MINS + COOLING COOK 30 MINS ½ cup quinoa 4 eggs ½ cup smoked almonds, roughly chopped 100g kale, finely shredded ¾ cup torn mint leaves, plus extra to serve 3 radishes, thinly sliced ½ cup edamame, cooked, podded 1⁄3 cup dried cranberries ¼ cup sunflower seeds 100g feta, crumbled DRESSING 1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil Finely grated zest, juice 1 lemon 1 tsp honey ½ tsp spirulina 1 Cook quinoa following packet directions. Transfer to a large bowl. Set aside 15 mins to cool slightly. Meanwhile, place eggs in a saucepan of cold water, bring to boil on high, then simmer on low 5 mins. Drain, cool and peel. 2 DRESSING Whisk all ingredients together. Season to taste. 3 Add…

We checked the coop and it was an eggstravaganza! Dianne Backwell, 70, Surf Coast, Vic. Careful boys!” I told my grandsons, Milo, eight, and Finn, five. My hubby Daryl and I kept chooks and the boys loved coming over to play with them. I’d had chickens when I was a kid, and my sons grew up with them, too. They even used to carefully drive them around the house on little toy bikes! Now, as well as bringing lots of joy, the chooks also gave us lovely fresh eggs every day. In March this year, we bought a new pair of the same breed, from the same farmer we’d got them from before. Soon after, I was making lunch when Daryl came into the kitchen. In his hand was the…

I listened to her snoring, why wouldn’t my girl wake up? Carol Corr, 48. My daughter Joleen blew on her cup of tea. “Mum, I’ve got something to tell you,” she said. “What is it?” I asked. “Micky is blackmailing me,” she said. My heart clenched in fear. Micky was Joleen’s ex, and the father of her son Tom*, two. I’d never liked Micky and my instincts had been proven right when Joleen admitted to me shortly after Tom was born that Micky was physically abusive towards her. She had tried to leave him several times, but he had always managed to weasel his way back into her life. Recently though, she’d left him for good. Joleen, 26, and I were close, often getting our lashes tinted together or gossiping…

I apply lip balm to my cuticles before bed to stop them from cracking. Beth McLeod, Hobart, Tas. If you have young daughters or granddaughters, save the clothes off their dolls when the kids don’t play with them any longer. Doll clothes are great for dressing up small dogs. Fay Draper, South Morang, Vic. When I can’t be bothered cooking, I pick up a roast chook and a ready-made bag of salad from the supermarket. It’s easy and healthy, and much cheaper than a takeaway meal. Jess Turner, Kenmore, Qld. I cook meatloaf in individual portions in muffin tins. It cooks faster and it helps with portion control. Sally Martinez, Roxburgh Park, Vic. I take photos of takeaway menus so they’re easy to find on my phone and don’t clutter…

Gooey green spiderweb dip SERVES 8 PREP 15 MINS 2 avocados, seeded, peeled 1 lime, juice 2 long green onions, finely chopped 1 tbsp chopped coriander ¼ tsp Mexican chilli powder 2 tbsp sour cream, whisked  1 tomato, seeded, chopped Plastic spiders, corn chips, to serve 1 In a bowl, mash avocado with juice until smooth. Stir in onion, coriander and chilli. Season.  2 Spoon into a shallow serving bowl, smoothing over top. Spoon runny sour cream into a ziplock bag and snip a corner to make a small opening. 3 Pipe circles on top of dip, starting from centre. Use a toothpick to drag through circle to make a web pattern. Spoon tomato on the edge and place plastic spiders in the centre and on plate. Serve with corn chips. PHOTOGRAPHY: © ARE MEDIA…