It was meant to be a “top secret” wedding.
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth had made a point of keeping the ceremony small – only close friends and family – and telling them strictly no photos.
Yet when the pair tied the knot at their home in Tennessee on December 23, within just a few hours, the world knew all about it.
So who messed up?
Well, the Malibu singer’s sister Brandi Cyrus has explained exactly what happened, on her podcast Your Favorite Thing with Wells & Brandi.
Brandi told listeners that the “no photos” message was drilled into the “small, tight-knit” group of guests, who included just a few of Liam’s closest friends and Miley’s best friend Jessie.
“Even with family and close friends, they still made a point to say, ‘Hey guys, this is a private thing for a reason. We love you all, but please don’t take photos’,” Brandi said.
“I think because it was just so few of us, they just assumed everyone would be smart enough to know [not to post about the wedding].”
But one of Liam’s friends, pro surfer Conrad Carr, somehow missed the message.
“I didn’t really ask what happened, but I think from what he said, no one told him not to post about it, so he didn’t know,” Brandi said.
So he, like any wedding guest these days, shared some photos – particularly one of Miley and Liam cutting their wedding cake, which tipped the media off big time that a wedding had gone down.
It was still considered speculation until Miley confirmed the wedding herself with a series of photos of her in her Vivienne Westwood gown slow dancing with Liam in his tux.
Brandi said Conrad “feels really bad” for announcing the news before the couple was ready, but thankfully Miley “doesn’t really care”.
Brandi’s co-host Wells Adams, who is also a friend of the family, said many reactions he saw were from people who had actually assumed the pair were already married.
Which we kind of understand, given that Miley’s big sister confirmed that Liam has been wearing a ring that Miley gave him on his own left hand “for years”.
The pair met and fell in love on the set of The Last Song in 2009 and were engaged in 2012. But in 2013 they called off their engagement, reuniting about two years later. By mid-2016 Miley was wearing an engagement ring again.
Top Comments
You would think that it’s just polite not to post pics of someone’s wedding before they do, whether they’re famous or not. And given they had a very small, quiet wedding at home, you’d think that was a clue they wanted to keep it private. Luckily Miley and Liam seemed fairly laid back about the whole thing, but some people really need to think a little before they post stuff.
I'm not sure if this has much to do with manners, honestly (assuming Conrad wasn't told of Miley and Liam's wishes, as he claims) - it's more about the personal preference of the couples. I know of couples who have got married, gone back to their hotel room hoping to spend some time browsing through some of their wedding pics on Facebook...and they've been disappointed to find that no one has posted any. My sister got married this weekend and she was thrilled that several people had already posted pics for her and her new husband to enjoy by the time they got to their hotel (literally 5 minutes away from their reception venue).
I think couples just need to be clear about what they want. If they don't want photos posted, then they really need to say so and if they do, then they need to make sure everyone gets that message as well. I don't think you can safely assume that no couples want pics posted before they get a chance, or that all couples want to see a flood of wedding pics all over social media.
I agree people should be clearer, but when they’re not the default should probably be to not post. Especially when it’s your celebrity friends!
Did they not clearly say "hey guys, no photos please"?
I don't know. From what Miley's sister was saying, it sounds like the friend who posted the pictures didn't know he was going against their wishes, so maybe it wasn't clear or maybe it didn't get out to everybody.