Charlene Wittstock put fears that she was going to be a runaway bride to rest for good as she wed Prince Albert of Monaco in a religious ceremony on Saturday.

A day after their civil ceremony, the Rhodesian-born Olympian walked down the aisle on the arm of her father in a dazzling off-white silk Duchesse Giorgio Armani Privé dress with a long train and long veil made from off-white silk tulle. The dress was embellished with flowery embroidery, crafted with stones in gold shades, along with Swarovski crystals and mother of pearl teardrops in white and gold hues.

Albert was wearing the cream-colored summer uniform of the palace guards, as well as three medals, including the French Legion of Honor and the Order of the Grimaldi.

As he slipped the ring on his bride's finger, the prince winked and she giggled, looking relaxed. The two exchanged vows in French, which Wittstock studied intensively for a month at the Institut de Francais.

Because of the couple's large guest list, the ceremony took place in the courtyard of the prince's royal palace, rather than the cathedral where his parents Rainer III and Grace Kelly exchanged vows in 1956.

After the couple walked outside of the palace, they got into their Lexus hybrid and were driven to the tiny St. Devote chapel where, according to tradition, the princess leaves her wedding bouquet. It was here that Charlene lost her composure and began weeping briefly ? as if she were overcome by the heat and emotion.

"It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen," Gildo Pastor, 44, a longtime friend of Albert and a member of one of the most prominent families in Monaco told PEOPLE. "They have a wonderful future ahead of them."

Becoming a Princess

For the ceremony, Wittstock, 33, wore a dress designed by Giorgio Armani, although her father, Michael Wittstock, tells Paris-Match magazine that Charlene wasn't always fashion conscious.

"I've seen her turn into a princess there," he said of her time in Monaco. "Before, she was jogging all the time. Now, she's acquired a taste for fashion and become a beautiful woman."

Wittstock grew up in Zimbabwe and spent most of her childhood pursuing her Olympic swimming career and playing with animals. "We'd have weekends by the side of the river Gwai. There were wild animals, elephants, giraffes," says her father, a Johannesburg-based Xerox executive. "Charlene would go riding. She was a real tomboy. Always running everywhere; always covered with dust and dirt."

Sounds like she'll be right at home when the couple departs for their honeymoon in South Africa.

Vignette StoryServer 6.0 Sat Jul 02 18:00:59 2011

If you are looking for money to start or scale your company, then you probably have heard about the BIG Venture Challenge. If not, then you better read on.The Next Women spoke with Jo HIll who has around a million pounds to spend....

What is The BIG Venture Challenge?

 The Big Venture Challenge is a national competition run by UnLtd to find the most ambitious social entrepreneurs in England. We are looking for people with big ideas who can build successful ventures to deliver social impact. Winners of the Big Venture Challenge will get an initial £25K grant plus the opportunity to pitch for up to £150K of further match grant. In addition the winners will get access to first class business support, networks and mentoring designed to keep pace with the fastest growing social ventures.

Where does the £ come from?

The money comes from the Big Lottery Fund. The want to find people who can provide entrepreneurial solutions to tackle increasing social problems across England. 

Why are you involved?

I am the Head of Ventures at UnLtd and my role is to find the most ambitious social entrepreneurs in the country, back them with seed finance and support them to scale up.

Why should startups participate?

This is a great opportunity for start-ups as well as more established ventures that are ready to scale and want investment to grow. It can be tough to find seed investment but our match grants may encourage other investors to back your venture. If an investor is willing to put in £50K and they know that this could leverage an additional £50K from us ? this could be an attractive proposition to an investor. You will also get great profile as one of the Big Venture Challenge winners.

Which startups are you looking for?

We are looking for entrepreneurs who are tackling the big social issues for example the rise in depression, obesity, products and services for people with disabilities, ventures that tackle crime, addiction, long term unemployment etc. We are looking for exciting, entrepreneurial ideas to improve people?s lives in sectors such as health, education, unemployment, housing etc. Could you be the next ?Big Issue??

How do people apply?

If you would like to apply, the deadline is June 30^th at 5pm. Your application form doesn?t have to be perfect, just tell us why your venture is exciting and can scale up to provide widespread impact. If you have any questions, pick up the phone and give us a call on 02075661100. You can find out more information and how to apply on www.bigventurechallenge.com

Five years ago you could be forgiven for thinking that the best networkers only used face-to-face networking methods and tools. In fact, it was only this week, that I was having a discussion, rather ironically on Twitter, with a coach who told me that the best networkers only used face-to-face networking. Perhaps even worse than this rather short-sighted view, was her belief that small business owners didn?t have time to be using online networking as they were too busy running their own business. Mmmm. Let?s just say that I didn?t agree, and I will explain why in this article.

In my experience, many business owners fall into the trap of thinking online OR face-to-face networking, rather than combining the two different types of networking for maximum effect. Did you know that LinkedIn and Twitter are fantastic tools for keeping in touch with people after meeting them at an event? Wouldn?t your life as a networker be SO much easier if you could actually book some time to meet up with someone at a networking event ? rather than leaving it all to chance? Did you know that you can normally use LinkedIn & Twitter to make contact with someone at a face-to-face networking event, BEFORE the event?

Let?s talk about the time pressures which you face as a female and a business owner. If you are anything like me your to do list is never ending ? and with the typical demands that your business and family places on you it is not always possible to get to a physical networking event. But, your marketing and business plans rely on your growing and maintaining a network?

This is where online networking has the edge over face-to-face networking. It is always possible to indulge in some online networking in the odd 5 minutes of the day.

Many female business owners are fantastic at gaining opportunities via social media and so have discounted the possibilities that face-to-face networking can bring. Face-to-face networking doesn?t have to mean attending a formal networking group. Do you have your networking hat on when at social events? You never know what possibilities a hen weekend may offer? At a recent 40^th birthday party for my brother-in-law, I received a great lead from another one of my relations. When attending training events, have you got your networking hat on? Who on the course list would you like to stay in touch with after the event?

Many people think because I am a huge advocate of online networking, that I don?t see the value or point of face-to-face networking. They couldn?t be more wrong.

A face-to-face physical meeting can generate trust far quicker than a purely online relationship. Indeed, it is rare to find a very strong business relationship which hasn?t been cemented by some time spent physically together.

And even, if a face-to-face meeting is impractical ? a video call or phone call is better than an e-mail or purely Twitter relationship. Until you have actually taken that step to have a real time conversation, referrals and opportunities are unlikely to flow from that person.

With the arrival of social networking, a networker?s tool kit is now huge. But, just as you wouldn?t use a hammer to crack a nut, knowing which tool for which job is the key to networking effectively and efficiently.

There are definitely times when face-to-face has the edge, and times when online networking is better. The trouble is that most networkers get into a comfort zone, and tend to stick with what they know - and for many networkers that means being blinkered and choosing online OR face-to-face networking.

in my research for 'The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking', I found that the most effective networkers were both curious, but also willing to experiment. They didn't see any boundaries between personal and professional, online and off line networking - they were always open for networking, and tirelessly looking for the best ways to make and keep a valuable connection.

What do you think?

This article was written by Heather Townsend, a The NextWomen contributor.

7/3/2011 12:32 AM PDT by TMZ Staff  

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Hayden Panettiere and her new NFL wide receiver boyfriend Scotty McKnight have only been together for a few weeks ... but she's already partied with his family!!!

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ ... Hayden and Scotty ... along with Scotty's teammate Mark Sanchez ... rolled down to Newport Beach last weekend to attend a retirement party for Scotty's dad.

One source tells us Hayden was "very sweet the whole night" -- and get this -- we're told she was often seeing carrying Scotty's baby cousin around and raving about how much she loves kids!

After the party, the couple, along with several members of Scotty's family, hung out at a nearby pub and downed a few pints. Someone's getting comfortable!!!

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Racks on racks: Rapper Yung Chris (aka Christopher Miller) says his single Racks? a "rack" being a slang term for $1,000 ? is gaining momentum for two simple reasons: "It's just a club song that everybody vibes to, moves around to," he says. "And racks, of course, is the money, so you know everybody wants money." With a chorus like "Got racks on racks on racks/racks on racks on racks/racks on racks on racks" on top of a club-approved beat, the description is spot-on ? this is pure party music. The song hovered just under the top 40 on Billboard's Hot 100 and hit No. 2 (rhythmic) and No. 4 (urban) on USA TODAY's airplay charts.

The payoff: Rapping has been the 26-year-old Decatur, Ga., native's hobby since childhood, but as he grew up and experienced street life, "I started taking it a little more serious (and) started recording." Persistence with a healthy dose of confidence eventually led Yung Chris, who usually goes by "YC," to a record deal. "Anything I'm gonna try, I'm gonna succeed in, you know? I kept trying, kept working and it finally started to pay off," he says.

Sign him up: After being courted by a number of major labels because of the underground success of Racks, "I (was) just looking for somebody to believe in me as much as I believe in myself." He found that with Universal Republic, and signed with the label in March. YC subsequently released his Got Racks mixtape in early April. The 17-song collection includes the rapper's next single, I Know. "We've been getting a crazy response off (the track)," YC says. "A lot of people have been hitting me up about it." He's currently recording his full-length debut in Atlanta in between dates of a solo club tour, which stops next in Las Vegas on July 2.

New at the game: The rapper performed Racks at the BET Awards pre-show last weekend, where he met some of the hip-hop scene's biggest names, "rappers that have been in the game a little longer (than me). That was a great experience, being very new at this game." Walking the red carpet with industry leaders such as Jay-Z is inspirational, he says. "I look up to (them), to try to accomplish some of the goals, or even more goals, than they have accomplished."

The highlight of his night? "I met the Five Heartbeats," he says, referring to the fictional group from the 1991 film of the same name, which performed at the awards show to celebrate the movie's 20th anniversary. "To see them all dressed up ? remember the movie?" he says with a laugh. As for his own performance, YC couldn't wait to hit BET's stage. When approached by the network to perform, "I was like, 'For real, BET? Oh, man, all right, let's go! What? I need to be there now? I'm on my way, I'm ready to go perform for BET,'" he says, recalling his enthusiasm.

Remix it up: "I think I have the world's longest remix," says YC, laughing. "It's like 22 minutes." The official remix of Racks is actually more like 13 minutes, but with 15 rappers including Nelly, B.o.B., Wale, Wiz Khalifa and Waka Flocka, the higher estimate isn't too far-fetched. "It's crazy. We shot (the video) in Atlanta. I mean, Nelly came down to be in the video ? that shocked me." The veteran hip-hop artist approached YC to get in on the remix, rathern than the other way around. "For Nelly to do it, that was kind of exciting. He's accomplished a lot, he's sold a lot of records."

Identity crisis ? or not: Yung Chris is one vowel away from Young Chris, another rapper and one half of the duo Young Gunz. YC, who uses the initials to help avoid confusion, says the similarity of the monikers actually hasn't caused much of a problem. "The only problem I ran into is Twitter. (Fans) might follow him, thinking it's me. They might follow me, thinking it's him."