Engagement Stories

Whenever a new couple comes in to see me I can always see how excited they are. Usually they are freshly engaged and their rings are proudly shown off. One of my favorite things is to hear how they actually got engaged. I have heard a lot of different stories. From engagement rings being found in cupcakes to McDonalds Happy Meals (one of my favorites). I LOVE hearing people's stories. They don’t have to be extravagant and there doesn’t even have to be a ring involved; it’s the sentiment and excitement that always gets me.

After doing a little research I found a lot of interesting facts on the act of proposing. For example: way back in the day men would send a pair of gloves to their “lady love.” If the interested party wore them to church then that meant she accepted his proposal to be his wife.

I also found out that (again this is way back then…) women would wait anxiously for leap year. Since that day technically didn’t count as day that was legally observed, women would be able to ask or propose to their man. In Argentina they exchange their wedding bands at the time of engagement. A Filipino tradition used to be that if a women was to walk out of her house and found a spear in front of her house….she would be considered engaged.

One more…
In Korea when a man would want to propose to his future wife he would ride to her parents house on a white horse (prince charming????) and give her parents a gift of two geese. The geese meant he would be faithful to her (my question is what do they do with the geese afterwards?)

So if you are thinking of getting engaged, maybe try an “oldy but a goody” tradition….but steer clear of the spears…that could get very dangerous

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BRIDESMAID'S GIFTS

One of the most frustrating things that got me when I was planning my wedding was what to get my bridesmaids and groomsmen…I take that back…the groomsmen were easy…just get them something that can hold alcohol, put their name on it, and most men will be happy. However, females take so much more time!
How much should you spend? Will the gift actually show how much I appreciate the fact that they are in my wedding and that they bought a $200 dress for it?
Jewelry is always good…but honestly how often do you wear the necklace that was given to you for a wedding, or the earrings? I personally haven’t worn them a lot.
Someone told me about this website http://www.etsy.com. It’s a website that sells homemade products to people and it’s so easy to navigate. Let’s say that I love owls. I could just type in the word 'owls' and it would show me all these different owl things that people are selling that they made (like owl earrings, bags, pictures etc…) Anyways, check it out and it may help you with some original and more meaningful gifts for your bridesmaids!
I just want to make a note how jewelry is a great gift as well, and I’m sure that if that is something you choose to give your bridesmaids, you have much more taste than the sparkling green and blue necklace and earrings that I received as a gift!

Twilight

I am one of those people actually likes to read. I don’t get to do it nearly as often as I would like to. For my birthday a friend of mine bought me the book Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Now I must admit that I can’t handle scary movie, anything gory, and I personally read a lot of Nicholas Sparks books or “chick flick books” and reading a book about vampires isn’t on the top of my list.
THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. It is 498 pages and I couldn’t put it down until I read the whole thing…then I drove in the middle of a snow storm to go and get the second book. So what does Twilight have to do with weddings….absolutely nothing. I guess I just wish that I had that much enthusiasm when I was planning my wedding (wow, I hope my husband doesn’t read that!) My good friend Raven is getting married in May and as one of her bridesmaids I have been a good listener for all of her plans and have helped her a little. She has the enthusiasm for planning her wedding as I did reading the book Twilight. She will drive in a snow storm to go to Michaels to get paper for her invitations. She is doing almost EVERYTHING homemade. I admire her perseverance! Raven also is extremely organized. When she got engaged she right away bought a wedding planner and got her budget in order and throughout the process she has been strict with her budget. Her fiance and she also have website which I think is a GREAT idea. This is a great way for your out of town guests to be able to check in on what you're doing and your wedding plans. You can put pictures up of your engagement, info about each of your bridesmaids and groomsmen, and even the menu of the food that you will be serving. She did it on http://www.mywedding.com/main/wedding_websites.html . I would show you her website…but there is quite an embarrassing picture of me with an overly large pair of white sunglasses.
So from Twilight to websites…somehow I knew I would make this entry about a wedding!

Winter Weddings

As most of us know, Saturdays in winter are not the most desirable dates for nuptials to be made…but I sit here, looking out the window at the ice paved Lake Michigan and wonder why? If I could do it over again I would probably do a winter wedding, for these reasons:
1) IT’S CHEAPER- I am always looking for a bargain, and especially in these times, recessionists such as myself and many others are looking for ways to cut some corners. Many venues (including the War Memorial) offer seasonal discounts, and many other vendors are willing to negotiate their prices more in the winter than in the summer
How romantic is it to be able to pull up on Mason street into the War Memorial on a horse and buggy with your faux (or real) fur coat or bolero (or buggy… check out www.milwaukeecarriage.com) With snow flakes coming down….it could be a wonderful, picturesque moment!!!

2) You don’t have to worry about the predictability of the weather…you just know it is going to be cold

3) There is more availability for venues in the downtown area and if you get married around Christmas…what a beautiful landscape with all of the holiday lights!

Let’s face it…on our wedding day many of us can be nervous and this can cause perspiring (men sweat…females perspire…yeah right some of us just down right sweat!) and the brisk weather can definitely help hinder those pesky sweat glands!

There are some great themes you could do…check out http://www.winterweddingideas.org/winter-wedding-themes.html to get some great tips and ideas!

Just a couple of ideas to get the ball rolling for all of you who are tinkering with the idea of a winter wedding.