I Gave Him A Night To Remember by Dee Smith

The love of my life was having a big birthday and I wanted to give him a gift he’d never forget. A gift that would prove my love beyond all doubt. But what could I do to make him feel like a king among men?

I could come to the door naked. Nah, been there, done that. I could slave all day and make a delicious meal. Nah, done that one already too.

Maybe a night of dancing and romancing. Or better yet, tickets to his favorite team and unlimited beer. I knew he’d love that, but would I? Now maybe that sounds selfish, but I wanted to get something out of it, too. Sports and a drunken lover are definitely not my thing.

I wracked my brain and asked around until coming up with what I hoped would be the perfect solution. I would get someone to write his life story in rhyme. I’d get all his friends together, throw a nice little bash at his favorite restaurant and then, at the appropriate moment, I’d read the tribute to him.

I wrote down everything I could think of about him. I went way back to his childhood. I even interviewed his siblings and his mother and got all kinds of juicy tidbits. I wanted it to be funny and sentimental all at once, but above all clever. Because he’s one smart cookie, that guy of mine, and I wanted him to really love it and be proud  Then I went on the internet in search of someone who could write a combination roast and tribute that totally rhymed. I finally chose a service that sounded good and was inexpensive, considering that this would be totally custom-written for me. I was told it would be delivered to me by email and then I could have it framed, presented as a scroll, whatever I wanted.

Being the unreasonable woman that I am, I asked for it to be delivered in two weeks. Can you imagine? A whole life story in verse, written in two weeks. Well, I was told that it would be no problem. This was getting good! The best part was that I could decide exactly how much to spend. They charged a certain amount per stanza and I could decide, based on that, exactly how many stanzas I thought it would take to do the occasion justice.

Goodness, the price was totally reasonable. I couldn’t have bought him a nice gift for less. So I went for it. I went on the website, copied and pasted all the information I already had written out and stored in my notepad document. Then I went to the shopping cart and charged the proper amount and that was it! I was assured that my credit card wouldn’t actually be charged until I was totally happy with the poem and they would make any changes I wanted, free of charge!

I tried to forget about it for the next two weeks and kept busy doing last minute things for the party, which was going to be a big surprise. I have to admit to being just a wee bit nervous, wondering if the custom-written tribute would be delivered on time. I had been assured that it would be, but we all know how that can go.

So the two weeks flew by and suddenly I checked my email and there it was! I printed it out, went to Starbucks and sat down with a delicious large latte. Then I began to read and wow! I was totally blown away! It was clever. Funny. Sentimental. Mentioned everyone and everything I had asked for. All woven into a totally made to order poem. It was completely original and would not apply to another human being on the planet. And the rhyming was perfect! The writer was a genius!

Finally the night of the party came. I was an excited, nervous wreck. Would my beloved guy secretly know about the surprise party? Or would he be disappointed when he saw a crowd there, wishing it had been just the two of us celebrating? Even though everyone I had invited meant the world to him?

Well, I needn’t have worried. We walked into the restaurant and when he saw what was happening he beamed from ear to ear! We had drinks and appetizers and at the appropriate moment I got up and toasted him. Then I said I had something to read to him. I just had it printed on a few pieces of paper, stapled together. I figured we could deal with preserving it another time.

The room got totally quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Luckily I had rehearsed reading it aloud as I wanted to do a good job. When I got through reading everyone broke into applause. My guy came up to hug me and thank me and he couldn’t even speak because of the tears running down his face. When he finally got hold of himself he said it was the best present he’d ever gotten and he would cherish it for the rest of his life.

That custom-written tribute set the tone for the rest of the evening. We had dinner and everyon was in a wonderful mood. I had not only mentioned him but his loved ones as well, who were all there. Of course I mentioned his dad, who was sadly no longer with us. Everyone felt important that night, and most of all, my guy. I truly gave him the gift of a lifetime.

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Dee Smith invites you to discover the gift of a lifetime. Visit www.rhymeshop.com

Wedding Scrapbooking – For The Special Couple! by Barbara Kirby

Marriage is one of the most pivotal and life-changing events any of us will experience. So it makes sense that wedding scrapbooking has become one of the hottest trends in cropping. A wedding scrapbook is often assembled by someone close to the bride and then given to the couple as a gift, although many newlyweds are choosing to create their own as well.

Don’t Throw Out the Napkins!

The purpose of a wedding scrapbook is to tell the story of the happy couple that culminates in the wedding day. In order to do this justice, you really want to plan ahead and start collecting anything related to the nuptials (showers, rehearsal dinner, bachelor/ette parties, if appropriate). Items such as party favors, invitations, newspaper announcements, pictures of the couple pre-wedding, and some pictures of the honeymoon destination may all be used.

Most likely, the tone of a wedding scrapbook will be classic and elegant. Although you can take into account the couple’s preferences. If, for instance, they are staging a wedding hoe-down, or beachside wedding, then that would dictate your theme. Even then, remember that what you are creating will be a lasting keepsake for the couple, and very likely an historic artifact to be handed down to their children. For this reason, it is always better to err on the side of tradition rather than trend. Cute themes tend to go out of style and look dated, while traditional ones remain.

Plan for Spontaneity

You will want to include some posed pictures, along with some more casual and unguarded moments in the wedding. So whether you are the photographer, or you are working with the professional hired for the big day, be on the look out for these potential photo ops.

Some of the classic moments will be: preparing the bride, the walk down the aisle (with Dad and groom), the first kiss, the dance, group shots of bridesmaids and groomsmen, and endless other opportunities. You will want to catch the happy couple as they interact with their guests, and gingerly- or not- feed each other that first bite of wedding cake. Remember, you will be a true shutterbug in the months leading up to, and the day of the wedding.

The Layout

Once you have collected all your materials, and have all the pictures from the wedding, the fun begins. You will have already chosen a theme that fits the tone of the event. Perhaps you will have decided to go with the actual colors of the wedding, or maybe you based it on the quote imprinted on their invitations. Now you need to lie out everything chronologically, and see what makes sense.

If you are creating this album as a gift for the bride, keep in mind that it should be completely focused on the couple, and refrain from putting your personality and comments on it. When the newly married couple looks through the wedding scrapbook, you want them to reminisce over the good time they had, not think, “Oh I didn’t know your Mom got tipsy on the wine!”

Journaling is usually used to narrate the event, “Jenny looked radiant as her father walked her down the aisle,” rather than for personal commentary, “I was so glad to see you went with the rose bouquet.” This is not about the creator of the scrapbook, it’s about the bride and groom.

A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Using quotes in elegant font, or pre-made stickers like “A kiss to build a dream on” or “A picture perfect day” can help tie the photo and moment together. You may also want to consider combining group and individual shots on each page. Say the groom and his groomsmen on top, and individual pictures of the handsome guy with each of his friends down below. Group photos of both the bride and groom’s families are a nice touch as well. They really speak to the history of this epic event, and can be played up by using vintage looking cardstock, or family tree themes.

So plan ahead, assemble your materials, and create a classic keepsake that chronicles this romantic occasion. Wedding scrapbooking is an investment in preserving the history of this special couple as they prepare to focus on their future.

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Barbara Kirby is the author of the Free ebook – The Scrapbookers Directory – which gives you instant access to discount scrapbooking supplies, ideas, layouts, freebies and more. For more info check out www.thescrapbookersdirectory.com

Contracting Vendors for Las Vegas Weddings by Renae C. Judkins

Contracting vendors for Las Vegas weddings can become scary, especially for out-of-towners. Couples sometimes look online for vendors and have to fend for themselves if the vendors for Las Vegas weddings aren’t as good as they should be. Here are a few contracting tricks to help with your wedding day.

Proper Planning of Las Vegas Weddings

Planning ahead for weddings is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself calm and on track for your beautiful wedding. If you don’t plan ahead and have a good organizational system in place, you might lose track of important details or become too stressed out over your wedding arrangements. Planning a wedding can be a stressful time, even though your wedding will be one of the most special days of your life. There are many details to keep track of and a lot of people that are involved from the mother of the bride to the ring bearer, plus all of the vendors you’ll be working with. With proper planning, weddings can be exciting and rewarding instead of stressful.

Choosing Vendors for Las Vegas Weddings

The best wedding vendors will call you back within 24 to 48 hours. If you choose vendors without getting recommendations or verifying their credentials, you may get stuck at the last minute without vital items or services you need for your wedding to take place. You’ll be working with many people to put together your nuptials. Several of them will be vendors that will provide products or services that you’ll need for your wedding.

The Official Contract

To give yourself an added layer of protection, you should get several of your contracts with vendors in writing to ensure that you will get what you have paid for. Weddings are planned in advance to make sure everything runs smoothly. Make sure the contract isn’t unclear or written in “legalese.” A professional contract says everything about a professional service vendor. A contract or agreement should include what the provider will deliver, when delivery should take place, how much of a deposit you put down on your items or services, how much money is due, payment due dates, and related information.

Saving Money on Las Vegas Wedding Vendors

Saving money on weddings can help you to save money for your honeymoon or put it away for a rainy day. Brides and grooms need to think about floral arrangements, catering, photography, music, honeymoon plans, booking a church and reception hall, and dozens of other details that make weddings so special. If you pay full price for everything you want at your wedding, you may end up spending more than you bargained for. Planning a wedding is one of the most special times of life, but it can also be the most difficult because of the many details you need to take care of and the expense of various the arrangements. However, there are assorted ways to save money on your wedding expenses and still have the beautiful wedding of your dreams.

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All Las Vegas weddingsshould have the best Las Vegas wedding invitations. Go to www.vegaswedlockinvitations.com for the best Las Vegas wedding invitations. Or find Unique wedding invitations at americanwedlock (dot) com.

Romantic Mischief be Nice ‘n Naughty in Leather Lingerie by Tony McDay

Part of the “feminine mystique” is a woman’s imagination. As women have become more comfortable with their personal way of expressing their intimate personalities, lingerie designers have become more attuned to what women want from their intimate apparel today with an accent on enhancing all of the body’s senses.

Just like a second skin, leather lingerie brings a completely different tactile sensation to the largest organ of the human body, creating an awareness of your every physical movement. The use of leather in clothing goes back to prehistoric times; there is something extremely primal about how wearing an animal skin makes a person feel, awakening deep emotions.

In terms of romantic wear, the naughty lingerie designs beautifully crafted from top quality leather, can serve as your starting point for discovering a completely different side of your personality. Leather lingerie is the natural accessory to exploring the secret side of your personal intimate style.

Both women and men can be aggressive or passive, and having both of these energies in balance is important to a person’s mental health. All too often, women tend to repress their aggressive feelings which can lead to frustration mentally y and less romantic satisfaction. If you have been feeling a little bit too passive lately, review a few of the naughty lingerie collections and you are sure to find some appealing leather lingerie items that will find stimulating.

Just imagine yourself taking naughty lingerie from the bedroom to the social scene; flirting in a leather lingerie bustier and a pair of wonderfully fitting jeans can turn an ordinary night out on the town into a night to remember. And when you are ready to turn the tables and take control of the bedroom activities, leather lingerie empowers your command of the situation.

Naughty lingerie is perfect for those special occasions, like anniversaries, weddings, Valentines Day and holidays. Leather lingerie like corsets and such are perfect for weekend fun, or simply to you’re your love one that there special and deserve to look sexy and special.

The reasons to give and wear naughty lingerie, playwear, and leather lingerie can be your secret. Have a sexy Halloween party coming up, or like to play in a sexy fantasy costume? Sexy leather lingerie costumes will definitely fill the bill. You need a special outfit for that special someone coming home after a long time away? Naughty lingerie can be the perfect sexy and romantic homecoming gift.
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Getting in touch with your personal power is a definite plus to your relationship with your significant other. You can make your private time a journey of discovery using leather lingerie. Whether your romantic mood is to be in control or to be a flirtatious tease, naughty lingerie can make the experience a pleasure.

Throwing A Baby Shower : What You Need To Know by Simone Butler

Throwing baby showers is a time-honored way to celebrate the impending addition of a new member to a loved one’s family. Traditionally, a baby shower is a “girls only” event, often hosted by the baby’s godmother, but today baby showers can be hosted by any friend or relative of the mother-to-be, and can be attended by whomever the host wishes to invite. The general purpose of a baby shower is to give useful gifts to the expectant mother, such as layette items, baby toys and clothes, and often gift certificates for useful things. It is not untoward for the expectant parents to draw up a “wish list” of items they especially need but may be having difficulty affording.

Baby showers are a relatively recent tradition, generally credited as having their start in the US. A baby shower is usually a relatively casual event, held in the afternoon or early evening, often with refreshments provided and sometimes party games held as well. It is not uncommon to have a potluck shower, where guests each bring a food item along with a gift, although fully catered showers are also quite common. Party games, if the host chooses to have them, generally center around the general theme of the baby and pregnancy, ranging from themed versions traditional games like charades to activities such as guessing the circumference of the pregnant guest-of-honor.

While many parents-to-be look forward to having a baby shower, some social groups feel such celebrations are best left as family affairs, or believe that it is bad luck to celebrate a birth before it happens. If you offer to host a shower for an expectant friend, don’t be hurt if she politely declines. In other cases, the mother-to-be may have multiple showers! Perhaps one for co-workers and casual friends, and one for close friends and family. Some women have a baby shower only for their first child, while others may choose to have one for every pregnancy.

Baby showers are not bound by rigid traditions to the same extent as weddings and other life events, so don’t be surprised if a new friend’s baby shower is nothing like the last one you attended. There is really no “wrong” way to throw a baby shower, so if you have been charged with hosting a shower for a friend or relative, it’s an “anything goes” affair (so long as you have the guest of honor’s stamp of approval for your plans!).

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Simone writes for a parenting advice site where you can read information on many aspects of pregnancy, birth, and caring for your baby and toddler.

A Honeymoon Registry is the Vehicle for Your Dream-Come-True Wedding Gift by Darlene Berkel

The wedding registry is an excellent way to have the guests chip in together towards a more meaningful set of gifts. Here the couple would have to register with the wedding registry or have the guests informed about it. Make sure you are conveying as clearly as possible what you would want your guests to give you, so they can make the choice that would benefit you the most.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Honeymoon Registry

First of all, let us clear up the concept of the honeymoon registry, which is similar to the wedding registry. However, while the latter would inspire wedding gifts, the former would request the guests to contribute towards the budget of the honeymoon hence, the name of honeymoon registry. While the idea is excellent and often is extremely successful, there are a few major drawbacks with this system

It will require an early notice to all the guests, i.e. some three months in advance. This means that the guests would have to be invited about three months in advance, which will in turn mean that all the arrangements (at least the majority of them) be finalized and printed in a card some three months in advance as well.

In spite of the long advance notice, sometimes even several weeks after the wedding not all the guests will have joined the honeymoon registry. In that case it would be difficult for you (unless you can complement the rest of the finances) to really take up the honeymoon plan, which could be extremely frustrating.

The honeymoon registry will take a lot of effort, coordination and planning. If and when it does not turn out as successful as you would like it to be, it is kind of heart breaking, and not a great way to start your married life.

However, before we write it off as a bad tradition, let us cast a glance on the advantages it offers. When the guests are really tuned in to the idea, you will find an excellent way to pay for a wonderful honeymoon without stretching your financial sources any further.

Instead of getting five toasters, three juicers, and unending sets of china tea sets, you will be able to make your wishes clear about what you need from your guests. The guests could decide whether they want to join the honeymoon registry or not, based upon their financial capacity and commitments.

Even in the worst of worst conditions, you are still getting a good source of cash through this. In this case, you can always think about the honeymoon registry as a subsidy to your honeymoon expenses, even if you do not get buyers for the things listed in the registry.

Lastly, you can use the money deposited in your honeymoon registry any way you want. It does not matter where you go and where you stay for your honeymoon, or if you do not go at all. They money is yours to use as you would like best.
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Visit honeymoon.every1loves2travel.com and discover the best honeymoon destinations, honeymoon packages and honeymoon planning tips. Find out why a honeymoon registry may be ideal for you!

Diamonds May Last Forever… by Vincent Youngblood

For hundreds of years, couples have used diamonds to symbolize their everlasting love and commitment to one another. Strangely however, people have always insisted on mounting their diamonds in soft metal bands like gold or silver – bands that are prone to scratching and breakage.

A diamond may last forever, so why would you want to put it onto a gold band when the stronger, lightweight titanium is available? Clearly, both gold and titanium make beautiful pieces of jewelry, but when compared to the inherent weakness of gold, titanium’s strength seems a much better match for the diamond.

Strong Traditions

Historically, couples have always valued long-lasting jewelry as a sign of their enduring love and devotion to one another. Tradition has led brides and grooms to utter the words, “Till death do us part.”

In modern times however, half of all marriages will end up in divorce court. As a reflection of the trend towards, “Till argument do us part,” truly committed couples have been seeking jewelry that reflects a more sincere promise.

As the strongest substance on earth, diamonds have always been the perfect representations of ideal love, because they are beautiful and can withstand any conditions.

Almost universally, people will take their perfect diamonds and set them in gold – one of the softest metals available. Sure, gold rings look great when they are first molded, but gold is a notoriously weak metal. Gold is so soft that in the Old West, old men would bite into the gold to see if their bites would leave teeth marks. If their bite would leave an impression, then they knew that the metal was truly gold.

Although giving gold is still considered a lovely sentiment, old gold loses its shine quickly and gets scratched without much difficulty. Next to the durable diamonds, gold begins to look worn and tired in a very short amount of time.

A Strong Alternative To Gold

Titanium is a more recent discovery in the world of metals. Many jewelers believe that titanium would have been the predominant metal for jewelry, had it been discovered at a time earlier in history. But, titanium was not discovered until the late 18th century by a German chemist.

Titanium is a metal equivalent of a diamond. It is beautiful; and it is stronger than steel, but as light as aluminum.

The more people learn about them, the more popular titanium wedding bands are becoming with consumers. Their strength is just one of the many factors that appeal to many perspective buyers.

While titanium rings will still be somewhat susceptible to the elements, the wearing away is so miniscule that it will barely be noticeable over a lifetime.

Like gold and silver, titanium is actually very comfortable to wear. Unlike gold and silver however, titanium is hypoallergenic, which means that it is much less likely to cause a skin rash on the wearer.

Strong Designs

Titanium comes in three different grades, 6/6/2, 6/4, and CP 2.

 * Grade 6/6/2 is made up of 86% titanium, 6% aluminum, 6% vanadium, and 2% tin. This is the strongest variation available.

 * Grade 6/4 is most commonly used in the construction of aircrafts. This is derived from 90% titanium, 6% aluminum, and 4% vanadium.

 * CP 2 is the purest grade of titanium available. This grade is best for people who actually do have known allergies to certain metals, especially those who have experienced rashes due to aluminum or tin.

The strength of titanium makes the creation of elaborate designs very difficult. Elegant designs are meant to capture the beauty of the metal and of any stones in the piece. But, a simplistic approach is often taken when molding this metal into jewelry.

The classic designs are very popular with men who may be concerned about wearing excessively feminine-appearing titanium wedding rings. As you may well imagine, unadorned men’s wedding bands have always been more popular among the male species.

For couples interested in matching wedding bands, most jewelers are more than happy to create custom pieces to match the desires of the customer. There are countless ways to mount jewels into titanium, as well as options available for coloring a piece of titanium jewelry.

Titanium is a refractory metal. One of the characteristics of refractory metals lies in the ability to anodize its surface. Anodizing is a process that forms a coating on the surface of the metal, by the process of electrolysis. Anodizing allows the titanium manufacturer to produce a large palette of colors in their metals, of which black is among the most popular.

For additional design options, various kinds of metal inlays can be fused to the ring to create a new depth and dimension in the jewelry. Rose-colored gold inlayed in black titanium is a popular choice in women’s wedding rings.

Conclusion

Wedding bands and rings as signs of commitment have been used for so long it is nearly impossible to find an accurate account of their origin. Had the first wedding rings been made of titanium, we might still have an accurate record of their history because specimens would have undoubtedly survived.

The permanence of marriage is not as enduring as it was only a century ago, but the permanence of titanium is as eternal as diamonds. If you would like a wedding band set that will convey your everlasting promise of commitment, then a diamond set in a titanium wedding band will be your perfect selection.

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Written by: Vincent Youngblood. Yates & Co Jewelers located in Modesto, CA has been serving clients since 1988. Their titanium jewelry website has been online since 2002. Top-selling products include Men’s Wedding Bands and a wide range of stylish titanium rings.

b>The Great Things About Photography by Francesca Black

Are you thinking about taking up the hobby of photography? Many who have already discovered this exciting and fulfilling hobby can tell you the top ten reasons why photography is so great. Maybe you will be captivated by this compelling and diverse art as well.

1. The Challenge of Getting the Perfect Picture

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Sometimes a hundred shots have to be taken and you have to try for several days to get just the picture you want. An individual must have patience, but at the end of the day a great sense of accomplishment is felt from capturing the best part.

2. Tell A Story

From beginning to end of a snowball fight, with people throwing their first snowball and eventually rolling in the snow and then dusting off, you can see the event and it tells the story of friendship, fun and joy of life. Looking at pictures of an old family farm from its humble beginnings to the growth and increase over a hundred years it tells a story of family, hard work and sacrifice. Everyone has a story, photos can share that story and bring it to life.

3. Express Individuality

A photographer subject matter will reflect their interests, likes and preferences. A photo can also reflect the individuality of a subject. The clothes they choose to wear and the location they want the pictures shot all show who they are and their personality.

4. Joy and Laughter Increase

Anyone who looks at their first grade picture can attest to this fact. What is more fun than looking back at your younger years or seeing the awkwardness of adolescence? In your later years of life, seeing a picture of your family working or playing together warms your heart and lets you remember good times and better health. A photo lets us travel over the decades and brings back moments that make us laugh and carries us through the hard times.

5. See Things Truly As They Are

Somethings are so perfect- the petals of a flower, the height of a Redwood, the still calm of the lake at dawn. They draw you in to the grace of nature and life in purity and simplicity. The sweet smile of a child reflects the goodness of life and all the hope for what we can become and achieve. This is what life is and who we are in it.

6. Solitude of the Dark Room

The magical atmosphere of the dark room leads you to discover the potential of the photograph. Lightness, darkness, shadows all are in the control of the photographer. It is a work done alone with your ideas and skills combined to bring out the story of the photo before you.

7. Understand the Emotions of Others

As you look over the events of history and witness the faces of those who endured the depression or see victims of the Holocaust you can see in their eyes what they have endured. Their faces portray their hearts and hurts and although you were not there, you understand what they carry with them a little more.

8. A Gift to Others of Their Most Precious Moments

After the couple returns from the honeymoon one of the first priorities is to get the wedding photos. One of the happiest days of their lives is recorded forever. When someone does something for you that you can’t do for yourself you feel indebted and forever grateful. It is a special gift to give someone their special memories and most cherished events.

9. Once You Capture a Moment You Can Display It

From the famous to the personal, photographs reveal lives of people. Some are placed in history books, some on the walls of a museum and some in the home. When they are displayed they are able to reach into the lives of others and stir emotion and thought. Photos are meant to be shared and seen.

10. The Only Way You Can Freeze Time

A photo is a moment frozen in time for a person to enjoy and remember whenever they want. The look, the expression, the emotion only happen for an instant. Although someone might carry it in their heart, with time the memory fades. If a photo is taken a child is able to see the happiness of their parents on their wedding day, a parent can see how small their child was the day they brought them home for the first time and all the years after as they grew to adulthood. All the birthdays, first days of school, vacations and friends can be captured and with you always. Time and space do not take a loved one from us when we can see them and the moments we share together, always.

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Francesca Black enjoys photography as a hobby and manages content at Future Photo www.future-photo.com and Photo Wizard www.photo-wizard.net

Weddings, Where Did It All Start? by Richard Cohn

It started with a kiss, or so Hot Chocolate sung in 1982, but the history of weddings is a little more politics than passion when you look back at how they were done in ye olden days.

Looking back deep into the history of mankind we can see that men and women have come together into a family unit in many different ways and for many different reasons. The religious contract of marriage between a man a woman and their deity of choice has only been Globally accepted for the last few hundred years, so what were people doing before then?

The caveman and cavewoman, not that there was as much to differentiate them then as there is now, looked at the idea of the wedding arrangement from a very basic perspective. Whilst nobody really knows whether the stereotypical image of Mr Ugh (with a silent “h”) dragging his mate-to-be away for their nuptials or just for the night was what really happened, but it is now known that communities knew the benefits of having a strong and numerous group to fend off natural predators and other tribes bent on taking their homes and hunting ground for their own. Mrs Ugh (with a silent “h”) would undoubtedly have had little say in the matter but at least she would not have had to listen to any excuses about an early squash game the next morning (partly due to the fact that squash would not be invented until 1830 at Harrow School, London, England).

Fast forward a little way and the blissful union between man and woman has turned uglier than Mr Ugh and that’s saying something, sorry Mr Ugh. It was common practice for men from one village or tribe to raid another and carry off the women as spoils of war or trophies. The bigger your tribe was the less likely it was that you would be harassed by others and the safer everyone you knew would be. So stealing the women to produce more tribesmen to defend your village from being attacked in the same way was very common practice. Man lived in an era of “I want, I take”, and if you ask some women today they would argue that era never ended, but they were simpler times, when man was ruled by the brutal forces of nature where only the strong survived. If a man saw a woman he wanted there would be no extended courting, no asking the father for his daughter’s hand in marriage, he and members of his tribe would simply take what they wanted. The honeymoon would usually be spent dealing with the consequences of this in a fairly bloody fashion.

Women, if you have felt in the past that you were being treated like someone’s property, that’s nothing compared with the way you would have been treated in less enlightened times. Women were considered almost legal tender throughout many of the periods researched for this article. They were bartered and sold as the property of wealthy or powerful men, for financial and political gain. Alliances were forged between tribes by marrying off their chieftain’s sons and daughters to one another. Size mattered, and those tribes that stuck together against their enemies survived and prospered whilst others died out or came to a sudden end at the point of someone else’s spear!

The use of marriage as a political tool continued for many centuries as tribal elders became chieftains and chieftains became kings whose domains became countries. Their daughters and sons were simply players on the political field and marriage a means to a political end. Many truces and alliances were forged in Europe through royal marriages. Love was a luxury the royal heirs did not have. The common man (and woman) however benefited from far more enlightened attitudes. Whilst kings and queens were married off to one another leaving love to chance, their people had learnt long ago that there was more to marriage than land alone.

Over more recent centuries the amount of love that determined whether a boy and a girl would marry was directly proportional to their social standing and family wealth. The more well-to-do the family was the more likely it would be a financial or business decision that would decide who the bride or groom would be. Arranged marriages are of course still common in some religions, and many are still based on finding a suitable partner from the same social or fiscal background. Anyone who has been adventurous enough to use online dating or been set-up by their friends with someone “who’s just your type” will know that there is some merit to arranged marriages.

Today we live in a world of freedom and choice. Brides are no longer sold, women are not property or trophies of battle, families have less influence over who their siblings marry, and men and women who want to show the endurance of their love for one another in the company of friends and family do so through the institution of marriage. Weddings are now glorious affairs, happy occasions thick with traditions the history of which most people never question (such as why do we have wedding rings? What is the symbolism of the wedding cake? Why do we go on honeymoon?). But with all the mysteries, expenses and stresses of arranging a wedding, they are still one of the happiest and most memorable days of anyone’s life. Mr & Mrs Ugh did live in simpler times, but to be a bride or a groom at the perfect wedding is the stuff of dreams.

Richard is one half of One Perfect Day Wedding Planners. Richard and Faye can help you with any aspect of planning or co-ordinating your perfect wedding day. For more information please do look at  http://www.one-perfect-day.co.uk/” >http://www.one-perfect-day.co.uk

Article Source: add-articles.com

Richard is one half of One Perfect Day Wedding Planners. Richard and Faye can help you with any aspect of planning or co-ordinating your perfect wedding day. For more information please do look at http://www.one-perfect-day.co.uk/

Beauty And The Beholding by Richard Cohn

The meaning of beauty depends very much on when and where you are. Each culture and era has its own idea of what epitomises beauty. In Renaissance Europe the full bodied woman was deemed to be the essence of beauty, whereas the 1990’s saw the catwalks of the world paying homage to the tall and slim, and in contrast, the Kayan people of Thailand elongate their necks from when they are young with metal rings to achieve the perfect long slender neck to achieve their idea of ideal beauty. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but throughout all time women have strived to improve the way they looked and in their quest for perfection women have experimented with some unusual and downright dangerous methods.

Pale has been a recurring vision of beauty, from English rose to heroine chic. In the past women have used arsenic, mercury or lead based products, usually in the form of some face powder, in the hope that this would make their skin paler. As these chemicals are highly toxic to the human body they were quite likely to do the job, but in a more enduring and life ending fashion. In fact the grave medical implications of these chemicals in the wrong proportions was recognised a long time ago but ignored in favour of the pursuit of beauty. Today of course strict guidelines have been introduced to ensure that any use of such chemicals in cosmetics is carefully regulated and monitored.

Leaches were a medieval favourite for curing all sorts of complaints, so it is not surprising that they were also used to bleed patients to lighten their skin tone through blood loss.

In the 1800’s it was believed that dilated pupils made a woman more beautiful. It became common practice to use extracts of the Belladonna plant in eye drops to achieve this look. By blocking the ability for the iris to constrict it does the job, but the side effects were blurred vision and potentially blindness.

During the Regency era red lips were seen to be ideal on a woman. Mercuric Sulfide or red mercury was applied to lips to make them redder but of course mercury is a poisonous compound and will do more harm than good to someone’s complexion over time.

It may sound peculiar in these enlightened times that women would put themselves through such dangerous practices in the search for perfect beauty, but then again I’m sure they would have looked at chemical peels, Botox, collagen injections, and surgical enhancements in much the same way.

Now you cannot go anywhere in the world without being swamped with product advertising from the cosmetic and beauty conglomerates of the world. Your eye lashes must be plumper, your skin more radiant, your lips shinier, your hair should have more body, and drink drink drink more water to rejuvenate your skin. But although the first cosmetics were created almost 5,000 years ago the cosmetics industry had to wait until the early twentieth century before it took on a major commercial role in our society. New safer products were developed, exercise and health were seen as important factors in the pursuit of perfection and although the last century saw many different trends and styles go by we now are being told for the first time that beauty is something that comes from within. Less is more, and make-up is now supposed to blend with your natural look, to highlight your features not mask them. Subtle is in, and thank goodness for that.

Faye of SimplyFaye is a professional make-up artist with 14 years experience in fashion and photographic makeup, weddings and make-up lessons. For everyday make-up advice and for those special occasions contact SimplyFaye on  http://www.simplyfaye.co.uk/” >http://www.simplyfaye.co.uk

Article Source: add-articles.com

Faye of SimplyFaye is a professional make-up artist with 14 years experience in fashion and photographic makeup, weddings and make-up lessons. For everyday make-up advice and for those special occasions contact SimplyFaye on http://www.simplyfaye.co.uk/