Monday, November 25, 2013

Thanksgiving Weddings with Family

Congratulations if you are getting married this Holiday weekend! Whatever you do on Thanksgiving, we hope that you will take at lease a few moments to really be thankful for what you have, especially for the friends and family that love you. We will be spending precious time with our close family, and loving every minute of it! You should do the same... Here is a little history on the Holiday. Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various dates throughout history. From the time of the Founding Fathers until the time of Lincoln, the date Thanksgiving was observed varied from state to state. The final Thursday in November had become the customary date in most U.S. states by the beginning of the 19th century. Thanksgiving was first celebrated on the same date by all states in 1863 by a presidential proclamation of Abraham Lincoln. Influenced by the campaigning of author Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote letters to politicians for around 40 years trying to make it an official holiday, Lincoln proclaimed the date to be the final Thursday in November in an attempt to foster a sense of American unity between the Northern and Southern states. Because of the ongoing Civil War and the Confederate States of America's refusal to recognize Lincoln's authority, a nationwide Thanksgiving date was not realized until Reconstruction was completed in the 1870s. On December 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a joint resolution of Congress changing the national Thanksgiving Day from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday. Two years earlier, Roosevelt had used a presidential proclamation to try to achieve this change, reasoning that earlier celebration of the holiday would give the country an economic boost. In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly, but not universally, traced to a poorly documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631. In later years, religious thanksgiving services were declared by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford, who planned a thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Weddings Become Marriages

Getting Married should be about the Marriage and not about the Wedding. So many Brides get caught up in planning a perfect Wedding, they don’t think about the “Ever After”. I am a firm believer in Marriage and living “Happily Ever After”. That doesn’t mean that everything in your life after your Wedding will always be perfect, but if your expectations aren’t unrealistic you can have a very happy life together. When you go through the good times, it is so wonderful to have someone to share and enjoy those times with, and when times are tough, you have someone by your side to help you, and you can work through them together. The secret is, not having any secrets from each other. That doesn’t mean that you need to report to each other on every little detail of your life, but that you always share your feelings and opinions with each other about the important things. You can agree to disagree, but at least you are talking and sharing. Pick your battles carefully, everything is not worth fighting about. Starting with the day you say “I Do” to each other, work together as a unit and you can accomplish so much more in life. Don’t try to change each other, just accept each others faults and focus on your strengths. Work to bring out the best in your partner, and allow them to bring out the best in you as well. Always make time for each other, and remember why you fell in love, and you should stay in love for the rest of your lives. A few “Words of Wisdom” shared with you from Debbie Christensen, Publisher of The Wedding Guide.