Congratulations Brides-To-Be

It’s the Holidays,
and that usually
means couples all
over the world
are getting
engaged!

If you are a
Brides-To-Be,
planning your
upcoming Wedding,

Congratulations!

What a great way to
start out the new year!

And there are so many
Bridal shows
in January to choose from.
Choose wisely, because some are
better than others.
We recommend all the shows that
we will be attending which are
listed under Bridal Shows on our
website.

These snow scenes are beautiful,
but it sure is nice to be outside
in the warm sunshine like today.
Days like today and yesterday, are
the reason we all love living in
sunny Southern California!
The snow is fun to visit, but living
in it every day is a different story.
For comfort, I’ll take a beach scene
over a snow scene any day!
Snowboarding works great in the sand.
Sand is a lot like snow, but much warmer.

We hope your Christmas was just as
wonderful as ours was, and that you all
have a safe, and very Happy New Year.

Try to slow your life down, relax and
enjoy the rest of this year with your
Family & Friends.

We’ll see you in January...

The Importance of Stopping

The Importance of Stopping

Your body is
meant to be
in a state of
balance,
Yin and Yang,
activity and
rest, being
and doing.
Your body is
constantly
giving you
feedback about
the necessity of stopping
(Via feelings of fatigue, stress, etc,).
If you do not pay attention to your body’s
messages, you may just get a cold. People
that have truly learned that art of not
paying attention to their body may develop
more severe physical or emotional problems.
(In addition to not feeling well, there are
time costs to not being in optimum physical
health-i.e.-doctors visits, needing more rest
and sleep than normal, etc.) There is a reason
people feel so good after a Yoga class or
meditating or a walk in nature.
They are giving the body what it needs.
The body needs you to stop.

What is so great about stopping is that
when you go again you are more efficient,
productive and creative. As a matter of
fact, one of the biggest ways people
LOSE TIME is to be constantly busy.
There are many cycles and rhythms in life
and the more we attune to our own energy rhythms,
the more we will allow ourselves to stop. How many
people do you know that are happy being constantly busy?
Yes, there is a temporarily relief to get one more thing
done on your list. However, develop the trust and faith
that if you slow down you will give yourself MORE TIME.

Stopping is a way to receive from life. Take in life;
take in your partner. Savor your food; do not eat to fast.
Enjoy your children. Remember the real reasons why you do
the things you do. It is probably to enjoy your life more.

So stop, take a nice deep breath in, exhale all the way out
and slow down. See how much your life improves.

by Todd Creager, Relationship Therapist
www.toddcreager.com

Weddings Become Marriages

Getting Married
should be about
the Marriage and
not just 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 “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.

You can agree to disagree, but at least you are talking.

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.

Laws Concerning Marriage

A man and
woman must
follow certain
laws when they
marry.
The United States
and Canada have
basically the same
marriage laws.
Neither nation has
federal marriage
laws, but each
state and province
has its own
regulations.

In all except four states,
both the man and woman must
be at least 18 years old to
marry without parental consent.
Nebraska and Wyoming require
a couple to be at least 19.
Mississippi and Rhode Island
have a minimum age of 21.
Most states allow people to marry
as young as 16 with parental consent.
In some states, a person under age
16 needs a judge's permission to marry.

According to law, both the man and
woman must freely consent to marry.
If a person is forced or tricked into
marrying against his or her will, a
judge will annul (cancel) the marriage.

State laws prohibit close relatives from
marrying each other. Laws also forbid
a person to marry if he or she is married
to someone else. A person who marries
a second time while a first marriage is still
in effect commits the crime of bigamy.

Some states permit a couple to marry even
if the bride or groom cannot be present at
the wedding ceremony. However, another
person must serve as a proxy (substitute)
for the absent bride or groom.
This type of marriage is called marriage by proxy.

How much fun would that be?

If an unmarried couple live together as
husband and wife, a court may declare
them married after a certain period of time.
The time period varies among the states
that permit such common-law marriages.
It is usually several years. A couple do
not have to have a license or wedding
ceremony for a common-law marriage.

Again I ask, how fun is that, without any celebration!

Freeze-Dried Wedding Bouquets

Freeze-drying is
a process for
flower preservation
that retains the
color and texture
of products.
Unlike air drying,
the product's shape
is maintained by
virtue of it being
frozen.
While frozen, the moisture
is removed by way of vacuum,
leaving all other substances
in the flower, such as pigment
and structural parts immobilized.

The result is a beautiful, natural
looking product that lasts many years
with proper care. To preserve the
luster and life of the product,
pre- and post-treatments are applied.
The process requires a machine containing
two refrigeration units and a vacuum system.

As soon as we receive your flowers, we apply
a pre-treatment and use infra-red heat to
evaporate excess moisture. Next, the flowers
need to be frozen within fifteen minutes to
prevent the petals from turning brown.
After twelve hours the drying process starts,
which takes up to fourteen days of carefully
regulating the freeze-dry machine. When the
product is dried, the post-treatment must be
applied within twelve hours. If necessary, we
enhance the colors of the flowers, and your
Wedding bouquet is ready for framing.

Nature’s Beauty will preserve your freeze dried
flowers by mounting them in a wide variety of
attractive choices, including shadow boxes,
glass cases, or frames with an acrylic dome.

As one of life’s most joyous events, a wedding
comes with heart-warming memories.
To preserve those memories, Nature’s Beauty will
create a lasting tribute including photos,
invitations and other heirloom objects to compliment
your wedding flower bouquet.
What better way to remember your wedding for
many years to come!

www.naturesbeauty.us

Summer to October Weddings

This is such
a busy time
of year.

The transition
from summer to
school and the
Holidays is always
difficult, especially
when you have students
getting back into
their weekly schedule.
It seems that everything
hits all at once.

You go from relaxing on a lazy summer day,
to the beginning of school when there seems
to be 4 activities scheduled for each day!

Because of our cold weather this summer,
we feel robbed of our usual sunny Southern California
summer season.

For Brides, the cooler weather was sometimes a welcome
relief from the sizzling heat, other times made for a
chilly outdoor ceremony at the beach.
When we did finally get the hot weather, it was so extreme,
we were all miserable.

Questions to ponder...

When was the last time we had 113 degree weather one week,
and had the temp. drop to 60 degrees in just a few days?

And, when was the last time we had so much rain in October?

Fortunately, this year October Weddings have had pretty good
weather on the weekends.

Did you know that October has as many Weddings now as June?

It’s not the “off season” anymore.

Have you seen any trees changing color yet in your neighborhood?

Wedding Customs

Many wedding
customs have
been popular
since ancient
times.
For example,
Roman brides
probably wore
veils more
than 2,000 years ago.
Bridal veils became popular in the
United Kingdom and the New World during
the late 1700's.
The custom of giving a wedding ring dates
back to the ancient Romans. The roundness
of the ring probably represents eternity,
and the presentation of wedding rings symbolizes
that the man and woman are united forever.
Wearing the wedding ring on the ring finger of the
left hand is another old custom. People once thought
that a vein or nerve ran directly from this finger
to the heart. An old superstition says that a bride
can ensure good luck by wearing "something old,
something new, something borrowed, and something blue."
Another superstition is that it is bad luck for a bride
and groom to see each other before the ceremony on their
wedding day.

After many weddings, the guests throw rice at the
bride and groom as a wish for children and good fortune.
Rice was once a symbol of fertility, happiness, and long life.
The bride may toss her bouquet to the unmarried female guests.
The woman who catches the flowers will supposedly be the next
to marry. This custom probably started in France in the 1300's.
The bride may also throw her garter to the unmarried men.
The man who catches it will supposedly be the next male to marry.