Archive for the ‘Dating & Wedding’ Category

Choosing a Wedding Cake

Monday, December 1st, 2008

By Adam Blakey

Among the many things to be concerned about when preparing for a wedding and a wedding reception, the wedding cake is one of the most important. Unless this decision is being left up for the wedding planner to decide, it is usually a tough decision for all brides and grooms to make. Some things about the wedding cake to consider is whether it will be yellow cake, white cake, or even chocolate, what type of icing it’ll have on it, as well as how many layers it should have and how it will be spread out.

Tasting Wedding Cakes

There are many bridal events and wedding preparation events where brides-to-be and grooms can taste a whole variety of wedding cakes before they make final decisions. Many people want the perfect tasting wedding cake at their reception, and these wedding cake tasting events are the perfect place to get a feel for all the different types of icing, cake mixtures, as well as decorations that one can have on their big day. In fact, many couples choose to specifically set up a wedding cake tasting event so that they can see all the bakers from around their area.

Price and Service

Another concern with choosing a wedding cake is the price of the cake itself and how it’s going to be set up. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind when trying out wedding cakes is that the most expensive wedding cake is not necessarily the best-tasting one. Indeed, every wedding couple is going to have different preferences so the price should not be a mere signal of how good it tastes or whether the guests will like it. In addition to the price of the wedding cake, one should ask whether or not the wedding cake provider will be delivering and setting up the cake at the reception place or whether that needs to be taken care of by someone else. Most wedding cake makers will usually be happy to set it up; however, it’s usually done for a fee.

In addition to all of this, the bride and groom need to decide how many layers and how big they want the cake. As you can probably guess, there are many different types of designs and sizes for wedding cakes and choosing one is basically left up to the bride and groom, although the wedding organizer may help with the decision. A couple good indicators to help one decide how much cake they should buy depends largely on how many guests are being invited to the wedding ceremony, as well as how many have been invited to the wedding reception. You’ll want to have enough wedding cake to go around for all the guests, but yet not have too much so there’s a lot of cake left over.

The wedding cake is definitely just as important for the reception as many other parts of the ceremony and reception are, and many couples do place emphasis on having the right kind of wedding cake for themselves and their guests. Choosing a wedding cake can often be a difficult decision, but using a few of the guidelines explained above, such as taking into consideration one’s preferences and how many guests will be at the party, should help you decide on a cake once and for all!

How to Set Your Wedding Style

Sunday, November 30th, 2008
There are so many different ways to get married these days. You are probably asking yourself: Where do I begin to narrow down my options and choose the right wedding style?Take a Look at Your Past

Look over all of the landmark events in your relationship. How did you and your fiancé meet? If you met on the beach consider tying the knot on the beach or incorporating beach themed elements to your reception. If your fiancé proposed in a skating rink consider having a winter wedding.

Add Your Own Personalities

Incorporate Things you like to do for fun. If you and your fiancé like to play poker, have a Las Vegas themed wedding, or even better, go there and get hitched! Another growing trend is to get married in Disney World, so if you Love Mickey Mouse, have your wedding at his house!

Think About Your Guests

Your wedding day should be all about you, but when picking a location one of the most important factors to consider are your guests. Most people prefer not to travel these days due to the high costs associated with it. Even a location that is only an hour away may put a hole in their pocket because of gasoline prices. Try and opt for a local reception or, if you must pick a far away location, offer to help your guests set up a car pool so that some of the gas expenses can be spared.

Meet in the Middle

If you want a glamorous indoor wedding and your fiancé wants a casual outdoor wedding, find a way to mix the two ideas so that the both of you can come to a happy agreement. If you decide to have an indoor wedding, arrange to have your pictures taken outside on the beach or in any outdoor setting.

Daniella Floriano owns, runs, and maintains one of the internets largest wedding websites, where you can buy just about anything you could possibly need for your special day. From Wedding Favors to wedding accessories, she has it all! Known for her expertise in the wedding and party industries, she shares her witty and practical knowledge through her countless articles, blogs, and posts.

Wedding Photography – Importance For Bride and Groom

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

By Andrew Chaan

Time of wedding itself is very special. It is time that comes in the life of all human beings. It is the union of the two individuals celebrating their love for each other. It is the time when two hearts become one and live together for the entire life. It is a blessed bond, which is not easy to break. Wedding is a declaration of love, beginning of a new life together and giving birth to endless opportunities in new life. Wedding is pinnacle point of dedication and celebration between a man and a woman. The event brings together all family, friends and individuals that have been a part of the bride and groom’s life.

People find themselves dedicating a great amount of time and effort in making this a lifetime event. Many individual components make the unique wedding day. The wedding day is probably the most important time for every married couple. These moments must be captured so they last forever. Since wedding happens only once in a lifetime, the photos must be of top quality and must capture the true feeling of the moment. Photographs should capture all the special moments of wedding. As whatever happens that day will not come again in life. Capturing engagement and wedding rituals is very special, another important thing is bride and groom, their dress up and how they are looking on that day.

Wedding photographs leave an everlasting memory in the life and family of all members. Once the wedding is over, one can keep those wonderful memories alive only through wedding photographs. Even after the couple grows old, they can show the photographs to their later generation and could recall all past memories. Sometimes after marriage, couples stay separate due to job or some other responsibility, during that time wedding photographs can be the best companion.

Only a perfect wedding photographer with great deal of wedding experience and knowledge of various issues related to professional photography can return the best results. The outcome of his labor and experience together can result best wedding snaps to be cherished for whole life.

Your Wedding Ceremony – Engaging Your Senses at Your Wedding Ceremony (Scent)

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

By Ann Keeler Evans

Life is rich and we should call upon the richness of life and celebrate it in as many ways as we can! Each layer we add to the wedding ceremony deepens the sense memory and the ways it will pop up in the future and carry us back to a magical moment that we associate with that sense. The sense of smell is wildly connected to our emotions. Layers of scent allow us to remember and appreciate the complexity of life.

The obvious way to satisfy smell is with flowers. As long as the people who are allergic can get away from the fragrant blossoms, you can indulge your olfactory sense with great abandon. You don’t need to use thousands of them, at some of the most sophisticated weddings, I’ve seen the bride and her crowd each carry only one blossom… You can scatter flowers around the room or wedding ceremony site. Either a lot of single flowers or several masses of them: all of them fabulously odiferous. Then weave the meaning of those sweet smells into the wedding ceremony. Forever after, that scent will remind the couple (and their community) of the sweetness of their love. Most marriages do well to have tiny little reminders of the importance of the couple’s love for one another!

But there are other ways to celebrate scent. What about food? You probably want to be careful with things like chocolate at a ceremony (it wouldn’t do much for bridal clothes) but there are lots of foods which if warmed and in a chafing dish would provide a wonderful accent. If you were using food, you could talk about what those scents invoke. For me, food smells either mean home or comfort or excitement. Each of those is an element which any enduring marriage needs!

Less obvious and more intimate, how about you? What’s your favorite perfume? Or do you want to wear something that you’ve identified for this special occasion — a scent that you will use at future celebrations, both public and intimate! (Wouldn’t it be a fun shower to go somewhere and have a perfume created just for you?) You could also be anointed with essential oils as part of your preparation for your wedding day. You wouldn’t want to do this if you hadn’t done it before! You don’t want to find out that you’re allergic to whatever essential oil symbolizes serenity and spend your wedding day in hives! In this case you would want to discuss the oils that were chosen and whether they were chosen for scent alone, or for their essential properties. What characteristics do you need to thrive in marriage? What oils offer those characteristics? How careful do you need to be in blending the scents? How about the characteristics? A little discretion goes a long way toward creating a harmonious and peaceful marriage!

Bottom Line?: Give your relationship the chance it deserves to succeed wildly! Have a good time at your wedding and in your marriage – and use scents and images that will enhance your experience at the wedding and create reminders for life ever after! After all you and your relationship deserve it. Sign up to receive 2 free templates for creating the wedding vows to sustain a marriage that lasts forever: http://annkeelerevans.org/weddings/optin

The Rev. Ann Keeler Evans – helping you move from “I do” to happily and healthily ever after.

Online Dating

Friday, November 28th, 2008

Shhhh.I’ll tell you a secret but you have to swear that you won’t tell a single soul.Promise?Pinky-swear?Ok i’ll tell you.I am having a secret relationship with the girls of my dreams.You know Carmela?Yes,the one in our Chemistry class!She and I are online dating.

What do you mean you can’t believe it?Of course we are.Want to know what she did last Saturday?She spent it chatting with me.seven hours!Yeah!we met in an online chat room.I found out her user name a few weeks back.We were sitting there in class and she was talking to one of her friends and she mentioned that she went into “funkychat.com” and called herself “Diva”.So I started going online too.First I would just listen and then,after a couple of weeds I started to comment too.

Then,finally,about 3 weeds ago I invited her into a private conversation.It was awesome.She is so cool! I think I am in love.When are we going to meet up?You see that is my little problem.I don’t know how I am going to get to Paris.She thinks my name is “Pierre” and that I live in near Notre Dame.Apparently she gets to go there and we are supposed to meet up near the Eiffel Tower.Do you think if I tell her I am just the nerdy guy from her science class that she will still want to got out with me?

7 Tips for Successful Mobile Dating

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

By Tim Blackstock

The ease and cheap costs of SMS messaging these days makes it a possible avenue for virtual dating. Recently, a lot of people have been “meeting” and flirting through their mobile phones. Sometimes, these digital romances end up being disasters. However, if done right, they can bring you great experiences that you won’t have elsewhere. Here are some tips to maximize the potential of mobile dating.


1. Be more outspoken. If you’re too timid, you won’t get anywhere and your potential dates might get snatched up by someone else. Be bold enough to make the first move.

2. Be yourself. Don’t lie about anything – you’ll surely get caught. And when you do, you would’ve made a bad name for yourself, since it’s possible that your mobile date will spread the news around. Besides, you’re unique. Why try to be like somebody else?

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Choosing a Career Over Love

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

The choice between having a career or making time form love is an extremely personal and individual decision.There are many factors which can affect your choice,and there are many people who have discovered how to achieve a healthy work life balance that allows them to have both.

Careers and love fulfill us in different but important ways.Having a solid career gives us a sense of accomplishment and self worth,aside from the pacticalities of paying the bills.Many people develop their entire identity based upon what they do,elevating their career to a level of great importance in their lives.

Then there are those who measure their success in terms of having a pleasant and rewarding home life.They develop their identities based upon the accomplishments of their children,and derive their self worth through the love and support of a spouse.

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Are We Over?

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

How to know if the relationship is really over? When is the time to give up, let go and move on?

If you are lucky, there are obvious signs telling you that it’s pointless to continue mopping over a relationship gone stale. If you aren’t as lucky, then you are probably stuck in a half-hearted, neither here nor there situation where it’s getting harder to still label it as a relationship.

When someone asks this question, I tend to believe that he/she actually knows the answer. The only thing that is stopping them from admitting that is the answer is probably courage. The courage to face the truth and accept that as the truth.

Facts can be harsh. But how is it going to change the situation by refusing to admit it? Clinging on to false hopes will only do just that – the hopes will still not materialise until the day when you decide to let them go.
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10 Signs That He Likes You

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

You met this great guy and you’ve been dating each other for some time. Not in an exclusive relationship, but you have been spending time together. Phone calls that lasted for more than an hour, flirty smses are exchanged.

You feel good about him.

Now is the million dollar question that you want to find out.

Does he like you? Is he into you, or not?

How to know the answer? What are the tell-tale signs that he is into you?

Well, besides using your woman’s intuition which is not something I can describe here nor teach, I’ll do my best to “simplify” this complicated thing call “love”.

10 Signs That He Likes You

1. Watching the same movie twice

He’s seen the movie. Although he wasn’t very impressed with it, but because you haven’t catch it he suddenly changed his tune and said he really would like to watch it a second time.

And so by the way, if you haven’t seen it too, why not let’s go catch it together, he asked.

You know his intention is then not on the movie, but the company really.

So girls, do not expose his true intentions. It’s enough to know the underlying truth, be appreciative ok?

2. His car is playing songs that just sound too, familiar?

Because those are your favourites! You have merely casually mentioned to him once, and the next time he drives you, you’re in for a musical feast.

Is he always so attentive to everyone’s needs and preferences? Well, you observe how he interacts with others and you tell me. Ha! :D

3. He asks that question!

Well, he will try to be as casual and nonchalent about it as possible.  But no matter how cool he acts, deep down inside he is burning and dying to know the answer to this question:

“So, are you single?”

If your answer is yes, then this will be the next one:

“No way. How can someone like you be single? You mean, you don’t have a boyfriend?”

Now watch his body language closely. If you notice he is feeling tensed up by now, and totally relieved when your answer is “No” then you get the message.

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8 tips on kicking shyness to the curb

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

does the idea of speaking to a person really you’re attracted to, freak you out?
or are you the student who sits at the back of the class and rarely speaks up?

we all know that shyness can be a barrier to meeting that special someone, advancing in your career…generally, dampering (vanae-ism word) in your effective communication.

simply put, there’s two types of people:
1) those who have overcome shyness
2) those who have not

all barriers have a root and these barriers are what’s preventing you from where you want to be. to kick shyness to the curb, you must start by tackling the root of why you’re shy. this way, you are aware and work from the inside to outwards. let’s shift your thinking and behavior of shyness with these tips:

1. dig deep! understand why and when you became shy
what is your fear of speaking up?
- is it a fear of being judged? punished? rejected?
was it a specific event in your past? was it your childhood?
replay that moment or feeling. understand what emotion made you revert inwards.

2. address that root, that fear
tell yourself that moment does not exist anymore, you’re living in the present and you have the power/control of NOW and how you present yourself. today, you are making the consciously decision to be VISIBLE and HERE!

3. negative thoughts can hold us back
no one is better than you! you can’t stop negative thoughts from coming into your head, but you can let release them or transform those thoughts into positive. often times, other person is feeling the same exact way, so talk to people as if you were talking to one of your friends. it’s an even playing field.

4. join an interest group (www.meetup.com)
find a meet-up group that surrounds your interest and commit to going to an event this week! this is the perfect opportunity to practice meeting and talking to people, starting with a shared topic you care about. hey, if it’s motorcycles or cupcakes that you’re into, why not connect with someone who does to.

5. smile often!
you’ll notice that i smile a whole lot! when you smile, you create good energy and share it with people around you. not only does it makes you feel good, but it alludes confidence. you’ll come off as friendly and approachable, so smile and make it OPEN INVITATION TIME!

6. know your best qualities and present those
put your best foot forward when getting know someone you’re interested in. is your strong point- humor? then use humor as an icebreaker. are you good at making people feel comfortable? then talk to them as a friend. are you good at smiling? then smile a whole lot.

7. initiate
this may be the toughest part when getting out of your shell, but practice approaching people with small talk. people won’t know how wonderful you are unless they have the chance to talk to yah!

8. give genuine compliments and ask questions
don’t you love it when people compliment you? we all love compliments! flattery puts down people’s guards and opens the gate for you to make a connection. people like talking about themselves and love the feeling that people care about him/her. so ask questions to show that you’re sincere in getting to know him/her.

were these tips helpful? what else has helped you overcome shyness?