During the first year of marriage the couple is getting to know each other in a more intimate way. They are also getting used to the way the other spouse does many different tasks such as laundry, cooking, cleaning, and conducting their personal finances. They are learning each other’s habits whether they are good or bad. The first year appears to be the most difficult year of a marriage. This is when a large number of marriages fail. When giving a first year traditional wedding gifts first it is important to remember that spouses should be praised for surviving this difficult year of marriage.
Anniversary gifts that are given after the first year of marriage don’t have to carry an expensive price tag. Most people tend to pull toward giving a more meaningful gift such as one that comes more from the heart and not as much from the cheek book. Your gift should be based on a sentimental value, and a memorandum of the past year. The anniversary gift should contain a special message of appreciation, love, friendship, commitment, and thankfulness for sticking with the traditional marriage through the good times and the bad times. Giving a first year anniversary gift should most definitely be given from the heart.
Surprisingly, weddings are one of the unchanged rites of passage through history. Nearly all of the customs we observe today are simply echoes of the past. Everything from the veil, rice, flowers, and old shoes, to bridesmaids and processionals, at one time, bore a very specific and vitally significant meaning. The wedding ring and the engagement ring is no different.
The Tradition Of The Wedding Ring:
Since the days of the early Egyptians, the circular shape of the wedding ring has symbolized undying, unending love. A primitive bride usually wore a ring of hemp or rushes, which had to be replaced often. The Romans used durable iron to symbolize the permanence of marriage. Today of course, the favorite is gold, with its lasting qualities of beauty and purity.
Why is the Ring Worn on the Third Finger, Left-hand?
In ancient times, it was believed there was a vein in the third finger of the left hand that ran directly to the heart. Thus, the ring being placed on that finger denoted the strong connection of a heartfelt love and commitment to one another. Although during times of modern day medical science, this long held belief was found not to be true, the tradition continues to this day.
Medieval bridegrooms placed the ring on three of the bride’s fingers, in turn, to symbolize God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The ring then remained on the third finger and has become the customary ring finger for English-speaking cultures. In some European countries, the ring is worn on the left hand before marriage, and is moved to the right hand during the ceremony. However, in most European countries the ring is still worn on the brides left hand. A Greek Orthodox bride wears her ring on her left had before marriage, and moves it to her right hand after the ceremony.
Why an Engagement Ring?
In the early days of “Marriage by Purchase,” the betrothal ring served a twofold purpose. This twofold purpose included partial payment for the bride and was a symbol of the groom’s honorable intentions. The diamond was found first in Medieval Italy, and because of its hardness, was chosen to stand for enduring love.
Nitu Kumar, has been in the wedding business for over 7 years and writes for Flower Girl Dresses. More wedding tips can be found at http://flowergirls.topcities.com.
Do you ever think about when to pinpoint best friend gifts and refresh or recharge your relationship? Friends are not always best friends and as much as you show them how much you care, on occasion it really is smart to give a best friend
gift to your object of friendship just to say, “You are worth a little extra.”
Do you ever need to have your batteries “renewed”, or you may need a boost to your self-confidence. You might be facing a very frightening situation–like turning another year older with a BIG zero behind the number–and need a powerful and dependable presence.
How about having a strong shoulders to vent your stress to and get feedback, but only if it is required. On a pleasant tone, you may want to take a fun filled vacation and spend countless hours talking, watching the birds and catching up on life. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to find–and then hold on to–a close friend, the one that fits these needs, plus much more!
If you had your second cup of coffee, we’re speaking about best friends! It is all so important to recognize and value one of the best unique gifts on our earth–best friends! They are truly rare and can save you literally hundreds of dollars in doctor’s bills. Once identified, this person can serve as “mentor” on everything from kids, spouses, religion and social issues.
Now, it is also important to realize that these best friends are a valuable tool and resource, and not to be taken for granted. You have a responsibility to guard and protect them.
Make sure to value not only their efforts, but also their firm standpoint when you ask for their opinion. Treat your best friends like the priceless gem they are, and insure their safety. After all, it’s difficult enough to find and keep good friends–much less best friends.
Finding a great best friend gift is always a great notion. Best friends are fantastic to confide with during a life-stressor. Just a text message away your best friend is an remarkable resource to call upon. It is like they say, “A best friend does not bail you out of the slammer, they are sitting on the chair in the cell next to you.” Click Here for all your “best friend gifts”.
Personalized wedding favors are a unique way to say thank you to your guests for sharing in your special day, but many couples choosing personalized wedding favors that spread their sense of gratitude to people outside their circle of friends. A wedding is a bright light in an often-dark world, and an increasing number of couples are choosing personalized wedding favors that spread that light just a little further.
Whether or not you have been directly affected by illness or some other affliction, personalized wedding favors that support charitable organizations are a unique way to share the joy of your day.
Charitable organizations are always looking for new ways to increase their fundraising endeavors, and many have discovered the value of offering personalized cheap wedding favors. For couples affected by illnesses such as cancer, choosing the personalized wedding favor of a cancer charity can be a really unique way to bring a personal touch to their wedding day.
What better way to celebrate the hope embodied in the act of marriage than to bestow your guests with a personalized wedding favor that will always remind them of the obstacles that you and your partner have overcome?
Many charities have taken a colored ribbon as a symbol of their hard work, and offer gorgeous personalized ribbon wedding favors. For those on a tight budget, these are usually personalized cheap wedding favors too, offering you a really significant favor that will be highly meaningful to your guests, without having to spend a fortune.
And by choosing these personalized cheap wedding favors, you can be sure that the money you do spend will be making a real difference. A charity’s personalized ribbon favors make something really special of your personalized wedding favors.
So if you are looking for a truly personalized wedding favor, then consider one that says thank you in a less traditional way. Share your hope and joy with those perhaps less fortunate than yourselves, and choose a charitable organization’s gift - a truly personalized wedding favor.
Personalized wedding favors make your wedding unique, and personal.
For a website totally devoted to Wedding Favors visit Peter’s Website The Wedding Favors Guide and find out about Unique Wedding Favors as well as Wedding Favor Ideas and more, including Cheap Wedding Favors and Wedding Shower Favors.
Deciding about whether you should get a divorce or not is an
agonizing experience to go through. If you are asking yourself
“should I get a divorce?”, you’ve been thinking about your
relationship’s state for a while or an isolated incident (an
example is an extramarital affair) that occurred was so
terrible, that you want to just chuck it all and start over with
a new life!
If you have been asking yourself “should I get a divorce?” for
any length of time, you should figure out what is making you
feel that way if you haven’t already. Take the time to reflect
back on why you’re leaning towards divorce rather than working
out your marriage problem. Once you identify the things that are
making you feel like divorce is the right option, make a list of
those things.
Once you make that list, go back through each item on the list
that led you to asking yourself the question “should I get a
divorce?”. Look at each item on the list in depth and make
certain you really deem those items as valid reasons for wanting
a divorce, either in and of themselves or as a part of a common
theme of reasons that make up a whole set.
Once you trim the list down to include only truly ‘valid
reasons’, rank each reason in order of importance. Identify 2
reasons that hold the most weight to you and that contributed
most to you asking yourself “should I get a divorce?”.
After you accomplish this, decide if these reasons seem like
things that can be changed for the better or if they are just
flat out unrecoverable. Soul search and decide whether or not
you are willing to do what it takes to try and fix the problem
that is associated with these reasons.
Example: If one of your reasons for thinking about divorce is
because your spouse is insanely jealous of you having friendly
and/or purely plutonic relationships with members of the
opposite sex, decide whether or not you are willing to socialize
less with members of the opposite sex (or in a different manner)
or do what it takes to ensure that your spouse understands and
believes that you truly love him/her. If you aren’t willing to
do either of those things (or anything else it may take to
change the situation), you have some serious long-term thinking
to do about whether you really want to stay married.
If you have been asking yourself “should I get a divorce?” due
to one isolated incident, you should re-live that isolated
incident in your mind and identify why the isolated incident led
you to the way that you feel now.
List the top 5 reasons that this incident hurt you to the extent
it did (thinking about divorce). Then, think about what you feel
the top 5 reasons are that led to the actual incident itself.
This is especially crucial because, even though it may be one
isolated incident that caused you to think about divorce as an
option, the reasons that led to that isolated incident may have
been present for quite a while and need to be dealt with. The
point is, just because one isolated incident ‘happened’, doesn’t
mean the execution of that incident is the true cause of the
problem. Chances are there’s much more to it, and finding out
what those things are will help you identify the true story.
If you have been asking yourself “do I want a divorce?” and
haven’t prioritized why you feel that way, you aren’t ready for
divorce. What you are ready for however, is to go through soul
searching to get to the root of the problem.
How much can one spend on a wedding favor? This question looms large on every couple when they plan out their wedding budget. The true fact is that wedding favors need not be expensive to be good ones.
What matters most in a wedding favor is how personal the wedding favor is and this means even a cheap wedding favor would do. Cheap wedding favors need not necessarily look cheap. They can also look elegant, if you pick the correct cheap wedding favor. Ideally you can have anywhere between 2 to 10 percent of the total wedding budget allocated for the wedding favors and this keeps changing based on the number of guests and also the type of wedding favor.
How much to spend on a wedding favor is left up to the couple to decide, but the couple has to remember that wedding favor plays an important part for their wedding day to be remembered by the guests. This ultimately means that the couple has to select a wedding favor after much discussion and also ensure that they don’t end up spending a lot for the wedding favor.
In the end most couples find a nice wedding favor, the cost does play an important part in this shopping consideration, but rest assured that one can find cost free favors.
Since the beginning of time, Governments seemed bent on curbing the enthusiasm of the people they ruled. As soon as they noticed people enjoying themselves, it was let’s hasten to the House of Commons and see what we can do about it. Most particularly, they seemed to be for ever meddling with the matters of the heart, wanting to tell people how old they should be before they got married, what place they should select in getting married, and sometimes even what spouse they should choose in order to get married.
In the case of England and Wales of 250 years ago, they insisted that young people wait till they were 21 before the idea of marriage entered their heads. To ensure that everything was on the up and up, the upcoming marriage also had to be made public some weeks before so that anyone knowing of some hidden spouse could make this fact known. And lastly, the only place that the actual marriage could take place was the church, with a properly appointed minister inside it.
Not to seem too heavy-handed, the powers that be did suggest that if you simply couldn’t wait till you turned 21 you could seek your parent’s permission. And as for the rest, if you had the money to buy a special licence which would cost you an arm and a leg, you could get around some of the other points of law.
To the 18 year old 21 seemed as far away as the next century. And as for parental consent, forget it. Ever conservative, a parent never saw anything but practical common sense in the whole legal arrangement.
Across the border of England to the north, lived the good people of Scotland who saw and felt for the plight of the lovers. Themselves refusing to be bound by the idiosyncrasies of the English law, they continued to allow civil marriages which required nothing more than the couples declaring before witnesses their wish to be married.
So the chant of all couples in a hurry to be married was, ‘Let’s to Scotland’. And since Gretna Green was right on the border of Scotland and England, Gretna Green became the town you drove to when marriage was on your mind and you didn’t want to wait to satisfy all the rules and regulations of the English legal system.
Since at Greta Green any venue would do, the local blacksmith who was usually on hand to see to the horses and the coach from which the passengers alighted, was usually only too willing, and always able, to help out. A bit of a showman, as the couples finished their vows, he would strike the anvil with his hammer and would call out something in Scottish dialect which may or may not have been, ‘By the strike of this anvil you are wed’.
It would be pleasant to think that these happy events have survived right to our day. But, in fact, such is not the case. Sure you can go to the romantic Gretna Green to make your vows to each other. But law and order has a long reach, and it has as much of a stronghold in Scotland now, as it has everywhere else.
Vlady Peters is an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant authorised to perform marriages in Australia. She also perform general ceremonies such as Baby Naming, Renewal of Vows and Commitment Ceremonies. To learn more about her as a celebrant and an author visit vlady at http://www.weddings-celebrant.com
A bridal shower theme will help to coordinate all other bridal shower ideas. Once you choose your theme, your invitations, decorations, games, gifts and even bridal shower food will will seem to fall into place. Lets see how this happens.
How to pick a bridal shower theme
Think about the bride, first, and what she will appreciate. This may be based on need or
interest. If she is just starting out, she may need a kitchen or bath shower. However, if she is older, a fun theme may be just right.
A wedding shower theme can be based on the main household necessities.
A kitchen, bath, or bedroom shower is always a good idea, if the basics are needed.
Pick a room, and that becomes your focus.
The future “Mrs.” may be all set with household goods, but needs some personal items. In this case, throw a spa,
lingerie, or honeymoon theme bridal shower.
Couples showers are becoming more popular. Themes for these include sports, music, and hobbies. You’ve picked your bridal shower theme
Look at your main categories, and start coordinating your plans
• Invitations:choose a design that tells the type of party you are having. A pail or sunglasses would hint at a beach theme bridal shower.
• Decorations:Choose two or three main colors. Balloons, flowers, streamers, and other room decor can be coordinated to go along with these. Then if desired, add designed items that go along with your theme.
• Paper goods: There are a variety of designs available. If you can’t find suitable ones, choose solid colors.
• Food: Plan your bridal shower menu to reinforce your theme. Finger sandwiches and brewed tea for a Tea Party,
and a chocolate fountain with fruit chunks and cake slices for dipping are two examples.
• Games: A beach theme could have volleyball and horse shoes, while a kitchen party might include bridal shower bingo.
•Gifts: Have guests bring a theme-related gift. Suggest this in the invitation. Examples: a dvd player for a Hollywood theme, or a set of luxury towels for a bath theme.
You can carry your theme even further by having guests dress for the occasion, and playing the appropriate music.
Have fun with your choice, and the ideas will be limitless..
Trish Burrell is founder of Bridal Shower Ideas For You. Visit this informational site on all areas of bridal shower planning, at http://www.bridal-shower-ideas-for-you.com
