Candlelight Nurtures Romance

Posted in Brides and Grooms, Love, Marriage, Psychology, relationships, Romace by Carol Medlock

Two hearts beat stronger as they gaze into the soft luminescence flames of candles. The soft luminescence encourages loving gazes, whispered words, delicate touches, and sensual strings. Candles not only provide light, but also shadows that move along the walls and trigger your imagination. When bathed in candlelight, you and your sweetheart can relax and express yourselves in a way words cannot duplicate.

When cave men and women walked the Earth, the dark was something to be feared. They tamed fire and the night pushed them outside their caves. Huddling around the fire, they found safety, warmth and pleasure. Today we have little contact with fire. Our homes light up and our food can be cooked without any flames at all. Yet our ancient love of fire remains. Instinctively we are drawn to a flame, not only for its wavering beauty but because when our sweetheart are basking in the firelight’s soft, warm glow emits a special effect. That’s why two hearts outlined by the radiance of a flame beat just a little faster.

Fireplaces are great place for reconnecting to the crackle and pop of a raging blaze. But a flame can also be cradled in a much smaller frame: a candle. Candles work best in groupings, which can be arranged to provide the utmost in atmosphere. They can be gathered together or spread around the room. It’s not really important how you arrange them, but the process itself will put you a romantic mood. When you’re done, you and your sweetheart can settle into your private cave constructed of darkness and light.

25Jan2013

“Flowers Are love’s Truest Language”

Posted in Brides, Brides and Grooms, family, Life, Love, Marriage, relationships, Romace, Spiritual, Weddings by Carol Medlock

Flowers are a beautiful addition to any wedding decor, as well as a lovely adornment for the wedding party. Brides make sure they choose flowers with care and consideration to enhance their ceremony. It’s been said, that during Victorian times, lovers would send messages to each other using different flowers, with each flower having its own meaning. These associations were soon adopted for the bride’s bouquets and are still used today by many brides. Isn’t that romantic?

During Roman times, brides and grooms wore floral garlands to signify new life and hope for fertility. The custom of the bride carrying flowers has its roots in ancient times. Strong smelling herbs and spices were thought to ward off and drive away evil spirits and ill-health.

Flowers are love’s truest language and here is a few of the most popular wedding flowers preferred by brides today and their symbolic meanings.

Anemones: Represents expectations and they bloom in either single or double blossoms an is in season from fall (Japanese) to spring (Wood or De Can)
Baby’s Breath: Represents innocence and is best used as a filler in bouquets, corsage and are in season year round.
Calla Lily: Means magnificent beauty and this large tropical flower is very popular in weddings.
Carnations: Pink represents boldness, red symbolizes love and white indicates talent, some other colors have negative connotations. Carnations are in season all year-round and have a very light fragrance or none at all.
Chrysanthemum or Mum: Meaning wealth, abundance, truth and the name literally means “Golden Flower” used most often in the fall.
Daffodil: Meaning regard and is most often used in the spring.
Daisy: Meaning share your feelings and are in season year-round.
Freesia: Meaning innocence and spring brides enjoy the sweet fragrance of the freesia flower.
Gardenia: Meaning purity and joy.
Hydrangea: Meaning understanding and is used by spring and fall wedding bouquets and arrangements.
Iris: Meaning a message of faith, wisdom and spring brides enjoy this beautiful flower as part of their wedding bouquets.
Lilac: Meaning love’s first emotions with a strong fragrance. A little flower fact: The local lilac is grown like a bush, and is used as a filler because of the greenery. The French lilac is more flower like and can be used as such in bouquets and arrangements. This exotic flower comes in a variety of colors and sizes.
Lily of the Valley: Meaning happiness and these small, fragile, bell-shaped flowers are considered traditional marriage flowers.
Magnolia: Love of nature and are best used for flower arrangements by spring or summer brides.
Orchid: Meaning love, beauty and is best used for bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages.
Roses: Meaning love, joy and they are the most popular wedding flower.
Stephanotis: Meaning marital happiness. They are best used for bouquets and arrangements. Brides love their trumpet shape blossoms consider them traditional bridal flowers, no doubt due to their meaning.
Tulips: Meaning love, passion this flower is a favorite for spring brides. Flower fact: These sweet and stately flowers can be found in myriad of colors. Let’s not forget the Sunflower many country brides love their sunflowers!

Brides and Grooms will be celebrating World Marriage Day on the second Sunday in February and it honors husbands and wives as the basic units of society, and statutes for “the beauty of their faithfulness, sacrifice, and joy in daily married life. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate with flowers that express your truest love language to your sweetheart.

Carol. E.

13Dec2012

“Romance After The Honeymoon”

Posted in Brides, Brides and Grooms, Kissing, Life, Love, Marriage, relationships by Carol Medlock

Romance is the champagne and frosted glasses of love, the magic that gives love a tango dance to, a fragrance to remember, and a fantasy-come-true to hold in your heart.

Romance is the antidote to ordinariness, the inspiration for passion; whenever you fold it into your relationship, you instantly elevate it to a more delicious state of being.

Romanced, you feel beautiful or handsome; life becomes ripe with hope; the moon, stars,and planets bathe you in a cascade of beneficent light; and you believe that everything is possible—-your sweetest, wildest, and most cherished dreams will certainly come true. At least that’s certainly how we feel in the rosy blush of new romance. But the feeling of romance doesn’t just stick around all by itself. As time goes on, it takes effort , ingenuity, intuition, and sometimes even a willingness to feel foolish, to keep the moonlight magical.

That’s because somewhere along the line, without quite paying attention, we stop doing the things that kindled romance in the first place: we forget to bring the long-stemmed roses and to whisper the sweet nothings: we leave the lights on (or off), we trade in the black lingerie for flannel pajamas. In short, we start treating one another as roommates instead of passionate lovers.

But we can still have romance in our lives, no matter how we’ve been together. Chill the glasses. Remember the roses. Install a new dimmer, light the candles, and forget about the candle drip-dripping on the table. Play the song you first heard on your honeymoon. Dress the bed in red sheets. Drive up the hill to watch the sunset and kiss (and kiss) in the car.

Every so often, Dave plays a romantic SOS trick on his wife Stella. He calls her up from somewhere, says he’s having trouble with his car, and asks if she can please come pick him up. When she arrives, it turns out he’s fully wrapped a present it might be a dress or a sexy new night-gown.He checks them into a room and orders dinner from room service. After dinner, they go dancing and then make passionate love. Needless to say, Stella is ecstatic every time.

When it comes to kindling romance, you have to be willing to be creative, even if at first you feel shy or embarrassed. Remember, you weren’t embarrassed by all those love notes and love songs when you were falling in love. The art of romance takes practice. The more you allow yourself to stretch the limits of what feels comfortable to you. (And if you’re the receiver of these endeavors to enchant, be sure to respond with appreciation. If you do you will definitely increase the romance quotient in your life.

So whatever your particular romantic preferences may be, be sure to indulge them as much as you can.Don’t let opportunities slip through the cracks. Like the relationship it will embellish, romance is a very special art form whose greatest reward is the joy if true passion.

6Dec2012

“Ruth- Ann Is Gettin’ Hitched”

Posted in Brides and Grooms, Humor, Life, Love, Marriage, Moms, relationships, Romace by Carol Medlock

Late one night, Ruth- Ann came home from a date with her boyfriend.

Her crestfallen face was streaked with tears.” You look as gloomy as a treed coon”, said her mama. What’s wrong, darlin’?

“Billy- Ray proposed to me tonight,” Ruth Ann replied. “Well, hush my mouth!” her mama shouted with joy. “Ain’t that the bee’s knees! So why the long face?

” He don’t believe there’s a hell.” “Marry him anyway.” advised her mama. “Between the two of us, we’ll show him just how wrong he is!”

3Dec2012

“Wedding Bliss In A Shoe Box”

Posted in Brides, Brides and Grooms, Family Values, Life, Love, Marriage, relationships, Weddings by Carol Medlock

Stella and Johnny spent their fiftieth wedding anniversary reminiscing about how amazing their wedding was. Stella said, it seemed like each flower bloomed on que and represented their love for each other, the candles were bright and dancing, the wedding party didn’t miss a step as the wedding march played.

It was a grand wedding and after the I do’s and good byes Stella’s, elderly grandmother Sadie, stopped Stella and reminded her of the two promises that Stella, had made to her when she announced her wedding plans. Stella,reassured Sadie,that she was looking forward to fulfilling her grandmothers requests.

The first request was that Stella and Johnny would spend their honeymoon in Niagara Falls, New York because it was family tradition. The second request was that Stella would always keep mad money in the shoe box on the shelf in her closet and that Johnny would never snoop in it. Sadie, gave her a decorated wedding shoe box that she called, her “wedding bliss box” and promised her grand-daughter that it would work.

After Johnny carried Stella across the threshold of their first home, she placed a shoe box on a shelf in her closet and asked him never to touch it. For fifty years Johnny left the box alone. But one day, while he was searching for the deed to their house, he spotted the box. Caving in to temptations, he opened it. To his surprise, he found two doilies and $75,000 in cash. He put the box back in the closet. Puzzled about what he had found, he confessed to Stella that he had opened the box and begged her to explain the contents.

“Grandma Sadie”, gave me her shoe box just as I was getting ready to walk down the aisle, to say my wedding vows,” Stella explained. “She told me to make a doily for every time I became mad at you and we would enjoy a long and happy marriage” Johnny was genuinely touched that in a half century, his wife had been mad at him only twice. ” So where did the $75.000 come from?” he asked.”Oh, replied Stella’s, “that’s the money I made from selling the rest of the doilies.” Stella, smiled and under her breath thanked her grandmother for the best advice a bride could receive.

26Nov2012

“Gettin’ Hitched The Country Way”

Posted in Brides, Brides and Grooms, Humor, Life, Love, Marriage, Planning A Wedding, relationships, Romace, Weddings by Carol Medlock

Country folk paint their sentences in the most vivid and original analogies when it comes to what love is and isn’t. They sew simple words of emotion into quilts of truisms, and season their language with zesty wit and biting rage. There is always an element of truth in these beliefs from the nation’s backwoods and front porches, reflecting a way of thinking that can touch us all in different ways.

Those wonderful down-home folks of the farms, mountains, and ranges of America have had plenty to say about love, marriage, breakups, and heartache. If you’ve been smitten by Cupid, you’ll enjoy a few of these country love sayings they are as tender and sweet as honey-dipped chicken wings. You’ll see for yourself that when it comes to romance, the denizens of the hollows, hamlets, and hinterlands of America have their own charming, inventive ways of speaking from the heart.

But heaven help you if you cross them, because there’s another side to country talk that is a furious flurry of poison-tipped barbs aimed at cheaters, ner’er-do-wells, and cads who have broken lovers’ hearts. If you’re suffering from heartache or you’re seeking revenge over a romance turned sour, you’ll find plenty of boonies-born saying that are as fiery and spicy as chile peppers dipped in homemade horseradish. The sayings have emerged from virtually every nook and cranny of America from lovey-dovey places like Romance, to Arkansas; Sweet lips, Tennessee; Bridal Veil, Oregon; Matrimony, North Carolina; Valentine, Nebraska; Loving, Oklahoma; and Hearts Content, Pennsylvania. let’s not leave out a few auguished-sounding places like Bitter End, Tennessee; Screamerville, Virginia; Hell Hollow, New Hampshire; Bedlam, Connecticut; Loveless, Alabama; Heartease, Mississippi: Little Hope, Texas; and Farewell, Missouri.

Musins’ About Weddings…

About the beautiful bride, you might say… Grace was in her steps, heaven in her eyes. About the happy groom, you might say… I’m plumb tickled to death to be walkin’ down the aisle of love. The sweet ceremony in describing what a loving and emotional wedding it was you might say… It’d bring a tear to a glass eye. The amazing ceremony, if you’re enjoying the best wedding you’re ever attended, you might say… I’ve been to three country fairs and a hog butcherin’ but I ain’t never seen notin’ like this before. The happy newlyweds, as you happily walk together out of the church on your wedding day, you might say… I’ve got the world by the tail with a downhill pull. Wedding Sympathy, when seeing the groom walk into the church, you might say… Well, that’s the last real decision he’ll ever make.

“OLD WIVES TALES”

Vows sweetly spoken won’t ever be broken. A lovely day, a lovely bride. A weepin’ bride will be a laughin’ wife. A laughin’ bride will be a weepin’ wife. Marry in May, rue the day. Marry in white, always be right. Mary in blue, always be true. Marry in brown, live in town. Mary in black, don’t look back. Marry in green and never be seen. Marry in red, be loved for who you are.

” The Bride Made A Better Offer”

During the wedding rehearsal, John the groom approached the preacher with an unusual offer: “I’ll give you one hundred bucks if you’ll change the weddin’ vows.” “What you get ot the part where I’m supposed to promise and love, honor, obey and be faithful to her forever, just leave that part out.” The next day at the ceremony, when it came time for the groom’s vows. The preacher looked John in the eye and said, “Will you promise to prostrate yourself before her, obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning and swear eternally before God and your lovely wife that you will not even look at another woman for as long as you both shall live?”

Stunned speechless, John gulped and looked around as all eyes were on him. Feeling totally betrayed and too afraid to bolt from the altar, he squeaked out, “I will.” When the ceremony was over, the groom, whose shock had turned to anger, pulled the preacher aside and, through clenched teeth, hissed, I thought we had a deal. We did admitted the preacher as he returned the hundred dollars that John had bribed him with and whispered in John’s ear, the bride made me a better offer to change the vows.

You don’t have to live in lovey-dovey places like Romance, Arkansas or Sweet Lips, Tennessee to enjoy some down home country jokes and stories that have captured the joy of spoonin’, courtin’, gettin’ hitched, and havin’ relations as well as sorrow and rage of gettin’ ditched and gettin’even ones. But you can enjoy romance and gettin hitched the country way no matter where you live in America.

19Oct2012

A Life Time Of Walking Together

Posted in Brides and Grooms, Life, Love, Marriage, relationships, Romace, summer, Women by Carol Medlock

Every wish I’ve ever wished for and every hope I’ve ever had, mixed with every dream I’ve ever dreamed came true the day I met you! I love you more than there are stars in the sky. Sharon and David were married for over sixty years their love story is about a walk in the summer time turned into a life time of walking through many seasons together.

Sharon: I have a twin sister, Karen and you have a twin brother Danny. When we met we were sixteen and a half, and we were waitresses in a hotel. You and Danny were musicians in a band and we thought you were handsome, which you still are.

David: At first, you and your sister couldn’t tell us apart and we couldn’t tell you two apart. Do you remember how you decided on which one you were going with?

Sharon: We said, with whomever asked us to go for a walk first and you asked me first. After that when ever you and Danny came in to eat you always asked for me, you never asked for Karen. Lo and behold, we ended up dating and marring. Karen went for a walk with Danny; she married him. Lucky us, because I don’t think it would’ve worked the other way.You were tall and handsome. And to me, being a musician made you glamorous and sexy, automatically. You took me out for my seventeenth birthday. We saw, Oklahoma on Broadway. I had never dated anyone else, but from then on I knew I loved you, and there was no chance of separating us.

David: We didn’t skip a beat we went right from a summer romance into the winter, and on and on.

Sharon: We were married in Borough Park, Brooklyn. You and I married the same day as Karen and Danny it was quite a big affair, two brides, two grooms, identical gowns, flowers and one set of parents for two brides.

David: We both went on our honeymoon by train to Miami Beach, but we went on different trains and to different hotels, so people wouldn’t stare at us. What did you think about marrying me so many years ago? Did you think it would last this many years?

Sharon: I never thought my marriage would last this many years because to me divorce was not a foreign word, if you remember, David, my mother was a divorced woman when she in her thirties. But I was sure you were the right one for me. And you know what? I was right. You are the right one for me. I like the way you kiss.You bowled me over sixty-some odd years ago with your way of kissing, and the way you fantastically hold me, and I feel it . It’s genuine.

David: You’ve told me that many times, but it still makes me feel great to hear you say that, honey!

Sharon: There are times we can be so annoyed at each other and we get up set at each other but when push comes to shove, we let it go. And we’re back to our normal selves, because being unhappy is part of being happy. When two people get married, they say two people become one. No, I don’t agree. Two people should remain two people but walk side by side. I’ve not become David. David has not become me. We remain Sharon and David. And to me that’s important.

David said, to Karen, you made my life complete and I pray that we will have sixty more years together.

Sharon said,to David, I will take five more good ones and I’ll say, “Thank you, God!”

Recorded in Brooklyn, New York on May 15th, Sharon, 80 and David, 86

17Oct2012

Love Blooms In New York

Posted in Brides and Grooms, Life, Love, Marriage, relationships, Romace by Carol Medlock

Scott was across the room and their eyes met. Soon they communicated with words and their body language, but it was their eyes that made the first contact.

Scott was single and feeling lonely on New’s Years Eve. He was living in the Bronx and he was on his way to party in Manhattan, but at the last-minute he felt restless, so he wondered the streets of Manhattan.

After hours of wondering he decided to go into “The Paris Cafe”, and he happened to look over at a corner table, and there was this ravishing beautiful woman sitting by herself, wearing a beautiful dress with Audrey Hepburn gloves and her hair was all done up making eye contact with him.

He approached her and introduced himself and she invited him to join her. After enjoying a New Years Eve’s toast to bring in 1992, they wandered around the Lower East Side and talked all night together. Her name was Isabela and she from San Fransisco. The next day Scott wanted to spend time with her so he drove her to the airport and they stayed in the parking lot for a couple of hours, like they were at a drive-in talking.

They kept in touch by writing letters, and then they started making cassette tapes. He commuted into Manhattan, and he had a little Walkman, so on those one-hour commutes into town he would just interview anybody he saw. He interviewed the brakeman on the subway, He’d say, “I know this girl in San Francisco I really dig, and I’d like you to say hello to her.” He played the song ” I left my heart in San Fransisco” by Tony Bennet more times than he will ever admit. He was just sharing the joyful feelings that he had for her with the world. He sent them to her as a surprise and she started interviewing people too and sent them to him.

She started interviewing strangers to say something into her recorder, the coffee grinders, newspaper delivery guys and once in a while ambulance drivers. When she couldn’t find a stranger she enlisted help from her family, friends and co-workers. Everyone she knew or had just met started following her love story and cheering her on. Scott and Isabela found themselves playing their recording other over and over. They were courting each other form such a long distance, so playing them was comforting. Scott could only hear voices so he imaged the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. He would think about how beautiful San Francisco was and try to imagine what it would be like to be there.

They started to send each other things they wanted to share, keepsakes, books,songs, small gifts. She knew he was smitten with her when he sent her his grandmothers toaster, and there was a card with it that said, ” I hope some day I’ll be there with you so I can toast your buns for you.”She used to reread the letters he sent her a lot, and of course she used the toaster . And then he sent her salt and pepper shakers from his grandma too. Isabel wondered if he was gradually moving in with her without her knowing it. Her favorite song become New York, New York by Frank Sinatra everywhere she went she would be singing these words, “start spending the news I’m leaving today I want to be a part of it, New York, New York.” .

In April, Scott surprised her by visiting her for two weeks and on the plane back, he said, This is it! This is the girl. But he didn’t know, how they would make it work? Then over the phone he said, to her I’m moving to San Fransisco in two months. It was really just the most incredible experience, going all that way and knowing that he was going to see this beautiful girl that he had fallen love with. He wondered was there really the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for them? In a six month period they had become best of friends through writing letters, tapes and phone calls.

One night at a dinner party one of Isabela’s friends said to Scoot , ” Not all Girlfriends want to be girlfriends forever, you know.” That’s when a lightbulb came on for Scott: “Oh, I should ask her to marry me? She nodded and said, happiness is happiness. Scott excused himself and went up to Isabela and purposed to her and they were married two months later.Scott and Isabela just celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary and are happy to report they still use grandma’s toaster. This is a true story.

17Sep2012

A Few Tips For Brides

Posted in Brides, Brides and Grooms, Dreams, family, Getting Organized, Keepsakes, Life, Love, Marriage, Planning A Wedding, relationships, Spiritual, Weddings, Women by Carol Medlock

By the time the first note of the bridal march is played, thousands of decisions have been made, for better or for worse. Knowing what to do and what not to do can help you to avoid missteps so you can make the most of your perfect day. There are many details involved in making your wedding a success, and careful attention should be paid to all of them, big and small. Begin by getting an overview of all tasks ahead of you.

Here are a few reminders of what to do and what not to do while on your jounery to the altar.

What Not to Do?

Do not try to please others by doing your wedding as they suggest. It’s your wedding. Do it your way.
Do not make major decisions with consulting your fiance’ (e).
Do not discuss the details of your budget with other people. Unless they are helping to finance the event, the details are not their concern.
Do not expect service providers to work for unreasonably low prices. Get the best deals you can, but be willing to pay appropriately for people’s time and efforts.
Do not forget that everything will go perfectly. There are bound to be glitches, but you can deal with them.
Do not make spur-of-the moment decisions about anything. Take time to consider everything carefully.
Do not be rigid with your plans. Try to be flexible when possible.
Do not spend so much on the wedding that you enter your new marriage heavily in debt.
Do not make unreasonable demands of all the people helping you make your plans.
Do not use your wedding as a time to highlight and perpetuate family differences.
Do not allow differences of opinion about wedding details to come between you and your fiance’.
Do not neglect your relationship with your fiance’ as you get caught up in planning the wedding.

What to Do?

Leave enough time to handle all the unexpected details.
Start at the beginning by getting a game plan.
Don’t forget one of the most important things to do, “seek out pre marriage counseling” with a professional that you and your fiance’ trust and rremember that the marriage is the most important thing, not the wedding.
The wedding party is an important feature of the wedding begin to think about who should be part of this select group.
Take advantage of a professional wedding planner if possible. It will take some of the burden off your shoulders, and will leave you time to deal with other details that only you can handle.
Ask professionals who will be helping you how much time they will need to get everything done properly.
Select a date for your wedding that is not already notable for something else.
Choose attendants and other member of the wedding party with care. They will part of your memories of your special day, and will be a part of the photos that you will cherish.
Try to choose outfits that your attendants really can wear latter.
Get details in writing.There is nothing worse than thinking you are getting a particular product or service in one way, and finding out that you are incorrect. Keep receipts for everything you pay in connection to the wedding.
Select some method of keeping all your details organized there are many free wedding web sites that are designed to help you and your wedding party stay organized. Weddingwire.com is an excellent. Many brides still use index cards, and some find a loose leaf notebook system helpful.
List all wedding tasks to be done and assign a due date for each. This will be helpful when meeting with suppliers of goods and services.
Find out deadlines by which you will have to have particular decisions made and abide by them. Remember they are intended to help you.
Get a master calendar where all activities, plans, and deadlines will be recorded.
Begin to think about what type of service you would like, wha traditions you would like to honor, and what religious elements you would like to include.
Have a back up plan if your wedding is planned for outdoors.
As you begin to think of whom you will invite, keep a list of extras that out-of-town guest will need, such as a ride to the rehearsal dinner.
Enlist help ahead of time to help accommodate special needs of guests.
Be ready to bear the cost of extras that you ask your attendants to have, such as professionally applied make-up or perfect manicure.
Check well ahead of the wedding for marriage license requirements.
What to wear? You can ease the process of dressing everyone appropriately for the ceremony by knowing what your wedding vision is before you even start.
Plan to show your appreciation to members of the wedding party with a gift to help commemorate the occasion.
Remember you are blending your families,so make sure you remain respectful of your fiance’s suggestions he knows them better than you do.
Send thank-you notes promptly so you do not feel overwhelmed by the task.
Take time to enjoy the journey to the altar. Relax and savor the process.
Begin to develop a budget for your wedding expenses.
Include in the budget honorarium for the minster, musicians, and others who help the ceremony but who are not attendants.
Decide up front who will pay for what.There are traditional guidelines about this, though in recent years they have become more casual they are still an important facet of planning a wedding.
Consider setting up a wedding gift registry, it helps to take the guess-work out for those who are buying you and your fiance’ gifts.
Remember to tie up the loose ends and finishing with finesse because you are creating a day you will cherish for a lifetime.