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Category Archives: Wedding Advice

The History of Engagements

by Guest Poster

With 2012 being a Leap Year, there is much talk this month of weddings and engagements but where did it all start?

The history of engagement prior to marriage comes from Jewish law, first demonstrated by Abraham, with two ceremonies a betrothal ceremony and the marriage itself. They used to be a year apart but since the Middle Ages, traditions have evolved and the two ceremonies in a Jewish wedding have taken place on the same day. (A betrothal is separate from an engagement in this custom and is more formal as a violation of betrothal is considered adultery).

From Momentville.com

In some historical cultures, including colonial North America, the betrothal was considered a trial marriage in which the groom would build a house, start a business or otherwise prove his readiness to enter adult society.

The ring is a modern symbol of the traditional dowry in European culture. The tradition of giving a ring also originated in Judaism with a golden nose ring.

Romans believed the circle was a bond between the two people who were to be married and signified eternity and first wore it on the fourth finger as they believed this was the beginning of the vein of love with a direct connection to the heart.

The modern Western practice of giving engagement rings is traditionally thought to have begun in 1477 when Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, gave Mary of Burgundy a diamond ring as an engagement present.

So today’s weddings, with wedding planners, massive budgets et al, have a lot to thank for the origins that go as far back as the Romans!


How I Got in Shape for My Wedding (A Guys Perspective)

by admin

Getting in shape for the wedding is a pretty common practice for a bride to be. This isnt too surprising since many women have been anticipating about their wedding day since they were little girls. But for the majority of guys out there, I dont think this is typical behavior.

A Little about Myself

I consider myself to be a pretty typical guy and I dont ever recall thinking about my wedding day until a few months after I proposed to my fianc and started to plan a my wedding. Frankly, I was much more interested in becoming a pro football player, race car driver, or jet pilot than growing up to be a knight in shining armor for my future wife.

About 6-months to the date of our wedding my fiancee started to take her exercise regimen seriously. She was never noticeably overweight by any means, but she wanted to lose about ten pounds to look her best in a wedding dress. Needless to say, her new workout regimen got me thinking about my own weight.

I was 510 and about 185 pounds six months before our wedding. Certainly not a bad weight for someone approaching his 30s, but I dont think anyone would argue there was room for improvement in the body department. So I started looking into ways I could lose 10 15 pounds over a 6-month period. If I was able to lose 15 pounds, Id be back to the same weight as when I graduated from high school, which would be a fulfilling personal accomplishment.

Simple Changes = Measurable Results

Diet Plan

Since I had a few months to go before my wedding date and a realistic goal, I wasnt looking for any type of overnight miracle cure to hit my target weight loss. I was just looking for a plan that was slow, steady, and eventually get me where I wanted to be.

So I picked up a few magazines like Mens Health and surfed the internet for diet plans for men on WebMD.com. What I soon discovered was that there were a plethora of solutions, products, and plans available to help me hit my goal. However, the most important factor that indicated success seemed to be just picking a program and sticking to it. The follow through, not the plan was the biggest factor that separated success from failure.

I opted to move ahead with a common sense plan that included a simple change in diet and more exercise. Next, I put my goal down on a piece of paper and stuck it to my refrigerator as a daily reminder of what I needed to do to hit my desired weight.

Heres what my plan consisted of:

Exercise for at least 25 minutes, four times per week. My exercise regimen consisted of cardiovascular activities like running, swimming, or using the elliptical machine. Since I wasnt trying to build muscle, I didnt do any weight training although the fitness training has toned my muscles.

Changed my diet during the week: I work in an office thats located nearby a variety of fast food chains with familiar names. Out of convenience, I would regularly eat fast food with co-workers about 3 4 times a week. I replaced fast food with healthy salads and sandwiches I made from home. In addition to eating better for lunch, I also saved money.

My weekend diet remained mostly unchanged: Im a sports fan and really enjoy watching (and eating) during baseball games. Since I didnt have a ton of weight to lose, I figured I could continue to splurge on the weekends.

Hitting My Goal

After four months of sticking to this simple plan that combined exercise with a change in diet, I was able to successfully lose 10 pounds. Ive also noticed a boost in energy as a result of my exercise regimen, which is a nice bonus.

In conclusion, getting in shape for a wedding isnt a thing guys normally discuss. However, I felt that it was important for me to look my best in photographs that will hopefully be passed down to my children and grand children. My wife didnt seem to mind either.

My advice

1.) If youre thinking about losing a few pounds for your wedding start working out early. This will ensure you have the time to adjust your work-out routine or diet if youre not getting fast enough results. 2.) Follow through with the plan. If youre consistent and stick to a sensible plan you should get results.

Author Bio: This post was written by Steven Johnson a writer at Adult Cloth Diapers HQ, a distributor of quality adult cloth diapers. Visit their website for more information.


The Critical Planning Stage after Popping the Question

by admin

Your engaged! Now What?So you are engaged!  Congratulations!  But as the excitement and the adrenalin rush wears off, and the family and friends who have been so enthusiastic with your news go back to their daily lives, it’s time to start thinking about things to do after getting engaged.  There’s a wedding that needs to be planned!

The decision to become engaged has with it its own responsibilities.  Two people have made a decision that they wish to commit to each other and begin a life together.  It may be that they are already very much sharing a life together, but they wish to show their commitment through the act of marriage.  Whichever category you fall into, the planning of a wedding will be a stressful time.

The reason for the stress is that you will find yourself dealing with a range of people, some of whom you will have never had the need for in the past.  And, you won’t be planning on needing them again!  This is to be a one-off affair, and you want it to be perfect.  So, yes, there is good reason for finding wedding planning a stressful time.

The best way to prepare for a wedding, is to come up with a strategy.  And the best strategy for organising a wedding with the least stress is to include a step-by-step list of things to do.  A timeline makes a huge difference as it is often easy to focus on the ‘fun’ parts of the preparation – dress buying, and table settings.  But the nitty gritty like guest lists and food menus is as important to making the day a great success for you and those who will join you in this celebration.

With the timeline firmly in view, then, the first step is to set a date for your wedding.  Once you have done this you can begin to work through your list of ‘things to do’ in a prioritised and logical order.  With a date for the wedding, the venue can then be sought.  The venue sought will take into account the type of wedding you are wanting.  Is it formal?  Is it casual?  How many guests do you anticipate inviting.  This is not the time to become sidetracked with guest lists, per se.  But when you are choosing your wedding venue you will need to take account of numbers to be catered for.  If the venue itself is non-negotiable for you, then obviously you will curb your guest list to meet the facilities that are available at it.  But whatever the guest list, the confirming of a venue for the date of your wedding must be your first priority.

Having done this, you may find that you are offered assistance by the wedding venue itself.  Some venues will provide menus and table setting samples which they are able to provide.  If these fit your own criteria, then obviously they are steps on your time zone which you will be able to sweep over gently.  However, remember, this is your special day and all steps must be included in your strategy, even if they are being delegated elsewhere.  You will still need to check that everything is on time and on schedule.  But, with the strategy in place, the things to do after your engagement should be able to broken down into the things other people can do for you, ie delegate!, and the things that you want to do because after all it is your day …


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