As the most stylish royal of her day, Princess Diana was the ideal model for couturiers to showcase their latest creations. 

Now, a new exhibition featuring designs for her maternity wear will include sketches tweaked by Princess Diana, demonstrating how she closely collaborated with designers on her wardrobe. 

They include the “fairy princess” dress she wore shortly before announcing her first pregnancy, and several glamorous outfits on to which she stamped her personal style. 

The designs will feature in a retrospective of the fashion house Belville Sassoon, founded in the 1950s by Belinda Belville, the socialite, and David Sassoon,china wholesale bridesmaid dresses the designer who worked closely with Princess Diana from her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981, through to the 1990s. 

Sketches from Sassoon's personal archive will go on display at London's Fashion and Textile Museum,Pick-up gown including the design for the hand-painted, off-the-shoulder white and blue chiffon dress that Princess Diana wore to an opening at the V&A Museum in November 1981, while two months pregnant with the Duke of Cambridge.high neck wedding dresses 

Sassoon,Bridal gown 80, said: “We called it the fairy princess dress because we received so many letters about it, especially from children, who thought that was what a fairytale princess should look like. Diana loved this dress - it appealed to her sense of romance.” 

During Princess Diana's pregnancy, Sassoon sent sketches to Kensington Palace, on to which she scribbled her ideas to be incorporated into the designs before fittings. 

One sketch of a turquoise, bouclé maternity dress features her notes: “Please could I have this one without the high collar and bow?” 

Sassoon said: “She had a very clear idea of what she did and didn't like and she'd look at sketches and make notes asking if we could put a sleeve or a neckline from one design on to another dress.” 

Another sketch for a claret taffeta dress with bows, shows her enthusiasm to have the dress made up, with the words “Yes please!” next to the design which she wore to the opening of the Barbican Centre with the Queen in March 1982, when she was six months pregnant. 

“We had to let it out at the very last minute because her bump had suddenly grown,” said Sassoon. “She was very excited about the baby but also conscious of looking appropriate for the occasion during her pregnancy.” 

He added: “Diana didn't like coats. I used to ask 'are you going to be warm enough wearing that?' and she'd say, 'don't worry, I'll wear my thermals underneath'. She was a great one for thermals.” 

Also on display will be the design for a velvet maternity dress with a lace collar including her notes: “This one in dark blue please.” Sassoon made the dress in 1982 using lace which had belonged to Queen Victoria. 

The original sketch for the white chiffon empire-line dress which the Princess wore to a West End production of The Little Foxes, starring Elizabeth Taylor, will also be exhibited. 

Sassoon said: “Diana enjoyed fashion and getting a reaction from her outfits. In fittings, she'd say 'this will get them going - this will get a response'. 

“Everyone thought she was fussy about clothes but she wasn't. Many other members of the Royal family would ask for hundreds of changes in fittings and ruin the whole outfit, but not Diana.” 

With the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge undertaking her first official engagement of the year this week,Sweetheart neckline dress royal maternity wear is likely to be under the spotlight once again.

Regional merchants will come together next weekend to allow brides, grooms and their family and friends to gather in one place and see all they will need for their special events. 

The Piedmont Bridal Show will take place at Richmond Community College’s Cole Auditorium, where merchants and retailers from Richmond County and surrounding counties will display their products and will be available to answer questions. Brides and their bridesmaids will be able to try on dresses and consult cosmetic professionals,china wholesale bridesmaid dresses men will be able try on tuxedos and all guests will get to enjoy the music of musicians for hire, including a harpist and a jazz band. 

Sharon Nichols has organized the show, and she said although she has 32 exhibitors lined up from across the Sandhills, she has space for more. 

Exhibitors will include cake bakers, photographers, florists, caterers,Pick-up gown travel agents, embroiderers,high neck wedding dresses event planners, bridal registries, dancing lessons, ceremony and reception location representatives, invitation professionals, lighting and decor designers, and even real estate agents. 

Admission to this event is free, and it will take place Feb. 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. Cole Auditorium is located at 1042 E. Hamlet Ave. in Hamlet. 

“This will be an elegant, lovely event, and people should come regardless of when their wedding is,” said Nichols. “This will be a lovely shopping experience. There will be prizes given away to the brides.” 

You can be entered into the prize draNichols said the goal of the show is to gather local merchants together for an event that will bring the client to a place in Richmond County to see what is available. According to Nichols, many people who plan weddings often think they need to leave town to find everything they will need, although that isn’t the case. 

One of the biggest tasks of a wedding is finding the perfect dress. But brides from Richmond County don’t have to go to Raleigh or Charlotte to be fitted. They can head to the Bridal Nook, owned by Kristi Wilson. She will have a booth at the bridal show where ladies can try on her dresses, shoes, look at jewelry and other items. She said she aims to make the process of selecting a dress personal. 

“When ladies come into my store, they aren’t just a face,” said Wilson. “It’s personal, and if they are from Richmond County, there is usually a connection made. I even have girls from Southern Pines come down to my store.” 

They won’t have to leave town soon, either, because Wilson has opened a second Bridal Nook by the Walmart in Southern Pines. 

“We’ve tried to maintain a focus on the local economy,” said Joey Bennett, Cole Auditorium director.Wedding gown 

According to both Bennett and Nichols, exhibitors will come to Richmond County from Moore County,Floral gown as well as Laurinburg and South Carolina. 

“We have tried to cover all possible services and the ones that are coming are excellent providers,” said Nichols. “This will be a fun afternoon and if you know anyone who is getting married, tell them to come.” 

Nichols said this event is also great for anyone looking for prom dresses, or other accommodations and accessories for formal events such as 50th anniversaries.

The average wedding costs just over 20,000, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to have the wedding day of your dreams. Here’s how to keep your costs down: 

Avoid expensive traditions 

The typical wedding venue costs 4,Floral gown600 to hire but you can cut your costs by 20% or more by opting to get married out of season or on a weekday. “You can also negotiate 10% off with suppliers if you get married when they are less busy,Wedding gown” says Kate Thompson of wedding planning website Confetti.co.uk. 

Francesca Cribb from hitched.co.uk recommends looking for a last-minute cancellation. Other ways to save include ditching a live band in favour of an MP3 playlist (typically saving 500) and having single stem bouquets (saving around 60 per bouquet). Hiring a photographer by the hour could also reduce the typical 1,000 bill to a few hundred pounds get competitive quotes by using wedding photographer comparison sites. 

Cut the cost per guest 

The secret to a bargain wedding is to try to reduce the food and drink cost per guest, not simply the number of guests.cheap demetrios wedding dresses made in china To cut your food costs,high neck wedding dresses “consider a buffet wedding breakfast, and serve the wedding cake for dessert,” suggests Cribb. Buffets can cost as little as 11.50 per person, and you can buy traditional three-tier wedding cakes from posh supermarkets for about 1 a slice. Alternatively, ditch tradition and bake cupcakes (it’s cheaper than spending 45 on large cake tins). 

As for drinks, don’t be afraid to ask guests to pay for some, if not all, of their drinks themselves. “Your friends and family will understand,” says Thompson. 

Ditch expensive invitations 

Instead of posting wedding invitations, create a free wedding website and send out e-invites. This will save you money, and it’s quicker and easier to keep track of RSVPs online. It also handy for your guests to refer to as the wedding nears. 

Alternatively, design and print your own invitations you can buy blank ivory cards and envelopes online from craft shops for 10p per card, and save up to 3 per invitation. 

Ask your guests to contribute 

It’s increasingly common to suggest guests contribute money towards the honeymoon, instead of a gift. This frees up your budget for the wedding, and if you decide not to spend all the money on the honeymoon, well, who will ever know? But Sarah Pennells, author of Financial Bliss: How to grow wealthy together, advises against asking guests outright to cover the costs of the wedding itself: “If your friends and family want to get involved by making the cake or helping decorate, that’s great. But asking guests to pay for the wedding can be fraught with the problems of family politics.” So tread carefully: you don’t want your wedding hijacked by relatives who think that if they are paying, they can decide how their money is spent. 

Pay for everything, including the honeymoon, with a cashback credit card. Just make sure you only spend what you can afford and pay off the bill in full each month.china wholesale bridesmaid dresses

When Alison Singh Gee decided to write a memoir about falling in love with an Indian and her passage to India that followed she saw it as a breezy tale of exploring the mysterious ways of the subcontinent with her husband-to-be by her side. 

"I wanted to write the book as sort of an 'Under the Tuscan Sun' meets 'Monsoon Wedding,' where everything is great," Gee says. "And my agent said: 'You're joking, right? You can't just write pretty little portraits of India, it's not going to work. You're going to have to find out what this experience meant to you.'" 

The book she eventually finished – "Where the Peacock Sings: A Palace, a Prince and the Search for Home" – accomplishes just that. In it, Gee, who comes to Orange County to sign and talk twice in the next few weeks, goes beneath the pretty surfaces of the people and the places of her life to find deeper, harder truths about herself, her family, and her world. 

Gee says it wasn't all that long after she met and fell for Ajay Singh that she saw the possibilities of a book in their love story. She was a Hong Kong-based feature writer for Asiaweek magazine, a glamour girl comfortable in her Jimmy Choo stilettos and smart little cocktail dress. Singh was the Delhi correspondent for the magazine and a much more down-to-earth soul. 

And all her Hong Kong society girl friends thought she was nuts to trade their world for his. 

"My heart said one thing and everyone around me said another thing – and my head sometimes thought the same thing: You're going a little bit crazy," Gee says.Discover Vera Wang's iconic Junior Bridesmaid Dresses. 

She brought Singh home to Los Angeles to meet her family at a point when she didn't know all that much about his background other than that he had a refined quality to him that suggested to her that he was well-born. Still, she was stunned when she overheard her mother talking to her boyfriend about his 100-room palace back home in India one day. 

"I said, 'What are you talking about 100 rooms?'" Gee says. "And that's when Ajay dropped the bombshell: 'Well, that's my family home in India." 

Back in Hong Kong, Gee says she couldn't resist dropping that little tidbit into the conversation the next time she got together with her friends who'd looked down their perfectly shaped noses at her guy. 

"I was intent on really spreading the news about this palace," she says, laughing. "I know that sounds obnoxious but I was like, 'Oh yeah, princess in the house!' And they'd all lean in and their faces would light up and then they'd say, 'Oh my God, you have to tell this story!'" 

Which she did,Find 2013 bridal gown wedding dress for your wedding, look at these dresses. though it took overcoming her nervousness about ruffling feathers on both sides of her family, Gee says. 

Her father, whose dreams of owning property and fine homes had influenced her own life in many ways, had died before the book was written. But criticisms of him in "Where the Peacocks Sing" didn't go over well with her five siblings,I knew I wanted a high neck wedding dresses before I was even engaged. she says. Her mother wasn't upset as Gee feared she might be. 

The scariest part of writing the book, though, involved talking about her mother-in-law and her initial coolness, if not outright hostility, toward the woman her son planned to marry. 

"I realized that my mother-in-law could potentially be very, very angry with me and never speak to us again," she says. "I was so paralyzed with fear that when the deadline came around I'd written about 50 pages out of 300." 

Ajay, her prince, decided to help by calling his mother to talk about the book. 

"She said, 'Do we look like fools? Is she being mean to us?'" Gee says, recounting that call. "He said, 'She did write about how difficult the relationship was at the beginning but by the end of the book you really come off as this really wonderful, sympathetic but complicated person.'" 

When he hung up the phone Gee could barely wait to hear what had happened. 

"He told me she turned around and said, 'I understand that in order to sell a book you have to spice things up a bit,'" she says. "And that totally freed me to finish the book." 

Her mother-in-law really need not worry about the book. By its finish,New arrivals in the Sweetheart neckline dress collections stick to this reputation. it's clear that Gee has a deep love not just for her husband but for his family members,Shop the latest Pick-up gown on the world's largest fashion . too, and especially for Mokimpur, the expansive family estate. 

After her 1999 marriage Gee worked at People magazine in Los Angeles as a West Coast style correspondent and features writer. She took a buyout a few years ago in order to spend more time with her daughter, 10-year-old Anais, and write her book. She teaches creative non-fiction at UCLA, writes freelance articles, and edits books. She also has a second book of her own in the works, partly inspired by her failed attempts to cook family meals for her in-laws in India. 

"It's another memoir," Gee says. "It's got a title: 'Cooking for the Maharani: Four Continents, Six Iconic Chefs and One Tall Glass of Revenge.' Basically I'm learning to cook for many reasons but one is to go back to India and show my mother-in-law that I can master this and I can cook as well as she can." 

Given that her in-laws haven't yet read the first book, might she be nervous? 

"We're basically avoiding India for about 10 years," Gee says, laughing, and then quickly adding that she actually expects and hopes to spend more time there and in Asia in the future. 

"I feel like I really captured an emotional truth at the time," Gee says. "I hope that anyone who reads it understands that I love my family, but these things happened and they really shaped me."

Olivia Wilde says that she wants an "elegant and playful" wedding dress. 

The 28-year-old actress became engaged to Jason Sudeikis, 37, in early January and although the couple have not set a date yet, she is already searching for the perfect gown. 

The former House star told People: "I'm very excited to look for a dress. I think women should want a dress that inspires them,Perfect winter and summer wedding dresses made in china wholesale to suit every style and occasion. especially for an important day like a wedding. 

"I'm looking for a design and materials that represents the best version of myself. Anything that is modern, elegant and playful," she said. 
Find 2013 bridal gown wedding dress for your wedding, look at these dresses.
Wilde has previously said she instantly knew Saturday Night Live star Sudeikis was the one for her. 

The pair began dating in November 2011 and moved in together last year, with the brunette beauty admitting she fell "blissfully, hopelessly,I knew I wanted a high neck wedding dresses before I was even engaged. wildly in love." 

Wilde split from her first husband eight years, Tao Ruspoli, in February 2011 and had a few brief flings before settling down with Sudeikis. 

After a few months of dating, the relationship became serious, and she recently put her $2.5 million Los Angeles home on the market so that she could move in with Sudeikis in New York City, where his show is filmed. 

A source said: "Olivia is so over commuting back and forth between LA and New York. At first she was worried that if she left the West Coast the acting offers would dry up. 

"But these days she is more focused on her relationship than her career. She's all about what's best for them as a couple and that means living in NYC.Shop the latest Pick-up gown on the world's largest fashion ." 

Jennifer Nicole, says,A Foral gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. “The Spring of 2013 is an important business opportunity for us, because we have just released our Bridesmaid Dresses 2013 collection. All our bridesmaid dresses are designed by our own expert team, and must be the most shining stars in the wedding dress industry in this season” 

Jennifer Nicole emphasized, “We believe that the promotion of bridesmaid dresses will be a stimulator of sales in the next few months. However, please don’t forget to leave your correct contact details when you order, we don’t want to send our product to a wrong address at all.”

June Whitehouse is sitting at her sewing machine altering the hems on two of her daughter's dresses. 

She's in her element. She should be because it's a position she has been in for 70 years. 

There are two signs by her workplace in the corner of the shop – the sixth in Portsmouth to bear her name. 

One says: 'I'm not an OAP I'm a recycled teenager'.I knew I wanted a high neck wedding dresses before I was even engaged.New arrivals in the Sweetheart neckline dress collections stick to this reputation. The other asks: 'Would you like to talk to the man in charge or the woman who knows what's happening?' 

That 'man in charge' is her upholsterer son John, but June keeps a beady eye on him and all the comings and goings in their shop at Winter Road, Southsea. 

June is 83, looks 20 years younger, and has the raucous laugh and sense of fun of a teenager. 

She has been running up clothes, wedding dresses, new covers for furniture, cushions, that sort of thing, and earning a living from it, since she left school at 13. 

She's the matriarch of a Whitehouse dynasty in Portsmouth which includes her three children, 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. 

She still works three hours a day in the shop, four days a week. She takes Wednesdays off and drives her two daughters, Julie and Sue, to their weekly treat at the cinema in her treasured Nissan Micra. 

To say June is old school is an understatement. She had to fight hard to win everything in life and underpinning her philosophy is an incredible work ethic. 

'What would I do if I didn't work?' she says. She mischievously lowers her voice in case John overhears. 'The thing is, I've got this lovely house in Myrtle Grove up the road at Baffins, a housekeeper who does all the housework, so what on earth would I do all day if I didn't work? 

'I'd just vegetate, so I come in here to shout at John...Find 2013 bridal gown wedding dress for your wedding, look at these dresses. ' 

Mother and son have worked together for 40 years, think the world of each other, but June likes to think she's in control. 

That comes from decades of battling to keep her family together. 

June was born in 1929 at Andover. 'My mum, who was from Portsmouth, got pregnant and, as happened in those days, was sent away in disgrace to have the baby. 

'She kept me for two years but in 1931 I was adopted by the couple I called mum and dad who lived in Reginald Road at Eastney. He was in the navy, but when he left we moved to Slough when he got a job in the Admiralty drawing office. 

'I left school at 13 and started work in a factory on the Slough trading estate. I started off making waterproof cot sheets with ties on them before moving on to camiknickers and satin underwear. 

'I'd had a sewing machine since I was very young and made my own dresses. I can remember at school the sewing teacher would tell the other girls to come to me to show them how to do it. 

'It must be a natural talent. I think I was born to it,' she adds. 

June walked out on her adoptive mother when she was 16 and while at a dance at the Savoy on Southsea seafront met Les, a sailor who would become her husband. 'He had survived the sinking of the Prince of Wales [more than 320 men died when she was sunk off Malaya in 1941] but he was troubled with his nerves because of it forever after.' 

They married in 1947 and lived with Les's mum and dad in Holloway Street, of Arundel Street, before moving to Birmingham where Les tried to find work. They returned to Portsmouth in 1949 when June gave birth to Julie at St Mary's Hospital.Formal wedding dresses from china on sale at great discount.2013 Collection Floral gown 1672 Styles. 

They lived at Hursley Road, Leigh Park, and Leominster Road, Paulsgrove, but with work scarce they upped sticks and tried London, now with two children in tow. 

'I sold our bits of furniture and with everything we owned in a couple of attache cases, got on a train for London. We had no idea where we'd live.'

The Community School of Music and Arts presented its annual student/ faculty art show, "Rethinking Green,I knew I wanted a high neck wedding dresses before I was even engaged." with an opening reception, a choral performance by the Huff School Honor Choir and a donor reception. More than 400 people attended the Feb. 8 event to meet the young artists and their teachers. 

This year's show had an eco-friendly theme. Classes in grades 1-8 used recycled materials and wrote about man's impact on the natural world. It is a large show: 419 pieces of art from 19 local schools including all Mountain View schools, and some schools in Los Altos, Redwood City, Foster City and San Jose. 

Mary Ann Girard's class at Huff School made mixed-media collages with fish in the ocean and found objects such as bits of plastic bottles and bottle tops. One class made birds from newspaper and painted them to replicate their feathers. Newspapers were the material for clever sculptures of bees. A third-grade class at Monta Loma Elementary School painted green (literally) self-portraits, incorporating fruits and vegetable shapes in the designs. The class also learned some art history. Italian painter Giuseppe Acrimboldo is famous for his portraits using vegetables, fruit, flowers, fish and books. 

The Huff School Honor Choir, under the direction of Kaye DeVries, received rave reviews. The choir started with six students and now has 80 members. The second- through fifth-graders rehearse one hour each week after school. 

Community School of Music and Arts Executive Director Moy Eng welcomed guests to the donor reception, where they had the opportunity to meet some of the faculty, including Linda Covello and Cal Cullen. DeVries received congratulations on the performance from Peter and Sue LaTourrette and Judy Lovins. 

"This is the best part. It is really fun," board member Debra Sommers said about the show. "I come every year." 

For 15 years, the city of Mountain View and the Community School of Music and Arts have participated in the show's joint sponsorship. 

The show is free and open to the public in the rotunda of the Mountain View City Hall until March 3. 

Chinese New Year 
Dancing dragons and drums were in the spotlight at Ming's Restaurant in Palo Alto for the Feb.Find 2013 bridal gown wedding dress for your wedding, look at these dresses.Discover Vera Wang's iconic Junior Bridesmaid Dresses. 10 start of Chinese New Year. 

By the lunar calendar, it is 4711 and is the Year of the Snake, the sixth year of 12-year lunar cycle. The snake is thought to be charming, wise, a deep thinker and successful in making and keeping money.Perfect winter and summer wedding dresses made in china wholesale to suit every style and occasion. 

A sold-out crowd of almost 400 people spanning three generations attended the pair of festive Dim Sum luncheons marking the beginning of the annual celebration that culminates with the famous parade in San Francisco on Feb. 23. 

For the second year, students from the Asian Cultural Dance Troupe at the Orchard School in San Jose performed the traditional drum and lion dance featuring a trio of red, white and blue dancing lions. Dance Director Liz Chew and Head Teacher Gargi Sengupta coordinated the peA Foral gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony.rformance of 14 dancers. They talked about their upcoming participation in the San Francisco parade. 

The celebration at Ming's is a tradition for many families. Jennifer Ebbett comes every year; she let her 1-year old son, Tyler Ho Ebett, try drumming. Three generations of the Wang family watched 4-year old Ava Wang, who was dressed in a traditional good luck red dress, and her grandfather Paul Wang give red envelopes to the blue dragon. Members of the middle generation, Alan and Katie Wang, said they had their wedding reception there eight years ago. 

The colors of Chinese New Year are red for good fortune and happiness, green for good health, white for brightness and gold for good luck -- it was the color worn by the emperors.

Ann Harada is that rare Asian-American musical theater actress who's never starred in The King and I or Miss Saigon. After a few summer stock stints as Bloody Mary in South Pacific, Harada realized if she was going to make it in theater, it would be as a character actor. In 2003, she originated the role of Christmas Eve in the irreverent puppet musical Avenue Q, a part she played on and off for six years. She's been busy ever since, including a six-month run as Madame Thenardier in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables. 

Tonight, Harada's first regular TV character, the long-suffering stage manager Linda, returns to the NBC series Smash. After filming nine episodes for season 2,2013 Collection wedding dress 100%silk 1672 Styles. Harada left behind Katharine McPhee, Megan Hilty and the rest of the cast so she could originate the role of stepsister Charlotte in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. The show is now running in previews; it opens on Broadway March 3. 
Before heading to the theater recently, Harada carved out some time to talk about her career, from her start in summer stock to her star turns as not-so-stock characters. 

As a young actress, did you envision yourself playing roles in The King and I or Miss Saigon or South Pacific? 

I always wanted to play these roles in the repertory, but I found I had a hard time getting cast in typically Asian parts, because for whatever reason, people were like, “You're too American,” “You're too funny,” or, “You're so not right for this.” That just wasn't going to be where my path was, and I just had to get over that. 

Did that shift happen pretty quickly for you? 
When you are a minority actor, you figure out right away that so much of the game is what people expect you to be, or think that you could be, based on how you look. When you don't fit that mold, you have to figure out other ways to be seen. I had to start working on ways that I wasn't being cast traditionally. 

And by “traditionally” you mean? 
Not Asian-specific. 

There are a lot of actresses out there playing Tuptim who might be jealous of that. 

Believe me,Shop the latest off shoulder dress on the world's largest fashion site. there was nothing I wanted more when I was younger than to be that ingenue. But that's not who I was. And I'm a character actor. And when you are a young character actor, there is pretty much nothing out there for you, especially if you are Asian. Oh, my God. I am such a late bloomer in terms of my career. 

So how old were you when you realized that you were destined to be a character actor? 

I'll put it this way: When I saw Cinderella as a young girl, it never really crossed my mind that I wanted to play Cinderella. I was thinking, “I could be a stepsister.” I have always gravitated more towards those parts. 

So is that how you got cast as Christmas Eve? 
No. That was a complete stroke of fate. When Bobby Lopez and Jeff Marx were developing [Avenue Q], they were literally looking for an Asian actress to come in and say, like, two sentences in “Everyone's a Little Bit Racist.” I went, and I was Christmas Eve from then on. 

How were you able to take playing such an idiosyncratic character — a heavily accented Japanese therapist engaged to an unemployed puppet — and use the role as a steppingstone? 
It's always nice to be affiliated with a hit. When I went to auditions, people knew who I was. 

Before you auditioned for Smash, did you ask any stage managers for advice? 
No. It was only 10 minutes. It's not like I did very much method work going into that first audition. But when I went back, I thought about a lot of stage managers that I've worked with, and I do kind of model myself after one of them. 

Have you had good relationships with your stage managers over the years? Or are you a problem child? 

Yes. I'm happy to say that I have. But I have been written up for laughing onstage. 

In rehearsals for Bombshell, the show-within-a-show on Smash,New arrivals in the formal office dresses for women collections stick to this reputation. whose side is Linda on? The actors? Or the creative team? 
I would have to say she's on the creative team's side, but looking out for the welfare of the actors. Stage management is such a delicate row to hoe. You have to deal with everyone's personal issues, as well as the crew.Find 2013 wholesale bridal wedding gowns for your wedding, look at these dresses. 

In that sense, Smash seems pretty accurate. Linda knows who's fooling around with who in the dressing rooms, but at the same time she's trying to help hang the lights. 

Absolutely. The only time I put my foot down was when we were shooting a scene in tech, and they had given me a yellow blouse to wear, and I was like,Can I trust buying a mermaid chiffon one shoulder wedding dress? “No. C'mon. We're in tech. I would be wearing black.” 
Have there been many moments when they've turned to the theater people on set and, and asked you, “What would really happen here?” 

Smash has been, for the most part, very good about listening to the people who have a lot of stage experience. There was one time when they had the stage manager's console facing the wrong way. And I was like, “Please, for the love of God, don't shoot it like that. We will get so much flak.” 
Can you give us any hints about what's in store for Linda? Any more break-out scenes, like dancing at the Indian wedding? 

Nothing like that. There will be no singing or dancing for me, but there are some great moments in Linda history coming up, in terms of stage manager breakdowns. 

Were you eager to get back onstage yourself? 
Oh yes. I mean, it was bittersweet, but hopefully it won't be goodbye forever. 

You had to go fulfill your childhood dream of playing a stepsister. 
Of course. And to be in a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical that has never been on Broadway. 

Is it really Broadway material though? Their Cinderella was a made-for-TV movie that came out in 1957, and there's a version licensed to elementary schools. 
We have an entirely new book by Douglas Carter Beane [the playwright who wrote The Little Dog Laughed and Xanadu]. It's more cheeky and edgy. The dialogue is much punchier. It's very funny, and there's a contemporary feel to the humor, but there are no Justin Bieber jokes. 

How would you describe your character, the stepsister Charlotte? 
She is just pure id. She is that girl who tries just way too hard. Just wants to be liked, and is so unsuccessful at it. Everything about her is so over the top. All of my dresses are various shades of hot pink. You cannot miss me. She is just too-too. But she's not evil; she's overeager. 

And you like that, that she's not the stereotypical evil stepsister? 

Of course, because what's there to be evil about? You can resent a perfect person without being evil. I resent perfect people all the time. 

So she's the girl you feel sorry for at the dance? 

Oh, yes. I would feel very sorry for her. 

Is it fun, being back onstage and singing again, instead of herding singing divas for television? 

It is the most fun you could ever have, to be in a show like Cinderella, with the funniest people. … I'm playing in the major leagues, with the best people there are. And I'm doing what I love to do. There is just not a better feeling in the world.

Name: Gina Priestman Byrne 
Age: 33 
From: Brittas Bay,Find the perfect designer beaded evening gowns photos and be inspired for your wedding. Co Wicklow 
Occupation: Owner of The Paint Pot hardware store, Templeogue 
Start weight: 16st 10lb 
Current weight: 10st 10lb 
Total weight loss: 6st 
Gina says: "For as long as I can remember, I've been overweight. For years, I used the excuse: 'I've got a slow metabolism'. Deep down, though, I knew that's all it was – an excuse. 

"Becoming a mum made me realise that something had to change. How can you tell the kids to eat their breakfast when Mummy's skipping it? I didn't want Aaron (10) and Aimee (6) to inherit my bad habits. 

"My biggest problem was portion size. So about a year ago, I started using side plates instead of dinner plates, making sure that the fridge was always full of fresh fruit and vegetables and eating more regularly. 

"Fad diets don't work. For me, losing weight – and keeping it off – has become a way of life. If I'm meeting a friend for coffee and a scone,Beautiful Mermaid Wedding Dresses for instance, now I skip the scone. 

"As a working mum, it's not always possible to get out for a walk in the evening. Instead, I try to keep active during the day by climbing the stairs or jogging on the spot. 

"Whenever I see my wedding photo, I still cringe. My biggest regret is that I was too big to wear the wedding dress I really wanted. 

"My husband Declan is loving the new me. After splashing out on a whole new wardrobe, though, I don't think he's too happy about the bank balance!" 

Expert view: "There's no big secret to losing weight: eat better and move more. Gina realised there's no short-term solution and had the greatest motivation of all to do something about it – her kids. 

"Losing weight the old-fashioned way isn't easy. You're not going to drop a dress-size in two weeks like you would on some weight-loss programmes. 

"But you are going to reduce your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes in the long run." 

Meanwhile,Shop the latest off shoulder dress on the world's largest fashion site. back at the lodge: Knock knock knock, it's the Accent Table of Doom at the door! And this time, the "ladies" greet his arrival with trepidation; they know that whoever isn't listed as part of the group date will be entering the two-on-one cage match. Selma, AshLee, Desiree, Catherine, Sarah, Lesley, Robyn, and Daniella are safe, so that means it'll be Jackie and Tiny T will be rumblin' for the rose. Tierra, who's grinning like a maniac, already thinks she's got it in the bag.Dennis Basso Sweetheart V-neckline dress with Dropped Waist in Organza. "I'm, like, so excited, just because I've been on so many group dates," she chirps to the "ladies," who don't even try to hide their disdain. "I'll just go with my gut, and it's usually always right." 

The next day, Sean meets his harem out in a bucolic pasture, where Harrison holds court alongside some goats, canoes, and bales of hay. ("Are those dogs?" asks one of the women -- no doubt dear, sweet, dumb Daniella -- as they approach.) Looks like this group date is going to be part Survivor, part Bachelor Pad, and all stupid.Beautiful The Latest Wedding Dresses "Welcome to The Bachelor's Montana Wilderness Relay Race!" announces Harrison, explaining that two teams of four will have a canoe race, move some hay bales, saw through a 12-inch log, and then milk a goat. "But wait! One or more of you must drink the goat's milk to complete the competition," continues Harrison, as Robyn throws up a little bit in her mouth. (Oh, and in case you were wondering, Sarah doesn't think that having one arm is going to hold her back in this competition.)

A Colorado businesswoman has returned to her Panhandle roots and opened a new store. 

Angela's Bridal & Boutique opened its doors on Saturday in Eric Vath Clothier's former location in downtown Scottsbluff.Beautiful Mermaid Wedding Dresses Owner Angela Engelhaupt said it's a fulfillment of a dream. 

“It's always been my goal to open a business here and bring it into the community that gave so much to me and helped build my character,” she said. “It's amazing to finally see that happen.Go for a modern and romantic look in this chapel train gown evening gown.” 

Engelhaupt grew up in Minatare, finished school in Wyoming and has spent the last few years as a manager for The Buckle designer clothing store in Colorado. The opportunity to open her own store came up about a year ago and she said the last few months have been a whirlwind adventure involving purchasing a storefront, remodeling projects and product price tagging. 

Store Manager Tonya DeWitt is complementing Engelhaupt's retail background and brings more than five years of bridal market experience to the store. Together, the pair will offer their expertise one-on-one in their private consultation room. 

“We'll dress her up and make her feel special,” she said. “Her wedding is the bride's big day and we want to work with her and help make that day perfect.” 

Walk-ins are also welcome and there is plenty of room for several brides. Engelhaupt said she hopes their product selection and focus on customer service will help encourage brides to shop at local outlets before driving to Cheyenne,Jovani designer 2013 evening dress and celebrity style evening gowns. Wyo., or Denver. 

Angela's has more than 100 wedding dresses on-hand including gowns by Justin Alexander, Sincerity and Allure Romance. Prices range from $300 to $1,600,Dennis Basso Sweetheart V-neckline dress with Dropped Waist in Organza. and Engelhaupt said she tries to carry products that fit anyone's budget. 

Also, 180 prom dresses in the new Spring 2013 styles line the racks and Engelhaupt said she hopes to have even more on the way. 

“We'll bring more dresses in as we go along,” she said. “For now, we just want to get a reaction from people and see what they are looking for and what they want.” 

The boutique side of the store houses jeans, shirts, shoes, purses and jewelry. Some of the accessories are made to match with bridal items, but Engelhaupt said much of it would serve well as casual clothing. 

“It's almost like having two stores in one,” she said. “Some is more formal and some works well for a fun night on the town.” 

A grand opening and a few special promotions are planned for Saturday, Feb. 16. Regular store hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.Beautiful The Latest Wedding Dresses Evening consultations are available by appointment.

Miguel Martinez-Viera/Contributing Writer 
Flipping through the channels, you stumble upon a scene of such indecency, that it makes you stop, and go, “Really?” 

Now, how many of you have reached that same piece of flabbergasting,Actually it is quite flexible to choose the cheap maggie sottero wedding dress for you.Go for a modern and romantic look in this chapel train gown evening gown. harshly stated, filth, and left the channel on, just to see what happens? That initial pique of curiosity then somehow, through some form of modern day alchemy, turns into a general intrigue, then, even more miraculously, into a genuine interest. 

That's when they've got you. 
They've found a way to categorize these shows, which are overwhelmingly filled with substance equal to scum, into, what you can only assume is done with a heavy dose of irony, Reality TV. 

You've got your major ones such as the human excrement puppets of the Jersey Shore, and the disturbingly trashy Honey Boo Boo, names more widely known than many of our most important thinkers. Then these shows also delve into makeovers (home or otherwise), cooking (taken to some odd extremes), and even wedding dress shopping.Jovani designer 2013 evening dress and celebrity style evening gowns. And the list goes on an on, almost ad infinitum. 
At times you feel like this must be a joke, like the producers of these shows are just toying with you.Find complete details about lace wedding veils. But they are not. 

They continue to crank out turd after turd for one reason: people are watching. 
Perhaps it's our voyeuristic tendencies, or fantasies, or maybe we just enjoy the little lie that, “perhaps these things are actually happening.” Deep down though, at least I hope,Shop the latest Asymmetric neckline dress on the world's largest fashion . we all know it's all utter bulls**t. 

So why are we watching? 
Could our curiosity be somehow related to our own innate selfishness to feel better about ourselves? Think about the absolute worst human being you could. Now turn on the TV, and with enough channel surfing, you're sure to find their perfect proxy. 
How many of you watch these shows with a mocking eye, where you criticize and laugh at the appalling individuals presented? 

Is that it? Are we all just terrible people? 
If that's the case, then the media has certainly found the perfect way to manipulate us. These show's ratings keep skyrocketing. 

This infection of empty television is now so rampant, that many channels have almost entirely forgotten their initial purpose. 
You'd be hard-pressed to find music on MTV, The History Channel has pretty much forgotten about the past, and, my favorite contradiction, The Learning Channel (TLC), teaches you nothing but how ridiculous a human can actually be. 

Every channel has their own brand of “reality” that they push on you, just as every street corner once had their own drug to sell. 
The masses now consume more reality than real life, and it leaves you wondering: How low can we go? 

In the meantime, while you ponder that question, turn on the TV and enjoy what we've created.

Plenty of brides still dream of a wedding that revolves around a long white gown, hotel ballroom, engraved invitations and the Chicken Dance. For everyone else, there's Indie Wed. 

Founded in 2010 by Kelly Maron, owner of Paper Stories, a suburban letterpress studio, Indie Wed is the bridal expo equivalent of a college alt rock station — a little edgier, a little funkier and just plain different. 
Two years ago, Ashley Sebaaly attended Indie Wed as a bride-to-be. This year, she was one of 100-plus vendors — eco-friendly florists, artisan jewelers and handmade stationers, among others — at the fourth annual Winter Indie Wed Chicago, which drew more than 1,200 attendees to the Ravenswood Event Center, 4043 N. Ravenswood Ave., on Saturday. 

Sebaaly runs Blue Rose Vintage, a bridal specialty website featuring "garments that have lived and loved," and plans to launch an original line of vintage-inspired dresses this summer.Has anyone brought a Off the Shoulder cocktail dresses?‎ 

Currently benefiting from a backlash against strapless gowns,Find the largest selection of cheap mother of the bride dresses on sale. she described her niche as "more artistic" and her typical customer as "a little more eccentric,You will find so many wonderful Floral gown with high quality and low price. against the norm." 
"A lot of modern dresses don't flatter," chimed in her husband Tony Sabaaly, on hand to provide the kind of spousal support that included learning the meaning of the term "sweetheart neckline." 

The pair, who hail from Lake Villa, said they'd met customers "from all over" at the fair. 

"That's why we're here," he said. 
On the second floor of the event center, with DJs plying their trade in the background, Kimberly Lux, 31, and Bensen Loveless, 33, of the South Loop, were searching for inspiration as their August wedding date approaches. 

"We're early in the process," said Lux as the couple flipped through a photographer's lookbook. 
Added Loveless, "We've been a little afraid" — both of the bridal industry and the sheer amount of "stuff" involved in planning a wedding. 

In bringing together so many vendors, Indie Wed provided the pair with a clearer notion of "who's out there," while also putting a face and personality to the kind of vendors they'd previously only encountered online. 

"Everybody charges a lot of money," said Loveless. "You want to know, are they awkward? Is it going to be a good fit?" 
Face-to-face interactions were just as important to Sally Kenyon, owner of Uptown Brownie, a bakery with a virtual storefront. 

"It's a great way to get my product out,Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dresses" said Kenyon, who launched her business in September after working for 20 years as a professional chef in restaurants and catering. 

"My partner said to me, 'You're so much nicer when you bake,'" she said. 
Kenyon pitches her brownies, which come in flavors such as Caramel-Fleur de Sel and Peanut Butter Truffle, as an alternative to the traditional wedding cake (they can be stacked in towers) or as part of a sweets table, and lured potential customers with samples. 

"I brought about 1,000 pieces today, I'm getting down to the end," Kenyon said, with an hour left before closing. "It's been superbly beneficial if for nothing more than exposure. I feel like I've talked to a lot of people." 
Sarah Burrows, 30, can identify with the pressure brides feel to make their wedding unique. 

During her own engagement, the director of marketing for the 900 North Michigan Shops continually heard from friends, "You're so creative." 

Mismatched vintage china was one of the unusual touches she incorporated into her reception, which led her to found Plate in 2011, a company that rents mix-and-match place settings. 

"We try to have a very curated collection," she said, including Limoges and English bone china.Wanna to buy the new Off-Shoulder Wedding Dresses now? 
Carrie Burrows, 61, serves as her daughter's head "buyer," having amassed enough pieces to accommodate 450 guests by haunting antique stores, estate sales and even Goodwill. 

"People don't know what they're dropping off," said the elder Burrows, whose home also serves as Plate's warehouse. 

The popularity of television shows such as "Downton Abbey" and "Boardwalk Empire" has increased the visibility of and interest in fine place settings, said Sarah Burrows. 

"We're trying to capitalize on that." 
It was just that mix of slightly offbeat but not entirely crazy that Kristen Huckstadt, 32, of Lakeview, and her fiance, Charlie Hass, 31, hoped to find at Indie Wed. 

The pair are planning a classic church wedding for November, but wanted to add a few surprising elements. 

Said Huckstadt, "It's nice to find things that are different even if you want to be traditional."

The world has come together at a small resort in Faridabad, Haryana. The 27th Surajkund Mela, rechristened the ‘International Crafts Mela,’ is featuring stalls of no less than 20 countries this time. Artisans from nine countries of Africa (Rwanda, Guinea, Tunisia, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Addis Abada, Congo and Egypt), three of Eurasia (Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and nine SAARC nations (Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan) Thailand and Peru are selling their exotic wares. 

The African stalls have in fact brought the whole of Africa to Surajkund. On sale are all varieties of handicrafts made of palm leaves like baskets, hats,Our gorgeous one shoulder wedding dresses are perfect for wedding. mats, dolls etc. and cattle-skin products like baby-carriers and sandals. There are also bead ornaments to adorn your hair, waist and neck with and colourful African kaftans. 

Glass figurines of animals like rhinos, elephants,Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dresses crocodiles and giraffes remind one of African safaris and wooden models of tribal men and women transport you to the continent’s jungles. Juno Kabayi at the Zambia stall says, “We are participating in this fair for the first time but are most enthused with the visitors’ response. After all, the urge to connect with nature and one’s roots through handicrafts exists everywhere.” 

The Eurasian countries have lent their own flavour to the fair. On display are scarves for both men and women, chadars, traditional teapot covers called Choytikush and Toque caps – all with the region’s beautiful Suzani embroidery. An exhibitor from Tajikistan, Farida Fatokhoa explains, “We are showcasing all the things a newly wed Tajik bride needs. For example, the chadars used to make curtains for the wedding night, and embroidery on teapot covers. We have also put up a Tajik bridal dress.” 

Afghanistan, on the other hand, has brought its trusted woollen durries while Pakistan has got hand-embroidered kurtas and the famous Hashmi surma and kajal. The Bangladeshi exhibitors are displaying Jamdani weave and Dhakai silk sarees to a host of Bengali women. One claim: “This was worn by Aishwarya in Devdas,” and all were sold. 

The Bhutan stall, meanwhile, presents a peaceful picture of Buddhism with Thangka paintings, prayer wheels, prayer flags and organic products like room sprays, soaps, herbal teas and incense sticks. Unique to them are also Yak hair carpets and clothes. 

Kids are flocking to the Sri Lanka pavilion to see their ferocious masks. Over a hundred colourful masks, depicting demons of fire, animals, diseases and bad omens, are grabbing eyeballs. A spokesperson of Sri Lanka Tourism, Vickram Rajasinghe explains, “Masks are crucial to Lanka’s mythology and religious rituals. They are used in our folk theatre as well.Find complete details about lace wedding veils.” 

Thailand, as usual, is doing roaring business with its myriad flower decorations, designer lanterns and massage oils. As one visitor Kirti Pandya said, “I heard a lot about the Thailand pavilion’s stuff during the Trade Fair. However, I couldn’t attend it at that time.Has anyone brought a Off the Shoulder cocktail dresses?‎You will find so many wonderful Floral gown with high quality and low price. Thanks to Surajkund Mela, I’ll pick up all the hair accessories. Indeed the world has become one global village with such fairs.”

The Super Bowl, a 47-year-old American tradition, has become much more than a football game. 

With the kick off show starting at 3:00 pm PST and 6:00 EST, the Super Bowl has become a family affair. It is now ten times more likely to be a gathering of family including little children, grandparent, and everything in between, than it is to be a bunch of slobs grunting over beer and fried food in a man cave somewhere. 

Millions of moms and dads try to prepare a special day and a hospitable welcome for friends and family into our homes for a special time together. Strangely, the Super Bowl is quite like Thanksgiving. We gather over eats and family fun with a little something for everyone. 

The Super Bowl also is an ambassador for American life and culture. About a third of Americans watch the Super Bowl live and another two million do so outside the United States. The game is broadcast to over 200 countries. 

This year's match was glorious, truly a nail-biter. A close game, rife with every kind of back story that augments the thrill of the sport and makes both the play and the outcome riveting. 

Half-time was a masterpiece of entertainment-technology, pulsating with relentless energy and Swiss-clock mastery of stage and set design and execution. 

There are many other parts of the Super Bowl that are unique and significant, including the National Anthem and other evidences of our patriotic hopes and dreams. 

And, as always, there are the long anticipated Super Bowl commercials, each one an investment meant to be worthy of the four million dollars for 30 seconds of airtime sticker price. 

The Super Bowl has so much to give. It gives us without question some of the most exciting, entertainment rich hours of our lives. 

As it is so filled with the highest and the best, why must my night of excitement celebration be so constantly defiled with gratuitous violence, misogyny, and pornographic innuendo? Why must I spend so much of these hours cringing and embarrassed, ashamed to be in the same room with my children, with my mom and dad or with my grandparents. 

Take the half-time show, for example. Personally, I have no use for Beyonce's genre. Before last night, I could not name a Beyonce song. But that is no matter. She is a pure talent, grand, and powerful. I would never seek her out, but I loved her show. I loved the all-womanness of her team, right down to her hard hitting drummer, and her shredding lead ax. All good. 

But the show would not have been hurt in the least if the mimicry of copulation was feathered out of her choreography on this particular night. The show would not have been hurt in the least if Beyonce and her fellow performers wore clothes for the show instead of dominatrix underwear. 

I have no problem if Beyonce likes to perform in her underwear or choreograph her shows to look like women at a strip club. But on a night that is meant for all Americans young and old, why couldn't her corporation create a show with just the slightest difference in wardrobe and choreography? Had she chosen to perform for all of her viewers, she would not have diminished her show in the least. To show respect for all her viewers, my kids and my mom, she would not have had to make her incredible show an iota less thrilling.Wholesale Best faux fur wraps Quick delivery. In fact she would have shown command of her art in ways even greater. I am talking about the tiniest changes. 

Beyonce is a wonder in so many performing arts and the team behind her is phenomenal. But why could they not perpetrate a Super Bowl half time show for me and my children, and my mom, and my chips and our fun? Next week Beyonce can go to Madison Square Garden in her underwear and pole dance. I won't be there with my kids or my mom, but I am sure it will be an exciting show. 

Before the Super Bowl, the Sandy Hook Elementary School Choir and Jennifer Hudson sang "America the Beautiful."I wept.Provides of beautiful Spring long sleeves wedding dress. I felt so proud of my country. Our nation is so good in how we manifest faith, hope, and love. The 70,000 spectators rose to their feet, many with tears in their eyes, as the children sang, nearly two months after the deadly shooting rampage at their Connecticut school. "Our wish is to demonstrate to America and the world that, "We are Sandy Hook and we choose love," the school said in a statement. 

Alicia Keys also sought to honor us and our country by taking seriously her commission to sing the game-opening National Anthem. People are critiquing her rendition as departing too broadly from convention, but it was clear that she moved the hearts of the athletes preparing for game start, and the servicemen and women seen on camera. There always will be differences of opinion, but her devotion was evident. During the week she reported that she was rehearsing intensely. 

In perhaps the greatest moment of his life, Coach John Harbaugh held the Lombardi trophy straight in front of him and offered the victory to former Baltimore Ravens linebacker O.J. Brigance, who continues to serve as the Ravens' director of player development, despite his ongoing battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 

In perhaps the greatest moment of his life, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis held up the trophy and expressed his joy that it was with these players, with this team that he could finish his career in so exciting a way. 

Moment after moment, event after event, even in the commercialism of the Super Bowl, we could rejoice and delight in the beauty of America, her resilience, her selfless style even in victory, and her child-like ways of always hoping to be better, and to do better. Though just a game, the Super Bowl has become something more akin to a family holiday, full of good, wholesome, and honorable things. 

How is it then that the entire process is riddled relentlessly from start to finish in base and disgraceful infantilism, meaningless ugliness, gratuitous violence, and grossly inappropriate, salacious sex. 

Where does this come from? Why is it part of our family night? What does destroying libraries have to do with enjoying Oreo Cookies? Why do women robots humiliate and all but kill a person looking at a Kia? Why does a Pepsi make parents suddenly sanguine that their home is being destroyed by their brat kid? What is the sense behind the disgusting, irritating Dorritos ads? A threatening goat? Buffoons in drag, lipstick,Beautiful Favorable Wedding Dresses rouge, and stuffed into a friend's wedding dress. What does the likes of pornographic foreplay have to do with buying domain names, as seen in the Go Daddy ads? Why must I sit there thrilled, honored, and uplifted by so much, only to be constantly assaulted, embarrassed and ashamed for my family, and for how my cThis kind of organza bari jay bridesmaid dresses features off-the-shoulder and sweetheart design.ountry is shown and seen all around the world? 

Many, many of the commercials are honorable, upright, uplifting, and respectful. 

In the lead up, I was worried, why did Mercedes Benz drape their great revelation in the popular icons of Satan and Devil admiration. But I was proud of them in the end, when the tempted fellow in the commercial vanquished evil,2013 new style Rina di Montella 1520. resisting the Faustian bargain, and choosing to work and pay for his beautiful car. He would earn his Mercedes the right way. I was proud of Mercedes for that ad concept, just as I am proud of their investment in the resurrection of New Orleans. 

As a national community, we need to take stock and pay close attention to who and what we become when our lives reach such grand proportions like they do on such occasions as the Super Bowl. We should look closely at all parts of such events. We should honor and be grateful for the many parts of these events that show our beauty. Likewise we should battle against the shameful and disgraceful parts with the same ferocity and guts as the Ravens did on their night. Not always pretty, not always perfect, but we can do the job. We can be better.

Pretty much everywhere you go there are adverts for wedding fairs. If you've been to one, then you've been to all of them, right? Well if you are looking for something different for your wedding then take a look at these hotly tipped trends to make sure your wedding will really stand out from the rest. 

Cake Trends 

This year we are waving goodbye to the modern ideas of cheesecakes, brightly coloured tiers and cheeses. This year we are embracing glamour, with a nod towards the twenties with Art Deco sophistication. Lace overlays, pearls, and tiers are all on trend. 

Decoration Trends 

Weddings are becoming more personal. Tables are often a reflection on the Bride and Grooms personal tastes. Mismatched crockery, give the tables a vintage feel and wedding favours that add a sense of personality and table decorations that reflect the two families and experiences, photographs of places that are special to them. 

Dress Trends 

Dresses are taking influences from popular film and TV trends such as The Great Gatsby and Downton Abbey so expect to see a lot of Art Deco designs and feathering is big this year.Provides of beautiful Spring long sleeves wedding dress. Vintage is still a hot trend with delicate lace overlays, illusion neck lines with a hint of lace covering the décolletage. Think old school glamour. 

Groom Trends 
Long gone are the days when the groom wore a top hat and tails.Beautiful Favorable Wedding Dresses Today it is all about functional dressing, with a simple pared down suit. No more are the waistcoats and cravats that coordinate with the bridesmaids, dark shirts in charcoal tones compliment the simplified suit look. Look for a more modern buttonhole with ideas ranging from pinwheels, feathers, herbs, vintage buttons, paper flowers, silver butterflies and a collection of badges are all set to personalise your look. Many ideas can be found on online. 

Gift Trends 
Personalised wedding gifts are the new alternative to a gift list from a department store.This kind of organza bari jay bridesmaid dresses features off-the-shoulder and sweetheart design. A gift that has been carefully chosen can finish off the perfect day. This works especially well if you have everything that you need already, and it is also a perfect way for your guests to give you a gift that they know will be treasured. 

How is it then that the entire process is riddled relentlessly from start to finish in base and disgraceful infantilism, meaningless ugliness, gratuitous violence, and grossly inappropriate, salacious sex. 

Where does this come from? Why is it part of our family night? What does destroying libraries have to do with enjoying Oreo Cookies? Why do women robots humiliate and all but kill a person looking at a Kia? Why does a Pepsi make parents suddenly sanguine that their home is being destroyed by their brat kid? What is the sense behind the disgusting, irritating Dorritos ads? A threatening goat? Buffoons in drag, lipstick, rouge, and stuffed into a friend's wedding dress. What does the likes of pornographic foreplay have to do with buying domain names, as seen in the Go Daddy ads? Why must I sit there thrilled, honored, and uplifted by so much, only to be constantly assaulted, embarrassed and ashamed for my family, and for how my country is shown and seen all around the world? 

Many, many of the commercials are honorable, upright, uplifting, and respectful. 

In the lead up, I was worried, why did Mercedes Benz drape their great revelation in the popular icons of Satan and Devil admiration. But I was proud of them in the end, when the tempted fellow in the commercial vanquished evil, resisting the Faustian bargain, and choosing to work and pay for his beautiful car.Wholesale Best faux fur wraps Quick delivery. He would earn his Mercedes the right way. I was proud of Mercedes for that ad concept, just as I am proud of their investment in the resurrection of New Orleans.2013 new style Rina di Montella 1520.

Most girls get taken on one first date-Victoria Lee was taken on three. 

After meeting Kevin Rodgers on a night out in Stalybridge, Manchester; -Victoria noticing Kevin’s laugh, he noticing her little black dress - the couple decided to get to know each other a little more. 

“Our first date was at the Black Bull in Fulwood, Preston,Find the largest selection of cheap mother of the bride dresses on sale.” says Victoria, a childminder and fimo artist, from Fulwood, “we then went on a trip to rainy Blackpool, listening to Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ and then went to the cinema to watch ‘Confetti’ - a film about marriage. 

“It was three dates in one!” 

Kevin, a C and D driver from Hyde, Manchester, seized the perfect opportunity to propose at Victoria’s 30th birthday party.Beautiful Bridal Dresses 

“It was a movie-themed fancy dress party,” says Victoria. 

“He was dressed as Indiana Jones and I was dressed as Lara Croft and five months pregnant.” 

After a couple of drinks to steady his nerves, Kevin got down on one knee in front of their family and friends. 

“I was very happy and very emotional,” says Victoria, “must have been the hormones.” 

Two days after Christmas last year, the couple were married at Ribby Hall Village, Wrea Green with their three year old daughter, Ava, in attendance as Victoria’s flowergirl. 

“I created as much as I could myself,” says Victoria 

“As Kevin’s nana had sadly passed away, and knowing how important she was to him and all his family, I wanted to celebrate the members of our family that were no longer with us,We offer a wide array of cheap dessy bridesmaid dresses, mantilla veils and many other popular styles. so I decided to name the tables after each of our grandparents and great grandparents, adding a photo of each couple on their wedding day.” 

As her ‘something old’ Victoria wore a necklace Kevin’s nana had left to her.Beautiful A-line Wedding Dresses 

The newlyweds took to the floor for their first dance to Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’. 

“Our first dance was interrupted by all our guests doing the ‘Gangnam Style’ dance,” says Victoria. 

“They were led, rather enthusiastically, by Kevin’s dad and it quickly turned into a dance off between the boys and girls.” 

Bloggers webwide are abuzz over yellow and gray pairings, over mismatched patterns in reception fabrics and wedding party attire, over reception lounges, over-the-top food stations — even wedding dresses with pockets. 

For decades, the experts at Harvey’s Fashions and Bridal have tracked trends in formals and brought back what they believe will suit the tastes of southern West Virginia brides. What arrived back in their fashion trunks this year? 

Loads of timeless lace and “modern” vintage, says Bobbi Harvey, styles enduring longer through big screen and television returns to ’20s-era themes, like The Great Gatsby and Downton Abbey. “Also ruffles, layers of tulle and embellishments — crystals, little flowers or bows.” 

While white gowns are still the standard, softer diamond shades are preferred to pristine whites and Bobbi predicts hints of color for the underpinning — the tulle slip. Subtle blue is the most popular hue of colored tulle tiers, peeking out when the bride lifts her dress to walk or ties it to dance, Harvey explains. 

“That’s their ‘something blue.’” 

Patterns in attendant attire make an appearance, but more popular are dresses to suit each individual’s body shape,Beautiful Mermaid Wedding Dresses and versatile enough to be worn to later formal occasions. Bridesmaids are also the color pop to ceremonies, with dresses popular in hot pink with black, purple with pink, and singular colors coral, yellow, turquoise or teal. 

“They’re not the bridesmaid dresses of yesterday,” Harvey admits, where the bride's choice was greeted by a unanimous groan. “They’re trendy enough that you’ll be sure to wear them again

BUDDING brides and grooms filled Stourport Manor for the first of the spring season of I Will wedding shows. 

There were nearly 200 soon-to-be newlyweds who visited to take a look at a host of wedding products and services from cars and cakes to flowers and fireworks. 

Despite severe weather putting paid to the previous week’s event, couples explored the hotel set in 23 acres of grounds overlooking Stourport-on-Severn as a potential wedding venue. 

They also enjoyed special offers, goody bags and entered the I Will prize draw to win the dress of their dreams. 

Kim Yarrington, meetings and events co-ordinator at Stourport Manor, was very pleased with the day’s success. 

“We have been working with I Will for several years and this was the best visitor turnout we’ve ever had – I think a lot of couples got engaged over Christmas so it was great to be one of the first shows of 2013. 

“The hotel had lots of enquiries about wedding bookings and we even took some deposits on the day – all in all the show was a big success for everyone involved.” 

There are two I Will shows tomorrow at St Andrew’s Town Hotel in Droitwich and the Abbey Hotel in Malvern – both packed with exhibitors showcasing all manner of wedding essentials. 

Both events will run between 11am and 3.30pm. There is plenty of free parking available so couples can spend as long as they like browsing the stands. 

For more information about the I Will wedding shows, call Linda Bynion on 01384 358106 or visit iwillweddings.Beautiful Mermaid Wedding Dressesco.uk where the latest edition of I Will magazine is now available.We offer a wide array of cheap dessy bridesmaid dresses, mantilla veils and many other popular styles. 

In the mid-1800s,Jovani designer 2013 evening dress and celebrity style evening gowns. as elsewhere in California, gold was discovered and Weaverville sprung up overnight. To grasp the area’s history, I stopped in at the J.J. “Jake” Jackson Memorial Museum & History Park, and began with the exhibit of the native Wintu Indian’s artifacts and baskets—household implements, clothing of the Chinese immigrants, guns, tools, and an array of photos of the miners and farmers. Over 800 textiles ranging from garments, quilts, fraternal banners, and wedding dress are displayed on rotation. 

From further down the wooden walk, loud clanging emanates from the Blacksmith Shop where several men hammer away on anvils. In the interior,Embroidering a formal dresses evening takes great skill and an eye for detailed designs. radiating warmth from the forge on this cool morning, is a reproduction of a shop circa 1905.Beautiful Sheath Wedding Dresses In addition to blacksmithing demonstrations, classes are taught here and at an annual “Hammer-In” smithies gather for workshops by the world’s greatest blacksmiths.

With spring and summer bridal season just around the corner, wedding planning is already underway for many busy brides-to-be. Beth Devine Designs, an online retailer for crystal, gemstone and pearl bridesmaid jewelry has announced a new discount to help brides and bridesmaids save this wedding season when purchasing bridesmaid earrings. Beth Devine Designs offers a wide selection of styles of bridesmaid earrings to coordinate with almost any style of bridesmaid dress, ranging from long dangle earrings that sparkle with crystals and gemstones to dainty pearl bridesmaid earrings.Embrace modern glamour in this evening gown from strapless wedding dress. 

“It’s a great opportunity for brides who would like to get an early start shopping for bridesmaid jewelry gifts to save money.” says Beth Devine. 

Starting today, brides and bridesmaids will receive a 20% discount on any purchase of bridesmaid earrings. For a limited time, shoppers may simply use the promo code BRIDESMAID20 at the time of checkout to receive their discount. The sale will run for two weeks, ending on February 13, 2013.Beautiful Lace Dresses Their bridesmaid jewelry will arrive in a gift box tied with a bow, ready for gift-giving. 

About Beth Devine Designs 
Beth Devine Designs is based in South Florida and offers a selection of handmade jewelry that includes over 250 pieces of elegant and wearable jewelry. Designed and impeccably handmade to last a lifetime, an array of high-quality materials are used, including natural gemstones, genuine Swarovski crystal beads, freshwater pearls, sea shells and coral.Provides of beautiful Spring long sleeves wedding dress. Metals used include either sterling silver or 14k gold filled. 

Since beginning in 2006, Beth Devine has expanded her collection to also include a special line of handmade wedding jewelry. Beth Devine strives to create beautiful bridal and bridesmaid jewelry that will work with any style of wedding, ranging from formal to more casual bridal, bridesmaid jewelry and beach wedding jewelry. 

Because the jewelry is handmade in the USA and shipped directly to shoppers, Beth Devine Designs is able to offer quality jewelry comparable to that which is sold at higher end department stores and bridal shops at much lower prices. 

There are many different types of gowns for women to wear on formal occasions – wedding, ball, prom,2013 new style Rina di Montella 1520. quinceanera – and Brooklyn’s leading green dry cleaning expert Ken Kinzer of Bridgestone cleaners has seen, and cleaned, them all. 

“I see more things alike with prom dresses and wedding gowns. Both are being worn at parties dragged on the floor, covered with beverage, food and whatever stains,” says Bridgestone Cleaners’ Ken Kinzer. 

Gowns are very important to Ken and he recognizes how important they are to many young ladies in Brooklyn during prom season and that is why he is putting Bridgestone Cleaners support behind Operation PROM Brooklyn – an inaugural dress drive to collect gowns and cocktail dresses for those who can't purchase their own. 

“Bridgestone Cleaners locations will serve as drop off destinations for those donating gowns now through March 31. We feel it’s a great cause to help many young women in Brooklyn feel special.” 

Mr. Kinzer also has some advice for how to care for those gowns to keep them in tip top shape. 

“The trick is in stain identification and that's where over 30 years experience and training not only in dry cleaning but also in the technology of wet cleaning, comes in,” Mr.We provide you the most beautiful gowns,such as cheap 100%Silk Dresses and Rina di Montella and so on. Kinzer said. 

Bridgestone Cleaners is one of the leading experts in the field of green dry cleaning in New York City and is part of the GreenEarth Cleaning family, using their non-toxic dry cleaning solution and Eco-friendly wet cleaning techniques.

Vera Wang opens what is now her biggest flagship store in Shanghai 

Businessmen are leaving no stone unturned to cash in on the tremendous opportunities in high-end wedding service provision in China. 

Vera Wang, the queen of bridal couture,We provide you the most beautiful gowns,such as cheap 100%Silk Dresses and Rina di Montella and so on.Embrace modern glamour in this evening gown from strapless wedding dress. opened her largest store in Shanghai on Jan 27. 

Standing on a quiet corner of Xintiandi, one of the most popular fashion hubs in the city, the group's two-floor outlet is Wang's fourth global flagship store. With a total space of 850 square meters the store encompasses four spacious fitting rooms with one for VIPs only. This room is also equipped with an individual restroom. 

"For sure, Vera is very confident about the Chinese market," said Jiang Yixiang, executive director of Vera Wang China, at a media preview of the store for China Daily. 

"We have carried out research and we see great potential in the high-end bridal couture market," he added. 

An unpretentious building with a frosted glass facade, the store is intended to provide a "private, salon-like" space for brides-to-be in China. The collection on show and available for fitting at the store will be the world's largest. 

Wang, an American-born Chinese former figure skater who has dressed Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey and a galaxy of Hollywood celebrities and scions of business tycoons and politicians for their big day, is expected to come to Shanghai, her parents' hometown, in March for the grand opening of the store. More tailor-made gowns made by Vera Wang herself and her designing team will be offered exclusively at the Shanghai store, according to Jiang. Naturally, they will fetch a higher price. 

The cost of a wedding dress will range from 30,000 yuan ($4,815) to 300,000 yuan. Most will be priced between 100,000 yuan to 200,000. 

For clients who are interested in trying on wedding dresses in the Shanghai store, a 3,000 yuan non-refundable deposit will be requested, allowing potential customers to try dresses for one-and-a-half hours. The number of dresses tried is not limited but, according to the salesperson at the store, it usually takes three to four dresses for a bride-to-be to meet "the one". If clients confirm an order, the deposit will be deducted from the final price. 

The booming demand for luxury goods is also providing opportunities for associated suppliers in China. Traditionally in China a bride will receive gifts from a bridegroom before their wedding. It is considered to be an expression of love for the bride-to-be. Usually the gifts will be gold items such as a ring or a necklace. However, after 2000, a diamond is now a necessity. 

The Carat Club, with more than 50 years of diamond trading experience in Malaysia, moved its base entirely to Shanghai in 2011 to better meet market demand. The most attractive products offered in the store are diamonds of more than three carats. 

Chan Boon Yong, the chief executive officer of The Carat Club,Beautiful Lace Dresses revealed the most expensive diamond sold in the store in the last two years cost millions of yuan.Provides of beautiful Spring long sleeves wedding dress. 

"The demand for large and quality diamonds is increasing in China. We have noticed that many people are looking for diamonds of more than two carats," said Yong.2013 new style Rina di Montella 1520. "As Chinese people are getting wealthier, they want to own something special." 

Yong said Chinese people are getting more educated about diamonds and many rich people are considering collecting diamonds as an alternative investment in China. 

Foreign wedding planning companies have also been targeting the growing Chinese market in recent years. Take and Give Needs Co, a Japan-listed high-end wedding service company, was reported by Nikkei Business Daily to be targeting young rich Chinese a few years ago. It can handle more than 50 orders a year and started to make a profit in 2012. 

It was reported that for a high-end wedding ceremony attended by 1,000 guests the cost might be as high as 700,000 yuan, much higher than the market average.

An elderly gay couple, who have gathered 12,We just have to gaze at catalogs filled with Pick-up gown dresses!000 fans on China's most popular microblogging site Weibo, held a "wedding ceremony" in Beijing yesterday. 

Although China does not recognise same-sex marriage, the couple (who call each other "big treasure" and "little treasure") invited 25 of the friends they had made online to attend a symbolic ceremony. 

However,Shop for high low prom dresses to coordinate with all the most popular wedding colors and styles. the couple had to cut the broadcast of the ceremony short when "big treasure's" son interrupted the proceedings. 

Global Times reports that they told the executive director of Parents, Friends, and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) China: "We feel so upset and disgraced because the ceremony was interrupted by the son.You'll be the queen of the room in this pageant dress evening gown. He even beat the guests away. We are too upset to accept any interviews." 

A user on the China Daily forum reported that the couple had said: "The wedding went well until my bastard son disrupted, he kicked over tables,Shop for Women's Bridesmaid Dresses and other Women's mori lee bridesmaid dresses. chased away all the guests and humiliated us. A lot of friends online from Weibo and QQ who support us felt sad about it, all the broadcasting had to stop." 

"It's disappointing that outsiders can bless us but not our own son. The heartless child is sabotaging our happiness," they wrote on their blog. 

The pair caught the public's eye after they uploaded a video of themselves on Weibo, in which they performed a karaoke duet. 

The couple say they met in Beijing when the younger of the two delivered water to the house of the elder, a retired teacher. 

"I got him an army coat for when it's cold and he sent me several bottles of water for free. I'm rich and he's a migrant worker.Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dresses But I love him and he loves me," said the elder on his blog. 

"There are different kinds of love in the world. You shouldn't oppose us. Don't stick to the old rules." 

They decided to come out after being inspired by the Big Love pro-LGBT campaign in Hong Kong.

FINDING something old, new, borrowed and blue will be easy at the North Queensland Wedding and Formal Expo this month. 

Leukaemia Foundation Queensland is calling for pre-loved wedding and formal dresses to sell and raise funds at the expo on February 17. 

It is the fifth consecutive year that the foundation has sold pre-loved dresses at the expo and Leukaemia Foundation regional events co-ordinator Far North Queensland, Annette Jarrett, said their stall was always a popular addition to the day. 

"People can find something and be inspired if they're not yet sure what kind of theme they want to put to their wedding," she said.You'll be the queen of the room in this pageant dress evening gown. 

"The money is going back into the community and we've also made someone's dream come true to get a beautiful dress, because they can be expensive." 

If you have a gown gathering dust at home, drop it at the Leukaemia Foundation, 6/68 Abbott St, before February 13.The wedding expo is on February 17 at The Pier and coincides with the release of The Cairns Post's Tropical Weddings 2013 publication.Shop for Women's Bridesmaid Dresses and other Women's mori lee bridesmaid dresses. 

For clients who are interested in trying on wedding dresses in the Shanghai store, a 3,000 yuan non-refundable deposit will be requested, allowing potential customers to try dresses for one-and-a-half hours. The number of dresses tried is not limited but, according to the salesperson at the store, it usually takes three to four dresses for a bride-to-be to meet "the one". If clients confirm an order, the deposit will be deducted from the final price. 

The booming demand for luxury goods is also providing opportunities for associated suppliers in China. Traditionally in China a bride will receive gifts from a bridegroom before their wedding. It is considered to be an expression of love for the bride-to-be. Usually the gifts will be gold items such as a ring or a necklace. However,We just have to gaze at catalogs filled with Pick-up gown dresses! after 2000, a diamond is now a necessity. 

The Carat Club,Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dresses with more than 50 years of diamond trading experience in Malaysia, moved its base entirely to Shanghai in 2011 to better meet market demand. The most attractive products offered in the store are diamonds of more than three carats. 

Chan Boon Yong, the chief executive officer of The Carat Club, revealed the most expensive diamond sold in the store in the last two years cost millions of yuan.Shop for high low prom dresses to coordinate with all the most popular wedding colors and styles. 

"The demand for large and quality diamonds is increasing in China. We have noticed that many people are looking for diamonds of more than two carats," said Yong. "As Chinese people are getting wealthier, they want to own something special." 

Yong said Chinese people are getting more educated about diamonds and many rich people are considering collecting diamonds as an alternative investment in China. 

Foreign wedding planning companies have also been targeting the growing Chinese market in recent years. Take and Give Needs Co, a Japan-listed high-end wedding service company, was reported by Nikkei Business Daily to be targeting young rich Chinese a few years ago. It can handle more than 50 orders a year and started to make a profit in 2012.

Tracy Sullivan, of Laurel Springs, New Jersey, turned one bedroom of her house into a closet. She admits she has a bit of clothes-shopping obsession. 

Sullivan says, "i'm always going to buy clothes. I love fashion. I love new things. I love what's happening that season." 

Last April, she joined Poshmark , a website she says lets her shop guilt-free. 

"I've bought and sold so many things, and traded, it's just been a rewarding experience," she explains. 

Poshmark members create "closets," listing items they want to sell. Then they can shop the closets of other members, who wear the same size or like the same styles. 

"These are women who want to de-clutter their closets," Sullivan says. "They want to make room for new stuff. They're trying to push things out really qucikly, so, usually, you get a really good deal." 

Poshmark takes 20% of the purchase price, which is less than the cut taken by most consignment stores. 

Once a sale's arranged, the seller prints out a shipping label and sends the item to the buyer , who pays a flat shipping rate. 

Tracy's bought and even traded for shoes, accessories and clothing. 

And she has a whole closet, in her closet, of items she's planning to sell, like a dress she wore to a friend's wedding.Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dressesbari jay bridesmaid dresses 

"I wore it and I loved it, but I'm not going to wear it again," Sullivan says. "I paid about $250 for this dress. I think it's listed for $150 maybe." 

To check out Poshmark, click here. And if you enter the code HBCMN, you'll get a $5 shopping credit on your first purchase. Right now, there's an iPhone/iPad app version,wedding dresses from china but it's not yet available in the Android market. 

In November 2010, soon-to-be Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton strolled into the Throne Room in St.cheap mother of the bride dresses James Palace on the arm of fiancé Prince William and stole the hearts of fashion-watchers everywhere. Her sapphire blue Issa wrap dress was perfect for the occasion: sleek and slenderizing, yet demure and oh-so-royal.affordable one shoulder wedding dresses Not to mention that it complemented what adorned her freshly manicured fingers: the 18-caret sapphire and diamond engagement ring that was previously worn by William’s mother, Princess Diana. 

The Issa dress — designed by Brazilian Daniella Helayel — was an instant sensation, selling out in London’s Harvey Nichols within hours. The second shipment of the $535 dress, which arrived on NET-A-PORTER in early December, was gone just as fast. Then the knockoffs took over, some hitting the market for as low as $25.

12 months ago the name Rita Ora wouldn't mean very much to many music fans in the UK, but fast forward a year and she is easily one of the hottest breakthrough artists to come out of 2012 – and she looks set to stay at the top with her 'Radioactive Tour' showing a promising start to the new year. 

With the new single of the same name due out in February, it was only right that the blonde bombshell burst onto stage singing the nuclear-inspired club banger to introduce herself. Behind a plastic screen she belted out the track,2013 prom dress dressed in what looked like a robot wedding dress – Rita has always been one to raise eyebrows in the fashion stakes! 

After blasting out 'Radioactive', she went straight into album track 'Facemelt' as she energetically jumped around in front of the giant screen behind her.

After speaking to the crowd for the first time, she told them that she had heard plenty of stories about Scotland knowing how to party before storming into the track which changed her life, the DJ Fresh collaboration 'Hot Right Now'. The track soared straight to the top of the charts last February and gave Rita the spotlight she needed to go on and score another two number one singles and a chart-topping album with her debut cut ORA. 

One endearing factor about the star is the gratefulness she shows to the fans who have helped her get where she is today and even for a girl who was hand picked from obscurity by Jay-Z and flown to New York to meet with him, Rita shows that she is thankful for everyday she gets to live her dream. 

As she admits she is struggling to breath in her tight robot costume, she slows the tempo down for the next section as she shows off her impressive vocal range on 'Been Lying,' before asking the audience to get their mobile phones out for 'Shine Ya Light'. Rita's strange but bold fashion sense rears its head once more as she changes into a flowery one piece with black heels and invites a lucky fan up on stage with her. She once again shows her cheeky side by sitting on the fan's lap and cuddling him continuously. 

Yet another costume change sees Rita dressed in the fashion accessory she admits she can't live without – her black leather trousers.V-neckline dress Armed with her black army hat, she runs through energetic numbers 'Roc The Life' and will.i.am duet 'Fall In Love' before revealing to everyone one of the stars who inspired her to become a singer was rapper,Off the Shoulder cocktail dresses Notorious BIG.ball gown 

She then reveals the American star's music was the groundwork for one of Rita's biggest hits 'How We Do (Party)'. The audience erupts as she encourages everyone to 'get jumping' and show her 'how Scotland likes to party'. With an encore compiling of her biggest hit and debut number one,zuhair murad 'RIP', she thanks the crowd for being the noisiest so far and with that disappears backstage. 

Rita has come a long way from the small town in Kosovo where she was born, before moving with her parents at a young age to London where she stayed until she got her lucky break. But it is easy to see how her endearing personality has earned her celebrity friends in the form of Jay-Z and wife Beyonce and one thing is for sure, Rita's 'Ora' is one which will be shining for a long time to come.

When I woke up on November 11, 2010, it was a normal day.chapel train gown By the time I curled into bed that night, my world had been shattered. I thought I had done everything right in my life when it came to taking care of my health. I exercised regularly, played sports, ate well,high low prom dresses but I underestimated my family's history of heart disease and its impact on my health. In 1977, my grandfather died of cardiomyopathy, and in 2008 my mom was diagnosed with a hole in her heart, which resulted in cardiomyopathy. As the day came to a close, the reality was setting in that I was now the third generation face of heart disease in my family. While most people would never say they are thankful for having a family history of heart disease, I know that my family history and taking it seriously are the only reasons I am alive today. 

I finally visited my mom's cardiologist for a preventative checkup two years after she was diagnosed. When the doctor was going through the heart disease symptom checklist, I was shocked that I was answering yes to many of his questions. He asked if I had any lightheadedness, heart palpitations, dizziness, exhaustion or nausea. I answered yes to each of those symptoms,strapless wedding dress but I assumed these were the result of my busy lifestyle. I worked full-time, was finishing my Ph.D., taking care of my little girl Annie and being the best wife I could be to Jeremy. What woman wouldn't be exhausted? Following several normal results for weight,Beautiful Bridesmaids Dresses blood pressure and cholesterol, an echocardiogram revealed that my heart was enlarged and only functioning at 10 percent. The doctor hung his head with sadness when he told me the news. The words heart failure stung my ears as I tried to understand my diagnosis. 

After I cried a river of tears and the shock settled in, I told myself that I had to pick myself back up and move forward. I wasn't the first woman to be diagnosed with heart disease and sadly I wouldn't be the last. Seven months after my diagnosis, my heart function only had improved to 18 percent and it was now onto step two. I had surgery to get an Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in my chest, which would help me survive sudden cardiac death. Just shy of one-year post ICD surgery, I was officially being tracked as a heart transplant patient. Sometimes it seems unreal that at age 32, I need a new heart. This reality serves as a reminder that you can be the perfect picture of health and still have heart disease. 

Heart disease doesn't just impact me. It impacts my entire family. One night, while I was putting my Annie to bed, she looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mommy, tomorrow we can go to Build-a-Bear and get you a new heart. I'll rub it, kiss it and then you can have a new heart so you won't be sick anymore." Things are just that easy in the mind of a four-year-old. If only that was true. For my husband, he lives with the fear that every unknown number that calls his phone is the one saying that his wife has gone into cardiac arrest. 

What I have learned about my heart condition is that not too long ago, my diagnosis had limited forms of treatment; technology and medicine have progressed so quickly because of the American Heart Association that I now have a chance to pick out Annie's wedding dress with her one day; leading a healthy lifestyle all my life likely contributed to saving my life; and I can now be an advocate for other women. There are some other things I definitely know for sure: 

Because of research by the American Heart Association, I am here today. 

Because of the American Heart Association, the ICD in my chest is the size of a pager rather than having to be in my abdomen like years past. 

Because of the Go Red for Women campaign, I am not alone in this fight.faux fur wraps 

Because of the Go Red for Women campaign, together we can stop the number one killer of women. 

One day, I will be the recipient of a new heart because of the research done by the American Heart Association. I will be able to run, swim, rock a grandchild and continue fighting this fight against heart disease. The face of heart disease can be deceiving; do not let this silent killer deceive you. c

Game shows can be hit or miss with audiences. But that doesn't stop the networks from continuing to order them left and right in the hopes of securing the next Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or Deal or No Deal. ABC just announced they've ordered eight episodes of a new game show called Bet On Your Baby, hosted by Melissa Peterman. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in each episode "five families with children between the ages of 2 and 3 1/2 will play a self-contained challenge -- as in against themselves, rather than against other families. Those that advance then will compete for the chance to win $50,000 toward their toddler's college fund." With college tuition costs rising every year,Anyone with a mori lee bridesmaid dresses? the prize is definitely worth competing for. But the concept sounds ridiculous: parents will have to predict the next move their child makes in the challenge. 

Bet On Your Baby is expected to premiere in April. But until then, let's look back on some other downright ridiculous (and short-lived) game show concepts from over the years. 

Oh Sit! 
Oh Sit! is the most recent attempt on The CW, though it's too early to tell if it'll be as short-lived as the others. Put simply, it's a game of musical chairs, but on a grander scale. Contestants must maneuver their way through obstacles while the music's playing. But once the music stops, they better get to a chair before the rest of their competitors do. 

The Moment of Truth 
A highly controversial concept even before it premiered, contestants on FOX's The Moment of Truth must take a lie detector test and then answer those very personal questions on air. If caught lying, they're eliminated. One contestant even revealed that she cheated on her husband, with her better half sitting in the studio audience. Yeah, that's bad. 

Hole in the Wall 
When The Moment of Truth went off the air, guess what FOX replaced it with? Hole in the Wall. It's based on a Japanese game show in which players have to fit themselves through a cutout in a moving wall. Sometimes, the shapes are easy. But if you don't make it through,Choose from stylish and trendy bridesmaid dresses in the bari jay bridesmaid dresses collection . you fall into a pool of water. Pretty soon, the network cancelled it, but Cartoon Network revived it. However, even that edition came to an end last year. 

Identity 
Magician Penn Jillette hosted Identity, where contestants had to match 12 strangers with their identities (belly dancer,Beautiful Lace Dresses football player, poker player,You want THE one shoulder wedding dresses that lives up to all you? etc). 

The Chair and The Chamber 
Some game shows are downright cringe-worthy. Both The Chair (ABC) and The Chamber (FOX) premiered in January 2002. The Chair had people hooked up to heart rate monitors. Answering questions along the way, their heart rate could not reach above a certain level. The Chamber had a similar concept, where players were strapped to a chair with their arms above their head. (Various medical equipment were attached to them as well.) And they answered questions while in a torture chamber. Sounds like fun, right? 

Amne$ia 
Then there's Amne$ia -- yes, with a dollar sign in place of the S. Contestants answered questions about their own lives. Could you remember what your wife's wedding dress looked like? One of the most simple concepts I've heard yet, and also one of the more ridiculous.Shop for cheap mother of the bride dressesto coordinate with all the most popular wedding colors and styles. 

Show Me the Money 
Answering a series of questions is normal for a game show. But we couldn't take the William Shatner hosted Show Me the Money very seriously after everyone broke out into dance.

I have three older sisters and two of them, Molly and Katie,What exactly is a Pick-up gown? are both mentally disabled. If you met them, you would probably think they had Down Syndrome. So as far as life's tough stuff, I always thought that was "my thing." Not the case. My parents have been tested to the max. But in a way, because of my sisters, I think we were almost more prepared to handle what happened with the accident. 

It was a work off-site in the Hamptons. I was riding on the back of a jet ski, holding a rope after someone finished using it for waterskiing. I was holding the rope in my left hand, when the jet-ski sped up and made a quick turn.A pretty Lace dress can complete a look for a nice evening. I fell off and my hand got caught in the rope. It was immediately severed. 

Underwater, it felt like I might have broken my shoulder, but when I took my arm out, there was no hand. I didn't cry or scream; I went into pure survival mode, covering my arm so it wouldn't bleed out. My family flashed before my eyes; my sister Emily, the one who is just like me, flashed before my eyes. But I shut down any negative thoughts and just fought. 

The jet-ski carried me to land. Everyone was prepared to search for my hand, but turns out, we had dragged it with us; it was still caught in the rope. It was an out-of-body experience. I was staring at my hand, which was no longer attached to my body. I wasn't hysterical. I was extremely alert. I was just like: Get through this. 

When the first responder came, he was about to give me a shot of morphine and he asked how much I weighed. A guy I worked with teased, "Maggie, this is not the time to lie!" Believe it or not, we were cracking up. I also remember saying, "Do you think we'll eveBeautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dressesr be invited back to the Hamptons house?" Hey, if I've learned anything from my sisters it's that you gotta laugh. 

As fate would have it, my parents had just flown to Hawaii; my Aunt Penny, who lives in Shelter Island, was out of the country; and my sister Emily was about to board a plane from New York to London. But they caught her just in time. When I came out of the first surgery, ten hours later, she was right there. 

It was a complicated surgery because so many tendons were pulled out. Apparently, if you get a straight slice through your hand, it's much easier to reattach. (Now they tell me.) When they did reattach the hand, the pain was so bad — the most intense pain I've ever experienced — that I knew it wasn't right. My family thought I would be traumatized by the news that I'd be re-amputated, but I knew in my heart it was happening. After my fourth surgery at Stony Brook Hospital — where I had a total of five surgeries in two and a half weeks — I saw the full length of my arm for the first time, without a bandage. My mom and dad were there. They knew I had to be left alone. That's when I cried for the first time. I cried for an hour. It really hit me: I was maimed; I was deformed. 

I didn't want my parents to see me crying. I didn't want them to think I was sad because I thought the rest of my life was ruined. I was sad because it was gone. I was just sad. 

Still, I always knew, from the moment it happened, that not only was my life going to fine, it was going to be great. Even in the helicopter, right after the accident, I promised myself that my life would be even more beautiful because of this. In my eyes, that was the only option. 

I learned some valuable things that night. For instance, it's very hard to handle a clutch and a glass of wine. But I also learned that if I'm comfortable with myself, then other people will be too. Sure, sometimes people stare,Our gorgeous faux fur wraps are perfect for wedding. but with my two older sisters, I'm used to that. My mother recently confided to Emily and myself that she used to walk us into restaurants separately from my sisters, because she didn't want us to experience people giving us weird looks. We were like, "Mom, it's fine! We love being us!" I feel like a lot of that mentality goes into my situation now. People are curious; they stare. I tell myself that they're looking at me because I'm the prettiest girl in the room. It's so much more pleasant that way. 

I'm 29 and single, so I'd be lying if I said dating wasn't on my mind. I was flirting with one guy, with my prosthetic on, and he was flirting back. Eventually I said, "Hold on a second. You know I only have one hand, right?" He instantly replied, "I know. And I don't care!" 

Has my "type" changed? Yes. Now I only date guys who like girls who have one hand! Seriously though, if I can say to a guy, "I have two mentally disabled sisters and no left hand," and he's okay with it, then he's passed the test. 

I am still learning how to use the prosthetic optimally, but currently I can pick up light objects, hold bags, and do some household activities like fold clothes, cut food, and dry my hair. When I get home I now have to remember to charge my cell phone and my hand, which certainly is not a phrase I ever expected to hear myself say, let alone have to explain to anyone else who comes over. Awkward! 

My friend's mom took me to Walter Reed as a visitor. It was so eye-opening. Like: Oh, poor me, I lost my left hand in West Hampton. One guy, a below-the-shoulder amputee, told me about a special prosthetic device he uses for snowboarding. And now I'm going snowboarding,Both the 2010 and 2011 Miss Americas were crowned in pageant dress made by Sherri Hill. too. I'm scared, but I have to go. I have to go, so that I can send him pictures. The perspective I took away from that experience was invaluable. 

No one should feel bad for me. I have a phenomenal life. I have a wonderful family, I live in New York City, I'm successful, I love my job, and I've worked hard to get where I am. That's what I focus on. For better or worse, I'm still the same person. I'm still here. That's a privilege and an honor, not a hardship. 

Every day gets a little easier. Before the accident, I went to a wedding in a long, sleeveless black gown. I loved it. After this happened, I wondered if I'd ever feel comfortable in a dress like that again. Now I'm like, I'll wear that dress when I want to wear that dress. And I’m going to dance in it with both hands in the air!

Katherine McDonald was just six years old when she decided she wanted to be a clothing designer. Watching the scene in Disney's Cinderella where the mice make the long-suffering heroine her gown, McDonald turned to her mom and said, "I want to make dresses.Embrace modern glamour in this evening gown from Rina di Montella 1520." 

McDonald made good on that promise, sewing dresses for junior high dances, designing a gown for a friend's debutante ball, and making casual dresses throughout college. Upon graduation, she landed a job in corporate America, and her design dreams seemed all but forgotten — until co-workers started requesting their own versions of her handmade clothes. Within a few months, she quit her day job and started hosting trunk shows around Charleston for her newly launched clothing line called LulaKate. 

It's been nearly 10 years since those humble beginnings,Beautiful Favorable Wedding Dresses and LulaKate has grown into a highly esteemed boutique bridal company with a bright, spacious showroom on King Street. The company's designs, including wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses, are sold in stores across the country. Most recently, McDonald has made a return to the ready-to-wear market with a small capsule of dresses that are perfect for work, luncheons, or garden parties. 

McDonald's initial shift from ready-to-wear to bridalwear happened after the recession hit and she was forced to choose between the two lines. Because many of her loyal customers were getting married, she went with bridal. "We were at that age where people were starting to get married, and people started asking me to do their bridesmaids dresses and then people started asking me to do their wedding dresses,Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best long sleeves wedding dress pictures." she says. "Then bridal just took off." 

Now she makes bridal alternative and specialty bridal gowns as well as customizable bridesmaid dresses in 34 different colors, five different fabrics, and various options for necklines and skirts. 

One thing all of her creations have in common: a classic silhouette. Inspired by her mother, who was a Pan-Am flight attendant in the 1960s, McDonald works to maintain a timeless, feminine shape with all of her clothing.If you still do not have an awesome 2013 evening dress. "I really believe in classic styles, especially in the bridal industry," she says. "I think the worst thing you can do is look back on your pictures and think, 'Oh my gosh, look at that puffy sleeve,' or, 'What was I thinking with that big bow in my hair?'" 

That classic aesthetic carries over to the ready-to-wear line, which McDonald plans to update every few months with eight to 12 new designs. McDonald says the most popular piece of her six staffers is the long-sleeved colorblock shift, which also comes in two prints. The collection also includes a strapless maxi, a graphic black-and-white halter dress,Perfect winter and summer Foral gown to suit every style and occasion. and a short-sleeved white shift dress. Many of the shapes are adopted from the bridesmaids collection, then given a fresh feel with more casual fabrics and modern details. 

Right now they're available online only and made to order by the company's sewing house in New York City's garment district. "We don't want to wholesale our ready-to-wear right now. By offering the collection exclusively online, we can have a nice product at an affordable price point," she says. "We throw in a little bit of trendy things, but you're never going to see anything that you can't wear for at least two or three seasons."

If you're planning a wedding,I knew I wanted a maggie sottero wedding dress before I was even engaged. bridal shower, anniversary or house party,Looking for a V-neckline dress? consider ways to infuse your celebration with extra flare. Flowers can do just that and more. 

Talin Tascian, a Los Altos-based floral designer and owner of Fleur De Vie, shares the following tips on finding a designer who can execute a cohesive aesthetic vision. 

Tascian's work has appeared at the de Young Museum, in the Macy's Flower Show, on KGO's “7Live” and in various publications. 

There are several steps in planning for perfect flowers. Below, I offer advice and recommendations, from start to finish. 

Schedule meetings with floral designers six to nine months prior to your wedding date. Because every floral designer has a different style and approach, I recommend meeting with approximately three designers. Consulting with several designers will give you a basis for comparison and help you find one that complements your vision. 

Choose a floral designer with a portfolio that matches your style. If you give 20 floral designers the same materials and design inspiration, the result will be 20 completely different designs. Take the time to select a designer whose style most closely suits your own. 

Finalize your color palette before meeting with the floral designer. Color is one of the most important wedding design decisions you will make. Your color palette affects everything from flowers to dresses, table favors, cake decorations and even invitations. 

Don't be afraid of color. Most brides select white, beige, silver and gold because they believe neutral colors are safe choices. Unless those colors genuinely represent your style, don't choose them. Instead, consider two or three vibrant colors – a decision that will instantly make your wedding a more personal experience. 

Determine a theme and style that will define your look.Let's Buy La Femme dress Right Now!!! Is your event going to be formal, funky, retro, art-deco, beach casual, earthy and organic, tropical, zen, rustic or wine-country chic? The possibilities are endless. By giving your designer an idea of your vision, he or she will be better equipped to deliver flowers that are personalized and meaningful. 

Collect photos and magazine clippings that inspire you. To assist the floral designer in understanding your style, bring 15-20 pictures and clippings to your first meeting. Alternately, copy and paste the images into a document and email them to prospective floral designers ahead of your meetings.Jovani designer 2013 prom dress and celebrity style evening gowns. If there are flowers, containers, arrangements or color swatches you like, bring them along. 

Remember to share wedding details. To help your designer understand your wedding concept and vision, share pictures of your dress, bridal-party attire, invitations, linens, place cards, party favors, cake design and other special items you plan to incorporate in your celebration. By sharing these important details, you'll help the designer build on a consistent wedding theme.You want THE one shoulder wedding dresses that lives up to all you? 

Select a designer who makes you feel good. Base your final selection on whether the person makes you feel comfortable. He or she should be someone you trust to execute your wedding-day vision.

Shopper looking to spic up their wardrobe can get new looks for less with alterations. 

Fort Myers resident Norma O'Neil recently underwent a surgery that made her lose weight drastically. 

"I lose about 30lbs.," O'Neil said. 

Replacing her wardrobe would have cost too much; instead, O'Neil brought her clothing to Express Alterations in Fort Myers. 

O'Neil said she saved thousands of dollars. 

Store owner Anita Milisich said she alters all types of clothing, even wedding dresses. 

The price depends on the level of work but Milisich said customers can almost always save money. 

"It costs $14-30 dollars to take in pants or a skirt depending on if pockets and zippers have to be moved," Milisich said. 

That is dozens of dollars less than buying new. 

Charlie's Alterations owner Charlie Church said she also alters almost anything at her location off of San Carlos Boulevard.Shop the latest a-line dress on the world's largest fashion site. 

She said getting clothes taken out a bit or changing the sleeves can renew an outfit. 

"Sometimes lapels can be moved or shoulder pads can be removed to change the look of almost anything," Church said. 

Weddington Way, an internet-based bridesmaid dress retailer that offers a modern social shopping experience for today’s bridal parties,Perfect winter and summer Foral gown to suit every style and occasion. has recently launched “Project Dress-Up” – a charitable initiative designed to provide free prom dresses to young women who could not otherwise afford them. 

In partnership with the Princess Project, Weddington Way is gathering gently-used prom dresses,Our gorgeous faux fur wraps are perfect for wedding.Largest selection of Asymmetric neckline dress available in all colors, sizes, fabrics. bridesmaid dresses and other formal and semi-formal gowns. Together,All dessy bridesmaid dresses come in sizes 0-28.However, there is a size charge for sizes 18-28. the two organizations aim to promote self-confidence and individual beauty amongst recipients by enabling young women to experience the magic and memories of their own prom nights while on limited budgets. 

“We all have dresses in our closet that we don’t wear, whether it’s from your best friend’s wedding last summer, or that cocktail gown that used to fit just right,” says Weddington Way CEO, Ilana Stern. “Why not put these dresses back to good use whilst supporting a good cause?” 

To be accepted by the program, dresses and gowns must be donated in excellent condition and must not have been purchased before 2006. Adhering to these quality standards allows Weddington Way to connect as many young women as possible with the prom dresses of their dreams. 

In exchange for donating gowns and dresses, Weddington Way is pleased to offer participants a $25 credit towards the purchase of their next bridesmaids dress through the company’s boutique. Gowns may either be mailed to Weddington Way’s San Francisco headquarters or donated to the participant’s charity of choice (store credit will still be provided with email verification of the donation).

When you're newly engaged, you'll find lots of bizarre thoughts start creeping into your mind. Fashion-obsessed brides might think, "All of my friends would be PSYCHED to wear strapless baby pink dresses with a butt bow!"* While craft-savvy brides might wonder, "Could I DIY 2,000 paper flowers to save money on bouquets?"** Regardless of your particular flavor of crazy {And I have found most brides get a tiny bit crazy at some point. } here are three wedding myths that are pretty much universal. For your sake, please allow me to myth-bust them so you can move back into your happy place. For now. 

Happy place. 

MYTH 1:"EVERY Detail at Our Wedding Matters!" 
When you're presented with 20,Looking for a V-neckline dress?000 wedding invitations and 14 potential aisle runners, it can start to feel like every little decision will make or break your wedding. Here's a secret: 99% of your guests won't remember ANY of the small stuff. In two months (or two weeks) they probably won't be able to recall what your wedding favors were—never mind whether they were handmade with love. I think one of the smartest things a bride and groom can do early on is choose a color palette. Not because your wedding needs to be matchy-matchtastic, but because it will narrow down your choices if you ONLY have to look at, say, the purple options. Decide what you care about, whether it's flowers or music or food, then make as many quick decisions as you can about everything else based on your color palette. If you're not obsessed with invitations, for example, I promise you won't look back and think, "Our wedding would have been SO much better if we had gone with the OTHER purple wedding invitation." 

MYTH 2:"Having a Wedding Registry Makes Us Greedy!" 
Making a huge list with fancy-pants potential wedding presents can feel totally gift-grabby, but I suggest you exhale and start scanning. As someone who's been to 60+ weddings, I'd rather buy a couple something they want than guess what might make them happy. (AND guess what other guests have already bought.) Remember: Just because you register for gifts,Jovani designer 2013 prom dress and celebrity style evening gowns. that doesn't mean your guests HAVE to shop your registry. 

MYTH 3:"Screw Tradition! We Can Re-Invent the Wedding!" 
Every couple that's sat through a ho-hum ceremony or a poorly planned reception thinks, "We're going to shake things up and our wedding will be WILD!" But keep in mind that most weddings happen a certain way because, well,Choose from stylish and trendy bridesmaid dresses in the bari jay bridesmaid dresses collection . a lot of the time, tradition works. For our reception, Rory wanted a make-your-own sundae bar (okay) with the bride and groom scooping the ice cream (SO not okay, especially for 196 guests!).A pretty Lace dress can complete a look for a nice evening. We compromised and had a gelato stand that was staffed by someone NOT wearing an expensive white dress.You want THE one shoulder wedding dresses that lives up to all you? A recently engaged friend of mine thought it would be fun to save cash on bartenders by letting the wedding party take shifts behind the bar. Potentially fun, but your friends probably don't want to be mixing Aunt Betty's tequila sunrise—or be liable when your mom's rowdy boss gets behind the wheel. It's fine to talk through crazy-out-there ideas, but don't get so attached to an idea that you lose sight of the fact that it's unrealistic. And don't be afraid to fall back on tradition, at least some of the time. I guarantee it will save you at least a few headaches.

Some 570,000 ballot papers for the Cyprus election scheduled to be held on February 17 would now have to be destroyed and a new batch printed at the cost of 40,000 euros (34,000), state radio said. 

The decision was taken by attorney general Petros Clerides after Guinness contacted the electoral authority to say it had forbidden the candidate from using its symbol for polling purposes. 

Independent candidate Andreas Efstratiou had used the symbol on his ballot paper in 2008 after he entered the Guinness record books in 2007 for making the longest wedding dress train in the world. 

Guinness told the electoral authorities that bridal wear shop owner Mr Efstratiou was informed he could not use their logo for electioneering back in 2011, the radio station reported. 

Mr Efstratiou may be asked to pay for the cost of reprinting the ballot papers, it added. 

A recent online forum post entitled “Gong Hyun Joo’s Perfect Figure in a Wedding Pictorial”, featuring an elegant photograph of the star in a wedding dress, has been attracting attention online. 

In the released photograph,Beautiful Bridesmaids Dresses Gong Hyun Joo appears both graceful and alluring in her traditional white wedding dress, attracting envy for her perfect curves and neckline.Let's Buy La Femme dress Right Now!!! 

On seeing the photograph, netizens remarked, “She’s just like a goddess”, “She looks really beautiful in a wedding dress”, “She has a very elegant neckline”,”She’s as perfect as a Barbie doll,” amongst many other comments. 

"Brides who are trying to cut costs or would rather spend the money on the fancy decorations come to me to save money on their dress," Harcharik said. "You only wear the dress once,Provides of beautiful Spring 2013 wedding dress. and some people just don't want to hang onto it after." 

Harcharik's mother is the owner of Susie's Linens &Things, a business in Streator that also provides wedding-related services. Having been in wedding surroundings most of her life, Harcharik said she loves the process of weddings coming together. 

"Getting the dresses is like Christmas to me,"Harcharik said. "I love working with brides because they're always so excited. It's fun to be there in the beginning stages. It's one of the most memorable days of a bride's life. To be even a little part of that is worth it to me." 

Harcharik's business is in the beginning stages, but she hopes to expand to include flower girl dresses and prom dresses eventually. She will have an official Forget Me Knot website up and running within a couple months.Atria Off the Shoulder cocktail dresses are set apart from the rest because of their sleek sultry styles.Browse hundreds of beautiful Off-Shoulder Wedding Dresses and find the perfect fit for you! For now, she is running a Facebook promotion on her page Forget Me Knot Dresses. Once the page hits 500 "likes," Harcharik will give away a $100 certificate. 

"(Wedding) dresses are unforgettable,"Harcharik said in reference to naming her business "Forget Me Knot." "I want people to see them again because they are so pretty."

Over the weekend, I was told by one of our groomsmen that I don't update my blog enough. And, here I thought I was updating too often! So, a big thank you to everyone who reads my blog and is actually interested in all of these little details!! 

Saturday, we trekked to Erie for tux fittings. I was fortunate enough to ride in N's car, with our junior groomsman and two of our other groomsmen, J and S. And, they all kept me laughing the entire way to Erie. 

It turned out that N's dad was able to attend the fitting, so we were only missing our best man! The manager of the store who was helping us was very impressed that we had gotten almost everyone together. I just let her know I was one of those "scary" brides, and all of our guys have learned that if I say something, it gets done ;) Orrrrrr, we just have amazing groomsmen. Either way. 

The manager was also very impressed with how quickly we picked out what we wanted. Apparently - as I have heard from now her, our bakery, the florist AND the dress shop - most brides are indecisive when it comes to wedding planning. 

Here's the thing, though. I've been planning my wedding since, I don't know, kindergarten? Maybe before then? A friend and I even put together "wedding books" when we were in middle school, complete with pictures. I'm not typically an indecisive person. I find something that I like,You'll be the queen of the room in this Rina di Montella 1512 evening gown. and that's what it's going to be. N finds something he likes, and that's what we get. The two of us, being soooooo madly in love, have been on the same page for the majority of the wedding planning. So, to recap: We know what we want. We are not indecisive. I have been planning my wedding since before I was born. 

Anyway, I made sure the groomsmen matched my bridesmaids, as I was prepared with color swatches. N picked out the vest he wanted. The manager of the store pulled out vests for the dads, and they pointed to the same one at the same time. N picked out the tux. Everyone was measured and we left. Fairly simple. 

To give an indication of just how much fun we are going to have with this wedding party of ours, several of the groomsmen decided they weren't too keen on wearing black dress socks. So, they are apparently going to buy some bright-colored socks. Which, I totally hope we get some awesome photos of! And,Embrace modern glamour in this evening gown from Rina di Montella 1520. J decided he wants to wear his "I <3 Jesus" suspenders, instead of the plain black ones, which should be great. All in all, the tuxes were just as easy as picking out everything else has been! 

Sunday, my mom and I went to a bridal show here in Jamestown.Let's Buy La Femme dress Right Now!!! My brother's fiance was supposed to come with, but, unfortunately, she wound up with the super-flu over the weekend and couldn't make it. My mom and I still had a great time, though. It was a lot of fun to spend time with her and talk wedding stuff, because, well, this is going to be the ONLY time we will do this together. 

Later Sunday, my only close-by bridesmaid stopped over for a few hours. I spend so much time around guys (being the only girl in the office and then going home to my fiance... Plus the occasional stop at the fire hall!) that it's nice to have some girl-time. My other bridesmaids are some of my best friends, but they are living all over. And, all of my close friends from college are several hours away, each. So, Sunday night was a nice reminder of having girl time. 

The close-by bridesmaid helped make dinner, we learned the dance the Mashed Potato while making mashed potatoes (hard dance, by the way!), ate with us, hung out, played some Just Dance on the wii with me AND watched the Kardashians. N doesn't play Just Dance or watch the Kardashians, I'm usually on my own for those activities. It was nice to have another girl to hang out with. 

I had a request on my last blog for what we have chosen as far as music for the wedding. We're keeping our first dance and some of our other music selections a secret, but we had spent A LOT of time on YouTube and Google looking for songs that would be appropriate for everything we need. I will say, I cried when listening to our first dance... But,Beautiful Bridesmaids Dresses I won't tell you what it is until after our wedding..Atria Off the Shoulder cocktail dresses are set apart from the rest because of their sleek sultry styles.. And, even after that, you will have to wait until we are back from our honeymoon to find out!! I really like pop, dance-y music, the type that probably makes most people's ears bleed. We both like rock, although N leans toward 80's rock. And, N likes country music. Aside from that, we will have some 50's and 60's music thrown in, dinner music... And, well, it will be quite the party!

A Shelbyville woman's long-time dream of opening her own dress shop has come to fruition with the creation of Blessed to Dress, featuring wedding, prom and party dresses spanning vintage to contemporary styles. 

"This is something I always wanted to do," owner Lawana Worley said. 

She came up with the name while listening to her pastor talking about being blessed during a Shelbyville Community Church worship service. 

"I thought, I am blessed," she said, "and that would be a great name for my store." 

Blessed to Dress, 1640 E. State Road 44, will officially open at 10 a.I knew I wanted a maggie sottero wedding dress before I was even engaged.m. Friday with a grand opening event. 

Worley's leased 1,200-square-foot store is loaded with hundreds of gently used dresses at affordable prices. 

Blessed to Dress is designed for the woman on a budget. Worley sets her prices purposely to appeal to the girls and women who can't afford extravagant gowns from traditional formal wear retailers or just want to find a bargain. 

"I think I found my little niche here in Shelbyville because there's not a resale shop just for fancy dresses," she said,Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best long sleeves wedding dress pictures. adding it is a great option when shopping for dresses that are only worn one time. 

Elegant party dresses appropriate for school dances start at $12.99 while formal gowns for proms and other events are priced at $19.99, going up to about $30 for a fully beaded gown. 

"Everything is very blingy, very girly," Worley said. 

The collection is Worley's own,Choose from stylish and trendy bridesmaid dresses in the bari jay bridesmaid dresses collection . who has been buying up beautiful gowns and dresses for years in anticipation of opening her own store. 

Snapped up at thrift stores, flea markets, yard and estate sales, the gowns are anything but cheap and worn out. It is evident from one look at Worley's merchandise that the clothing is from high-end retailers in near perfect condition due to the care of the previous owner and some of Worley's special TLC. 

Worley pointed out that most formal dresses and gowns are usually worn only once by the wearer, thus there is little repair or cleaning required from her. 

It isn't uncommon for shoppers to come across designer apparel or an exquisite, never-worn vintage wedding gown. 

Worley'We offer a wide array of cheap lace wedding veils, mantilla veils and many other popular styles.s bridal section is filled with never-worn gowns she's collected from bridal store close-outs and shelves filled with everything one could need for wedding decorations for table centerpieces, gift baskets and glassware. 

For the past year, Worley has featured her collection at Blue River Village Flea Market & Antiques in the BelAire Shopping Center, where she enjoyed great success, especially when local high school girls discovered her party and prom dresses. 

"It was a hobby for me," she said.Beautiful Bridal Dresses

It was there she was discovered by Ideal Images Salon & Spa owner Mindy Clark, who fell in love with her collection. 

"I saw her stuff and I had to have it," she said. "She's the icing on the cake." 

Clark spirited Worley to her salon, where she offered for rent the large, unused space she thought would be ideal for Blessed to Dress. 

Worley also rented window space in the front of the full-service salon which has already attracted shoppers visiting the busy Junction Plaza Mall, where the salon and dress shop are situated. 

"I can't believe how many people just come in and say they can't wait to see what we have in the window," Clark said. "Saturday we had to beat them off with a stick."

BUSINESS is booming for Sofi Designs Bridal – so much so that the business has recently doubled the size of its premises in Basingstoke.Beautiful Bridal Dresses

Like many entrepreneurs, Fatma Sofi noticed a slowdown in business due to the tough economic times. 

But the innovative businesswoman has been able to ride out the double-dip recession by doing what she does best – providing great customer service and listening to her customers' needs. 

In addition to offering leading wedding dress designer names and wedding accessories, she now offers a line of mother-of-the-bride outfits. 

Fatma said: “We had mums coming in with their daughters, who'd say 'I would love to get everything in here, why don't you offer mother-of-the-bride clothes?' “So we looked for suitable outfits, starting with designers we know personally, like Ian Stuart – one of the biggest wedding fashion designers in the country. 

“Then we added others, such as Condici and Spanish names like Zeila and Carina, and Sarah Danielle from America.” 

The new line proved to be a great success for the business, based in Telford Road on the Houndmills Estate. 

“It's because of this that we had to have an extension,” explained Fatma, whose easy-going manner makes it easy to understand why she has such good contacts in the world of wedding fashion.You want THE one shoulder wedding dresses that lives up to all you? 

Set up 12 years ago, the enterprise was initially a wedding jewellery and accessories business, with Fatma travelling all over the world, attending wedding trade shows. 

It was then that she started building some lasting relationships with some of the world's best designers. 

This proved to be a boon when, in 2007,Find 2013 affordable one shoulder wedding dresses for your wedding, look at these dresses. Fatma decided to focus the bridal business on wedding dresses. 

Now the shop stocks leading names, attracting calls from all over the country for those looking for dresses designed by particular designers. 

Customers have come to the shop from as far as Scotland to see Fatma.Shop for Women's Bridesmaid Dresses and other Women's formal dresses evening. 

The shop offers dresses to suit all budgets, and Fatma is always on hand to offer good honest advice. 

Fatma said: “We have to be considerate and do our best, because it's for a very important day.Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best strapless wedding dress pictures. The whole experience of the wedding will stay with our customers forever. 

“If they have a good experience trying dresses, where they feel relaxed, this will stay with them and that is why they will recommend us to everyone else.”

The Screen Actors Guild Awards marks another calendar date of the razzle dazzle red carpet season and now we’ve digested all the dresses and taken in all the bling,I knew I wanted a maggie sottero wedding dress before I was even engaged. we can now offer our verdict on the winners and losers of the glitziest red carpet this side of the Oscars. 

The Good 
Belle of the ball was 22 year old Jennifer Lawrence who not only scooped the Best Actress Award but managed to wow in Dior Couture. Sure there was the slight hiccup as she caught her hem to reveal a sheer panel of the double layered gown as she made her way to the stage to accept her award, but it didn’t matter a jot. Perfectly showcasing her incredible body the navy silk triple layered dress, she brought a sense of old school Hollywood to proceedings without looking old fashioned. As Jennifer’s new stylist, Rachel Zoe would no doubt have let her know, navy is an ultra-flattering shade – as slimming as black but with more flashbulb appeal – ladies keep this lesson in mind for your future wedding and event dressing. 

Zingy pink was the tone to three other successful dresses – one by Roland Mouret worn by Freida Pinto, another by Elie Saab sported by Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev and the other by Valentino as seen on Lea Michele. 

Elsewhere Michelle Dockery flew the Brit flag high with her sheer cut out gown by Ralph Rucci.Both the 2010 and 2011 Miss Americas were crowned in pageant dress made by Sherri Hill. While the dress looked suitably formal from the front as she turned to reveal a hint of side cleavage she gave us the perfect combination of naughty and nice.Browse hundreds of beautiful Off-Shoulder Wedding Dresses and find the perfect fit for you! 

A prize for most improved must go to Nicole Kidman, whose Vivienne Westwood Couture frock finally hit the right note in another navy number. Super sexy with sheer panels revealing skin between the intiricate embellishment add a definitine va va voom to Nicole's normally demure look.Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dresses And navy again - we are sensing a trend... 
The Bad 

On the other side of the coin there were some serious fashion fails for which constructive criticism is most seriously required. Morena Baccarin aka Jessica Brody will doubtless be singled out by endless worst dressed lists, but we thought we might be able to offer some more useful pointers to our Homeland girl. First up her Basil Soda slashed to the thigh dress is curiously unflattering at the hip area. Morena as we all know has a cracking body, but she should perhaps avoid such bottom heavy frocks going forward. Secondly – the olive patterned sheer curtaining flowing from said hips is far to Halloween-like to be glam –we say save it for a Heidi Klum party. 

Other crimes fashion criminals included Sofia Vergara whose Donna Karan dresses teamed with stacked ivory platforms read far too bridal. And Julia Stiles in Amen Couture? Sorry on this one, there are no words. 

While we love Julianne Moore, we definitely saw too much of her last night in her plunging Chanel Couture frock.Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best strapless wedding dress pictures. Finally a small point to note, Helen Hunt’s matchy matchy dress, necklace, clutch and bracelet proved how the wrong accessories can ruin a truly smoking look – too much pewter all at once brought the whole thing down – a lighter necklace would have made her Romona Keveza sequin gown sing.

It is a marriage that stands the test of time, never wrinkled with age. 
Billie and Gene Trageser say the story of how they met is a simple one that still brings a smile to their faces 70 years later. 

The Bucyrus, KS, couple met the old fashioned way. 

"I'm so lucky," said Billie, as she recalled the first time she set eyes on her future husband. 
She snatched him up at a dance. 

"I saw him and immediately fell in love with him, and he took me home," she said. 

The couple's 10 children say the two refuse to do anything without each other, a bond that outlasted the parting words of the priest who married them Jan.You'll be the queen of the room in this Rina di Montella 1512 evening gown.Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best strapless wedding dress pictures. 28, 1943, at St. Thomas Church in Kansas City.Beautiful Fit&Flare Wedding Dresses 

He said, "It would never last," Billie recalled.Jovani designer 2013 prom dress and celebrity style evening gowns. 
Oh but it did, and 110 grandchildren and great-grandchildren later, they are still going strong. 

After the wedding, the newlyweds moved to the Bucyrus area where Gene, a farmer and founder of Louisburg Construction, called home since he was a child.Beautiful Lace Dresses 

Billie lived in Kansas City until she married Gene, and moving to the country was a new experience. She was a seamstress for 32 years while raising their family. 

The love birds have been members of the Queen of the Holy Rosary Church in Wea, KS, for more than 84 years. 

They gathered at the church Sunday for a reception and luncheon in their honor and to celebrate Gene's 90th birthday. Billie even wore a replica of her wedding dress to toast their big day. 

But as time broke down, it never touched the untouchable. 

"I really love him," said Billie, wearing a replica of her wedding dress Sunday. 

"She is the greatest," Gene exclaims. 
The couple says there is no secret to a long marriage except, Gene says, to just "behave yourself." 

Complete your vintage look wedding with a stunning accessory from bridal experts Flo & Percy. 

Having recently designed headpieces for The Saturdays' brides Una Healy and Rochelle Wiseman, the British brand has just released a new collection called Let's Go Outside, inspired by the 20s, 30s and 50s. And it's very pretty indeed. 

Mixing sparkle and flora with soft fabrics and beading – the collection now includes sashes to add detail to your wedding dress along with headpieces and jewellery.

At the SAG Awards on Sunday night, Anne Hathaway proved yet again that she is the woman to beat in the Oscar race for Best Supporting Actress, claiming yet another not-quite-Academy Award for her performance in Tom Hooper's “Les Misérables.Find the largest selection of mandarin collar dress on sale.” By now, you've read and heard all about that performance -- the 35 pounds she lost, the hair she cut mere months before her wedding, the singing she did live, on a freezing, stinking set, instead of overdubbing it in the safety of a recording studio. So we decided to ask her about more urgent matters –- like that joke Tina Fey made at her expense during the Golden Globes and the pros and cons of wearing white around Valentino (who, we might add, designed her wedding dress). 

The Huffington Post: Our Oscar Predictions Dashboard gives you a 99.%1Find the largest selection of mandarin collar dress on sale. chance of winning Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. Are you nervous anyway, or are you feeling cool and collected? 

Anne Hathaway: Is there a third option? Because I am just very grateful. I've had plenty of years in my career where I haven't made it to this part of the conversation. Making it here is the gift and the goal, and I feel really proud of that. 

What's one thing people who haven't experienced Oscar season first-hand don't realize about it? 

I don't actually know what people don't know, but what I think people lose sight of is how vulnerable everyone feels. It's very easy to look at people in these gorgeous dresses that cost more than a college education and diamonds and hairdos and forget that everyone is probably shaking in their stilettos. 

How many award shows will you have attended by the time you get to the Oscars? 

I'm not sure, but at least half a dozen. 
And how many times will Hugh Jackman have forced you to sing at various events? 

I am starting to lose count. He is so good at that. He is so charming and persuasive that he makes me forget that YouTube and the Internet actually exist. 

Did Tina Fey warn you that she was going to going to send that zinger your way at the Golden Globes? 

No, she didn't. I actually appreciated it. There was a part of me that thought,We offer a wide array of cheap lace wedding veils, mantilla veils and many other popular styles. “Oh, I can go home with something special now.” 

It is a little bit of an honor to be singled out, isn't it? 

I have never been made fun of at one of these things before. I have never been a punch line. It is actually an honor. It's a thrill. 

I read that you warned Claire Danes before impersonating her “Homeland” character on Saturday Night Live. Did you happen to run into her at The Golden Globes? 

I did. I had just finished my press and she was backstage after she had won,Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best long sleeves wedding dress pictures. and I was just so gob-smacked at how great she looked. I mean, she had just given birth about three seconds ago. And she was absolutely smoking. [Pause.] Like hot -- not like that! Clear that up: Claire Danes is not a neglectful mother. 

So do you have any advice for Seth MacFarlane, drawing on your experience as an Oscar host? 

Don't take my advice. Call Hugh. And get Emma Stone to co-host with you. You two were adorable at the announcements. 

How does your fashion approach differ between the Globes and the Oscars? 

Practically speaking, there is more room to have a train at the Oscars. At the Globes, because of the layout, with everybody sitting together, I learned the hard way that you must never wear a train. You will either be tripped on, or tripped up or tripping yourself up all night. I wore a train the first time I was nominated, and first of all it just scooped up all of the red carpet. And second of all I was just a death trap for anybody that came near me. With the Oscars, you have a little more room. 

And I guess at the Globes you want to wear something where it wouldn't be too problematic if somebody were to spill a glass of red wine on you. 

Well, that happened to me, but not at the Globes. That happened to me at a premiere for Valentino's movie, and he and a producer friend of mine, Jeffrey Sharp, actually spilled an entire vat of red wine all over me. And I was wearing a white dress.Beautiful Favorable Wedding Dresses 

What do you do in that situation? 

You just laugh and smile. I tried to get Valentino to autograph the dress, but he wouldn't do it. It actually wound up looking really pretty –- it was like an ombre effect. And I couldn't really get that mad, because it was not even my dress. 

Over the past 10 years, two actresses have won Best Supporting Actress for their performances in musicals. One was Jennifer Hudson for “Dreamgirls,” and the other was Catherine Zeta-Jones for “Chicago,” in 2003. Where were you on Oscar night in 2003? 

I think I was in the Josselyn common room at Vassar. 

Watching it on TV? 

Well, I missed the first part because I had a cappella practice. I remember being very confused, because we had just gone to war with Iraq and there was a lot of talk about “Should they cancel it? What should we do?” And I thought Nicole Kidman gave the most beautiful, thoughtful response to that when she said, "I am so happy to be here tonight, because art is important.” I was just very grateful to her for that little rally cry.

Deb Karpfinger has woven rugs, carved wood and stone, done batik, thrown pottery, painted and drawn. But for nearly 20 years, flowers have been her primary creative outlet. 

Karpfinger is a floral designer and operator of The Flower Lady shop in Wauwatosa. She has a fine arts degree from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and worked as a graphic designer before realizing that wasn't enough to fulfill her. 

One summer, Karpfinger began offering floral designs and dried wreaths at a green market in Wauwatosa and sold out every week. So in 1996, she started her retail store, which sells flowers and gifts. 

What does she do? Along with creating unique floral designs and training staff,I knew I wanted a maggie sottero wedding dress before I was even engaged. Karpfinger hauls heavy boxes of arrangements to customers' special events, buys inventory, does graphic design to promote her business and goes the extra mile for customers. She and her staff always bring a well-stocked "toolbox" on a wedding day, for example. They have used it and other skills to hem a mother-of-the-bride dress, get the air conditioning working, vacuum a room, even watch someone's kids, she said. 

What makes a good floral design? As with any other artistic endeavor, key elements are rhythm, movement, shape, texture,Shop for cheap mother of the bride dresses to coordinate with all the most popular wedding colors and styles. harmony, color and proportion,You want THE one shoulder wedding dresses that lives up to all you? Karpfinger said. 

"When you have good design skills in you, it just comes out through those flowers. The color,Looking for a V-neckline dress? proportion and texture sing," Karpfinger said. 

Good arrangements also come from listening to the customer, she added. Staff at the shop provide personalized service and form an image in their minds of what is needed as they "interview" customers by asking questions about what the person's home or office looks like and what their hobbies are. 

What are some of her favorite projects? The Flower Lady gets a lot of calls from national magazines, and Karpfinger said she enjoys those jobs. The shop recently got a call from Architectural Digest to create arrangements for photo shoots in Milwaukee and Lake Geneva. Karpfinger also enjoys the most creative and challenging projects, such as when a customer brings a container to work with. 

What kind of interesting customer interactions has she had? A woman walked in on the day of her wedding and said she hated her bouquet. Karpfinger said she and her staff took it apart, discarded the more distressed flowers, and rebuilt the bouquet around the lavender roses. 

Another time there was a blizzard on the day of a customer's wedding. Karpfinger loaded the flowers in her car, shoveled it out, and made it to the church. Out-of-town guests didn't get there because the airport closed, and Karpfinger said she got snowed in while setting up the church. 

"We're one of the last true, enduring businesses that still goes on," she said. 

What kind of people does she like to hire? Karpfinger says she hires "naturals" who are creative and detail-oriented. 

"I'm lucky I didn't go to floral school because it's like paint by numbers, and that's not what we do here," she said. "We're very creative." 

What advice does she have for aspiring floral designers? "Start working in a flower shop that you admire," Karpfinger said.Shop the latest Floral gown on the world's largest fashion site. "Whatever it is - maybe you're washing vases or cutting flowers - get in there and start watching what happens, and listen and learn and make sure you like that environment."

MCKEACHIE is a familiar name in British Columbia sports and deservedly so. 

West Vancouver's Jim McKeachie, his three brothers, Alec, Ian and Tom, and his nephew John each have their place in the B.C. and Victoria Sports Halls of Fame. 

Born into the sports-loving McKeachie family in 1924, Jim started out writing for the Victoria high school paper, the Camosun Et, for the Victoria College paper, The Craigdarroch and later, worked as a sportswriter for the Daily Colonist. 

Sportswriting, he figured, would be good training for a young man considering a career in journalism. 

The Second World War altered that career path, as it did for so many men and women. Jim was 17 in 1941 when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, an organization so new the cadets did not have uniforms. 

In January 1943, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was posted to Gander, Nfld. Jim was assigned to the No. 10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron, also known as the North Atlantic Squadron,Looking for a V-neckline dress? responsible for anti-submarine and convoy escort. Jim was 21 years old at the war's end, serving as captain of a four-engine B24 Liberator. 

As life's twists and turns would have it, Jim's wife to be,You want THE one shoulder wedding dresses that lives up to all you?Shop the latest Floral gown on the world's largest fashion site. Joyce Morley, also from Vancouver Island and also serving in the RCAF, was also in Atlantic Canada, posted to the airport control tower in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. 

They met in Victoria in 1946, at the home of a mutual friend on the eve of her wedding. Joyce, the bridesmaid, wore a long yellow dress. The couple laughs as Jim recalls Joyce was the first girl he'd asked for a date without a view of her ankles. 

"They're still pretty good," he affirms. 

Jim completed his education at the University of British Columbia supporting himself as a sportswriter with The Province. In 1948, he was home in Victoria, with a job as the cityside reporter at the Victoria Daily Times and with a bride. 

Joyce was working for the B.C.Shop for cheap mother of the bride dresses to coordinate with all the most popular wedding colors and styles. Electric Company, earning four times what Jim was making. 

"She accepted me anyway," Jim says with a laugh. 

Jim came close to returning to aviation thanks to Operation Chipmunk. During the Korean Police Action, better known as the Korean War, Canada supplied flying clubs with de Havilland Chipmunks, or "Chippies," for use in refresher training of RCAF Reserve pilots like Jim. Jim retained his commercial pilot license and instructor's rating current until just a few years ago. 

Jim left the paper in 1951 to work in public relations at the B.C. Power Commission, charged with bringing electrification to the rural areas of the province. Jim's familiarity with the resource-based economy of the province led to his next job, in 1956, with Crown Zellerbach, the forest industry corporation.

From their home in the Glenmore area of West Vancouver, the children enjoyed their forested backyard and Joyce began her hopeless,I knew I wanted a maggie sottero wedding dress before I was even engaged. but rewarding, attempt to "manicure the mountain." 

Jim has kept up his ties to the world of aviation. He joined the Air Cadet League of Canada in 1957. On Jan. 1, 1963, Jim went to Canadian Pacific Airlines, the job he was born and bred to do, retiring in 1986 as director of public relations for the company. 

Jim didn't retire right away. He represented British Airways for several years and wrote for travel journals but volunteer work was taking over.

Spring is just a few months away and will mark one of the busiest times for the wedding season. To get a head start,Our gorgeous faux fur wraps are perfect for wedding. use these last few months of winter to make it up the aisle on time and in style, by planning early for your big day.Wholesale Best Hot Sale Top 10 Bridesmaids Dresses Quick delivery. 

Here's your go to guide for planning a spring wedding. 

Floral 
Choose the flowers you want to incorporate into your wedding. By having your wedding in the spring you can save money by using flowers that are in bloom at the time of your wedding in your community. You can choose from a variety of spring perennials including crocuses, peonies, poppies, pansy, Lily of the Valley, Cadytuft, Forget-Me-Nots, tulips and geraniums. Different blooms will be available during different times in spring, so choose a flower that will be in full bloom on your wedding date. Crocuses are available at the beginning of spring whereas the Lily of the Valley and geraniums come into bloom at the end of spring and into the summer months. 

If you are planting the flowers yourself you will need to prepare in early fall and plant the bulbs while the ground is still soft. Cut the flowers on the morning of your wedding or the day before and place them in water to keep the flowers fresh throughout your special day. 

Venue 
Choose and book the wedding venue and if needed the ceremony site at least six to nine months prior to your wedding date. Wedding venues can book quickly during peak wedding season, so you may need to book your wedding venue earlier if it is a popular location. If you are planning to host an outdoor wedding you should also be prepared for any weather condition. 

Early spring weddings can occasionally see snowfall depending on your area and rain is a typical disturbance during the spring months. Rent a large canopy tent; you can use this whether it rains or not to house your reception or ceremony, and if it does rain, your wedding will not be ruined. 

Wedding Gown 

Short and knee-length wedding gowns can be appropriate for a spring wedding. Unlike fall or winter weddings where it would be too cold to wear such as revealing dress,Embrace modern glamour in this evening gown from Rina di Montella 1520. the warmth of spring allows you to show more skin.See all the looks from the zuhair murad Haute Couture autumn/winter 2012 collection. If you want a more traditional gown, A-line gowns offer shape and comfort. Choose a gown with a sheer fabric top layer on the skirt or floral beading details to give your dress a light spring feeling. 

Bridal show is Feb. 10 
On Sunday, Feb. 10, “A Formal Affair” bridal and formal wear show will be held at the Manchester Arts Center.Search our wedding photo gallery for thousands of the best strapless wedding dress pictures. 

According to one of the event's coordinators, Janice Crosslin, the public is invited to attend the event that will include a vendor's exhibits and a fashion show. Local vendors will include Millie's Bridal and Formal Shoppe, “This and That From Here and There” and Lawson's Tuxedo's. 

“There will be vendors set in the lobby area of the Manchester Arts Center,” explained Crosslin. “Brides will be able to register for free and browse the many local and even national vendors that will be on hand for the event. At 1:30 p.m. a fashion show featuring the latest in bridal fashion and formal wear will be held in the theater of the arts center. Jamie Hardin, Cliff Roberts and friends of the Ultimate Oldies will also perform during the show. It will be an exciting afternoon.” 

Crosslin adds that admission to the fashion show is to $10 with all proceeds to go the Manchester Arts Center. 

“We invite the all who are planning a wedding or will be attending a formal occasion to come out and see the great fashion and wonderful vendors that can help them plan everything for their special occasion,” said Crosslin.