Advice
Mother's Day
It’s mother’s day this weekend and that started me thinking about mothers and weddings. With so many brides living away from their families these days but returning home for the wedding, the mother of the bride is often the main liaison for much of the wedding planning – I know mine was! And let’s not forget the mother of the groom. Though she has little in the way of official duties, don’t let’s forget that she is after all ceding that first place in her son’s heart to you!
How to show appreciation?
o Make time to spend with your mother before the wedding
o book a spa day for the two of you
o cook her breakfast the next time you’re home
o take her to a show
o treat her to a girlie afternoon tea
o Help her choose her outfit – often a big dilemma for the more mature woman!
o On the morning of the wedding, give her a card thanking her for all her help
o Personalise the traditional mother’s bouquet of flowers with a gift tag promising to spend some time with her after you return from honeymoon. Your groom can do the same – they’ll love it!
Everyone thinks of that second dance as the father-daughter dance, but have you also considered that your groom may want to celebrate with his mother too? Here are some suggestions for son-mother dances:
o A Smile Like Yours / Natalie Cole
o A Song for Mama / Boyz II Men
o A Song for My Son / Mikki Viereck
o Beautiful In My Eyes / Joshua Kadison
o Because You Loved Me / Celine Dion
o Could I Have This Dance / Anne Murray
o Forever Young / Alphaville
o Have I Told You Lately / Rod Stewart
o Hero / Mariah Carey
o I am Your Child / Barry Manilow
o In My Life / Beatles
o Memories / Elvis Presley
o Sunrise Sunset / Fiddler on the Roof
o The Perfect Fan / Backstreet Boys
o The Rose / Bette Midler
o Through the Years / Kenny Rogers
o Unforgettable / Natalie & Nat King Cole
o What a Wonderful World / Louis Armstrong
o Wind Beneath My Wings / Bette Midler
Kate, bridal-parties founder,
February
February - Oscars and Saint Valentine
February brings to mind Saint Valentine and the Oscars. Use these ideas to theme your February wedding
choose a palette of wine, red and gold for a touch of glamour and opulence.
o Combine dark red Roses (baccarat, black magic and barkarolle are good varieties) and Tulips (try cassini) with feathers, foliage (try hypericum with its ornamental red-brown berries or leucodendrum safari sunset - dark maroon oval feathery leaves) and gold-sprayed twigs.
o Red Anemones with their black centres are a good seasonal flower
o Gloriosa Lilies are wonderfully dramatic and a few will go along way.
And…it’s not just about the eyes! According to aromatherapist and natural remedy counsellor Helen Farmer-Knowles, the secret of maintaining a healthy libido - sex drive - is to keep a vase of roses beside your bed. The texture of rose petals is sensuous and silken to the touch and the substance that helps give them their distinctive scent - phenylethylamine or PEA - contains an amino acid known to slow the breakdown of beta-endorphins, the "happy hormones" which give us a high and the euphoria of being in love.
PEA is also present in chocolate, which is probably why sweet things are another traditional Valentine gift. On which note, you can’t go wrong with edible favours!
o Type personal messages and tuck into gold-wrapped truffles or other chocolates
o Offer heart-shaped cookies or brownies
o Combine favours with dessert with cupcakes decorated with hearts, flowers or a personal message
o
For a Valentine-themed place-card try a lipstick smooch (use a stamp or download from clip-art).
Kate, bridal-parties founder, London
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