July 7, 2008
Okay. I’ve thought about it and, yes, I’m going to do it. Pimp myself out that is.
My husband and I started a new website/blog called Aloha Feeling. We are true lovers of all things Aloha and after our most recent trip to Maui, thought we would start a blog to share our experiences with others.
If you are thinking about getting married, or honeymooning, in Hawaii, definitely check out the site. It’s fairly new, so we’re updating it as often as we can. Not only do we offer restaurant reviews, attraction reviews and tips, you can find discounted travel, activities, apparel, car rentals and more!
If you’ve always wondered how to properly cut up a pineapple, we’ve got that too! Want to find the best beaches in Maui? Got it! Want to find the perfect swimsuit for your body type? Yep, you can find it here.
So check it out and feel free to comment. We hope you enjoy. Mahalo and aloooooha!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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June 14, 2008
The hype these days, for good reason, seems to be going green. So why not have a green wedding?
There are so many things you can do to make your wedding a green one. No, you don’t have to wear a green wedding dress. Unless you want to of course! Here are some suggestions on what you can do to help the environment and have a fabulous wedding at the same time:
Recycle your wedding dress - Are you really going to wear it again? Probably not. Though you may want to keep it, realistically it will sit in your closet in the garment bag and collect dust. Wouldn’t you feel good about yourself if you donated it (might be nice to have it cleaned first) to someone who can’t afford a nice dress? You can take it to any clothes collection places like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Some lucky woman out there will thank you (though she won’t know who you are) for the rest of her life. And maybe she’ll pay it forward and donate it again for someone else to use! And while you’re at it, why not donate your veil and shoes too?
Use post-consumer or recycled paper for invitations and annoucements - When you’re choosing your announcements and invitations, look for a vendor who offers recycled or post-consumer paper. They will look as beautiful as you expect them to and you’ll be helping the environment at the same time! Order Recycled Invitations (and get Free Shipping on orders over $150 at Invitation Consultants!)
Use potted plants or flowers - Instead of spending a ton of money on cut flowers that you’ll end up throwing away after the reception, how about using potted plants? Then you can take them home to re-plant them or give them to your guests. I wish I had thought of this. How nice would it be to have the flowers from your wedding planted in your backyard so you can appreciate them for months or years? And it would actually be a fun gift for your guests. How about this? Put a potted plant (you can use an attractive pot) as a centerpiece on each table. Then put a sticker under one chair at each table. The lucky guest who has the sticker under their chair can take it home! Buy your potted plants and flowers from Flower.com
Find a jeweler who can make your wedding and engagement rings with post-consumer gold - Ask your jeweler or find one who does offer this. Again, you’re helping the environment and you’ll have beautiful rings!
Instead of gifts, have your guests make donations - If you already have everything you need, or just want to help the environment, instead of registering at Crate & Barrel, have your guests make a donation to your favorite GREEN charity. A few examples are: Preserve United States Wilderness, Reduce Pollution, Tree4Life, Protect Wildlife Habitat, and The Rainforest Site.
If going green and helping the environment are important to you and your husband to be, why not use one or all of these suggestions? You’ll feel so satisfied and your guests will be impressed. It will be the wedding that will be talked about for ages!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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May 21, 2008
Mother’s Day came and went. Time is sure flying by this year! And now it is time for Father’s Day - Sunday June 15th to be exact!
Now Dads - yours and/or your fiance’s - may act all tough and masculine, but deep down they’d love to get a gift from you for Father’s Day! But what do you get them? A nose hair trimmer? A set of expensive golf clubs? You want to impress him, as much or maybe more than your Mother-in-Law. But maybe you don’t know exactly what he wants or needs and maybe you don’t have a lot of money to spend. So what do you do?
Again, I say, go to Flower.com. Here’s what you can get:
- Gone Fishing Basket
- Grilling Basket
- Tee it Up (Golf) Basket
All come with great items including yummy food!
Not really what your Dad/Father-in-Law might want? Try these:
- Golf Gifts
- Share the gift of communication. Shop ATT.com.
- Give the gift of music with iTunes gift certificates
- Gifts for Him from The Sharper Image
- The gifts Dad really wants. Father’s Day gifts to entertain him every day of the year at Apple Store.
- Stauer Watches for Men and Women
Whatever you decide to get the Dad(s) in your life, the thought you put into their gift is what’s important. Happy Shopping!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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May 5, 2008
Mother’s Day is fast approaching and you want to impress your mother-in-law-to-be. Right?!
An easy way to do it is to buy her some flowers from Flowers.com. You can also get her chocolates, a teddy bear, or all of the above!
Not sure what she likes? All women like flowers! They have tons of arrangements and flowers to choose from. Maybe ask your fiance if she is allergic to anything before you shop though.
I promise you, you will look good in her eyes and will score points fast by sending her flowers for Mother’s Day! And, of course, don’t forget your mom! Use my link below and make your future mother-in-law smile!
Mother’s Day Flowers
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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April 25, 2008
Choosing your engagement announcements and wedding invitations is one of the first tasks that should be on your wedding checklist. You want to announce your engagement right away (and keep in mind you don’t have to send formal announcements, you can design and print them at home or verbally tell everyone). Your wedding invitations should go out to out-of-state guests about two months before the big date, and to locals about a month before the wedding date.
Do you already know what you want your announcements/invitations to look like and say? The trend is usually to use the same color(s) you will use at your wedding, but the design and wording can be whatever you and your spouse-to-be desire.
You can spend time travelling to several invitation specialists in your area, but with gas prices as high as they are, wouldn’t you rather order them online from the comfort of your own home?
With Invitation Consultants, you can! They are an online stationary/invitation store that provides you with quality bridal shower invites, engagement announcements, wedding invitations, thank you cards and more! They offer several designs and styles, and even suggest wording you can use, or you can come up with your own! They also provide the necessary response cards and reception cards as well! They’ve got it all!
Plus, they offer wedding favors for guests, with everything from edible favors to Disney!
My advice is this - give Invitation Consultants a try. You can order a sample for a very low price to see if you like it! Plus, use my link below, and if you spend $150 you’ll get free shipping!
And don’t forget, I have chapters dedicated to the “rules” for announcements and invitations in my book!
Find your perfect wedding invitation. Free Shipping on orders over $150.
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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April 15, 2008
Found this on CNN today - a brilliant engagement proposal that worked!
Hiding a ring in a bouquet just wasn’t enough when a computer programmer decided to pop the question.
At Bernie Peng and Tammy Li’s wedding, guests will receive copies of “Bejeweled.”
Bernie Peng reprogrammed Tammy Li’s favorite video game, “Bejeweled,” so a ring and a marriage proposal would show up on the screen when she reached a certain score.
Li reached the needed score — and said yes.
The word of the romantic feat last December filtered out after Peng, a financial software programmer, posted details on his blog. The reprogramming was a tricky task and took him a month.
“I thought it was pretty cool, in a nerdy way,” Peng told The Star-Ledger of Newark.
The couple plan to marry over Labor Day weekend, and PopCap, the Seattle company that makes “Bejeweled,” will fly the couple to Seattle as part of their honeymoon.
“Most video game companies would frown on people manipulating their games,” said Garth Chouteau, a spokesman for PopCap.
“But it won him a woman. As a bunch of geeks we have to say, ‘Bernie, hats off to you.”‘
The company is also supplying copies of “Bejeweled” to hand out as favors to the wedding guests. In the hugely popular game, players score points by swapping gems to form vertical and horizontal chains.
Way to go Bernie!! Now, Bernie thought out of the box on this one! What a fabulous way to get proposed to. If you’re looking for more ways or want ideas you can hint to your boyfriend, you need to buy my book - it offers ideas of what to do, and what not to do - when proposing, plus a lot more!
Do you have any fun or unique engagement stories? Email me to let me know and I’ll post them here!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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April 9, 2008
Wedding season is closing in on us, fast! Are you ready???
Do you have your dress as well as someone to do alterations?
Is your venue booked?
Are the caterers ready and do you know what you’re serving (don’t forget the appetizers!)
Is your honeymoon booked?
There is so much planning involved with a wedding that sometimes certain things may fall through the cracks, and you feel stressed and overwhelmed. What do you do? Enlist your bridal party, especially your maid of honor, to help in any way possible. Sometimes your bridal party can be a huge help, even if they just go with you for support when you try on bridal gowns or taste wedding cakes. I’m realistic, I know the grooms can’t always make it to these things (especially dress buying, we don’t want them there anyway!) and frankly, most probably can’t be bothered. They leave it up to us, don’t they? That’s where your girlfriends come in. Plus, it can be more fun!
So what else can you do when you feel overwhelmed and just don’t know where to start? I have a 2-part solution: Buy The New Rules of Engagement (it WILL help, and the handy checklist at the end will keep you organized!) AND utilize this website! Check out the Resources section where you can also save money on things you were going to buy anyway! Wedding announcements and invitations, wedding dress and bridal party dresses, wedding rings, and so much more!
So don’t stress, please! That’s what I’m here for. And if I do help you, or if you enjoy the book, please let me know. I love feedback and want to know if I was able to help you.
Have any questions? Any topics not on the website you’d like to see? E-mail me at newrulesofengagement@gmail.com!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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March 28, 2008
Before you start thinking about your wedding invitations, please give some thought to your engagement announcement. Here’s an excerpt from my book on this topic:
You can mail out formal engagement announcements. Basically, you go to a specialty paper store and buy something simple, yet fun. Go home to your computer and type up the announcement and print them at home. That’s the most practical way to do it. Or, you can get fancy and have them professionally printed. Be sure to check with the parents first to make sure you include all of the appropriate people on the mailing list. I don’t want to get too confusing here, but the engagement announcement is different from the wedding announcement. The engagement announcement can go out to whomever you like. But the wedding announcement is more limited. Most couples will send wedding announcements to the people they would like to invite to the wedding, but can’t. You shouldn’t send announcements to people that received invitations, even if they did not come, and people that receive them are in no obligation to buy you a gift. But if they do, you’re not obligated to return it to them.
The engagement announcement can be short and sweet–“Betty Jo Bride and Joe Bob Groom would like to announce their engagement on (insert date here).” You can get into more detail about how it happened, like this one–“Betty Jo Bride and Joe Bob Groom are happy to announce their engagement. On a recent weekend away in the Hills, Joe Bob got down on his good knee, and asked Betty Jo to be his bride. Of course, she said ‘yes’ and we just wanted to let ya’ll know.” Or, you can make it completely honest, even if it may offend some people. Like this one–“Joe Bob finally broke down and decided he could no longer get the milk for free, so he and Betty Jo are gettin’ hitched!”
If you plan to send out engagement announcements, it has been said that it is bad etiquette to include the statement, “No gifts please.” The reasoning behind this is that it may be bad form to assume that people are thinking about buying you a gift in the first place.
If you do decide to create your own announcements (and/or invitations too!) a good place to start is VistaPrint.com!
At Vista Print, you can design and write your own announcements and they’ll print and mail them for you! It’s really easy and when you use my link, you’ll save 30% plus get free shipping on any order over $50! Try them out - you can create your announcement and see how it will look before you buy anything.
So, go! Announce it to the world, you’ve been waiting for this moment! And don’t forget to take advantage of this special offer from Vista Print just for my readers!
30% Off Plus Free Shipping on Orders over $50 at VistaPrint.com!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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March 27, 2008
Wouldn’t it be nice to have Adam Sandler aka The Wedding Singer as the entertainment at your wedding? Well, maybe not everyone would like that. My point is, not everyone can afford an actual band to play at their wedding. So what do you do?
You can hire a DJ, or you can have one of your friends control the music and you go online to emusic to find your songs. And I’ll tell you why you need to get them from emusic. Because when you click on my link, you will get 35 FREE downloads!! You can even cancel before 14 days and pay nothing, but why would you? It’s cheap and they have great music on there. The days of shopping for music at a brick & mortar are over people. It’s all about getting music online - it’s faster and cheaper!
Find your favorite “walking down the aisle” songs, first dance songs, and of course, the Party songs! You can even find songs for your engagement party. I’ll help you out - here are my top party/wedding dance songs that you’ll find on emusic:
1) Everything I do (Bryan Adams) - GREAT first dance song
2) Brick House (my personal favorite dance song)
3) Electric Slide (get the crowd going)
4) Macarena (again, get your guests dancing!)
5) Shout (a la Animal House)
6) Oye Como Va (love Carlos Santana)
And there’s so much more! You (and your hubby to be) pick your favorite songs. Do you prefer country music? Disco? Latin? They’ve got it all!
Music, to me, is one of the most important elements of your wedding. You’ll never forget the song you walked down the aisle to, your first dance song, and all the party songs at your reception. And they set the tone for the wedding. Happy, upbeat songs = happy upbeat guests!
So take my advice, go to emusic, get your 35 FREE downloads and have a ball!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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March 25, 2008
Every girl dreams about what her wedding dress will look like. Will it be cream-colored, white, pearl, silk, satin…? How about lace? Strapless, open back?
I’m sure you all have a picture in your head of what your perfect wedding dress will look like. I know I did! Shopping for your wedding dress - and your bridesmaid’s, flower girl, and mother of the bride dress! - is without a doubt the moment when you look at yourself and say: “Wow, this is really happening!” But sometimes dress shopping can be stressful - having to run to five or ten different dress shops, some which may be out of your area and require a lot of driving. And with gas prices the way they are now, that can add up!!
I have a 3-word solution for you - House of Brides
, or as I’ll call it, HOB.
When you go online to HOB, you will find hundreds of styles, colors and more to help you find your perfect wedding dress. They offer 30-40% off of retail prices on brand names, plus you can get your wedding and bridesmaid’s dresses shipped for free, and pay no sales tax! Sound good? Read on!
Worried that you won’t be able to try the dress on? They have an entire section called “Tailor’s Advice” to help you find your perfect size. They also have 24/7 live online support so if you’re up at 3 a.m. thinking about your dress, you can talk to them about it!
You can do all your dress shopping in one place, and save money! What could be easier? How about easy online ordering?
They also have shoes, veils, lingerie (you know you want sexy lingerie under your dress!), and much more!
Humor me. Check out House of Brides
and see what you think!
Don’t forget to buy my book!
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