Every town has one – a road where at Xmas time each house and business on the street goes all out to decorate their space with the most incredibly sparkly and over the top Xmas decorations. In Auckland Franklin Road, Ponsonby has to be the best known street for this.
This year an ad agency has Snap a Snog – it has to be the best idea ever – you stand at the designated spot of their office window and a camera snaps your snog!
Get your mistletoe ready for New Years Eve!
Outraged was how I felt when I came across a random facebook post which showed a pretty sparkly petite diamond ring – the caption was ‘Would you accept this ring?’
For real. ?? I could not believe that someone was starting a debate about the size of a rock as if it quantified a partners love for their other half i.e. the bigger the rock the more they love you and vice versa. What sort of superficial bitch posted that?
Who even needs a ring to be ‘engaged’ as long as the heart is in the right place and you are true to each other?
Then I searched felt.co.nz and found this! http://felt.co.nz/listing/218425/Little-DIAMOND-stacker-ringengagement-ring And I thought – how much fun would this be?! Much more fun than a ridiculous chunk of diamond that was only chosen due to its carats and statement.
There’s also this cool idea from Naveya & Sloane – a proposal diamond! It’s a diamond set in a bar of metal of your choice which is presented to the bride to be who then designs her own ring! Very cool! http://naveyaandsloane.co.nz/engagement/original-setting/
With the holiday season fast approaching here are some great ideas to spice your silly season up…
1) The Huff Post did recently post an article about giving your partner sex every night. WHAT? EVERY night? Seriously? Surely that is unrealistic? But I am sure your husband/partner/girlfriend/wife/boyfriend would appreciate a special treat – maybe think about wrapping yourself up in nothing but a big red Xmas bow! (and paying a trip to www.dvice.co.nz).
2) How about having some fun and booking a glamour photography shoot! Makes a great present that can be cherished for years to come. Take a look at Miss T Pinups to see how awesome you can look (if you live in Auckland).
3) A relaxingly romantic couples massage with soothing essential oils. Mauri Ora Wellness in Titirangi sounds incredible and will even come to your home. I think I’m going to book in for me and My Darling!
4) Take a road trip to Te Aroha and visit NZ’s only hot water soda springs – book the couples clawfoot baths complete with candles, chocolates and sweet smelling aromatherapy. You will leave feeling soothed and smooth from the slightly silica water!
5) A good old-fashioned candlelit dinner for two. At Orbit 360, SkyCity, you can watch the sunset over Auckland City and enjoy every angle of the horizon while the restaurant rotates!
Let me know if you have any other romantic gift ideas to add to the list!
Happy holidays!
Click to view the Oprah video!
While some of us may be Lucky in Love we need to help keep up the spirits of our single girlfriends. We were single once too – I was single for a lot longer than I ever imagined – and the love of my life did find me in the end – thank goodness! But I have to say I think it was because I had settled into the mode they’re talking about in this #Oprah video the #Huffpost posted. You do have to have your fun, live the life you want, not give it all away at once and keep faith that the universe does have a major plan in store for you! Click to watch the video and read more.
I would love to help you create a memorable & magical ceremony that is true to your personal style & wedding day vision.
Having been married recently myself, I draw on my fresh first hand experience.
People say they love my professional, yet friendly approach which reassures you you’re in safe hands & makes the process as easy as possible. Plus I’m an enthusiastic & captivating public speaker who has the ability to connect with everyone.
For wedding day inspiration & to find out more about how I can help you on your big day visit my website: www.luckyinlove.co.nz or find me on facebook: KimberlySandersMarriageCelebrant
Available Auckland-wide; North Shore, Waiheke, Matakana
Now, I wish I’d have thought to do this! Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m not a bling bling kind of girl – but that all changed on my wedding day!
It was all about the bling – or more subtle sparkle that is – my ring is a vintage Tiffany solitaire, my heels had diamantes, my big toenails had a row of bling and my earrings and necklace were solitaire Swarovski crystal. All to match my 50s inspired gown which the waistband was decorated in stylish Swarovski as well.
So it wasn’t over the top. But to top it all off I wish I had thought to pop some bling on my wedding band fingernail – I don’t know if you can see it all that clearly in the photo – but this was a friend of mine’s sisters wedding – and I think it looked blingtastic!
It’s all in the detail on your big day!
My Darling reads the Herald newspaper everyday, in every imaginable place, on his iPhone. It drives me crazy sometimes. Except when he sends me interesting human interest tidbits like this…
A man who sat at his wife’s grave for almost 20 years through storms, heatwaves and howling winds from dawn to dusk has died.
Rocky Abalsamo will now be reunited with his beloved wife, Julita, who died in 1993 after 45 years of marriage. He will be buried on her left, the side he walked alongside her when she was alive, the Boston Globe reported.
He only left Julita’s grave site when St Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, Boston, was closed. Then he would sprinkle crumbs across the plot so chipmunks would keep her company when he could not.
Rocky, who was 97 when he died, rose to prominence in 1990 when his vigil became known. He told the Boston Globe “She is part of me, so here I am whole. Being here makes me feel better. Not good, but better. I do it for Julita, and for myself.”
He sat beside his wife’s grave in a blue beach chair, calling out, “I am here”, when he sat down. On her birthday each year he would toast her with a glass of cider. Every night he left, Rocky would rub his finger on her name on the red granite stone. The ritual left an indelible mark.
He always carried a photograph of his wife. On the back of the image, Julita had written: “Today the sky smiles to me. I see you. You look at me. Today I believe in God. With all my love, Julita.”
The couple met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1937 and married a year later. They followed their children to the US in 1971.
As Rocky’s story became widely known, he began to receive visitors at the grave who would bring him meals and gifts.
What an incredible bond. When I googled to find some more photos of the couple I stumbled on a hysterically titled site Confessions of a Funeral Director which the story was featured in as well. I thought the post Hippos Kill More People than Sharks and other Useless Death Data was the best… and this one I found… we all know the beautiful Ryan Gosling movie the Notebook (sadly James Garner who played the loving and devoted husband died last month)…
The real Notebook
Kenny and Helen Felumlee were introduced when they were teenagers – by Kenny’s ex-girlfriend. After dating for two years, the couple decided to get married. Immediately. Even though Kenny was only two days shy of his 21st birthday – the legal age for men in Ohio at the time – the pair drove to Kentucky to elope. They married on February 20, 1944, and spent the next 70 years together.
The couple raised eight children with Helen staying at home while Kenny worked for the railroad as a car inspector, ran a automobile repair place, and even carried mail for the town of Nashport. Helen was known for sending personalized greeting cards for any and every event, causing her family to joke that she “kept Hallmark in business.”
Once all their children had left home, the Felumlees travelled around the United States by bus. They preferred that mode of transportation so they could see everything along the way.
According to their children Kenny and Helen never spent a night apart even preferring to share a bunk bed rather than sleeping in separate beds on a trip. When Kenny became too ill to sleep in the bedroom, Helen slept on the floor nearby so they could stay together.
Helen Felumlee died on April 12, 2014 at the age of 92. Kenny Felumlee died 15 hours later on April 13, 2014 at the age of 93.
I’m sure there are millions more stories like this of unconditional love and devotion. I hope yours is one of them. I know mine is.
(My Darling – you know I have issues with graveyards though! xxx)
As you know my career is event co-ordination and party planning. So I thought it would be a cake walk planning my own wedding. But even for someone with a high level of corporate skills – don’t be fooled – planning your own wedding is a highly charged emotional rollercoaster! The sensible thing to do is to hire a wedding planner. I believe they can be hired for minimal charge nowadays and will end up saving you $$$ in the long run. They will stop you from becoming bridezilla (which is inevitable), by making decision making easy, recommending the best suppliers and keeping your wedding party under control (which I desperately needed on my big day).
I read this fantastic article in M2 Women today by Kellie Stevenson and it reminded me of exactly what major effort is involved in making your big day perfect. Have a read it is hysterically funny and true to life…
The Best Laid Plans? With the likes of Pinterest sprouting ‘easy’ ways to plan and create the perfect wedding, Kellie thought she had it covered, that is until what is involved in the rigmarole of wedding planning became apparent…
I am getting married and have decided that planning a wedding is hard. Wouldn’t it be great if there were people who actually did all that for you for a pre-arranged sum of money? People who planned weddings for a living? Unfortunately, my inability to work out what such professionals could possibly be called, couple with my innate need to make life difficult, means that I have decided to take on the undertaking myself.
There are so many moving parts, things I hadn’t considered and have not a skerrick of interest in. For instance, I had no idea what the difference is between satin and grosgrain ribbon (although grosgraine sounds like a raging STD mixed with a terrible headache). Raffia and hemp twine. Same? Different? Bothered? I don’t know, but I am tempted to hang myself with either or both if confronted by too many more of these decisions. I had no an inkling that your font choice could impact the quality of your nuptials and that using something like Comic Sans says, clearly as yelling from the roof tops, my wedding is a farce and I am an empty shell posing as a bride.
Apparently, a theme for the day is of the utmost importance. If you believe Pinterest, and by God who wouldn’t, it seems more important than the choice of say…groom. There are so many to choose from, relaxed meets classic rustic meets bucolic urban Mexican swing dance, it’s all there for the uninitiated to blunder through.
The theme du jour seems to be retro/vintage, laden with preserving jars, gingham bunting and all that hessian. I never thought to draw correlation between heavy sacking and a wedding but apparently, it’s what all the cool kids are doing. According to the wedding magazines (full of models that look like child brides and lots and lots of hessian) it’s all about being timeless. A mental image of me in a mildewing bridal gown swooning around a cobweb-filled room, Miss Havisham style.
Anyway we took this theme thing on board but have decided that the only thing we can find that ties all the elements of the day together is that we are getting married. We have decided on a wedding-themed wedding.
The wedding magazines, along with making you feel chunky make it all look so easy, they lull you into a false sense of security that all you need is a mason jar, four tea lights and an old typewriter.
But what you really need is… a wedding planner!
Remember Muriel’s Wedding? Skip to about 3minutes into this clip – it’s hilarious!
I found myself sitting in front of the tv the other night watching the first half hour of this movie that made Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths stars, before I remembered there was a lot more misery before Muriel’s wedding and had to walk away. If you have never seen it though you have to – even if it’s just for the crazy 80s/90s hair and outfits – but the gist is Muriel finds life in Porpoise Spit, Australia dull and spends her days alone in her room listening to Abba music and dreaming of her wedding day. Slight problem, Muriel has never had a date. Then she steals some money to go on a tropical vacation, meets a wacky friend, changes her name to Mariel, and turns her world upside down.
In the first few scenes though there was a nasty one where one of the bridesmaids is “having it off” in the broom cupboard – with the groom! It made me think of a great idea for a blog – Worst Wedding Guests Ever!
Along with that example above, here are a few more: bridal party doesn’t perform their duties, guest thinks wedding is a piss up and gets so wasted ignoring bride and groom, toast that sounds more like a threat than a well-wish, wedding-crashers… you get the idea. Let’s hope none of those things happen on your wedding day or the next wedding you attend!
While I was waiting to pay for my gas yesterday I noticed a womens mag with the Jessica Simpson wedding on the cover. I never actually buy womens mags, but I can’t help myself from being glued to them when I’m waiting in a queue or at the doctors office!
Even though I wasn’t tempted to buy the mag, the wedding photo on the cover looked so beautiful I had to blog about it. When I was googling though, I forgot she had already been married about 10 years ago and had that awful reality show about it all.
But, this marriage seems alot more down to earth…
After a four-year engagement—and the arrivals of daughter Maxwell, 2, and son Ace, 1—the couple’s big day was a dream come true. “We’ve anticipated this for so long,” said the bride, who wore a custom Carolina Herrera champagne gown with delicate gold embroidery. “It was amazing to feel the love of everybody and to be able to have our babies and watch us say ‘I do.’ It’s a moment you can’t describe.”
According to Johnson, who wore a gray tuxedo by John Varvatos, Simpson looked perfect. “She was all lit up and beautiful,” he recalled of his wife’s walk down the aisle. “I think my heart was exploding a bit.”
How sweet are they?!
Lucky in Love ♥ Marriage Celebrant Auckland 