Archives for July 2015

Wedding Arch for Book Lovers

Geoff Spahr -Mother of the Bride, if the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. in your life are book lovers or teachers, here is a fun idea for décor at the ceremony site: a wedding arch made of books! Perfect, huh?!

A book arch is such a clever and creative idea that provides a colorful backdrop for the happy book-loving couple’s ceremony. The photo above shows an arch featured at an outdoor wedding, but a book arch could also work beautifully for an indoor ceremony as well. Books know no bounds, right?

You can even find instructions on how to make one style of book arch on ListLab, and if you do a search for book arches on Pinterest or Google, you’ll see a variety of styles.

Good luck, MOB, on helping your daughter and her beloved start their new lives together surrounded not only by their family and friends but by their love for books as well. Happy book collecting!

*You might also like to read Table or Mantelpiece Décor Idea for a Rustic Wedding, Wedding Décor Tip: Adorn the Church with Pew Bows, and Pew or Chair Décor Idea: Sunflowers!

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early August. Sign up is free and to the right!

*Photo by Geoff Spahr

Summer Photo Fun: “Name This Location” Returns!

Brandywine Falls, CVNPLast year during Summer Photo Fun, we had lots of fun with a “Name This Location” challenge. And a challenge it truly proved to be. I had to end up giving a hint before we had a correct guess come in!

Since the “Name That Location” photo had people guessing left and right last summer, I thought it might be fun to try it again this year. Have any of you seen the waterfall pictured above? It’s a pretty distinctive waterfall so if you’ve seen it, you’ll probably remember it. Do you know where it is? Can you remember what it’s called?

So have fun and take your best guess, friends! And good luck! :)

“The voice of the LORD is over the waters . . . The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.” Psalm 29:3a, 4

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early August. Sign up is free and to the right!

*My photo

Include Venue Signs in the Wedding Photos

Sharp ChapelMother of the Bride, many wedding photographers today pride themselves on telling a story with their photos. They make an effort to capture more than the standard shots and provide not only a timeline but the emotions of the big day as well. Their beautiful and meaning-filled finished products are works of art.

In the telling of the Wedding Day story, ask your photographer to be sure to include the signs at your ceremony and reception sites. Having those locations identified through photos not only helps tell the story, but it will be a help in years to come when you try to recall the names of the venues. After all, these special places play an important part in one of the highlights of your family’s life.

And believe it or not, MOB, a good photographer can even make photos of signs look artistic. So scope out your venues and give your photographer a heads-up about the locations of the signs. Be a part of telling the whole story!

*You might also like to read Wedding Day Tip: A List for the Photographer and Bridal Portraits: Include Some Artsy Shots.

0280*Photos by Chris Humphrey Photographer

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early August. Sign up is free and to the right!

Summer Photo Fun 2015 Kick-Off: Our Grandbabies!

11401028_10153332219873232_7315631794514911161_nIt’s time for Summer Photo Fun here on the blog once again, and I’m doing what any self-respecting new grandma would do—feature her grandbabies, right?!

After all, Isaiah and James are the big news of the year for us so it seems only fitting to kick off this year’s Summer Photo Fun with a sample of their off-the-charts cuteness. Hey, I’m their grandma—I can’t help it if I think they’re the cutest babies around!

For those of you who may not know, each year during July and early August, I feature some fun photo posts rather than my usual inspirational/devotional style posts. Since photos can really brighten our days at times and since I’ll also be including a verse from the Bible, my hope is that you’ll still leave here feeling refreshed or nourished in some way.

So dear friends, may my sweet grandsons brighten your day today—they certainly brighten mine!

“…we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8b

IMG_5277Here and above, Isaiah is on the left and James on the right. How I love them!

IMG_1878 - CopyIsaiah makes lots of great facial expressions and is very excitable. He loves to be tickled and loves to laugh. Such a sweetheart.

imagejpeg_0James is our laid back little guy. He locks eyes with you and can charm the socks off of you. Such a cutie-pie.

10830566_10153241357913232_3400181745976821087_oOkay, be honest. Have you ever seen anything cuter than this?! :)

IMG_5261Oh my goodness, how I love spending time with these two precious little blessings!

11351276_10153332220013232_2895065622805406774_nBrothers forever. I think they’re going to be the best of friends. Our family is so blessed!

*Which shot is your favorite? To me, they’re all favorites! :)

*Photos by me and my daughters Kristin and Kelli

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out the first of August. Sign up is free and to the right!

Wedding Invitations: Proofread, Proofread, Proofread

2392325187_153e371099_zMother of the Bride, I have some very important advice for you today: Be sure to proofread the copy for the wedding invitation very carefully before sending it off to the printer. And after you’ve proofread it once, proof it again—and again. Oh, and did I mention proofreading it? You get the idea, right?

As you might have guessed, my oldest daughter and I had a proofreading fail while planning her wedding. Talk about a sinking feeling when we discovered the mistake—yes, on the actual invitations.

We had both proofread the invitation copy before sending it to the printer, but we still missed seeing a misspelling. Since our eyes were familiar with the name, they evidently sailed right past it as we read the copy. We failed to look the copy over very slowly and very carefully. And yes, it cost us. Lesson learned.

So, MOB, learn from our mistake and proofread like crazy. Both you and the bride proofread the invitation multiple times and then ask someone else to proofread it, too. Believe me, being a stickler for details this time will save you valuable dollars and an extra helping of stress. Here’s to no invitation mistakes as you plan for the big day!

*You might also like to read A Keepsake Photo of the Wedding Invitation.

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out the first of August. Sign up is free and to the right!

*Flickr photo by Jase the Bass, Creative Commons License