Archives for June 2015

A Fair Trade Wedding Registry: Ten Thousand Villages

June 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

6220171175_948f7ee6ec_zMother of the Bride, would your happy couple like to support fair trade and help fairly paid artisans around the world? Suggest that they create a wedding registry with Ten Thousand Villages! Even if there is not a store in your region, they can create a registry online. Guests can then shop online and have gifts shipped to the address of their choice.

Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade retailer who has been empowering and supporting fairly paid artisans in developing countries for almost seventy years. They have numerous stores located around the nation and offer all kinds of items for the home, indoor and outdoor, as well as personal accessories like jewelry and scarves.

Creating a wedding registry with Ten Thousand Villages is a definite win-win. Not only will your daughter and future son-in-law give your guests an opportunity to bless the happy couple with a special gift, they will enable them to be a blessing to a hardworking artisan in another part of the world.

MOB, waste no time—encourage your bride and groom to register with this wonderful retailer now. They will get to do some good as they celebrate their marriage!

*Create the registry here: Ten Thousand Villages

*You might also like to read Ten Thousand Villages Gifts for the Bridesmaids and A Wedding Registry to Consider: Williams Sonoma!

*Flickr photo by Thien V, Creative Commons License

Filed Under: blessing, bride, encouragement, Gift, groom, help, Mother of the Bride, opportunity Tagged With: , , ,

Midweek Morsel: A Father’s Day Message to Dads

June 18, 2015 by 2 Comments

IMG_1712Hey friends, I have a poem for you today that you can share with the fathers in your lives. My dad is pictured above with my sisters and me, and though he’d be the first to admit he’s made mistakes, his life is a picture of love. May the dads in your lives be pictures of love as well!

Pictures of His Love

Dads, your lives are pictures to us
Of our loving heavenly Father,
So many of his characteristics
Are mirrored in the way you live.
Your love for us is without condition
You love us just because we’re yours,
You’re always ready to offer help
You’d protect us with your very lives.
We can always come to you for wisdom
We’re strengthened when you’re by our sides,
We’re continually amazed at your generous spirits
At your forgiveness and support.
And just like our Heavenly Father
You’ve given us discipline when we needed it,
Words of warning and sometimes rebuke,
Words to challenge and inspire us.
Now Dads, we know you’re just mere men
We know you make mistakes,
But you have succeeded in showing us
How great is the love of the Father!

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us…” 1 John 3:1 NIV

*How has a father figure in your life been a picture of love to you?

*Photo by family member

Filed Under: family, holidays, love, poem Tagged With: , , , ,

Photography Tip for Wedding Weekend

June 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment

3464890649_e196088bbd_z*Since the readership of the Mother of the Bride Blog is ever-changing, here is an encore post I hope will be helpful to those of you who weren’t MOBs when I originally posted it in July of 2013. Hope it helps!

The last thing the Mother of the Bride wants to do during Wedding Weekend is take photos. Of course, MOB, you’ll have a professional photographer for the day of the wedding, but precious photo opportunities will abound all weekend long. Like any loving mother, you won’t want to miss a single shot, but it’s hard to be in the moment and enjoy everything fully if you’re busy capturing it all on camera.

Here’s a tip that will free you up not only to live the moments as they unfold but will also take one big responsibility off your shoulders: Ask a family member or friend to be in charge of your camera for the entire wedding weekend. You’ll then be able to concentrate fully on carrying out your MOB responsibilities and on enjoying all those once-in-a-lifetime moments as they happen.

Be sure your designated amateur photographer understands the importance of his or her role. Ask them to take shots of anything and everything a devoted MOB would want pictures of—decorating day and all that it entails, the rehearsal and dinner following, the bridesmaids luncheon or other pre-wedding events, moments the extended family spends together, and of course fun shots of Wedding Day that your professional photographer might not get. It’s always nice to have the day recorded from various vantage points, and your camera-toting volunteer will make that possible.

And you, Mother of the Bride? Just be in the moment and enjoy!

*What kinds of things should you consider when deciding who to ask to fill this role?

*Photo by Kevin Dooley, Creative Commons License

Filed Under: help, memories, Mother of the Bride, photo fun, team, trust Tagged With: , , ,

Adventure Wanted!

June 15, 2015 by 1 Comment

8-7-12 635

I admitted this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago so I’ll admit it here, too—I’ve purchased two travel journals recently. But since our twin grandsons were born in January, my travels have consisted of making the nearly 6-hour trek to go see them as often as I can get away with it. So, my travel journals remain empty as of yet. After all, I have a grandparent’s journal for all things grandparenty!

Thoughts of adventure have been popping up with me lately, though. Last week I exhorted all of us to live life. Adventure fits right in with that mantra, doesn’t it? In January, I predicted that adventure awaited us all this year. And now, here it is pulling at my heart again.

In truth, it can be unusual or even difficult for people like me—creatures of habit—to break free from our regular routines and actually welcome adventure. So when adventure starts calling to our spirits, we need to pay attention. We need to be alert to what life may hold around the corner.

Let’s not forget that adventure can look different at different times and to different people. The past several years adventure for me has looked like vacationing in new places, like shown above in our trip to Yellowstone National Park. The past few months, however, my great adventure has looked an awful lot like two sweet baby boys. My life changed forever with their birth. Yes, I set sail on one of the best adventures of my life—being grandma to precious twin boys. I want to be available this first year of their lives to answer the grandma-we-need-you call to adventure. Their momma needs an extra set of hands fairly regularly, and I love lending my hands to the cause.

Even though my new grandmothering adventure is of prime importance to me right now, I want to be ready for new adventures. I want to start making entries in my travel journals. I want to see my world with fresh eyes. I want to be ready for what life may have around the corner. Yes, I want to live life.

Are you with me? Let’s hop out of the regular ruts of our lives. Let’s strain to see what God has in store!

“‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?’” Isaiah 43:19a

*What does adventure look like in your life right now? What great adventure would you like to pursue?

*Photo by my husband Don

Filed Under: adventure, life, new thing, travel, variety Tagged With: , , , , ,

Seating the Mothers and Grandparents on Wedding Day

June 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment

-5264Mother of the Bride, as your bride and groom plan their ceremony, have they given any thought yet to who will seat their parents and grandparents? The Father of the Bride is an easy call—he walks the bride down the aisle and then seats himself. But who will seat the other guests of highest honor on Wedding Day?

It’s always more meaningful if other family members or special friends fill that role instead of just one of the ushers who may not have a close tie to the family. With so many details for the bride and groom to think through, MOB, don’t let this one get overlooked until the night of the rehearsal. Encourage them to plan for special memories by asking special people to seat the guests of honor.

Many times the Father of the Bride and the Father of the Groom are selected to usher in and seat their respective wives. My husband did just that (see photo above) during both our daughters’ weddings. He just had to hot-foot it back down the aisle so he’d be ready for his most important role—escorting his little-girls-turned-brides to their waiting grooms.

A variety of others can serve—an usher or groomsman who is a family member or family friend, the ring bearer if he’s old enough, or another close family member (a son, a grandson, a nephew, etc. of the particular guest of honor). Just think about who would be especially meaningful for each particular guest of honor and then ask him to serve.

So remind the bride and groom to plan ahead, MOB—and precious memories to you all!

*You might also like to read Wedding Photo Idea: Moms Light Unity Candle Together.

*Photo by Flowers Photography

Filed Under: bride, family, groom, memories, Mother of the Bride, preparation, serve, variety Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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