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All My Love Things

While some wedding traditions are lovely and make for lasting memories, others feel forced, dated and altogether irrelevant.
Interestingly enough, many of the expectations and traditions that we consider integral to getting married are actually the invention of savvy advertisers. Here are five you may not have known about:
1. Diamond engagement rings prove your love.
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The engagement ring wasn't always mandatory -- and it wasn't always a diamond. Then, in 1938, the De Beers diamond company launched an aggressive marketing campaign to make the engagement ring a "psychological necessity" for any couple who wanted to get married. The De Beers campaign swayed popular opinion through events like organized lectures at high schools across the country promoting the importance of the diamond ring. And it worked: diamond sales rose 55 percent in the United States from 1938 to 1941. In 1947, they launched the slogan "Diamonds are forever," and by the '50s, De Beers advertisers were pleased to note that young people were delaying their marriages until they could afford a ring.
2. So you'd better spend two months salary on it.
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De Beers was also responsible for the conventional wisdom that a man ought to spend two-months' worth of salary on an engagement ring. Their successful ads in the late '40s used catchphrases like, "You can't look at Jane without telling me she's worth two months' salary. Just look at her". De Beers even set various standards around the world; in Japan, three months' salary was advertised. They also promoted the "surprise engagement" after their marketing research determined that men chose more expensive engagement rings when they went shopping without their wives. 
3. A guest must buy the couple a nice gift, selected from a wedding registry
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You may think that giving the new couple a place setting or knife set is the height of politeness, but for most of human history, wedding guests weren't socially expected to bring gifts unless they were family or intimate friends. Gifts were typically humble house necessities, like linens. Then, in 1924, Marshall Field's, now Macy's, created the first wedding registry and many retailers followed suit to encourage guests to purchase luxury goods, like fine china and silver for the new couple. Today, about 96 percent of couples register for gifts.  
4. Your dress should be ornate, enormous, white, and you must only wear it once in your life.
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Queen Victoria first made the enormous white wedding dress a thing in 1830, but for a long time, only the very wealthy wore the style. Up until the 1930s, women would often get married in dresses they already owned or buy new, reusable dresses in darker colors that wouldn't stain. The white, full-skirted "once-in-a-lifetime" wedding dress likely originated with department store bridal salons in the late '20s, who saw the money-making potential of marketing expensive dresses that women would never wear again.

Before then, wedding dresses had typically followed fashion hemlines of the moment, but the bridal industry attempted to "maximize profits by promoting more expensive floor-length gowns." That ideal wedding dress was promoted throughout wedding magazines and advertisements. In the '60s, the Bridal Apparel Association even commissioned studies that attempted to prove that a white wedding dress made for a more stable marriage. 
 
5. If you spend enough, you can buy your "perfect wedding."
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If having the perfect wedding seems impossible to achieve, that's because it's an imaginary standard. As Cele Otnes and Elizabeth Pleck wrote in "Cinderella Dreams,""The idea of the perfect wedding is not age-old, but instead was created by the bridal industry and eventually accepted by the public," and likely was first popularized in the 1920s. In the years that followed, they note, "the word appears in the founding statement of every bridal magazine or bridal association..." and was used to advertise everything from wedding menus to bachelorette parties. While weddings had previously been homemade, often humble affairs for most Americans, the quest for "perfection" necessitated tons of spending.  
 
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Fiona Jacques, 30, married Michal Gabrielczyk, 25, at King's College Chapel, Cambridge, followed by a reception at The Manor Barn on 8 June 2013. She says:


Michal and I met through the Corpus Christi College rowing club. I was asked to cox the first boat crew and, after a fortnight of me shouting at them, they did better than expected! During the next two years, our friendship grew over tea and cake every day.
Only those with a close connection to the chapel can marry there - I teach at King's College School and look after the choristers at evenings and weekends. We also had to obtain a special licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury as the chapel isn't a parish church.
We found our colour palette by looking through the pages of Brides - we both love purple, so it was an obvious choice to make.
Michal and I are known for being quite adventurous with food. We wanted to keep an element of the unusual while at the same time providing something that everyone else would eat - the duck breasts, potato bake and beetroot fondants went down a treat!
Because we met through rowing we had a guard of honour with oars from our old college and current rowing clubs to accompany us to the reception. We considered doing it as we left the chapel, but realised that the 12ft oars might be somewhat dwarfed by King's College.
We collected interesting wine bottles and corks in the months leading up to the wedding and used them as name card holders. We also used over 250 metres of homemade bunting.
My top tip: Don't feel pressured into following certain traditions if they make you feel uncomfortable. You want to be able to look back and have enjoyed the experience.

Photography by Lina And Tom; www.linaandtom.com
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Leslie Gerdes, 31, married Lloyd Sommers, 34, on the bride's family farm in Walnut, Illinois, in the US June 2012. She says:
"My favourite memories are of life on our farm and I wanted to share them with my city friends. It was also a chance to have a giant family reunion - more than 100 relations attended!
We went for a mismatched look, with a country-chic theme.
My cousin made the animal-shaped table numbers, place names and the signpost, while my mum collected antique tablecloths and china for the tables.
We put out old rocking chairs for people to relax on and scattered hay bales around for extra seating.
Instead of a cake, we had locally made fruit pies and cupcakes.
Our palette included blues, greens and yellows, with pops of pinks and purples. I chose a simple dress to fit the rustic setting - I loved the pockets as I could keep lots of tissues in them!"

Photography by Our Labor of Love; www.ourlaboroflove.com   
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I’m always a little jealous of California’s year round sunshine. It offers up the perfect weather for an al fresco affair, even in the Fall. And Beaulieu Garden couldn’t be a more stunning backdrop with it’s garden finery and canopy of twinkling lights. It’s made even more so at the hands of Atelier Joya, Stacy McCain Event Planning and loads of pretty images by Elle Jae. Click here for even more.



































From The Bride…I had no idea Morgan was going to propose. It was the morning of my grandmothers birthday and we got up early to take our bulldog, Dexter for a hike along the beach in Half Moon Bay. We were supposed to be at parents house for an early bbq that afternoon to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday. Dexter loves the water and the beach and was dragging me towards the water and Morgan was walking very slowly behind us. I finally stopped to ask him if he was feeling ok and he had already taken the ring box out of his pocket. He asked me if I would marry him and Dexter and I laughed and said yes. He asked me again if I was sure and I said yes. He said “good, because all of our friends and family are going to be at your parents today to celebrate”. Turns out, I was the only one who didn’t know he was proposing. That afternoon was so much fun because it ended up being a surprise engagement party with our closest friends and family…….
When Morgan and I got engaged, we both immediately knew that we wanted to be married in the Napa Valley. We wanted to invite our family and friends to not only celebrate with us on our wedding day but spend the weekend with us and enjoy all that Napa has to offer.
Our weekend began at the Andaz Hotel, located downtown Napa, surrounded by restaurants, shopping and the Napa river all within walking distance. Our family and friends were greeted with a goodie bag and map of downtown with places to see and visit during their stay. We wanted to spend as much time as we could visiting with everyone who traveled to celebrate so we had an open cocktail party instead of a rehearsal dinner on the patio at the Andaz.
The day of the wedding, our guests were shuttled to Beaulieu Gardens, a private estate located in Rutherford. We chose this venue for its obvious beauty and with its many different gardens, we were able to move the party from one area to another, creating a “roaming party” feel.
The overall theme or aesthetic of our ceremony and reception was a natural-rustic Napa feel with pops of glam. Farm wood tables with sequin runners and mercury glass, hanging tea lights from over head, just made everything look so rich glamorous without taking away the already beautiful landscape from the venue. It was perfect clear fall evening and we had placed throws on all the ladies chairs for them incase they got chilly. We wanted everyone to feel like they were included and had the best seat in the house so we had couches and lounge areas set up near the reception area and dance floor to give it a more intimate feeling. Instead of a guest book, we had photo album on one of the coffee tables for everyone to sign and write messages in. That was fun for us to read though the next day.
We still wanted it to be fun and personal and at the end of evening, we wanted our friends and family to leave thinking that it was the best party ever. We chose Pop Rocks as our band because we loved their energy and we wanted everyone to dance. We had late night snacks passed for guests during the last hour of dancing to keep the party going. At the end of the evening, our guests were shuttled back to the hotel and we invited all of our guests who weren’t ready to go to bed yet, to join us after hours for some sushi and cocktails next.

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Monique Lhuillier 2015 spring and summer wedding like to create an elegant daytime dreams, inspired by the late 19th and early 20th century, excellent portraits, watercolor master John Singer Sargent Lovell paintings.
Monique Lhuillier 2015 spring and summer weddingD525A3BBEA85F9F1E094A9840ED5259ADCE4B7D8EDE5928ABD2C
Tulle, lace, embroidery and luxurious belt, in the sense of the profile of architecture and layers of flowing fishtail skirt, it all seems effortless. A Bra-shaped embroidered tulle dress trimmed with elegant fishtail skirt is the most important series of two wedding silhouette, with a three-dimensional layers of lace jacquard adds more romantic fun.
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My dears, I’ve got something to admit. I’m in love. The head-over-heels totally smitten kind, and I can’t wait to share the object of my affection with you all. Because I couldn't find a better array of wedding dresses to showcase on our Valentine's week than the new One Love by Bien Savvy 2014... the name says it all! Once you lay your eyes on their collections filled with stunning gowns, you’ll be smitten too! Incorporating rich, luxe fabrics such as satin and lace with incredible beading and detailing, this Romanian bridal house offers brides some of the prettiest frocks I did every lay eyes on. Ready to take a peek? Well, here is Part 1.

Stay tuned, because Thursday I will be bringing you Part 2. UPDATE: See Part 2 here.



































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