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A wedding is a blessing, full of good wishes and hopes for two people who have decided to spend the rest of their lives together. This is the reason so much tradition surrounds weddings - almost every symbol and aspect of the wedding ceremony has some superstition attached to it the wedding ring, the wedding dress, the bridesmaids, the bouquet, the best man and even the weather are all factors to consider when planning a successful, blessed wedding.

The traditional poem used as the title dates back to Victorian times. It’s a form of a blessing for the couple, and the bride is supposed to wear each of the four “somethings” with her wedding dress. The silver sixpence is supposed to bring the couple wealth, although these days the bride normally places a penny in her shoe - silver sixpences are quite difficult to find!

Before The Wedding Ceremony

In the past marriage proposals were a very serious undertaking. A prospective groom would send his representatives to his intended’s family to put forward his case. The journey was taken very seriously indeed. The marriage was guaranteed to succeed if the representatives passed wolves, pigeons or nanny goats during the journey. However if they passed a monk, a blind man or a pregnant woman they would return immediately to the hopeful bridegroom, because these sights were considered a bad omen for the marriage.

There’s an old traditional poem that claimed it was unlucky for a woman to marry a man whose surname began with the same letter as hers to marry:

To change the name and not the letter
Is a change for the worst and not the better

Write her new name before the wedding is not considered a wise practice, and is believed to bring bad luck by tempting fate.

If you can persuade a cat to eat out of your left shoe one week before the wedding good luck will bless your married life. The same thinking applies if there’s a full moon one or two days before your special day.

If candles lit on the wedding day splutter and go out those evil spirits are nearby, waiting to cause mischief.

The Wedding Dress

We’ve all heard the superstition that claims it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony, but did you know it’s considered bad luck for a bride to sew her own wedding dress? The bride should also never wear the entire outfit until the day of her wedding. Some brides leave one last stitch undone until it’s time to leave for the ceremony, sewing it up before they depart for the church.

The colour of the dress is very important, and there’s a quaint rhyme to guide the bride in her decision:

Married in White, you have chosen right
Married in Grey, you will go far away,
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in Blue, you will always be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
Married in Pink, your spirit will sink.

Green was the colour considered the most inappropriate. A green dress was thought to be imply grass stains that resulted from the wearer “rolling around in the hay”. The only time a green wedding dress was considered lucky was if the bride was Irish!.

A borrowed wedding dress will bring much luck to the wearer, but bad luck to the lender. And any bride who finds a spider inside her wedding dress should rejoice - it’s a good sign! But beware, arachnophobes - try not to struggle too much. Tearing a wedding dress means the marriage will end in death.

Veils were traditionally worn to protect the bride from evil spirits. In some Eastern cultures the groom is does not see his bride’s face until he lifts the veil after the ceremony - now that could be the basis for a wonderful horror story! The tradition behind the bridesmaid doesn’t appear to be offer anyone taking that role much happiness - they were actually decoys to confuse any evil spirits with designs upon the bride! This superstition dates back to Roman times, when the law required ten witnesses to outwit the inevitable evil spirits bound to turn up and spoil a happy event. This meant that ushers and bridesmaids were dressed in a similar fashion to the bride, in the belief that the evil spirits would become confused and take a bridesmaid instead of the bride!

Journey To The Ceremony

Before departing a quick glance in the mirror to check her attire will bring a bride good fortune. However if she returns to the mirror after the journey has begun she will attract only bad luck. There are a number of things to look out for on the journey to the church, because they’re a guarantee of a happy life together. These include: chimney sweeps, lambs, toads, spiders, black cats, rainbows and - if there’s a circus in town - elephants. Conversely the sight of one of the following during the journey is a bad omen:

an open grave, a rabbit, a pig, a lizard, a rooster crowing and monks and nuns. The latter two may be associated with chastity and poverty, and also signify that the newlyweds may be dependant on charity during their marriage.

The best man’s job is to protect the bridegroom from any bad luck and evil spirit’s lurking nearby. He must ensure that once the groom has begun his journey to the church he does not return home - for any reason.

The Ceremony

The ring must NEVER be dropped during the ceremony. If it falls to the ground does the union is doomed. An ancient wedding superstition states that if either the groom or the bride drops it, it’s a sign that he or she will be the first to die. If it rolled away from the altar steps, the omen was extremely bad. If it came to rest on a gravestone in the floor, it foretold an early death for one of the pair - the bride if the person buried beneath the stone was a woman, the groom if it was a man.

The reason the ring is placed on the third finger of the left hand dates back to Roman times, when they believed that the left hand was more clean and pure because most work was done with the right hand. They also believed the vein in this finger was directly connected to the heart, the centre of LOVE. The third finger is also symbolic of the Holy Trinity: The Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The reason the groom arrives at the church before the bride is another old belief. It’s supposed to increase the marriage’s good fortune. This is also the reason the bride is supposed to take her first step into the church with her right foot. Timing is also import - ensure the vows are not spoken at the bottom of the hour, because that will encourage bad luck. If the bride weeps on her wedding day it’s a guarantee that she will never cry again during the duration of her marriage.

Afterwards

The new bride must enter her home by the main door, and she must not trip or fall. It’s unlucky for the bride to step into her new home with the left foot first, which is the reason the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold came about.

And remember - the spouse who falls asleep first on the wedding night will be the first to die

This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Prye.Com/ which is a site for Wedding Invitations.

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Party food is an important aspect of a great party. It is possible to have delicious snacks on a shoestring budget. Here are a number of ideas to help you have a great party. Firstly, establish how much you can spend and stick to it. Be careful not to over cater. Many hostesses are left with huge amounts of half eaten cake and wasted snacks after a party. Something to drink and about two savory and two sweet snacks are more then enough.

Something Wet

Juice mixed with water is far cheaper then sodas. There are ways to make juice attractive to soda addicts. Mix red or green juice in a punch bowl. The kids will enjoy serving the juice with a ladle. For added fun place different colored ice cubes in the bowl. Make the cubes the day before by putting a few drops of different colored food coloring in each ice tray segment. Use outlandish colors like black, blue or purple. Add a bottle of soda water to the juice just before serving, to give the illusion of bubbles.

Something Savory

Make popcorn. It’s the cheapest,healthiest and most filling snack available. Sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and salt or cheese flavored powder. Place the popcorn and inexpensive potato chips in large bowls on low tables. This way little guests can help themselves.

Something Sweet

Buy or bake inexpensive plain biscuits. Mix three or four different colors of icing sugar in separate bowls. Let each child decorate their own biscuits with M&Ms, colored sprinkles or other inexpensive sweets and toppings.

Something Special - The Birthday Cake

Don’t forget the cake. To every kid his/her birthday cake is something special and worth remembering. A piece of chocolate or vanilla cake goes down well with the young and old at a party. Take a look at these great cake recipes and step-by-step kid birthday cake decorating ideas.

Something to Eat

Depending on the time your party is being held, you may need to feed the guests something more substantial then snacks. Make shaped sandwiches and store in the refrigerator. Take tree slices of bread. Spread two with different spreads like jelly and peanut butter or sandwich spread and cheese. Place the three slices on top of each other. Use cookie cutters and drinking glasses to cut out fun shapes.

If your budget can stretch so far make pizzas. Two toppings are sufficient. You could also serve something like mince and noodles or spaghetti. Color the noodles red or blue for added fun. Remember, that if your are serving food like this you can cut down on the number of snacks.

Something for Big People

If there are adults attending, you will need to cater for them too. However, let you family and close friends come to the rescue. Ask them to each bring a plate of sweet and/or savory eats. They won’t mind - people like feeling helpful.

Serve tea and coffee. This is far cheaper then fruit juice or sodas. Make tea in a large tea pot rather then letting each person use a separate tea bag. Borrow one from a friend or your church if you don’t have one. Lay everything out so your guests can help themselves.

If it is warm and your budget allows, make an inexpensive ice tea punch by mixing a bottle of fruit juice, cold tea and sugar. Add a tin of mixed fruit pieces and ice cubes with mint leaves in them.

These ideas will help you throw a great party despite financial constraints.

Tania Collins (MissTy) is mom to two wonderful redheads, Ryan and Shannon, for whom she loves throwing parties.
Visit http://www.perfect-party-ideas.comrty-ideas.com where we give you all the ideas to throw the perfect party. Get access to over a hundred party freebies

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When it comes to choosing a good quality men’s designer shoe, Italian shoes are simply the best and most sought after type of shoes around the world. They have the best quality, style and craftsmanship.

You will often find that the traditional methods of tanning and shoemaking are still used in Italy, which means the finest of materials are chosen for the uppers and inner lining. The shoes are even hand sewn. This kind of quality often comes with a high price tag but the Italian shoemakers are coming up with great shoes at lower prices.

Italian designers are among the best footwear designers in the world designing the highest quality men’s shoes, with the best style, comfort and fit. If you want the very best, there is only one way to go, that’s Italian!

Choosing a good quality men’s designer shoe can be easy when you know what to look for. This would include the grade of leather, available styles from designers and your own personal tastes along with your correct shoe size. Let’s begin by looking at leather grades.

Full grain leather has its original markings and grain texture of the animal the leather was taken from. When a full, natural grain texture is present, you can consider it full grain leather. Full grain leather is considered the best quality. You should inspect the leather. The leather should smell good, look natural and be soft to the touch. There are leathers made from mark free, perfect hide. They are more expensive and rare.

There is less expensive leather. It has its natural grain sanded away and the surface embossed with grain. This leather has a thick coating to cover the imperfections. They are stiff with the look and feel of plastic. This leather is considered top grain leather. Top grain leather is often misunderstood by a lot of customers because of its name. The quality of this leather is a contradiction to what the name implies. This leather material is not genuine since the original grains were sanded away. The grains are only imitations stamped on the leather. If however, the genuine grains are still intact, the leather will be called “full grain” or “full top grain”. The top grain leather is considered the much weaker type of leather. Most of the top grain leathers are graded lower but are more affordable to many buyers. Top grain leather can still wear well and look great.

When choosing your quality designer men’s shoe, you want to choose the best leather along with the best stitching. The best stitching is hand-sewn leather. Hand-sewn leather is the strongest most durable leather when it comes to quality men’s designer shoes. It is true what they say about the Italians, they do it best!

Often you will find Italian designer shoes with accent stitching, tonal stitching and other really unique stitching as well. This can be very defining in a good quality men’s designer shoe. Be sure to examine the stitching for its quality. Sometimes you just simply have to admire the exquisite designs of the hand-sewn Italian designer shoe. Some of the craftsmanship is simply breath taking.

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get your brand name shoes at http://www.brandnameshoesplus.com

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