Julio and Billie Tie the Knot on Valentines Day!

Congratulations Billie and Julio!!!

Do you remember in the movie LOVE STORY the famous line…….Love isn’t love till you give it away??? Well, with that in mind, Loving Unity Officiants and selected wedding professionals decided to sponsor a contest for one lucky couple to enter to win a free wedding ceremony on Valentines Day! The lucky winners were Billie and Julio of Largo, and their three children!!! What a beautiful wedding they had. The venue was Islands Bamboo Gardens in Pinellas Park! Kelly and Karlyn provided the setting that included a beautiful bamboo archway for the couple to be married under, and the music for the ceremony. Billie and Julio exchanged their vows next to the waterfalls, Koi pond, and fabulous variety of Bamboo! This location was beautiful and peaceful! All who attended were amazed by the beauty and peace they experienced while they were there to witness Billie and Julio exchanging their vows. The stunning red rose bouquet, boutonnière, and rose cake top were provided as a gift from The Rose Garden Florist. The red roses were exquisite!!!

The couple selected a religious wedding, which I officiated, and they lit a unity candle to join their lives together. The beautiful photography was compliments of Britt McAllister.

What would a wedding be without cake?? The moist and tasty cake with raspberry filling was provided compliments of Bonnie Yarborough of Celebration Cakes! It was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted, and I taste cake at just about every wedding that I officiate!! After cutting the cake, the couple danced their first dance as husband and wife! Following their dance, the couple celebrated a toast with custom wine provided by Hugh and Jean of Wine Works! Not only was the wine custom made, but notice the front of the bottle!! It had the couple’s photo and wedding date! How special!!! After the toast, the couple was presented with a gift basket provided by Kendra Briggs and the Perfect Wedding Guide! All of the guests and the vendors that provided their services for Billie and Julio signed guest book compliments of Michele of Paper Players and gave the couple a wedding card and personal gift.

This was a wonderful example of love; each vendor gave of their love to provide this couple with a gorgeous, meaningful, and spectacular wedding celebration that they will remember for the rest of their lives!!!

Heartfelt thanks to all my fellow wedding professionals, whom I also consider very dear friends, for giving of their time and talents to make a dream come true for Billie and Julio and their children!!!

Thanks to the following wedding professionals:

Islands Bamboo Gardens - Kelly & Karlyn - www.islandlawnservices.com or email at island1@tampabay.rr.com
Photography - Britt McAllister 727-512-1681 www.brittusa.com email britt@brittusa.com
Cake - Bonnie Yarborough - Celebration Cakes 727-517-7260 or email contact@celebrationcakes.biz
Custom Wine - Jean and Hugh at Wine Works- 11869 34th St. N St. Petersburg 727-556-2535  www.wineworksfl.com

Flowers - Heather at Rose Garden Flowers & Gifts - 10592 Seminole Blvd., Largo - 727-391-1200
Gift Basket - Kendra Briggs on behalf of the Perfect Wedding Guide
Guest Book - Michele Whitaker of Paper Players - invitations
Officiating & Coordination - Rev. Virginia Bishop, LovingUnity.com 727-532-6181

You're Invited...........Bridal Showcase!

I enjoy meeting happy couples at Bridal Showcase's and Bridal Expos, but it also gives me an opportunity to meet and greet vendors who may be of interest to you in your wedding planning!

This is a great opportunity for you! There will be a Bridal Showcase coming up.

Sunday, April 5th, 2009
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
St. Pete Beach Community Center
7701Boca Ciega Drive

Come and view the beautiful Boca Ciega Ballroom with ceiling swag decorations, and mock reception tablescapes. Visualize a ceremony on the edge of Boca Ciega Bay. Meet with the best of the Bay Area's caterers, chocolatiers, photographers, DJ's and more.

COST???????? ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!!!!!!!!

All registered guests will be entered to win a 4 hour rental in the Boca Ciega room for the rehearsal dinner, sower or reception.

For rental information call Kelly Poole at 727-363-9245 or email her at k.poole@stpetebeach.org

Hope to see you there!!!

Grattitude...........relax and enjoy

My friend Rev. Claire Goodman, Interfaith Minister in Charlottesville, Virginia, shared this with me and it is just too beautiful to pass up. I hope it will give you a little relaxation today when we are all so hurried and stressed!

Islands' Bamboo Garden - Unique Wedding Venue

I just love this location!!! It is truly unique and intimate, and perfect for your wedding ceremony if you enjoy the outdoors and nature, and have 80 guests or less.  Karlyn and Kelly Bradshaw have done an outstanding job preparing this area to be an impeccable location!  The venue is great for a wedding and reception for groups of 80 or less, seated.  It can accomodate 100 for a cocktail party.  In addition to an attractive Guadua Bamboo Arch that was 100% designed by Kelly, the site has a garden atmosphere, with Koi pond, waterfall, fountains and tiki torches.  There are outside bathrooms, and ice machine, outdoor sound system, dressing room for the bride, and inside reception area available.  They do have custom packages available, with rental of the garden  at a pice of $500. which includes use of all the facilities for your private functions. 

They are located conveniently in Pinellas Park, Florida, directly off 66th Street at 85th Avenue North.  One mile north of Park Boulevard and 2 1/2 miles south of Bryan Dairy road. 

6540  85th Avenue
Pinellas Park, Florida
727 548-0595

Step Parent Issues with the Wedding Planning

Step Parent Issues

The Delicate Issue of Steps...

...And I don't mean the staircase you descend on your wedding day!

Consider yourself unusual if you and your spouse-to-be both have parents that are still married to each other (not your parents to your fiancé’s parents of course, cuz….well….that would be just…well….WRONG, but you know what I mean—both of your respective biological moms are still married to your respective biological dads!) I don’t have any firm statistics, but based on the number of couples I’ve seen, I’d offer a guess that only about one in 10 fit this mold. The rest of you have parental units that are some mishmash of divorced, divorced and single, divorced and remarried, divorced and living with a significant other, divorced and gay, or even divorced, remarried and divorced again. Multiply that by four and the possibilities for stress are endless!

The first thing you need to do is assess the situation. Remember that you are under no obligation to include anyone and everyone in your wedding ceremony. It’s your day! Easier said than done, however, if you are trying to be respectful to everyone but your mother won’t get near “that” woman and your dad will not acknowledge your stepfather’s existence. There are some however, some tips to get you through the worst of it.

Much will depend on the timing. If your parents divorced when you were young and the “step” was an integral part of your upbringing, then you will probably want to give them a higher level of involvement than the step who didn’t come into your life until your adult years.

For the most part (and I will acknowledge that there are exceptions to every rule) it is probably best to put a priority on the feelings of your biological parents—unless they just being plain unreasonable. Always mention them first and include in your ceremony in the highest places of honor. Generally, these include escorting the bride down the aisle, helping the bride get dressed (definitely reserved for your biological mom!)lighting the unity candle, the etiquette of being seated (i.e. bride’s mother is always the last to be seated, with the groom’s mother just before her), being given front row seats, inclusion in the prayer of thanks to parents, being thanked via a toast at the reception, inclusion in the receiving line (of there is one) etc.

Regardless of the closeness of the “step” relationship, please remember to give each parent (and “steps” are parents even if they are not biological ones) a corsage/boutonniere. It’s inoffensive to all, inexpensive, and subtle and the gesture will be appreciated.

Here are some other ways to include your step-parents in your wedding day, based on the comfort level of all involved:

Have your step mothers seated as part of the processional. Just make sure they are seated before the biological mothers.

If your stepfather has been an important part of the bride’s life, then think about having him escort you part of the way down the aisle, or joining you and your dad as you arrive at the front row. Check with your dad first!

Have your dad escort the bride down the aisle (in traditional fashion). When the officiant asks, “Who gives their blessing to this marriage?” ALL the parents (even the groom’s) can answer “We do.”

Have one of your step-parents do a reading or recite the final blessing.

Include your stepparents in the prayer of thanks to the parents. Out of respect for your parents, you’d have the officiant refer to your biological parents first, then your stepparents after that.

Blow off the entire idea of including any of your parents. Walk down the aisle alone (or with your groom) and just have all parental units be guests. That way, no one gets offended!

Have your biological parents do all the honors for the wedding, but include a special word of thanks to your parents AND stepparents in the program.

As far as seating goes, traditional etiquette (which can always be flaunted in unusual circumstances) dictates that married couples should be seated together. According to the rules of those etiquette mavens in the know, it should look like this (it’s the same for both bride’s and groom’s side, so we’ll just list the bride’s side). Your mom gets the first row and she should be seated next to her husband/significant other. Stepmom goes in the second row, seated next to your biological father. In cases where there is enough seating and everyone gets along, then all four parents (if there are that many) can be seated in the first row. The order should be (from outside in) mother, stepfather, father stepmother. Of course, if your father and stepfather are ready to kill each other, you’ll need to modify this arrangement. Use your common sense and get your officiant to help you—etiquette rules are there to make people comfortable. If following them has the opposite affect, then toss them and make up your own rules.

If the situation among your parents is really tense and you truly like and respect your stepparent but want to respect your biological parents’ wishes, then go along with your biological parents’ wishes for the big day, but be sure to arrange some special time with your step parents beforehand so that you can tell them how much you value them in your lives. Take your stepmother out to lunch, have dinner with the groom’s dad and his wife a week or so before the wedding. Make them feel special and let them know you are glad they will be there on your special day, in spite of possible difficult circumstances.

Alert your officiant and your wedding coordinator, if you have one, to possible volatile situations, sources of friction, etc. We’ve got experience in this field and a word from us in a recalcitrant parental ear often works wonders!

Bamboo Island Gardens - Valentines Wedding

CONGRATULATIONS Billie and Julio!!!!!!!!!!!! They are the winners of the Free Wedding Contest sponsored by Loving Unity Officiates!!! Billie and Julio will enjoy their ceremony at the Bamboo Island Gardens on February 14th! The bride will have beautiful roses for her bouquet and cake top provided by The Rose Garden in Largo, Florida, the Wedding Cake will be provided by Bonnie of Celebration Cakes, the Photography will be provided by Britt McCallister, and Wine Toast will be provided by the Wine Works, Guest book/Photo Album provided by the Paper Players!  They'll also receive a lovely honeymoon gift basket from Kendra Briggs!   I will be posting all the great photos of this couple and their event, as well as the vendors who gave of their time and talents to make this possible for this well deserving couple.

Love is truly in the air!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Valentines Day Weddings!!

Yes! We actually have TWO weddings scheduled for Valentine's Day! One is actually the winner of the contest that I had been running on this blog. But, for this entry, I wonder how many people actually know the History of Valentines Day???

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine! But, who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentines Day - and it's patron saint - is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been the month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, has both Christian and Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentius, all of whom were martyred.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl - who may have been his jailor's daughter- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed. "From your Valentine", an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legend is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial - which probably occurred around 270 A.D. - others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentin's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "Christianize" celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival.

During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of bird's mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February - Valentines Day - should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Greetings Americans probably began exchanging handmade valentines in the early 1700's. Esther A. Howland began to see the first mass-produced valentines in America.

Imagine that!!!! I personally have a small collection of antique valentines postcards, I love them. Do you have any, do you save your valentines?