Congratulations October Brides and Fiancées

Happy 33rd Anniversary Brenda. October. It's the most beautiful time of year for us. A time to get warm and cozy by the beach or snuggle up by candle light at a secret hotel suite. This past weekend by wife and I celebrated out Anniversary and took a meaningful walk down memory lane by way of video, music and nostalgia. But what made it so enjoyable was remembering a request.

Remember The Request

Some of the best gifts ever given were of requests long forgotten. I remembered brenda's request to make a video of the family growing up. She remembered my request to make a playlist of our favorite oldies from the time we first met to the present. And then we sighed, snuggled and as is said in Africa our hearts laid down. At the moment that's what Scamper our cat and distinguished member of the family seems to have in mind while I multitask on two computers. One to write this blog entry and the other to create a family video scrapbook - Part II, Our Granddaughter. It's something Brenda has been asking for and I refuse to put it off a day longer. As mentioned a few days ago I completed the first of these video scrapbooks.

The Book of Life

The first was an anniversary gift to Brenda.  I call this series of video scrapbooks 'The Book of Life' series. When completed it will take the viewer from my family heritage in the motherland to our life in america. I hope to share it with the next generation and those to come and leave a trail of identity, hope, reunion and assurance.

What I love about this project is you can create it to play on your lightweight iPad or tablet. Here's an idea... You can prop up the tablet on the candle lit dinner table for two and let the video say it all and then when the video is done play your favorite tunes while sequencing through family photos and memorable scenic spots enjoyed then and now.

Anniversary Commemoration Ideas

This project will be an ongoing one to say the least. The first edition was an anniversary commemoration presented to my wife of 33years.  It will be shared again with the rest of the family on my fathers next wedding Anniversary and an update later on my next anniversary. It will include interviews, maps, home video, news clips, newspaper clippings and photos as backdrop to narration and my own music compositions. That said take the time to create a playlist of music that marks special times in the life of your relationship together.

She Said Yes

Brenda played the music playlist of our lives and added memories of the times when we first heard or danced to each song. There is a country song on the list titled "She Said Yes" and "We Danced."  Although I introduced Brenda to slow romantic country music, I had not heard these two songs in a few years. It was a real surprise.  Brenda said yes under the stars just outside her front door after I walked her home on a warm summers night and proposed.  It was then that our dance of life together began. On October 25th we both said "I do".  To all of you who said Yes or "I do" in October, congratulations and happy anniversary.

Wedding Gifts 

• 

  7 Day Wedding Countdown Checklist Bookmark

  A Gift for all you Autumn Brides out there.  Here is something you can't live without the final 7 days before your wedding.  The &...
• 

  How Do I Plan A Wedding?

  Planning a wedding can be one of the most daunting tasks in the life of a bride and groom. The key to success is good planning, organizing,...

Congratulations September Brides and Fiancées

Congratulations to those married or to be wed, as well as those engaged in September?
This is your month to tell us how he proposed to you.

Why I love September

Light gusts of wind sweep up swirling golden leaves as the sweet scent of pine cones and pungent fallen apples fill the air.  It's a virtual fest for butterflies, sparrows and other creatures great and small. The time of harvest as arrived and with that it's time to carefully store away a fruitful season of growth and memories.

Did You Know?

Did you know that. September begins on the same day of the week as December every year. September means 7. That said, It was originally the seventh of ten months on the oldest known Roman calendar. The ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with a length of 30 days. 

Birthstone

September's birthstone is the sapphire. Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium can give corundum blue, yellow, purple, orange, or a greenish color.  With its Mohs hardness of 9, second only to diamond, is one of the most wearable of all gemstones.

Birth Flower

The birth flowers for September are the forget-me-not, morning glory and aster. 

Tell Us Your Story

Whether you were proposed to in the month of September or were wed tell us your story and send it to someone you love.

DIY CRAFTY GIFT IDEAS

The "7 Days Before The Wedding Countdown Planner Checklist Bookmark"  Makes a great gift and can be used as a printable graphical template for many different craft projects. 

• Print it on a commemorative T-shirt.
• Print it on a fabric neck scarf.
• Print it on a fabric hair scarf.
• Send it to all the Brides-to-be you know.
  
• Print on a tall mug (cut in three sections).
• Print on a slim poster.
• Print on sticky paper for a scrapbook countdown timeline.
• Print and stick to the side of your monitor display.
• Print and wrap vertically around your bed post
• Print and wrap vertically around your Ficus Tree
• Print and hang ornamentally from your chandelier
• Print and attach to the side a your wall poster.

Right click and save the image to a file.

Find vital wedding planning checklists in the newly released wedding planner and organizer Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner.

Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner.
Enjoy the May and June Bride Special for a limited time.
List Price: $29 Now $26.65 here.

7 Keys To Making Your Marriage Last

What are the seven keys to making your marriage last? Here are some helpful reminders to work out long before you say, ''I Do." 

1. Don't settle for a lasting marriage. Build a lasting, loving one. That means there are times we must put our own feelings aside and be more considerate, forgiving and kind. Do for him or her what you want done for you. In other words be an example of a love that lasts. Discuss the reasons why you do what you do and note the benefits.

2. Good marriages are built by good people. While you want to be appreciated for who you are changes in your own viewpoint will need to be made in order to accommodate your marriage partner and let him or her into your live. You will need to learn to give them needed space and take on the necessary qualities to become more of a compliment of the other.

3. You and your spouse will make mistakes. Minor and major. Understand how your mistakes impact your mate emotionally, mentally and yes, financially.  Find out how mistakes can alter their plans for the future and even alter the way that person functions in life and provides support to you. A single apology may not be enough for long term losses. Learn how to undo the damage done and pick up the broken pieces while mend the relationship as best you can. 

4. Remember that marriage is a legal partnership and with any partnership there are business contracts that must be adhered to. Honor your agreements. If you are a wife and must work a secular job to supplement income remember the contractual reasons why you are there and live up to them. Instead of building a life outside the home, center your life around the one who vowed loyalty, friendship and commitment to you, your mate. Know the difference between secular ambition and loving marital commitment.

5. Marriage is companionship. A companion is loving, protective and supportive much like a gentlemen's gentlemen. It is no compromise of gender to be similarly supportive to the one who plans to spend his or her life with you. But companionship is also about nurturing and taking the time to enjoy the memories of the times your shared, seeing good for your hard work.

6. Marriage is friendship and true friendship is everlasting. 

7. Remember that marriage is more than living or rooming together for convenience sake. Marriage is making a commitment to love, care for, honor and subject oneself to the other. 
It about confirming your love by putting up with and dealing with the problems and challenges. Commitments that last are a constant affirmation of ones love, approval and worth. 

Almost 2 thousand years ago similar words were written to families in the Roman Province of Corinth. 

"Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury.  It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
-1 Cor 13:4-8.

_________________________________________________________

Making Your Wedding A Most Memorable Occasion

The key to making your wedding meaningful and memorable is all in the planning itself. This is a time to explore yourself. Principles and traditions that are important to you. An opportunity to express the depth of your love and trust in your husband-to-be.

Your wedding takes on special meaning when you surround yourself with your most precious relationships. Besides the husband to be you'll want to keep close contact with family and best friends. Remember that you cannot please everyone. What's most important is...
Read more at Fimark's My Wedding Planner

7 Day Wedding Countdown Checklist Bookmark

Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner







A Gift for all you Brides out there.  Here is something you can't live without the final 7 days before your wedding. 

The "7 Days Before The Wedding Countdown Planner Checklist Bookmark" written and designed by Mark and Brenda Askew, authors of Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner.

• Print the checklist and use it as a wedding guidebook bookmark.
• Place it between the pages of task notes.
• Put it on your frig for daily reminders.
• Pin it to your office clipboard.
• Using a magnet clasp put it on your metal file cabinet.
• Insert it in your binder cover. 

• Keep it handy the final 7 days of the wedding.
   
• Review it with your Maid of Honor, family, and friends and make sure they have a copy.
• Pin it to your Pinterest boards, as a reminder.
• Make it your tablet or smartphone homepage digital bookmark and share it.

DIY CRAFTY GIFT IDEAS

The "7 Days Before The Wedding Countdown Planner Checklist Bookmark"  Makes a great gift and can be used as a printable graphical template for many different craft projects. 

• Print it on a commemorative T-shirt.
• Print it on a fabric neck scarf.
• Print it on a fabric hair scarf.
• Send it to all the Brides-to-be you know.
  
• Print on a tall mug (cut in three sections).
• Print on a slim poster board.
• Put in your wedding scrapbook.
• Print and stick to the side of your monitor display.
• Print and tie vertically to your bedpost
• Print and tie to your indoor tree
• Print and hang ornamentally from your chandelier
• Print and attach to the side of a picture frame.

Right-click and save the image to a file.

How Do I Plan A Wedding?

Planning a wedding can be one of the most daunting tasks in the life of a bride and groom. The key to success is good planning, organizing, timing and reducing needless anxiety over details and costs.


So Where Do You Start? 
How you start planning your wedding will ultimately determine the results. So don't rush the initial planning process. First and foremost, get your hands on a wedding planning checklist. A good wedding checklist will help you cover the major tasks associated with the wedding as well as the details. Wedding checklists come in a variety of formats including static webpage lists, text documents, PDF documents, spreadsheet and application format. You'll also find printable lists so you can check off items and add notes on paper. Another popular, tried and true format that has been used for ages and is still being used are wedding planning checklists in paperback book format.


Not Just Any Checklist
While there are literally thousands of wedding planning checklists on the Net, a wedding planning checklist should do more than provide a list of the major task and a check box. The right checklist will help you schedule and organize your time, prioritize event planning tasks, point you to associated task worksheets and provide many other vital planning benefits. That's where wedding planning TIMELINE checklists come in. Timeline checklists are designed to help the user get an overview of tasks involved in managing the event from day one to the day of the wedding. Studying the timeline helps the user get an idea of how and when to execute and follow-up on tasks associated with planning, organizing and managing the wedding.


Wedding Planning Timeline Checklists
A wedding planning timeline checklist helps you get done what's needed in a timely, organized manner and thus save time, money. Such good planning spares you needless anxiety and can help you save thousands of dollars in fees and service costs. A good wedding planning timeline checklist consists of a multi-page checklist, a timeline stretching over several months, tips and associated task worksheets. That said,  the ideal timeline checklists are those found in book form.

Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner

Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner
Complete wedding planner with the wedding planning timeline checklist.
https://www.createspace.com/3824647

Love Endures All Things

So how long can a marriage last? Herbert and Zelma have been married for 86 years. Both over were over 100 years of age when this picture was taken. They received a signed commendation from President Obama with a promise of an official invitation to the White House to meet him. 

The couple actually have a twitter page. When asked what is their secret to staying together so long. Zelma says “There isn't any secret. It was only God that kept us together.” 

Herbert and Zelma live in the home he built in 1942. They enjoy the visits of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. A testimony to the endurance of true love as written in a best-selling 1900 year old ancient guidebook: "love endures all things... love never fails" Congratulations Herbert and Zelma and Happy 86th Wedding Anniversary!

Whether you're engaged, a mother of the bride, sister of the bride or a brides maid hopeful.  Many years of wisdom can be found in a keepsake wedding planner that's ideal for planning organizing and managing your special day and all the events leading to it. In addition find ageless  tips on developing an enduring marriage in the closing 10 pages of our book "Fimark's My Keepsake Wedding Planner" an excellent personal guide or gift.