IF YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED......

So many people turn what should be a beautiful, elegant event into something that is just laughable. Even with the rules of etiquette often falling by the wayside with the new 21st century fads coming in to play there are certain things that still should be handled with tact and taste...not to mention class. Lets do a quick review.....

1. LIMIT YOUR SHOWERS!

No, I do not mean give up personal hygiene, I mean NO ONE wants to go to 12 showers in your honor. Not even your BFF. It is expensive and redundant. Limit the number of showers to maybe one thrown by family, one thrown by his family and then if you Must have another one by your friends, though they are probably ALREADY planning your bachelorette party.

2. NO MONEY DANCE!

It is BEYOND tacky to go around your reception and have people pin money on you. For goodness sakes hardly anyone even carries cash anymore! I understand some couples would prefer money/checks/gift cards instead of gifts. If this is the case politely list on a note with the invitation that monetary gifts are preferred, but the couple appreciates any thought and mostly the presences of their guest on their special day.

3. NO HORSE AND BUGGY!

unless you are having your wedding at Disney World or on a ranch it is just purely tacky. It is not even romantic looking anymore.(Sorry for those few couples I personally know have done it,but its horrid I would put a picture up but it might be mean.)

4. CUPID HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!

If I attend one more wedding where the 'Cupid Shuffle' is played I may just throw the cake in the middle of the dance floor! It is one of the worst songs ever written. There are many other classic dance songs to get people on the floor.

5. STRAPLESS IS OUT!

Alright ladies first let me say that some strapless gowns are beyond gorgeous. With that being said not every woman looks good in strapless. SO.....please do not put your bridesmaids or yourself in a strapless gown unless you or ALL of your bridesmaids have the body type for it. Along with it not being a good style on everyone it is so distracting watching the girls(EVEN THE BRIDE) pull their dress up the entire ceremony! Hey girls Kate Middleton had a wonderful dress with long sleeves that she looked beautiful and classic wearing.

6. STAY IN BUDGET!

It is no longer cool to spend 100 grand on a wedding. DEBT is not cool. People want to be economically smart.(Unless of course you are Kim Kardashian) Make your wedding all about you as a couple and as individuals merging together. Your guest list DOES NOT have to be everyone you ever met. You also do not need acrobats (unless perhaps you are one) at your wedding.

7. FOOD!

If you choose to host your wedding during a meal time then provide a meal!Even a nice buffet will suffice, but no one wants to be starving and eating only cake!which brings me to.....

8. THE CAKE!

Your cake is an amazing way to incorporate your theme of your wedding and use as a great centerpiece! Plain white is no longer necessary! Use your cake to express your style!

9.BE YOURSELF!

Unlike the 80's it is now the age of looking like you only the best version of yourself on your big day. Do not over do the hair or make-up. YOU DON'T NEED TO!Do you really want to look back at photos and regret what you looked like? No i believe not.

10. THANK YOU NOTES!

WRITE THEM. Enough said.

EVERYONE IS GETTING MARRIED.....BUT YOU

If you are like me you seem to get an invitation to a wedding, or wedding shower every other weekend. There are the gifts and the parties and the dresses, especially if you are a bridesmaid, and the shoes and flowers and the list never ends. If you happen to be good friend with the bride you get to be involved in all the details of your friends wedding, which you do not mind because she is your best friend right? Yeah.....Well I have been looking around lately and I feel that everyone else seems to be getting married but me. For awhile now this has made me feel like I am missing out on something and my life is not complete.
THANK GOODNESS I WOKE UP.
I am in a serious relationship with a wonderful man. Does he have his faults?( Don't we all?) But I know he loves me more than anything on this planet. Lately though I have been crazed about getting engaged and married and babies and mortgages together...(I know mortgages right I have lost it!) But today I realized a few things.
I am happy with the man I am dating. I am happy that I still have the freedom that comes with not being married. I also realized that I do not need a man or a wedding to validate me as a person.
Marriage is hard work. Girls, I hope you realize that you will never change a man. Please do not go into a marriage with the plans to change him; IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Men, women change. The fantasy we will always look like we did when we were 21 is simply that...a fantasy.
I look around and see these young women who are barely legally allowed to have a glass of wine having a big white wedding and they haven't even lived yet. I also look around and see girls/women/men/boys marrying a person after six months of dating. Can you really know a person well enough to make a life long commitment after 6 months?
True everyone is different and ready for different things in life at different stages, but I have been reflecting on my own life and realize when its right for us we will make that step. There is no need to rush a life long commitment.
Women, we have had so many of our predecessors fight for us so we could be our own person and live our own lives and did not need to feel like an old maid at 20 if we were not engaged. Honor them by being happy with yourself first before you look to a man( or even another woman) to give you happiness.
Learn to love yourself and embrace what individual qualities make you...you. The white dress and sparkly ring and all that will come. I just realized for me personally that I could be happy for my friends and their choices, but that didn't mean my life choices made me any less then them.
THE MORAL of this post is to be happy with where you are in life! WE are Young, Beautiful, Smart, Unique, Wonderful Women!!!! Embrace yourself and enjoy being yourself before you get hung up on being a twosome FOREVER! life is full of amazing things and yes marriage is one of them, but it is not the only one.

Hope you were moved,blessed,touched, or something in someway if you read this.

Talk to you soon!

-E

PEACOCKS!

So in just a few short weeks I will be another year older. I have decided this will be the last year I have a birthday party of any kind until I reach 50. I have decided on a peacock theme party. I have a beautiful blue dress picked out for the occasion and am thinking peacock masks for everyone. i am hoping to have a small turn out of just the people that I am genuinely happy to be around. Why have people there who I do not care about or who really do not care about me? I even found amazing peacock cupcakes! My only issue now is who to invite and where to have it? I'll keep updating as plans come together or even if they fall apart! :)

tail gating attire

Football Season is rapidly approaching! Everyone loves the tradition of tailgating before a game. The food, the drinks, the socializing, it all adds to the fun of going to your schools games! I would like to address appropriate fashion for the USA's favorite season....FOOTBALL.
Down here in the south we all know it stays hot until at LEAST October! So you want to make sure you are dressed comfortably, but not in something that could be worn over a bikini.
If you must wear shorts girls make sure they are an appropriate length so your goodies are not hanging out when you are sitting or walking up and down bleachers. J.Crew has an outfit I think is a perfect example of how to make longer shorts fashion forward.
I love the way you could take this look from tailgating, to the game, to the after party!

Another great Idea when dressing for a football game, especially down here, is LAYERS! you can wear skinny jeans with a fitted Tee and some wonderful flats or sandals and carry a light cardigan for the evening if the weather decides to drop a few degrees!

You can never go wrong with wearing clothing that represents your team! If you are like me and most of my friends, tailgating is a chance to get cute and take lots of photos! So if wearing your teams sweatshirt, or flip flops isn't your thing there are fantastic vintage Tees made now for almost every team that look great paired with skinny jeans, flats and a cardigan.

The most important rule in fashion for tailgating is to just make sure your shorts/skirts aren't too short and your shoes are going to be comfortable, but fashionable to make it through the day!

Welcome Back

So this is my first post I have written since I was in college and was forced to blog for a class. I want to start blogging as a way to get my thoughts and ideas out there. My major in college was journalism and my career now, which I am enjoying, has nothing to do with what I went to school for. I plan on blogging about my life, my interests, celebrity gossip, advice I have been given, and so much more. I hope to be able to at least touch one individual with something I say on here for the positive. so this is my introduction blog. you can follow me on Twitter as well at griggs986.