Color trends for 2013

Immersed in weddings all day, every day we are looking at the trends of colors for the year.  The latest trend in wedding decor is to choose one color and use various shades of it.  This creates a crisp, clean look for the over all theme and yet provides a sea of color.

#1 Red
Red is the most emotionally intense color.  Red is the color of fire and blood and is associated with energy, strength, power, determination, passion, desire and love.  Red is an emotionally intense color which enhances the human metabolisism.  It causes our respiration to speed up and our heart rate to increase.  Since it is an extreme color it attracts attention and is highly visible.  It is used to indicate courage.  While it gets noticed it will also cause the wearer to look heavier.

#2 Pink
Pink is the most romantic color and is tranquilizing.  It represents femininity.  It is often connected with friendship, love, romance, compassion, relaxation and companionship.  Pink is symbolic of gentle emotions and emotional unions.  It has long been considered the color of good health and life.  It represents youth and innocence.  A pink carnation means "I will love you forever."

#3 Purple
Purple is the color of royalty as it represents power, luxury, nobility and power.  It conveys wealth and extravagance, Purple is often associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery and magic.  Purple is very rare in nature and so some consider it to be artificial.  Purple evokes nostalgic and romantic feelings.

#4 Blue
Blue is the coolest color:  the color of the ocean, twilight and the sky.  It is used to represent heaven.  Pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality.  It is often associated with depth and stability.  Blue symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith and truth.  Blue is a calming color and is soothing.  A blue Iris means "Your friendship is important to me."

#5 Green
Green currently the most popular color and is the color of nature.  It is symbolic of fertility, harmony, growth, freshness, and hope.  It has a strong emotional affiliation with calmness and safety.  It is also the color of money.  Green has healing power and is the most restful color to the human eye.  Green is suggestive of stability and endurance.  Green is often associated with inexperience and jealousy.  Green is a difficult color to photograph, so we suggest discussing the shade of green you plan to use with your photographer.

#6 Shades of Grey
Grey is a calm, conservative, formal and sophisticated color that seldom evokes strong emotion.   It is the color of neutrality and balance, a conservative color that can be seen as cloudy.  It does not carry with it the same attributes as black.  Grey is timeless, practical and solid.  It blends well with all colors but is seldom named as a favorite.  It can be unsettling and unexpected and surprisingly beautiful.

We hope you enjoyed the blog and hope to post more frequently.

Marriage staying power.

As we enter the wedding season I think about the excitement that follows the bride and the joy that we glean from helping them to make their dreams come true.  I would like to be able to say that it is always joyful, but sometimes it is just not.  There are things that I see that steal that joy.

One observation that I have had over the decades of brides is that it is often easy to tell which bride will have staying power in her marriage and which will not.  If their focus is on the important thing:  They will be married to their best friend for the rest of their life:  it's gonna last.  If their focus is on this bead and that thread and things that do not truly make or break the happiness of the day:  chances are it's not going to last.  If they are lovely to deal with, I assume that is the normal course of their life.  Their marriage will last.  If they are ugly to deal with, I assume that is the normal course of their life.  Their marriage is likely not to last and will be ugly while it does.

Over the years I have had the privilege to meet many women celebrating their 25th, 50th and even 75th anniversaries.  They all had a common thread to the staying power of their marriage.  One was that they kept their mates first.  Another was didn't sweat the little stuff.  Also they were careful in their choices for their battles.  Some had loving quips for how they dealt with problems in their marriage.  It always warms my heart and often brings a tear to my eye when I am allowed to share their experiences and the beauty love has brought to their lives.

My great grandmother Rose was one such woman.  Her husband fell in love with her when she was a young teen, too young to marry.  George, my great grandfather, spent the next four years in a utter labor of love and hand built an amazing mansion for the love of his life.  He brought her home at 16 and they shared 81 years of marriage.  On occasion I was privileged to stay with great grandma Rose in her amazing house with the grand piano in the foyer.  My love of piano music grew as I sat on the window sill on the landing of the beautiful winding stairs.  Grandpa had a wood shop in the garage and spent many hours tinkering there. Grandma cared for the house and spent lots of time at the church and playing bingo.  I never saw or felt any distention in that house:  only peace and love.  The laundry shoot that spanned three floors was loads of fun to send things down.  I'm sure grandma was a little irritated by this mischief, but she never let it show.  I was very tiny as a child and remember being allowed to ride the dumb waiter to the basement.  Grandma and Grandpa had a lovely garden with little paths that filled their yard.  What fun was had there!

Why did the marriage last?  Probably because they both had hearts filled with God and love. Because they had harmony in their home.  Because they cared well for each other.  Maybe because great grandma always allowed her husband to be the head of the household.  She was the good strong neck that kept that head turned in the right direction.

So as we enter this new season of brides I will likely impart some little wisdom in hopes that they too will have a marriage like my great grandparents did.

This photo is of John and Ann Betar:  Click on the link to see their story.

Couple Celebrates 80th Wedding Anniversary, Shares Secrets to Lasting Marriage

Merry Christmas to one and all.