The Syrian government denies the allegations

France released an intelligence report on Monday alleging chemical weapons use by Syria's regime that dovetailed with similar U.S. claims, as President Bashar Assad warned that any military strike against his country would spark an uncontrollable regional war and spread "chaos and extremism."

The verbal crossfire, including a rejection of the Western allegations by longtime Syrian ally Russia, was part of frenzied efforts on both sides to court international public opinion after President Barack Obama said he would seek authorization from Congress before launching any military action against Assad's regime.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Assad was quoted as saying that Syria has challenged the U.Find everything from Wholesale Designer Wedding Apparel online,S. and France to provide proof to support their allegations, but that their leaders "have been incapable of doing that,Buy and Wholesale Flower girl dresses from professional wedding. including before their own peoples."

"If the Americans, the French or the British had a shred of proof, they would have shown it beginning on the first day," he said,Your Cheap Designer Quinceanera gowns is a simple and easy. deriding Obama as "weak" and having buckled to U.S. domestic political pressure.

"We believe that a strong man is one who prevents war, not one who inflames it," Assad said.

French President Francois Hollande and Obama have been the two world leaders most vocally calling for action against Assad's regime, accusing it of carrying out a deadly chemical attack against rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21.

The U.S. said it has proof that the Assad regime is behind attacks that Washington claims killed at least 1,429 people, including more than 400 children. Those numbers are significantly higher than the death toll of 355 provided by the aid group Doctors Without Borders.

It has marked an intolerable escalation in a two-year civil war in Syria that has left some 100,000 people dead.

The Syrian government denies the allegations, and blames opposition fighters. In the Figaro interview, Assad questioned whether an attack took place at all and refused to say whether his forces have chemical weapons,Dresses for elegant Wholesale Short Homecoming Gowns and short formal dresses. as is widely believed.

If the U.S. and France strike,one of the premier designers of Wholesale Designer Long Wedding Dresses, "Everyone will lose control of the situation ... Chaos and extremism will spread. The risk of a regional war exists," he added.

To back up its case, the French government published a nine-page intelligence synopsis Monday that concluded Assad's regime had launched an attack on Aug. 21 involving a "massive use of chemical agents," and could carry out similar strikes in the future.

In all, though, the French report provided little new concrete evidence beyond what U.S. officials provided over the weekend in Washington. Along with it, the French Defence Ministry posted on its Web site six clips of amateur video showing victims, some of which has already been widely available online and in the international media.

In the Figaro interview, Assad said "all the accusations are based on allegations of the terrorists and on arbitrary videos posted on the Internet."

The French report made no specific reference to the agencies involved or how the intelligence was collected about the attack, aside from referring to videos of the injured or killed, doctors' accounts, and "independent evaluations" such as one from Paris-based humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders three days after the attack.

A French government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the matter because of its sensitivity, said the analysis was written by the spy agency DGSE and the military intelligence unit, DRM, and was based on satellite imagery, video images, and on-the-ground sources — plus samples collected from the alleged chemical attacks in April.

The assessment said it was "very unlikely" that Syria's opposition had falsified images of suffering children that turned up online. It also said intelligence indicated the opposition "does not have the means to conduct such a large attack with chemical agents."
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Traditional Cambodian weddings still prevail

Cambodia’s young and increasingly urbanized population and the growth of a wealthier, more consumerist culture has created a blossoming marriage industry catering to more sophisticated tastes and customers who seek to set themselves apart from the crowd.

At the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra on Saturday and Sunday, the hotel hosted its third Wedding Fair with exhibitors showcasing the latest in bridal and menswear fashion, while jewelers, decorators, flower arrangers, photographers and makeup artists covered all the bases for an aspirant young crowd dreaming of the perfect wedding.Your Cheap Designer Quinceanera gowns is a simple and easy.

“I want to have the best wedding,” said 22-year-old student Sophea Srey, who is single and attended the fair with three of her friends, photographing each other on smartphones as they posed in a mock-wedding booth.

“Everything is beautiful here but I think everything is also very expensive and my family does not have much money, but maybe my husband will be rich,” she added, standing among bubble machines and models parading in fairytale gowns and spar-kling jewels.

Though traditional Khmer weddings are more of a kitsch affair—with multicolored dresses and suits adorned with sequins—the fair at Sofitel showed how Cambodia’s youth are becoming more susceptible to Western influences and the glitzy allure of a globalized popular culture and all its accoutrements.

For Cambodia’s young entrepreneurs, it is an exciting time as the wedding market grows and opportunities multiply.

“I started my business seven years ago and it is more competitive now as there are many wedding planners because people can see that a lot of money is being spent on weddings,” said 27-year-old Bun Sokha, who owns Sokha Salon and Wedding Embellishment,Buy and Wholesale Flower girl dresses from professional wedding. a wedding planning service that tailors every detail of a couple’s big event.Dresses for elegant Wholesale Short Homecoming Gowns and short formal dresses.

“When people have money, they want something unique, something extravagant, something that sets them apart from their peers, so we cater to their desire to be individual whether it’s dress design, flower arrangements or food and beverage choices.”

Ms. Sokha said that Cambodian weddings are definitely changing and adapting to the influence of television and social media. She also said that Western-educated people are returning to Cambodia with different perspectives than their parents as to what a wedding should look like.

“Before, Khmers celebrated for three to five days and brides changed dress 10 to 15 times, but now it is more like one-and-a-half days. Young people don’t want it so complicated, they want to spend more time with friends and family.”

Jean-Benoit Lasselin, owner of men’s designer fashion label Colorblind,one of the premier designers of Wholesale Designer Long Wedding Dresses, said that traditional Cambodian weddings still prevail, but younger generations and more affluent classes want to put their stamp on one of the most important celebrations in Khmer culture.

“The traditional is blending and mixing as the young wish to release the heavy burden of its customs. However, because Phnom Penh is not yet a shopping city, fashion is having to prove that it is worth the money,” he said, add-ing that his unique designs aim to reflect the city’s hybrid, vibrant culture.

As two middle-aged women sat somewhat bemused-looking beside mannequins wearing white wedding dresses, young Cambodians eagerly wandered around the displays of white-tower wedding cakes, dipped marshmallows in a chocolate fondue fountain and stared at video screens showing distinctly Westernized wedding scenes.

“When things change and there are new trends, people must quickly accept, otherwise they will say you are strange,” said Ms. Sokha, the wedding planner.
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Camille La Vie Launches Their Homecoming 2013 Sweepstakes

With a consistent goal in building their Facebook fan base and establishing ongoing brand awareness, Camille La Vie has recently launched a Facebook campaign, the Homecoming 2013 Sweepstakes, to kick off the new school year. This promotion, which began August 12th, 2013 and ending on September, 15th 2013, includes the chance to win a Camille La Vie & Group USA shopping spree valued at $500 and a “swag” box containing various beauty products.

To be eligible to enter Camille La Vie’s Homecoming 2012 Sweepstakes, participants of ages 13 and up, must first “Like” the Camille La Vie page before filling out the entry details on the submission form that is located on their Facebook tab titled “Enter to Win $500”. As a bonus incentive,Find gorgeous mother of the bride dresses in Wholesale Cheap mother of the bride dresses. the company will offer each participant the opportunity to increase their chances of winning. By sharing the sweepstakes on Facebook and encouraging their friends and family to enter, they will receive an additional entry for every person who also enters.

For more information and complete details of submission requirements, entrants interested in participating can visit Camille La Vie’s Official Rules for the Campaign through their sweepstakes tab.

The company also recently created a section dedicated to homecoming 2013 with dresses modeled by Ali Lohan. The grand prize winner of the sweepstakes will have the opportunity to wear a dress of her choice showcased by the model.

About Camille La Vie & Group USA
Camille La Vie & Group USA is a one stop boutique to all things party dress chic in prom dresses, homecoming dresses, wedding dresses, social separates, day into evening dress styles, bridal, formal accessories, jewelry and shoes. They offer one of the most extensive and stylish collections of special occasion dresses that can be found under one fabulous roof! Since its inception in 1985, the company’s motto of “to provide customers with the latest dress fashions at an affordable price” has made them a leading retailer in virtually all categories. To date, Camille La Vie & Group USA has expanded to a total of 24 stores nationwide.

In select Camille La Vie & Group USA stores, customers will discover a collection of bridal apparel including wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, mother of the bride dresses and guest of wedding dresses. Camille La Vie & Group USA also provides bridal alteration and consulting services. So whether your style is classic and elegant or modern and chic, Camille La Vie & Group USA will outfit stylish women of all types without breaking their bank!

If you’re on a committed search to score a certain dress style, Camille La Vie & Group USA is your one-stop source for all things pretty – from on-trend high to low dresses, mirror stone and chunky beaded bodices, bright and bold hues, florals and animal prints, handkerchief, godet and trumpet hemlines, subtle detailing or all over sequins, one shoulder, crisscross back or cut out silhouettes to cascading ruffles and fun, frilly poof A-line skirts in tulle, Camille La Vie & Group USA’s fashion styles are seemingly endless! And the options do not just stop there.

“Another customer, from Florida,Buy top quality 2013 Wholesale Cheap Prom Dresses from reliable Chinese. sent us a gown that was just filthy dirty; the woman said she was married in a monsoon. But Angie was able to get the mud out except for the bottom of the gown; the gowns are always dirty on the bottom. When it was done, we sent it and got a phone call from her brother thanking us. The family had an heirloom christening outfit that had been handed down, but he had twins and one of them had died, and they had buried the child in that gown. So he wanted to say now they had a new heirloom to pass down.Unique Mermaid Spaghetti Straps Ruched New Arrival Mermaid Ruching White Chiffon Prom dresses. I always cry when I tell that story.” Wisniewski wiped a tear away.

Both women learned to sew from their mothers when they were about 12 years old; then both had home economics classes in school. “My mother showed me some things and then my grandmother taught me how to hand sew,” said Fatum. “I made clothes for my Barbie dolls and then in high school, I made all my own clothes. I was so advanced that my teacher taught me how to make a suit while the other girls were making a simple A-line skirt.”

Wisniewski also made all her own clothes in high school, and though shopping for clothes today is so convenient, both women will still make their own clothes for special occasions. “It’s harder to find a fabric shop, but we sometimes go to New York City to Mood (of Bravo’s ‘Project Runway’ fame) to find special notions and trims,” Wisniewski said.

The favorite part of their job comes after all the work, when the mothers come to pick up the gown or suit. “They always cry. We've never had a disastified customer,” said Fatum.

“We’ve enjoyed our partnership so much.buy cocktail New Arrival Sweetheart Sheath Evening dresses with big discount.Doublting where to buy Wholesale Bridesmaid gowns online? It’s a great business,” Wisniewski added.

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What the mainstream media wants is polite progress

There is a gay bias in the dastardly liberal media. But it’s not the one you think. It’s hard to pick up a smart publication these days without some topic along the LGBT rights spectrum being referenced. In most happy-clappy societies,you will find so many wonderful wedding dress 100%silk with high quality and low price. gayness is at a convoluted crossroads. Behind us,Buy high quality china wholesale designer beaded designer beaded evening gowns. for the most part, are years of violent oppression. Ahead, a spaghetti junction of complex issues. 

Within the LGBT community there is a debate about what is being given up in return for being subsumed into what is bluntly called “mainstream society”. It’s a privileged position to be in: arguing over the semantics of queerness and gay identity being embraced – though not without spiteful opposition – from its fringe underground to the village fete. Will queer culture be diluted? Are heteronormative structures something to strive for? 

Every social movement is fraught and fractured, but has to project a consensus so the diversity of debate within doesn’t slow down its overall progress. 

The media’s documentation of this process is not its bias. The real bias is a refusal to take the rough with the smooth. What the mainstream media wants is polite progress. Straight, liberal, Irish society wants jokes about how gay men’s wedding lists could save the economy, happy stories about lesbians in matching wedding dresses, and colourful photos of same-sex couples kissing at Pride. That’s fantastic. Visibility is vital to eroding ignorance. But it is also a bias. While LGBT lives are finally being acknowledged by the media, harsher struggles are ignored. We need to tell those stories. 

Recently in Dublin, the Gaze LGBT International Film Festival, of which I am a board member, screened a documentary about LGBT lives in Cameroon called Born This Way. A fortnight before the screening, Cameroonian LGBT activist Eric Lembembe, who the director of the film described as “a pillar of the LGBT community”, was tortured and murdered. Before his killing, the headquarters of an NGO providing HIV services was burned down. Human rights lawyers representing gays and lesbians are threatened with death. And Cameroon rarely brought prosecutions against gay people until 2005. 

In South Africa in 2008,our exquisitely Embroidery lace dress weaves a rich tapestry of textures for a couture worthy finish. Eudy Simelane, a lesbian who played football for the national team, was raped and murdered, stabbed 25 times and dumped in a stream. She was training to be a referee for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Three years later, another woman, Noxolo Nogwaza, was spotted with a female friend at a bar. That night, she was raped, murdered, her eyes torn from their sockets. 

By the end of this week, and by the end of every week, 10 South African lesbians will be victims of gang rape or so-called “corrective rape”, the term for the use of rape as a hate crime because of the perceived sexual orientation of the victim. 

In Russia, Vladimir Putin is attempting to suppress the entire LGBT sector of society. The “gay propaganda” ban has been signed into law. Gay people are threatened, beaten, tortured and killed. Patriarch Kirill I, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, called same-sex marriage rights a sign of an impending apocalypse. 

Anton Krasovsky, a Russian TV anchor who came out live on air in January, was immediately fired. In May, a 23-year-old gay man in Volgograd was sodomised with beer bottles before being beaten to death, his skull smashed with a rock. In Iran over the past decade, young men have been publicly executed for being gay. 

Homosexuality is illegal in 76 countries, where the repercussions range from imprisonment to death by stoning. This matters if you care at all about people. It also matters when Irish LGBT people are travelling and doing business in places where their lives and security are compromised because of their sexuality. 
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where zombies were doused with blood was Megan Martin

Runners yelped and hollered as they crossed the finish line at Saturday’s Run For Your Lives 5K, some from the spark of an electrified fence and others in celebration after surviving a zombie invasion.Find the latest trends in prom and Wholesale Short Homecoming Dresses with a large selection of unique.

More than 4,500 runners, zombies and spectators shared a day of paranormal activity at Area 51 Motocross in Batavia.

The Batavia event is part of a national series of races combining the growing trend of physically-challenging obstacle races and viral popularity of The Walking Dead and other media in the zombie genre.

Competiting in teams or as individuals, the living avoided hordes of hungry undead by escaping through a series of obstacles. More than 1,000 runner hoped to hold onto three waist-tied flags,I'm just going to look at the new formal office dresses for women. signifying their resistance to the zombie-causing infection.

But the runners weren’t the only ones seeking an escape. About 750 participants chose the path of the paranormal, trading racing bibs for blood-soaked outfits. They took over areas of the course,Your Cheap Designer Quinceanera gowns is a simple and easy. picking off slow-thinking runners every few hundred feet.

The zombie horde was dressed in a scattering of shredded work outfits, wedding dresses costumes from popular horror films. Stacie Crocker came dressed as R from Warm Bodies, a rare undead protagonist. She was excited to bring her “Z game” to the course.

“People are getting into character, it’s a freedom to go wild,” said Crocker. “We can escape the drudgery and boringness of the nine to five ... When you’re a zombie, you can be anyone.”

Run For Your Lives’ traveling team of zombie artists and talents crews from local stage productions ensured the zombies had the perfect look. James Howard, head of wardrobe and blood technician for RFYL, said the role of a stumbling walker is one many of the Z-team take on with pride.

“A lot of the zombies aren't the typical runners (who compete in obstacle and distance races,’’ Howard said. “But they want to be involved and are excited to be transformed.”

The transformation process took about 15 minutes to complete, with makeup, tearing of clothes and dousing with fake blood.

Next to Crocker in the area where zombies were doused with blood was Megan Martin, who came from Ottawa to experience the undead life. She wore special white contacts in an outfit that was speckled with blood after first running the course as survivor.

“It was unnerving, there were a lot more zombies than you expect,” said Martin, who was infected early on in her run. “It was kind of crazy, but now it’s my turn.”

The chance to live-out the role of survivors and zombies is a major part of the turning the races into a phenomenon, Run For Your Lives Event Manager Jon Millhausen said. RFYL began with a single race near Baltimore in 2011 that drew more than 12,000 people; it regularly draws five-digit crowds nationwide.

“This is an escape from daily life,Searching for the Wholesale 2013 Celebrity Dresses to wear on your big night?” said Millhausen, who organizes half of RFYL’s 20 annual races. “People love to become a zombie.”

In a practice run of the coming zombie apocalypse, the outnumbered undead won more often than not.One Wholesale Cheap Designer Womens Long cocktail dresses manufacturers China listing. Only a minority of runners wore Survivor Medals through the Apocalypse Party, a post-race celebration; most settled for the Infected Medal.
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spread across four decades of professional acting

Helen Moulder is not in when I call. We'd pre- arranged a time to chat, but she's running late, a voice on the other end of the phone tells me. Could she ring when she arrives?

Almost an hour after I leave my name and number,Our wedding 2013 Cheap Designer Bridesmaid Dresses great cheap price, Moulder, a 40-year veteran of the stage, calls me from Wellington.

I'm a little confused. Despite her theatre-perfected diction, I assume Moulder is referring to the infamous San Francisco lock-up Alcatraz, and, the last time I checked, this was not located between Palmerston North and Wellington.

Owlcatraz, it turns out, is a roadside shop selling a wide array of owl-themed paraphernalia, whose appearance had enchanted the tour group enough to warrant an immediate visit.

I can't miss the delight in her voice as she relays all this down the line. It's obvious Moulder, on the road with her latest work, Playing Miss Havisham, thrives on the quirks and idiosyncrasies a rural New Zealand tour has to offer.

The actress, also experienced in opera, tells me much of her childhood was in rural New Zealand. There was even a short stint in Southland, she says.

"I spent nearly three years in Winton as a child. My father was in the post office, so we had to move around a lot. Maybe that's why I still love moving around."

And it's a good thing she loves it - Moulder has spent most of her life moving around.

In the past few years alone, the performer has taken Playing Miss Havisham on a library tour around Australia and England, as well as staging it in New York.

With all that moving, spread across four decades of professional acting,one of the premier designers of Wholesale Designer Long Wedding Dresses, Moulder can lay claim to having performed at some rather bizarre venues.

Perhaps most notable was the time she moved out of the theatre to stage a show in a 17th century cellar in Paris.

Despite causing her costumes to drip with dampness, it was an extraordinary experience, she says.

Closer to home, the actor performed at an art gallery in Tauranga which had no seating and no stage - "we said you must have a few boxes we can get up on" - and a few farm sheds, only one of which contained no animals.

No matter where the performance, Moulder believes the most rewarding part of any artform is connecting with an audience while sharing a story.

While she has also worked in film and television, she says traditional theatre remains her favourite medium because of the ease of forming that relationship.Find gorgeous mother of the bride dresses in Wholesale Cheap mother of the bride dresses.

There was one time, Moulder recalls, she took a play to San Francisco only for it fall apart completely on the second night.

"There were 10 people and a baby that was crying, and it was a comedy. You can't really do comedy with a crying baby because you can't land your punchlines.

"It was probably the worst night of my life - and the critic happened to be there that night."

Fortunately, her latest work has garnered gushing reviews from critics across the world.

Written by Moulder and her Brisbane-based director Sue Rider,Buy and Wholesale Flower girl dresses from professional wedding. the play follows aspiring actress Claudia, who wins the role of Miss Havisham in a film adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.

As she prepares to re-enact Miss Havisham, the Dickens character who spends her life in her wedding dress after being left at the altar by her lover, Claudia is enticed to examine her own life, cataloguing the disappointments and regrets she has accumulated over the years.

Moulder admits the play is based somewhat on personal experience, although she is quick to dispel any notion she will end up as the woman wearing a wedding dress in the wings forever more.

"When I was younger, I went into paroxysms of grief when a relationship broke up but I think - I hope - I've learnt from that.
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Party Dress Designer

There's a growing contingent of high-fashion consumers who shop with the long-term in mind, despite the instinct to make purchases after checking their favorite celebrity news website every hour for ideas on great homecoming dresses. However, Jovani prom gowns can allow you to look great, even when you shop six months in advance or more. The secret is that Jovani fashions inform the rest, and it often takes time for them to catch up. There's always something to be said for getting there first. What's more, there's no time like the present to get a great bargain on items like party dresses and wedding gowns.

If you're shopping for fashion, there's always a retail store in your town that stocks what was in style this time last year. Meryl Streep's famous speech from The Devil Wears Prada to that effect still rings true today. However, Jovani is synonymous with prom fashion, and consequently, those who shop at the less stylish stores at their local malls will be up to a year behind Jovani in terms of innovation. In fact, the red carpets at awards shows feature celebrities in the newest Jovani fashions, some of which haven't even hit stores yet. As this article is being written, new designs are in the works that will be rushed to Jovani's easy-to-use website, months before the styles will be ripped off by lesser designers and sold at malls all over the country. Shopping online with Jovani is the smart way to get all the fashion cred you need for the year.

Moreover, there are fantastic styles that Jovani pioneered long ago, only to become timeless staples in millions of closets. High-quality fabrics with top-shelf stitching are highly recommended additions, even if they only become your go-to little black dress for years to come. When it comes to dresses like these, where fads aren't the issue, you're much better off trusting Jovani. Get the latest from Jovani by going to the brand's website to find a retailer near you. You'll find that the prices on the vast majority of these in-demand items are lower than the price you would expect for such lavish pieces. The reason is that Jovani prices some of these frequently-worn, highly durable, items to be worn by the majority of the fashion conscious, ensuring that you'll want to spread the word about the Jovani brand.

Own the theme 100%. I didn't really have to push this one on Stephanie and Jared because they're goofy in a good way and they couldn't wait to tell everybody it was Mardi Gras in May on Vieques. Plus her mom was totally on board (she actually went to this year's Mardi Gras and caught tons of the really, really nice beads with a group of her friends and that made up a large chunk of the table décor at the wedding). But for some brides considering a theme, this would be important advice. If you don't have the guts to really do it, really don't. And if your family will fight it and not have fun with it to celebrate your big day, reconsider. Not saying don't do it if others make fun of you -- they're just not brave enough -- I'm saying make sure the key players are on board. Stephanie's bridesmaids couldn't wait to pose for their "mugshot" photos and everybody really got into it and had a blast!

Create an activity that goes with your theme. Stephanie and Jared wanted to do an old-fashioned parade stroll with a parasol. I made the mistake of having too much fun joking around with Stephanie brainstorming and being silly. Before I knew what had happened, we were figuring out how to build a float we could drive around the circular driveway. (See how it turned out in an exclusive clip below).

So it's possible to have a beautiful, upscale, themed wedding reception at a waterfront villa in the Caribbean, as you'll see Thursday night on "Wedding Island" on TLC at 10 pm EST/PST. But it's also possible to note a significant holiday or sports team or something else you really love and want to share with your family and friends. Stephanie and Jared were all about Mardi Gras... and they did it right!

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Opulent Events

While the rest of the fashion world may have entered its late summer slumber, India’s fashion industry is gearing up for its prime time moment: the unfathomably large, opulent and over-the-top Indian wedding season.

Depending on whose numbers you believe, there are somewhere between one and ten million weddings in India each year. Last November, on a particularly auspicious date on the Hindu calendar, a staggering 60,000 weddings took place in New Delhi alone -— all in one evening — bringing traffic in the city to a standstill.

The non-stop nuptials won’t begin in earnest until October, when the monsoon rains have disappeared and the summer heat has melted away, reaching a crescendo in November and December, and then again in the spring. But in preparation for this year’s wedding bonanza, Indian designers have already been meeting with would-be brides and their families at luxury bridal fairs and expositions held across the country over the last few weeks.

I landed in India just in time to take in the first of two back-to-back fashion weeks in New Delhi, where the country’s leading designers show their bridal and “couture” collections in runway extravaganzas that start with elaborate sets evoking everything from Pompeii at the height of the Roman Empire to mythical Kashmiri Lotus flowers and end with “showstopper” runway appearances by Bollywood’s biggest stars. But the designers I spoke to also seemed to be charting a longer-term course for a wedding market that is showing the early signs of change, after years of heady bridal fever.

Each year, around 2,000 high-end weddings take place in India. These are multi-day extravaganzas that defy the Western imagination, complete with pyrotechnics, performances by gyrating Bollywood actors and international music stars, and thousands upon thousands of invited guests.

“The Indian wedding is the Indian wedding is the Indian wedding. There is nothing that comes close to it,” said superstar fashion designer Rohit Bal over breakfast the day after his bridal show in New Delhi. “Where else can you show off your extravagance, your opulence, your wealth?”

And, each year, these weddings seem to become more and more over the top, as prominent families aim to outdo each other with even more elaborate events, more exotic destinations, more expensive clothes and fine jewelry.

There was one wedding in particular that seemed to be front of mind for many of the people I spoke to. In June 2011, up to 6,000 guests reportedly attended the wedding reception of then 21 year old Mallika Reddy, daughter of a prominent Hyderabadi industrialist, to Siddarth Reddy, scion of the Indu Group, an infrastructure and real estate conglomerate.

Held in an “arena” next to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, a special air-taxi service was arranged for VIP guests, including A-list Bollywood stars Amitabh Bacchhan, Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Rani Mukerjee. The three-day event was followed by a grand wedding reception in New Delhi, attended by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

For India’s ultra high net worth individuals, it seems no gift is too lavish and no event is too opulent during wedding season. Budgets for a high-end Indian wedding can easily reach around $2 million, including the cost of events, travel, food, clothing and especially jewellery. Each year, in India, there are dozens and dozens of weddings which cost $10 million or more. Several websites reported that the Reddy wedding cost more than 100 crore rupees, or a staggering $16 million at current exchange rates.

Finally, much of this is spent in cash. “A lot of our clients have got so much undeclared wealth, where else will they spend it?” asks Mr Bal. “They have to spend it somewhere and this is the only place they can spend it, undisclosed.” Vijay Singh, chairman of India Bridal Fashion Week, concurs. “In India, there is a lot of black money, so cheque writing happens less.”

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Many ladies need to be personalized

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"Now, we are launching a special offer on Homecoming dresses to show our appreciation to all shoppers worldwide. Our Homecoming dresses have great market performance, and have led to our fast growth in the previous few months," says, Laurens, spokesmen of the company. "We are courage customers to visit our store every week; so that they can know what interesting items are currently available."

Low-priced Homecoming dresses have been extremely popular in the present economic environment, and ladies would not spend money like before. Dressestime is striving to give its clients a truly unique and one-of-a-kind shopping experience by offering high-quality and trendy dresses at affordable prices.Along with trendy Homecoming dresses, Dressestime is offering a huge selection of wedding dresses, prom dresses, evening dresses, and, more.There are a lot of things you may expect to see in a fast-food restaurant’s drive-through but a wedding dress probably doesn’t come to mind.

However, that’s exactly what one customer found Wednesday morning when heading to the McDonald’s near N.W. 23rd St. and Pennsylvania Ave.Cynthia Ford and her children discovered the dress, which was still wrapped in plastic from a dry cleaners, in the restaurant’s parking lot.

Cars were running over the sentimental item so she and her children decided to rescue the dress from any further damage.There is no way to tell whose dress it is since there is no name on it and no phone number listed.Ford says she would love for the rightful owner to be found and can’t image how something so precious would end up in the parking lot.

“They opened the trunk and it just fell out?  Automatic trunk?  I don’t know,” she said.  “I’m pretty sure she’s going crazy.   I’m pretty sure.  So we just want to find the owner of the dress and let her stop worrying about it.”Moliere Bridal in Oklahoma City is keeping the dress until the rightful owner can be found. I'm sure there is a special place in wedding hell for people like me. You see I once resigned as a bridesmaid.

It was a decade ago. Toni (not her real name - oh what the hell, actually, yes it is) anyway she and I were close friends at uni but as soon as I graduated I moved from Brisbane to Melbourne then London and finally settled in Sydney. I only came back to Brisbane once a year. We were still friends but we only spoke on the phone maybe twice a year.

I was surprised when she made a big deal about catching up for a coffee the next time I was in Queensland. I was more surprised when she asked me to be her chief bridesmaid. But it's the sort of thing you can't say no to. So I awkwardly said 'yes'. I was excited for her to be getting married. I was happy she was in love. I just focused on that.

I thought 'what the hell', I'd get a new frock and because I lived in Sydney I figured I'd provide support over the phone.Ummm no. She expected me to fly up to Brisbane to go dress shopping, then again for shoes, then again for final fittings. Plus she wanted me to throw her a hen's party.

Now if she was my best friend who I spoke to most days I would do all of this without question. But, I didn't know a single one of her other friends and the thought of male strippers at a tacky hen's party made me want to gag. I had also only met the groom once.

At the time I had a very demanding job at Channel Nine. It was massive in terms of hours but paid peanuts. The thought of the time off and cost of the flights had my mind swirling.

Two months out from the big day I finally got the courage to tell her it was all getting too much. I would have rather stuck a fork in my eye than have that conversation. There were tears, accusations and anger. And I deserved it all.It seems I'm not alone in my reluctance. But I had this massive sense of relief. Which is not the emotion a bridesmaid should feel.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.

Trashing of wedding dress a sign

Watching a bride douse her wedding dress with a strongly inflammable liquid as she walked away from taking her wedding vows, I sat in disbelief.  The fire ignited quickly, began to burn, and started to melt away a beautiful white dress that was still being worn.  The woman then moved quickly toward the water that was nearby to stop the fire and save her life.  Her appearance as she stepped out of the shallow waves said that the “trashing of her wedding dress” had been a success.

I listened to the news commentator as he explained that this was a new fad.  One bride had died in her burning dress as she sought the safety of the water and was drowned.  I wondered, “Is this absolute lunacy?”  Weddings used to be a matter of upmost sincerity and respect.  “Are the wedding vows still a sign of sacred trust between two loving people?”

The choices of weddings used to be much simpler.  Decisions were made as to where the wedding would take place, who would perform the ceremony, how many people would be invited, where would the honeymoon be, where would the newly joined couple live and so on.  Marriage was considered a sacred bond that lasted through sickness and health and ended with death of one of the participants.
Statistics show us that the normal marriage of yesterday is rarely experienced by anyone today.  Divorce rates have been quoted by some as one out of every one marriage ends in divorce.  Five years of marriage is seen as some kind of victory before the whole thing dissolves.  Whether there are children or not doesn’t enter into the equation.  The common line of thinking seems to be, oh well, if it doesn’t work out, we will just get a divorce and marry somebody else.

Even more prevalent today is the situation of “living together.”  Why bother with marriage?  Or, change the rules altogether as to who can be considered legally married.  It seems that only those that are legally unqualified to marry, due to age or gender, may be the only ones fighting for the right.

The wedding dress of the bride was a symbol of the beautiful celebration of two persons uniting in a common goal for life.  They agreed to love and cherish one another and to be faithful in all of their days together for the duration of their lives.  The death of either one was the only way that the promise was broken.   The wedding dress was often seen as a prized object that might be worn by someone else in the family lineage as an honor.

Is it any wonder that divorce rates equal marriage rates if no one cares enough to even wear the wedding dress until they change for their departure, or put it away safely as a symbol of the trust and promise they have just made?  One has to wonder how much respect for the wedding itself has been given if the moment the vows are finished, the wedding dress is “trashed.”

Sue Hendrick lived in Diboll for several years.  Although she now resides in Lufkin, Diboll will always be her East Texas home.

 Maddie, 28, was bridesmaid for a high school friend in November last year and says it cost her almost $3000. Having never been a bridesmaid before, Maddie was honoured to be asked and didn't feel she could complain about costs after she had said yes. She says: "Now, after talking to other girls about my experience, I feel like I was taken advantage of. I should have spoken to the bride and come to a fair agreement about what I was willing to pay for. If another friend asks me, I'll be saying 'no'."

Another problem is it's a big time commitment.

Kristen, 30, found it near impossible to balance the various commitments associated with the role and her job as an accountant. "There was a fitting or event on every week for the last two months leading up to the wedding. I struggled to find the time to attend every occasion and had a row with the bride when I missed a ceremony rehearsal when I couldn't get out of work."

Between fittings, rehearsals, meetings, kitchen teas and hen's parties there is a big time commitment involved with being a bridesmaid. Kristen says, "I didn't want to sound ungrateful for the job - because I was thrilled to be a part of her wedding - but as the date drew closer I kept thinking how glad I would be when it was all over and I didn't have to do anything anymore."

Read the full story at wwww.marrybride.com!

Multicultural Wedding Planning

My now-husband Jon and I used to live in Washington, D.C., and it was there that we met via a mutual friend who organized a group outing one night. Jon had never said "I love you" to anyone before, but earlier that evening, he happened to tell his friends, half-jokingly: "Guys, I'm going to fall in love tonight, I know it." Oddly enough, he was right!

Later, we both admitted that we had it bad for each other since day one. When Jon moved all the way across the country to California for school, we were both ready to take on the challenge of a long-distance relationship...but what made it a lot easier was that he proposed during my first visit out to see him!

We quickly decided that we wanted to celebrate with two weddings: an Indian ceremony and reception, and a traditional Christian ceremony with a separate reception as well. So we kicked off the wedding planning while being engaged long-distance for six months before I moved to California myself. In March, we had wedding #1, which took place in Seattle. In late September of this year, we'll celebrate our six-month anniversary with a second wedding in Columbus, Ohio! Here's what I learned from planning not one, but two different cultural celebrations.

There are many ways that couples from different cultural backgrounds can choose to celebrate their union. For us, it just made sense to have two separate weddings in order to do justice to each. Being born and raised in Ohio but having come from an Indian cultural background, I knew that I wanted to have both a Christian ceremony in a white wedding dress, as well as a ceremonially traditional Indian one in a saree (or sari) -- and I was really excited to plan both! The customs are so vastly different (and beautiful) that we didn’t want to attempt to merge them together.

But this is by no means the only way to do it. Often, I’ve seen couples hold an Indian ceremony just prior to (or after) a Christian ceremony on the same day and throw one joint reception. I’ve also seen couples fuse different elements of their cultural heritage or religion to come up with their own unique ceremony. The decision may depend on a matter of logistics -- timing, cost, location, etc. -- more than anything else.

Cost: From my experience, blending two different cultures together is always more expensive, no matter how you slice it. Depending on who's paying for what, money can be a significant factor when deciding how your wedding will play out. If you get an amazing deal with a venue that you've fallen in love with, it might make more sense to go ahead and hold two ceremonies there on the same day. Or if your funds are limited, and you'd rather get the best possible vendors for the money that you're spending, it might just make more sense to concentrate finances on one wedding.

Location: Considering that Jon’s family is based in Seattle, all the way across the country from Ohio, we agreed that hosting two separate events was the best option for us. That way, we wouldn’t feel as if we were excluding friends and family by picking one location over the other. If the bride and groom have families in closer proximity, if one side has a much larger guest list than the other, or if a destination wedding is the right fit, it might be easier to just throw one multicultural wedding.

If you’re thinking about planning two separate wedding celebrations, I'd recommend hosting them six months apart. It’s not too long that it seems strange to have your second wedding and not too short that you end up planning both simultaneously (and possibly losing your mind!).

Even if you're hosting just one event, still leave enough time to incorporate everything from both cultures. While this option might seem easier at first, it still requires a lot of careful planning and tricky logistics.


Read the full story at wwww.marrybride.com!

Mother Dolores Hart

When the artist formerly known as Dolores Hart attended the Academy Awards in 2012, it was her third time on the red carpet and the first time she didn't fret about what to wear. She wore black - her nun's habit, a crisp white wimple framing her radiant face. On a recent sultry July afternoon in Philadelphia, she demonstrates the garment's versatility. It has built-in ventilation, says Mother Dolores, 74, gentling her hem to circulate cool air.

Over her headpiece she sports a jaunty black beret. She talks about her twin vocations, acting and the church. As she tells it, they have more in common than you might think. In 1963 she left a promising Hollywood career for the Benedictine monastery, now abbey, of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Conn. She was at the Oscars because a film about her, "God Is the Bigger Elvis," was up for best documentary short. Hart, a contemporary of Jane Fonda and Natalie Wood, made two films with Elvis Presley and gave him one of his first screen kisses. The documentary takes its title from Mother Dolores' explanation of her move from Hollywood to holy vows. It is also the subtitle of her memoir, The Ear of the Heart, published in May by Ignatius Press, which describes her journey with plainspoken grace. "Star Driven Into Nunnery by Her Love for Elvis!" read the headline in the National Enquirer in 1963.

It wasn't like that at all, she says with a laugh. When the 19-year-old ingenue was cast in Loving You, producer Hal Wallis excitedly told Hart her costar would be Elvis Presley. "What does he do?" she politely inquired. She came to faith not by birth but by choice. Her parents were teenagers when she was born, and their volatile relationship was marked by abuse and alcoholism. They left Chicago for Hollywood for her father to pursue an acting career, and Dolores' grandmother cared for her in Chicago. "She didn't want me to cross the railroad tracks to get to the public school," she recalls. St. Gregory's, the nearby parish school, didn't involve street or railroad crossings. She was enrolled there. Since Dolores wasn't Catholic, she did not receive Holy Communion at morning Mass. The children who did got chocolate milk and doughnuts.

"This really rankled," Mother Dolores recalls. When she told a nun that she wanted to eat with the other students, "she thought I wanted to receive the Eucharist and asked if I wanted to become a Catholic." "That's how they got me, chocolate milk and doughnuts," she says with a laugh. When she moved to Los Angeles, her parents had divorced and her mother was remarried to Al Gordon, a deli owner with a 9-year-old son, Martin. The Gordons were Jewish. Still, Dolores was persuasive enough to get her stepbrother to give up watching I Love Lucy for Lent.

In L.A. Dolores grew close to her new uncle, Freddy Cocozza, a Philadelphia-born tenor better known by his stage name, Mario Lanza. In high school Dolores auditioned for Otto Preminger for the role of the Maid of Orleans in Saint Joan (1957). Jean Seberg got the part, but the audition scene earned her a scholarship to Marymount College. There she played the lead in Joan of Lorraine (Bob Denver, later Gilligan on Gilligan's Island, was the Dauphin) and was scouted by Hollywood. Soon after, she was kissing Elvis on screen and then Montgomery Clift (in the 1958 film Lonelyhearts). In 1958 she made her Broadway debut in The Pleasure of His Company. She starred in the generation-defining Where the Boys Are (1960), the original spring-break movie. Hollywood scribes dubbed her "the new Grace Kelly." During her Broadway run, on the recommendation of a friend she visited Regina Laudis to renew and regroup. "What I was finding at Regina Laudis," she writes, "was the peace that had first attracted me to the Catholic Church, and when I went away I carried it with me." When she was cast as Clare in Francis of Assisi, she was invited to a papal audience.

Told her name, Pope John XXIII greeted her as "Chiara" (Clare). She was too preoccupied preparing her role to recognize this as a sign. Years later, asked if any scene in Francis of Assisi influenced her to enter religious life, she thought of the scene in which Clare has her hair shorn during her investiture. With hindsight, she recognized that "an actress, like a religious, is a servant." She was a vivacious young woman to whom men were drawn. After a date Peter Sellers dropped her off at her hotel room. She thought he had left and was startled to find him in her bedroom, stark naked. "It was a scene in a farce and I couldn't help laughing," she writes. She asked him to leave. When Dolores accepted the marriage proposal of Don Robinson, her longtime beau, her grandmother told her, "Don't marry a man because you want to live with him - marry him because you can't live without him." It turned out that the man she couldn't live without was Jesus. The wedding invitations were printed. Edith Head was preparing a wedding dress from a bolt of antique Spanish lace. At an engagement party given by Don's parents, her fiance said, "Your heart isn't here." He told her to go back to Regina Laudis and figure it out. "Next day, I did go, and in a blinding snowstorm I took a walk up the hill where the founder had put a cross and an altar.

When I found the altar, I knew I had to talk to the Abbess." Dolores wanted the Abbess to affirm her feeling. Instead, she asked, "What is it that you want?" The answer didn't come in a lightning bolt. Recalls Mother Dolores: "When I walked into Regina Laudis, I was walking to God - to find communion with him. I had no inkling what the matter and substance of that experience would be." For the first three years, she cried herself to sleep every night. The Benedectines are one of the oldest orders. "We care for the land, our work is living by the sustenance of our own hand," she explains. The sisters prayed. They worked. They did not speak of personal problems. Looking back on that first year, Mother Dolores says, "I was afraid to leave the film business. It was the thing that gave me an identity and self-worth." She felt bereft.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.

Singer Margo Rey and Comedian Ron White

Brides Against Breast Cancer(BABC) today announced a $5 million fundraising campaign called "Say I Do!" that will be led by singer/songwriter Margo Rey, a two time breast cancer survivor, and her fiance and partner of the last five years, comedian Ron White.

"By saying 'I Do!' to our campaign, you can help us build and sustain a nationwide delivery of free programs and services to patients, caregivers and families impacted by cancer," said Carl Ritter, chief executive officer for the nonprofit organization, which is operated by Sarasota-based Center for Building Hope.  "It is a vital step in our national mission to ensure that no one has to face cancer alone."

The "Say I Do!" campaign will raise funds to support a national online network of more than 100 affiliates, including programming and training for affiliate organizations to enhance  online cancer-related educational and support services. Funds will also be used to produce "self-care" videos and other programs for free national distribution to anyone impacted by cancer. To make a $10 donation to the campaign, text 'BRIDES' to 85944.

"People everywhere will be able to learn vital skills to increase hope, as well as their chances for recovery, while being connected to others who are undergoing a similar experience," said Ritter.

Margo Rey has been named  National Ambassador for BABC, and will co-chair the new campaign with Ron White, as they finalize their plans for their own fall wedding. "As a breast cancer survivor who has undergone several surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, I believe that education and personal and holistic support are just as critical as prompt medical treatment," said Rey, whose hit song, "LET THE RAIN" – co-written with the legendary John Oates – will be the theme for the campaign. "Through BABC, we can raise awareness and help provide support to millions of people whose lives have been affected by cancer."

As National Ambassador, Rey will visit select cities where Brides Against Breast Cancer holds its "Nationwide Tour of Gowns" bridal shows, featuring all brands of new designer and gently worn wedding gowns, with an average offering of nearly 1,000 dresses at each show. The monies raised support free programs and services for those impacted by cancer. Much like their honorary chair people, BABC tours over 120 cities a year.

"Cancer is damned tough, and there are so many folks out there who don't have the kind of support we do," said White. "That is why we're throwing our support behind BABC and the Center for Building Hope – so they can take their mission to cancer patients and their families all over the country and even around the world.  Let's make life better for those who are going through cancer by saying 'I Do!' and then actually doing it."

Recently, my partner and I celebrated our five-year anniversary. We're not married, but we're fortunate enough to live in a state that would allow us to stand up in front of our loved ones and exchange vows. If we wanted to.

I was conflicted about getting married when it first became legal for us. In my mind, I was already fully committed to my partner; I wasn't sure that I suddenly needed a certificate or a ceremony to prove it. Besides, having a wedding -- my wedding -- still seemed like a strange and foreign concept. I had stopped considering it a possibility in middle school, when I realized I was gay.

But maybe that's a good reason to have one: to normalize it.

My brother and sister are both married now, and they both have kids. I keep picturing my nieces and nephews at my wedding. If one of them happens to be gay, I want them to experience the joy and optimism that an 8-year-old felt when walking like an Egyptian, instead of the shame and embarrassment that a 22-year-old suffered after smacking his sister with the London Bridge.

Regardless of their sexual orientation, I want my nieces and nephews to grow up thinking that it isn't impossible for two men to get married; it's normal. That's why I don't want to be their uncle who lives with his partner; I want to be their uncle who lives with his husband -- whom he will love and cherish until death do them part.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.

What's happening in town this week

New interim Thoreau principal named
Nancy Peterson has been named interim principal at Thoreau School starting in early August. Superintendent Diana Rigby announced that Peterson will replace Kelly Clough, who resigned at the end of the school year. The search for a new principal will begin in January 2014. Peterson recently worked as interim principal at the Davis Elementary School in Bedford for two years. Rigby said the public will have a chance to meet Peterson in the near future. No date was announced.

From the library
Phil Rossoni, author of Build and Pilot Your Own Walkalong Gliders, will give a talk and workshop at our Fowler Branch Library on Monday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library.

Wednesday, July 31: Learn Origami with Michael LaFosse. Participants will fold several shapes as you learn this Japanese art form. 7 to 8:30 p.m. No registration required. Just come and have fun. At main library, 129 Main St.

From the Council on Aging

Ice Cream Social! Thursday, July 25th at 2:30 p.m. Come join us on the patio at the HWCC for our annual Ice Cream Social. We will have plenty of ice cream and toppings to “Make your own Sundae.” A jazz band from Wayland High School will perform a variety of music including swing, ballads, and bebop. Thank you to the Concord Friends of the Aging for providing the delicious treats - this event is FREE OF CHARGE to Concord seniors. Please call to reserve a spot.

COA Summer Barbeque! Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m. Join us for our annual summer barbeque at the HWCC on Wednesday, August 21st at 5:00 PM. As always there will be delicious food and wonderful entertainment. Just like last year, we will have the Concord Rotary Club grilling our hamburgers and hotdogs, and there will be salads and yummy desserts. We will also have a band on hand to spice up the evening. This event will cost just $5 (cash) per person due to the generosity of the Concord Friends of the Aging who will be picking up the rest of the tab. Please note that due to this event, lunch will not be served on Wednesday, August 21. A van will be available to take people to the barbeque in the evening. Please call to sign up.

Free Concord River Pontoon Boat Rides Wednesdays, Aug. 14 and Sept. 11 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Martha Rohan has generously offered to take Concord seniors on a scenic ride on the Concord River in her pontoon boat. Three rides are scheduled - one each in July, August and September. Each ride will take one hour and Martha will provide lemonade and a cookie to each senior. The meeting place is the South Bridge Boat House at 502 Main Street in Concord. Each boat ride is limited to 20 people each, so please call the COA to reserve your spot. There is no charge and the ride will be cancelled in the case of rain. Please note there will be no COA staff on these boat rides.

COA Cinema, Fridays at 2 p.m.

July 26 – Les Miserables
Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway star in this critically-acclaimed adaptation of the epic musical phenomenon. In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert, after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.

Aug. 9 – Pitch Perfect
This music-steeped comedy draws on the world of a-cappella groups to tell the story of an intense competition between three ensembles. Anna Kendrick stars in this airy look at an age-old art form that's steadily gaining modern popularity.

Aug. 23 – Anna Karenina
Oscar winner Tom Stoppard penned this adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel about a vibrant and beautiful 19th-century Russian aristocrat who enters into a passionate and forbidden love affair with the well-heeled Count Vronsky. The film stars Keira Knightley and Jude Law.

COA trips

Essex River Cruise and Lunch at Shea’s Riverside Restaurant Tuesday, July 30th Leaving HWCC at 9 a.m. Discover the beauty and heritage of Essex and the Great Marsh, cruising the pristine sheltered waters of the Essex River. After the cruise, we will have lunch nearby at Shea’s Riverside restaurant. The cost of the cruise is $22, the van is $3, and lunch is on your own. Limited to 14 people. Please bring cash on the day of the trip. Call to reserve your spot.

American Textile History Museum “Brides and their Dresses” Exhibit, Friday, Aug. 2 Leaving HWCC at 10 a.m. We will travel by van to Lowell to the American Textile Museum for a guided Art and Textile tour, and to see the “Brides and Their Dresses” Exhibit. The exhibit explores how brides, over more than 100 years, have chosen their wedding dresses, and how their decisions have been shaped by fashion, family and finances. Concord’s own Judy Clark has her wedding dress on display. Lunch will be on your own at the Family Affair Café at the museum. The cost is $9 per person, and the van is $3. Please bring cash on the day of the trip. Please call to reserve a spot, limited to 14 people.

Town-wide Summer Sidewalk Sale

In Concord Center, Thoreau Street and West Concord. Sponsored by the Concord Chamber of Commerce. Aug. 3 Saturday 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Join your neighbors and friends for a day of bargains, sales, music, fun activities and entertainment, food and fun! Over 45 participating businesses - two music stages - events for children - and more. Walden Street will be closed from Main Street to Hubbard Street.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.

Petty 1st Anniversary

Catherine Annemarie Smith and Chad Michael Petty were united in marriage July 21, 2012 at The Inn of Brookeville Farms, a historical venue in Olney, MD. Happy first anniversary today.

Catherine is the daughter of Carol and Patrick Smith of Laytonsville, MD. She is the granddaughter of Mary Smith, of York, PA. and the late Marie and Peter Scholar of Smithstown, Long Island, NY., and the late Charles Smith of Baltimore, MD.

Chad, who completed his tour of duty as an Army medic in Afghanistan prior to the wedding, is the son of Sandra and Jim Petty of Bryan. He is the grandson of the late Helen and Charlie Meadows, and the late Kathryn and J.L. Petty, all of Waco.

The eve of the wedding was celebrated Texas Hoe-down Style at the home of the bride's parents with food prepared by the groom’s parents. Chad's God-Mother, Nancy Carpenter of Hot Springs Village, AK., and the groom's sister, Melissa Bordelon, of Spring, TX, also assisted with the celebration.

Attending the bride as her Maid of Honor, was her friend, Cathryn Calantonio of Rockville, MD. Catherine's Bridesmaid, also a friend, was Yekaterina Pidgurskaya, of Olney, MD.

The bride was given in marriage by her parents and escorted by her father. As she entered the drawing room, she was greeted by the groom and his two sons, James and John Petty, who served as his best men. Also serving the groom was the bride's brother Michael P.C. Smith, of Laytonsville, MD.

Junior attendants were the nephew and niece of the bride, Duncan Poler and Lindsay Poler, of Baltimore, MD., as well as Kendall, Caitlyn and Madelyn Smith of Clarksburg, MD., also the bride's nieces.

The bride looked beautiful in a white satin, a-line princess dress with a beaded bodice, sweetheart neckline and cathedral train designed by a local Maryland designer. She carried a bouquet of white roses, hydrangeas and peonies with stems braided with white silk ribbon. Her attendants wore navy blue boatneck, tea-length dresses and carried blue, purple and white hydrangea bouquets. Her flower girls wore white dresses with navy trim and carried assorted white flower bouquets.

After the ceremony, the candle-lit ballroom, in an area originating from the early 1800’s, that over looked the rolling hills of Maryland, provided a picturesque setting for a cocktail reception, followed by an elegant seated dinner and dance, graciously hosted by the bride's parents

The couple honeymooned in Myrtle Beach, SC. and then relocated to Bryan, where Catherine is the manager of Willa Boutique, and Chad is currently a supervisor at the Bryan Target.It's better to you to consider best formal office dresses for women.

“In politics, it’s a battle, and you have to be a fighter.”

That’s the message from conservative stalwart and luminary Phyllis Schlafly. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller’s Special Correspondent Ginni Thomas, Schlafly, 88, voiced her doubts that the current Republican leadership is up to the job of combating their Democrat opponents.

“I’m afraid that some of them don’t want to be a fighter,” Schlafly said. “They want to have some kind of bi-partisan consensus and that’s not what we want. We want some significant changes… You have to have fighters, and I think they are not.”New Spring 2013 high quality high neck wedding dresses gowns,book your in-store appointment now.‎

Speaking about the RNC’s road map after the 2012 electoral defeat — which was often called an “autopsy” — Schlafly’s condemnation was swift: “I thought an autopsy was how you carve up a dead person to find out why he died. And I do not think the Republicans or conservatives are dead.”


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The event will provide a stage for a number of artists

Abigail Vona, a 28-year-old New Milford artist, is something of an alchemist. She checks thrift shops and tag sales for the rich material for her work -- dresses that are old, stained or just sadly unwanted. Satin and silk dresses are her favorites, although she'll consider cotton and linen. Vona rescues them and painstakingly gives them a second chance, turning them into one-of-a-kind works of wearable art.

To Vona, the dresses are a way for people to interact with her art, and those attending the second annual Garden Party hosted by the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council on Saturday, July 27, will be able to do just that, as the artist's dresses will be modeled throughout the event. The fundraiser at the historic Harwinton home and gardens of Victoria Elliot and Marvin McMillen supports the arts council and gives artists a venue for promoting their work.

The event will provide a stage for a number of artists, including some plein air painters who will be creating art in the gardens, but Vona's "fashion runway through the gardens" is a first. Her spectacular dresses will be modeled by council volunteers and staff members and will include a gown worn by a model on stilts. Vona explained the 10-foot-long dress was once a wedding gown with a gathered train that she has transformed for the performance.Show your nature beauty with the best formal office dresses for women, which could help women confidence at everywhere.

Vona also will discuss her art, her process and her story. "I rethink fabric and use it as a canvas," she said. "Art is meant to be shared. So much is collected and hidden away from us in people's homes, but I like being able to display art in daily life. Painting a dress that someone will wear is more personal."

Her favorite subject matter includes bettas (Siamese fighting fish) and peacocks, and though they seem disparate, there is a link. Aside from being brilliantly colored (like her dresses), the two animals share another characteristic.

"When bettas fight, that's when they look the most beautiful," said Vona, referring to the postures of the fish when they are in attack mode, which is also how they look during courtship. "Peacocks are the same way. It's like a dance. Love and hate can be so intermingled; it's a kind of balance that I find interesting."Lace on Point d'Esprit high quality high neck wedding dresses gowns with a scalloped neckline and cap sleeves.

Although Vona first exhibited at 17 -- it was a show of her free-style stained glass in Litchfield -- and also attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City for interior design, she is completely self-taught in fashion art, which she has been working on for two years. "It is very new and very fresh. I don't like putting myself in a box."

Using a batik method of hot wax and ordinary Rit dye, she works on each dress as a canvas. She blocks out chambers using wax and then dyes the different sections separately. The process can take anywhere from a day for a simple sundress to three days for a gown. She often works on wedding dresses that can be very elaborate and, by painting them, she breathes new life into them. Dresses at the party will be for sale and cost anywhere from $100 to $1,500.

The arts council discovered Vona through a word-of-mouth recommendation. Amy Wynn, executive director of the arts council, is enthusiastic about having her as one of the artists.

"Our goal is to celebrate the creativity in the region, make sure guests have a great time and raise money for the arts council," said Wynn, who will be wearing a Vona dress. "This younger group of makers are presenting themselves in wonderful, nontraditional ways, and Vona is part of the young creative community that doesn't fit into traditional labels. They are re-purposing things and bringing their own flavor to it. People are beginning to value this a bit more."

Vona is on Facebook at Vona Batik, and she does custom dresses, in case your favorite dress has been in the back of your closet because it has a stain.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.

Beat the Heat with Dazzling Short Dresses

Jovani has long been known for glamorous evening wear, prom dresses and red carpet-ready dresses – just ask Jovani wearers like Kelly Bensimon, Ariana Grande and Ashanti. However, in the midst of sweltering summer heat, the most stylish dress is always the one that allows a young lady to show off her feminine figure while remaining cool and comfortable.  It should come as no surprise, then, that the expert designers at Jovani have created a fantastically diverse selection of short, sexy cocktail dresses, pageant gowns and party dresses that allow a girl to hit the dance floor all summer long while looking and feeling great doing it.

Though summer always provides plenty of opportunities for making memories that last long after the green leaves have turned an autumnal red and orange, there is perhaps no event that more perfectly mixes fun with glamour than a summer wedding. The Jovani style for couture wedding dresses has always blended fun and sparkle with elegant sophistication, providing an unforgettably dazzling effect. Browse their collection and you'll soon discover that the trendsetting wedding dress designer has styled a number of dresses that combine summer sex-appeal with breathtaking, upscale elegance.

Celebs like Keyshia Cole, Carrie Underwood and Danielle Jonas as well as fun-loving girls around the globe know that the talented Jovani designer team is always a step ahead in predicting upcoming trends, and this summer is no exception. That's why the world-class designer's collection has brought a contemporary, fresh and funky flourish to even couture and red carpet dresses. If you're looking to make an unforgettable impression at your next gala event, say goodbye to stuffy, puffy ballroom gowns and welcome Jovani's collection of jaw-dropping, short dresses that still glitter with sparkling jewels to leave on-lookers breathless.

When a long, flowing couture gown is deemed necessary for the occasion, Jovani designers still bring a refreshing splash of summer sizzle with touches like a thigh-high slit that offers excellent comfort for a lady, and a slightly provocative, entirely stunning effect for those who catch sight of her. Despite the meticulous design of these upscale gowns, Jovani still adds fun and flirty flourishes that let every young woman's effervescent personality shine through.

Kleinfeld Bridal, the iconic Manhattan wedding shop, sued a famed designer on July 9 for allegedly undercutting its business by designing discount dresses for sale on cable TV’s QVC.

Kleinfeld says it hired Mark Zunino– who has created custom wedding gowns for everyone from Raquel Welch to Heather Locklear – as “creative design director” last year for exclusive gowns and related apparel.

The hiring required Zunino “not engage in any design activities that would conflict or compete” with Kleinfeld’s busy Flatiron District store featured on the hit reality TV series “Say Yes to the Dress.”

Zunino’s five-year pact promised him $175,000 the first year and $200,000 a year after that, according to court papers.Show your nature beauty with the best formal office dresses for women, which could help women confidence at everywhere.

But Kleinfeld claims it discovered this year that Zunino “had begun designing bridal apparel for and to be sold by Nolan Miller Inc.” That firm was founded by Zunino’s late mentor, Nolan Miller, who designed dresses for TV’s “Dynasty” and for the home-shopping network QVC, court papers say.

Zunino “cannot devote his full efforts to designing wedding gowns, related bridal apparel and jewelry exclusively for Kleinfeld and, at the same time, perform the same services for Nolan Miller,” says the Manhattan Supreme Court filing.

West Hollywood-based Zunino has threatened to sue Kleinfeld in California to say their deal is over, the suit says.Lace on Point d'Esprit high quality high neck wedding dresses gowns with a scalloped neckline and cap sleeves.

Meanwhile, dresses designed by Zunino, which range in price from $6,000 to $15,000, “are still on the floor,” according to Kleinfeld spokeswoman JennetteKruszka.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.

Vicki and Lauri Do Battle

Vicki and Lauri Do Battle
Those gals on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County sure know how to leave their mark! Last week, Vicki Gunvalson was finally clued in on the allegations being spread around town former employee and friend Lauri Waring Peterson caught her in a quasi-threesome.

To say Vicki had a nuclear meltdown was an understatement. With as much screaming as she did at Lauri on the slopes, you would’ve thought an avalanche might bury Lauri, Vicki, Tamra Barney, Alexis Bellino, Gretchen Rossi and Lydia McLaughlin.Show your nature beauty with the best formal office dresses for women, which could help women confidence at everywhere.

After the dust settled, we found out the true reason behind Lauri’s motives: Vicki sided against her. According to Lauri, eight years ago Vicki passed around an e-mail her husband’s ex-mother-in-law sent about him! Vicki took it upon herself not to notify Lauri about the e-mail. Instead, she sent the letter to another former housewife, who in turn circulated the information throughout their neighborhood.

If that’s the reason why Lauri’s gunning for Vicki, isn’t it eight years too little, too late for revenge? Lauri keeps on speaking about wanting to be truthful and expose Vicki for the person she is. Why not do this earlier on? If this doesn’t show Lauri’s true motives for telling Gretchen all about allegedly catching Vicki in bed with another man and woman, while married, then I don’t know what does.

Speaking of truths, Tamra started to wonder if Gretchen was being honest about the acting roles she claimed she snagged on the now defunct Malibu County. Heather Dubrow set Tamra’s antennas on high alert when she informed the ladies, Gretchen never got the role. Tamra and Gretchen had a mini heart-to-heart about the tale Gretchen spun over not attending Tamra’s day of choosing wedding dresses due to an acting gig. Gretchen maintained she got the role, but turned it down since she would just be playing herself. Who rebuffs their chance to be on television? Gretchen,  doth protest too much my dear. Lace on Point d'Esprit high quality high neck wedding dresses gowns with a scalloped neckline and cap sleeves.

I’ve witnessed my fair share of wedding faux pas over the years — drunken speeches, lewd dance-floor moves, annoying iPhone ringers that erupt in the middle of the “I do.” But of all the questionable things I’ve seen, none of these blunders are as appallingly premeditated as when a woman who isn’t the bride shows up to the wedding in a long white dress.

You don’t have to be an Emily Post devotee to be familiar with this established piece of etiquette and yet, without fail, there always seems to be at least one guest at every wedding who has the audacity to arrive in her showiest, whitest evening gown. At the last wedding I attended, there were no fewer than three women wearing floor-length frocks in various shades of virginal white. Who are these women and what is running through their brains when they decide to slip into a dramatic dress for someone else’s nuptials?

Having a bit too much to drink at the open bar might be frowned upon, but deliberately competing for attention with the bride is unforgivable. It’s not just taboo, it’s a calculated effort to draw attention to yourself and with every colour of the rainbow at your disposal, there’s really no excuse.

Click on their website wwww.marrybride.com for more information.