Bridal Basics

Save Lucy

2009-09-18T12:33:00.000-04:00

Lucy is a 34 year old Asian elephant living at the Valley Zoo in Edmonton Alberta. She is socially isolated in a little enclosure, has medical problems and must endure extreme cold Alberta weather. Join the campaign to save Lucy by moving her to a sanctuary where she can be with other elephants, to socialize and roam free.

Check out these sites to learn more about how you can help Lucy.
Save Lucy
Sign the Petition to save Lucy

Join Bob Barker (Celebrity - Original Host of "The Price is Right"), William Shatner ("Captain Kirk" of the original Star Trek series), Debbie Leahy (Director of PETA), Margaret Atwood (Author).... and thousands of others, to help save Lucy from a life of isolation.

Floral Rosary

2009-08-28T18:59:00.002-04:00

I ordered a chaplet for my mother from FloralRosary.com. It is made from a Stargazer Lily out of my garden.

I think it turned out great ... and also would make a great favor.
What do you think?

Visit Floral Rosary, browse all their great products and tell them Nancy sent you :)

Soulmate Secrets: Looking for love in all the wrong ways

2009-08-17T10:16:00.002-04:00

Soulmate Secrets: Today at 5 EST
"Looking for Love in ALL the Wrong WAYS"
www.BlogRadio.com/TheAwakening

A repost of a note from William Constantine

www.BlogRadio.com/TheAwakening

Wedding Odyssey 2009

2009-01-10T16:13:00.006-05:00

Today was the first day of the Wedding Odyssey 2009 show at the Ciociaro Club in Windsor.
The place was packed with brides, bridesmaids, mothers of the bride (or grooms) and even some grooms and groomsmen, as well as vendors eager to showcase their wares and give deals and discounts.

I took many pictures of the fashion show models in their beautiful gowns and accessories, and a few pictures of some of the vendor booths that were just too beautiful not to photograph and mention specifically.

Dream Weddings
(519) 567-2283
This picture doesn't give their work justice. I love the colors they chose - very current and high-end.

Designs by Diane
(519) 974-9559
Both my husband and I agreed this display was absolutely top notch.

Here's another look at the display by "Designs by Diane"

There was one more venue decorator that I wanted to include but they didn't want their booth photographed for fear someone may take their design * and have it copied through another decorator ....

Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the show.

If you haven't had a chance to get out there today, be sure to put it on your schedule for tomorrow.

All the photos are uploaded to our gallery for your viewing pleasure.

Wedding Shows

2008-11-24T23:13:00.003-05:00

The Wedding Odyssey show is January 10 - 11, 2009
Although I have not made an absolute commitment or booked our space, I would like to be there with a fabulous display, so any ideas or suggestions would be very appreciated.

I'll be deciding by the end of this week - either way, I think it's a show you should put on your schedule if you have a wedding in your future. They'll have industry professionals showcasing the latest and greatest in wedding fashions, trends and merchandise, several fashion shows, prizes and much more.

I hope to see you there

Lest We Forget

2008-11-10T19:06:00.001-05:00

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

by John McCrae

T.V. Commercial

2008-09-09T20:21:00.003-04:00

We've had a commercial running on the local A-Channel for the past several weeks.

Yesterday and again today, Ellen Degeneres talked about her wedding to Portia and showed pictures and behind the scenes video.
It was beautiful!
The ad is supposed to appear once this week during the Ellen show -- I had my fingers crossed that it would appear during todays show.
I was disappointed and felt let down once again, at this missed opportunity to advertise during a show that had relevant content.

Did the ad execs drop the ball on this one?

Spotlight On: Sweet Pea's

2008-04-21T11:37:00.002-04:00

Spotlight on local merchants:
Sweet Pea's
Children & Maternity

4112 Walker Road
Windsor, Ontario
( 519 ) 969.4040

Fantastic high end products, accessories and fashions for maternity and baby.

I went to the grand opening the weekend of April 5th and left with an armful of maternity fashions, baby clothes and a bathtub.

The store was dressed-up with pastel balloons and delicious looking cupcakes arranged creatively on a tiered rack on the counter next to a beautiful cake adorned with "icing" peas, greeted me. Although I arrived only ten minutes after the store opened for the day, it was already packed with shoppers and a line had already formed for the cash register with women carrying arm loads of children and maternity fashions, toys, baby and child furniture and accessories. I was pleased there was such a great turnout but could feel my heart sink as it beat faster and louder, fearful that items I had seen previously would be gone. I reached the racks and found only two of the Thyme Maternity and Old Navy Maternity shirts I had come to purchase. I was happy and shopped around a bit more and found several more items.

Pleased with my selections, I made my way to the cash register where I filled out ballots as the clerk entered my purchases on the cash register. Speaking briefly with the owner Mackenzie Murphy as she helped show me how to operate the bathtub gadgets. They are not the simple blue molded plastic vessels they used to be when I was a new mom and find Mackenzie extremely helpful in explaining how to properly use the products she sells, even when the store is full of people and activity.

I highly recommend Sweet Pea's for your purchase or sale of maternity fashions of baby clothes and accessories.

The Ruler Song

2008-04-11T21:24:00.001-04:00

Friday Funnies - March 7

2008-03-07T10:34:00.001-05:00

________________________________________________________________
__________ Friday __________ d(' _ ')b __________ Funnies __________

In a hospital's I.C.U., patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning at about 11:00 a.m., regardless of their medical condition.

This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 a.m. Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents.

The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 a.m., all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.

Just when the clock struck 11:00, Willie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.

____________________ The ____________________
____________________ End ____________________

Exciting and New

2008-02-28T23:06:00.003-05:00

I have added a new section to the site and I'm so excited about it, I can't wait until it's fine tuned and launched. I think it's going to really bring a large variety of fabulous new wedding, bridal and special occasion products for every taste, theme and budget.

I'm hoping it's ready within the next few days and will officially announce it here and on the message board.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T11:42:00.004-05:00

What a wonderful day for sharing love, happiness, warm wishes and chocolate.
Yes, chocolate!!!
Ok, so I'm a bit fixated on sweets since I decided to give it up for the sake of better health

Visit my
Valentine's Day Page to see my collection of recipes, tags, wallpapers - or to learn how to say I love you in other languages

nancy.BridalBasics.ca

Evolving

2008-02-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

I've had two things happen over the past week.
One good. One bad.

The bad: I will be removing many, many links to products and merchants that are no longer interesting to my site visitors. Based on feedback and email received, I've come to the conclusion some things just had to go....
The good: I already have more relevant products and merchants to replace them.

I'm very excited about the changes that I have already implemented into the site and look forward to finishing all the changes within the next week.
What's going to be different? Just about everything.
You'll notice less products cluttering the pages, instead I will be focusing on one main featured item and two or three sub-features or a scroll window widget. This will give me more time to rotate through more products and highlight new (or existing) merchants with more frequency.

On the immediately visible portion:
I changed the link and page background colors. I find it more soothing this way.

On meeting people ....

2008-02-05T10:59:00.000-05:00

At first glance this may not seem to have anything to do with weddings or celebrations but read on...

We went in search of celeriac for a new recipe. We found some at one grocery store but it looked nothing at all like the picture in the recipe. It was a long, skinny looking stick and it should instead be round brown-burgundy irregular shaped ball with a fuzzy cap. My husband asked the produce staff and they helped search but knew even less than I did about this root vegetable. Hard to believe but it's true !

We headed to another store, where once again we asked for help and once again the staff were not familiar with celeriac. A woman approached and showed me the vegetable I was asking about. Good thing, or we'd still be running around town looking.

As we chatted for a few moments, she shared much appreciated tips and such.
Who is she and what does this have to do with weddings?

Her name is Sherri Lauzon, Executive Chef - CEC CPEC CRC.
Personal & private chef services, meal planning & preparation. As well, she specializes in Diabetes, HBP, Heart Disease, Celiac, Vegan and Sports nutrition.

She can create a custom culinary delight for your banquets, wedding and other celebrations .... Aha! Finally the point of this entry. For more information, please use our contact form and we will forward your information to chef Sherri.

Wedding Videographer Clearly Shooting Side Project During Ceremony

2007-06-08T12:21:00.000-04:00

Wedding Videographer Clearly Shooting Side Project During Ceremony

FENTON, IL—Guests attending the marriage of Frank Herman and Lauren Holland reported Saturday that videographer Jesse Laske, a film-school... [ more ]

Clearly the guy has some sort of odd fetish.
Definitely file under the Hmmmmm! category

New Styles For Men

2007-05-29T12:55:00.000-04:00

Watching the morning A-Channel show, they had a segment about the new tuxedo trends. I was surprised to find out the new color combinations are black and chocolate brown. The shop owner that was being interviewed called it "espresso" (and we know how important it is to refer to colors by their accurate names [case in point salmon vs peach])

Let's face it, many of us grew up with the idea those two colors should never be combined in any outfit' and here it is...dead-smack in front of my face looking completely, elegantly, fabulously perfect.

For prom the trends are towards more vibrant colors such as teal and other ocean and tropical inspired hues of blues, reds, greens.

In: Vests and Windsor ties
Out: Cummerbunds

Have a great day and happy planning!

Terror Under Water

2007-02-01T20:10:00.000-05:00

first things, first
In the updates, I posted about the new virtual hairstylers I added to the site and the wedding gown styles series of pages. It's here if you want to read about it.

On a more personal note:
I killed a big, ugly bug with pinchy thingies that had found it's way into my loofah type back scrubbing thing. I smushed it to make sure it was dead and then had my husband dispose of it.
He looked directly at it and asked me where the bug was.
I pointed!

He asked again...
I pointed once more.

Casually he took the squished bug out of the loofah scrubbing thing and announced that I had indeed killed it...
The big, ugly bug with the pinchy thingies that I killed,
turned out to be dryer lint.

Maybe I should shower with my glasses on!

Adopting Babies
I saw a story on the news about babies getting their mouthes taped in an orphanage somewhere in Russia.
It was sad!
Poor little orphans without anyone to hold and comfort them, so the nurses put tape on their mouths to shut them up.

I said we should adopt a baby. Maybe even one of the orphans and my husband said, "yes, we should get ten of them"!

Yay!
Ten new babies, how great is that?

When Insults Had Class

2006-12-16T15:55:00.000-05:00

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
-- Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about."
-- Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
-- Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
-- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"
-- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it."
-- Moses Hadas
"I could carve a man with more backbone out of a banana."
-- Teddy Roosevelt
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know."
-- Abraham Lincoln
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
-- Groucho Marx
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
-- Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
-- Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one.."
-- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."
-- Winston Churchill, in response
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."
-- Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."
-- John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."
-- Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
-- Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up."
-- Paul Keating
"He had delusions of adequacy."
-- Walter Kerr
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure."
-- Jack E. Leonard
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt."
-- Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."
-- Thomas Brackett Reed
"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them."
-- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
-- Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
-- Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?"
-- Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
-- Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
-- Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination."
-- Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
-- Billy Wilder

Another Rude Awakening

2006-10-03T14:05:00.000-04:00

I received an email that started off pleasant enough:

Dear Bridalbasics Team,

While browsing the web looking for related web sites to partner with, we found your site, and think that we would make good link partners.
This is what we had in mind:

I replied with this:

Hi There,

We have been links partners since March of 2003 - you can view your link here http://www.bridalbasics.ca/links.MISC.html In checking where our link used to appear on your site, I found it no longer there ( URL removed ). What happened?

...and then their claws came out and they got all nasty

Click here to read the whole story and see copies of the original emails.

Jilted Brides

2006-05-16T00:54:00.000-04:00

Field's conversion adding to brides' jitters

Marshall Field's, which invented the bridal gift registry, has left some brides feeling jilted this spring as the store discontinues certain items in the transition to becoming Macy's.

Field's notified its registered brides in March that "some items may be discontinued and limited in quantity," but that did little to smooth the ruffled feathers of some brides-to-be. read more...

Scent-Sational Fragrances

2005-12-21T13:31:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited about Christmas being a couple of days away. I wonder what Santa is bringing me this year considering I was really, really good!

I'm also excited because the perfume pages were updated and expanded a few weeks ago and now we offer perfumes and colognes in several categories that are updated with the latest hot scents for the seasons.

Womens Perfume | Designer Collection | Arabian Oils & Attars | Mens Colognes

Stay tuned for some very exciting changes to our existing jewelry section - once complete, it will be one of our most extensive renovations ever.

That's it for now.
Thanks for stopping in!

Smell Great For Less

2005-08-03T21:59:00.001-04:00

Save Big Now - Save 10% on any Perfume Purchase over $75 Save 10% on your purchase with perfume coupon code "SAVEBIGNOW "
More info......

Save 5% on your next purchase with perfume
coupon code:
"SMELLTHEBEST4LESS"
Visit our perfume page for details

Change is good!

2005-08-03T19:30:00.000-04:00

I just removed an entire category of items from the site.

I have had terrific success with this particular merchant and the products were absolutely fabulous.
So what's the problem, right?

I think I found something many times better and hopefully, will have it showcased shortly. I'm working on it right now and estimate that it should be on-site within the week.

In more news and totally unrelated to weddings or the bridal industry........
I would like to invite one and all to visit my fun site and take the T.P. Poll.
Click here

Michael Jackson Verdict

2005-06-13T23:09:00.000-04:00

It appears that Michael Jackson was found not guilty on all ten counts.

I'm absolutely confused and somewhat puzzled, but who am I to question the jurors. It just seemed like such an open and shut case. At least that's how it was coming across in my neck of the woods.

Is anyone else as miffed by the verdict as I am?

What's new

2005-06-10T14:27:00.000-04:00

I've decided to begin publishing the Bridal Basics blog......again!

This is probably the third time I create a blog for the site and hopefully, the last time. I'm not terribly diligent with sticking to publishing interesting things in my blogs and usually after a short stint, I give up and delete it.

This time I believe things will be different and I'll publish many things in the future.

Only time will tell though!