In the old days, it was considered lucky to touch the bride, and even luckier if you were able to tear off a piece of her dress or veil.  Imagine someone ripping off a piece of your Monique Lhuillier couture gown – can you say friendship OVER?! The tradition of grabbing fragments of the bride’s clothing for luck dates back to 14th century France.  In order to prevent single women from invading the bride’s personal space, and potentially leaving her half-dressed, the bouquet toss was introduced as a more civilized alternative.  This way, the single ladies could still snag the potential of their own happily ever after while leaving the bride’s beautiful dress intact.

Today, the bouquet signifies an upcoming engagement or unexpected romance for the lucky (or most aggressive) girl who catches it.  Superstition? We think not!  One of our Mojuba girls was at a wedding a few weeks ago, and the girl who caught the bouquet is now happily engaged!

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected

1. Be conscious of you bridesmaids’ budgets, especially if you are under 30.  Many of your attendants may be repaying student loans, or saving for a home or wedding of their own.
2. Sympathize with your bridesmaids’ body-image issues:  Your girls are up there with you on the big day, so make sure they feel beautiful in their dresses too.  There are plenty of ways to appease bridesmaids who feel their frock isn’t flattering.  Maid of honor self-conscious about her arms?  A pashmina or fur shrug (like the one below)  is a glam way to cover up. 
3. Remember that it takes two to tango—Don’t leave your guy out of the wedding-he may not have any insight as to what flowers best offset your complexion, but maybe he’d like to come along on the cake-tasting or help you run around Crate+Barrel with that registry gun (it’s like a cross between Christmas and Laser Tag!  Woohoo!)
4. Stay organized.  Whether you have a planner or are going it alone, your wedding prep will be a lot less stressful if you have a folder for your linen swatches and a database of all important phone numbers.   Providing your limo driver with printed directions to the church and knowing you DJ’s cell number will prevent a lot of unnecessary meltdowns and stop everyone from remembering you as the King Kong of Bridezillas.   FYI: We love My Big Day Planner as wedding organizing tool.
5. Keep it classy.  If you’re going to drink at your wedding, keep it to a minimum, and if you’re going to drink beer, please…use a cup.                                                                                                                                                      

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected

10.) Have the entire bridal party scuff their shoes outside on the sidewalk or concrete so no one slips.  All we have to say about this bride is, “Ouch.”

9.) Use a lot of candles at the reception to add romance…just please don’t light the church on fire!

8.) Don’t get cold feet on the dance floor–take some dance lessons.  This couple’s groovin’ but their technique is loosin’.

7.) Pre-select a spot at the reception to store your belongings.  At least this bride coordinated her purse with her groom’s tux…

6.) Choose bridesmaid dresses that are simple and flatter all body types.   Enough said.

5.) Make sure your flower girl can walk.  I hope this bride’s guests have cleared their schedule for the next few months because that’s how long it’s going to be before this little girl walks, let alone down an aisle.

4.) Stick to simple hair styles.  No need to dye your hair the color of your flowers…

3.) Your dress can be “froufy;” it can even be colored; but keep it elegant–we’re thinking this bride must have gotten into a fight with bedazzling shears on her way to the ceremony and lost.

2.) Don’t get carried away with the length of your train…unless, of course, your entire wedding party is walking you down the aisle.

1.) Keep it classy.  We know you need to eat while you prep, but save hot-dogs for the wedding night…

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected.

Happy Valentines Day from the Mojuba Girls! To show you that love is alive at any age we are sharing our favorite quotes about love according to kids. It’s not often that we ask five year olds for advice about love and relationships but they just might understand love more than we thought.

“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.” -Greg 8

“You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bucks to buy her a big ring and her own VCR, ’cause she’ll want to have videos of the wedding.” – Jim age 10

“I know one reason kissing was created. It makes you feel warm all over, and they didn’t always have electric heat or fireplaces or even stoves in their houses.” -Gina age 8

“It’s love if they order one of those desserts that are on fire. They like to order those because it’s just like how their hearts are — on fire.” – Christine age 9

“Be a good kisser. It might make your wife forget that you never take out the trash.” -Erin age 8

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” -Rebecca age 8

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday.” Noelle age 7

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy age 4

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.” – Emily age 8

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.”- Karen age 7

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” – Bobby age 7

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”- Jessica age 8

And if that’s not enough love inspiration check out this video of 2nd graders interviewed about Valentine’s Day.

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected

So it’s your first Valentine’s day as an engaged couple–i.e. the first Valentine’s day you know you’ll be together forever.  The pressure is on-what are you going to get your future husband that shows him you’re excited to be his wife?  Should you be sexy or sweet?  Traditional or creative?  With so many options out there, here are our choices for top Valentine’s gifts for your guy.

1.  Sexy- La Perla is always gorgeous (albeit expensive)–but it’s so worth the splurge for arguably the most important Valentine’s Day you’ll ever have.  This jaw-dropper will make your man thank God he got to propose to you before anyone else had the chance.

2.  Sweet- Want to be sentimental on a budget?  Take a note from Mr. Big in Sex and The City and copy love letters into a leather journal–or write your own on pretty stationary!  Hand-made coupons for errands, massages, etc., etc., (wink-wink) are also a great idea.  Check out Kate’s Paperie (the unique stationary store is based in Manhattan but has a fab online shop) for gorgeous, decorative cards and paper.

3. Traditional- There’s always chocolate!  But just because you’re giving a “standard” gift, doesn’t mean you can’t do it in a unique way. Vosges Chocolates, for example, makes bacon & chocolate bars and bacon chocolate pancake mix (sounds like a guy thing to us!)  Or, if you’re dealing with a “manly man,” Creative Chocolates of Vermont makes tools-everything from wrenches to paint brushes-out of chocolate.

4.  Creative- Honestly, we weren’t going to do this, but we got the sweetest note from a bride who gave a Mojuba Groom Bag as an early gift for her husband-to-be, and he LOVED it.  So, here goes our shameless plug, in the form of a little love letter of our own, from bride Nora:

Jackie-

I gave Zach his valentines present a little early and he was so “impressed” was the  word he used over and over. He actually used the bag for a business trip he had the next day.  I could tell this was a present he really loved because he kept commenting on it with enthusiasm. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

-Nora

If we do say so ourselves, Mojuba is truly a great way to show your man you care, and that you want your Big Day to be perfect.

Good luck, and happy gifting!!

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected

My Big Day Planner is a wedding workbook that comes with everything needed to help plan your wedding. The kit comes with a pen, sticky notes, page flags, folders, business card organizers, sheet protectors, a separate document holder, and clipboard – and has sections to help you keep track of your budget, guest list, seating chart, vows, legal documents and more! (click here to check out a sample section) The best part is the planner is completely customizable. The over 200 workbook-style pages and 17 different categories can be removed or rearranged to fit each bride’s individual needs. And if you are all-digital, My Big Day Planner also offers an eBook, which allows you to download the pages from your home or office to help organize the work you’ve already put into planning your wedding.

So get on track and get organized…get My Big Day Planner!

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected

Prelude Music: used as guests are being seated for the ceremony, which can take up to 30 minutes

Air on the G String (Bach)
One of my personal favorites! Beautiful as a string quartet.

Chorale Prelude: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (Bach)
This piece can also be played on strings or a piano.

Processional Music: signals the beginning of the ceremony, including seating of the parents, bridal party, (sometimes of the grandparents), and finally the bride walking down the aisle

Trumpet Tune (Purcell)
You will feel like an actual princess walking down the aisle to this song.

Trumpet Voluntary The Prince Of Denmark March (Purcell)
The trumpets sound gorgeous and are a nice alternative to the more standard string instruments.

Cannon in D (Pachelbel)
Can also work as a processional, recessional, and postlude.

Bridal Chorus (Wagner)
You can’t go wrong with the classic Here Comes The Bride.

Interlude Music: generally a vocalist will sing these songs as the bride and groom give flowers to their parents, light a unity candle, etc.

Ave Maria (Schubert)
If you would like to add a modern spin to this classic, check out Beyonce’s version.

Recessional Music: played after bride and groom have been pronounced man and wife

Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
A timeless song for the couple to exit the ceremony as newlyweds to.

Ode To Joy (Beethoven)
The last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is an elegant piece.

Postlude Music: played until all guests have exited the ceremony

Water Music (Handel)
A lovely piece to end the ceremony with.

Happy (Music) Hunting!

Mojuba Wedding- life, love, and the unexpected

Greatest Marriage Proposal EVER!!!

Any guys out there doubting the dad question? In our expert opinion, it is absolutely necessary for a man to ask the father’s permission before proposing. By asking, you are letting her parents know that you are sincerely in love with their daughter. Popping the question to dad will put him at ease and including mom or the ladies in the family can help you make the right ring choices.

Mojuba Wedding – love, life and the unexpected.

We recently had a bridal show in Lexington Kentucky with Kentucky Bride Magazine and we could not have been more in love with the venue! It is a mansion on a 1,400 acre farm that features over 40 rooms located 15 minutes outside of Lexington. While working the show we decided that if we lived in the Lexington area that we would get married at the Spindletop Hall. Not only is the venue amazing but there is a wonderful staff to match. The staff and management continually checked up on us to make sure we had everything that we needed and gave us a tour of how the place is set up for wedding venues. The space even includes a “grooms lounge” in the basement. It is a place for the men to relax for a bit with couches, smaller bar area and a billards room. The Hall fills up fast, so if your a Kentucky bride wanting to have your venue looking as beautiful as you on your wedding day look no further than the Spindletop Hall. We can’t even imagine how gorgeous the brides getting ready photos will turn out in the vintage rooms! Check out the pictures below to see a real wedding from Spindletop Hall.

Mojuba Wedding- love, life, and the unexpected

Clockwise from left: Micropave ring by Harry Winston; Tiffany Round Brilliant with Bead-set Band (And be sure to check out the Tiffany iPhone app for shopping for the perfect Tiffany engagement ring!); Cartier Solitaire 1895 in platinum/diamond; Bvlgari Deicata a Venezia Solitaire ring in Platinum with round brilliant cut diamond and double row pave diamonds.

When picking out an engagement ring, knowing the “four c’s” is a must:

Cut: Not to be confused with shape, the cut is actually the facets and their proportions on the surface of the diamond that creates the diamond’s reflective quality.  Shape is also important – whether a girl wants a round, emerald, princess, or asscher shaped diamond can be a very important decision that reflects her personal style.

Clarity: A diamond’s clarity, determined by its cloudiness or number of “inclusions” or flaws it has, is one of the main ways to measure its quality.  Clarity rating can be tricky to get right, so be sure to get the opinion of a professional.

Color: It is actually very rare to find a diamond without any trace of color, and they can range from borderline color to obvious color, such as yellow or blue diamonds.

Carat: This is the unit of weight for diamonds, and as you might guess, a higher weight or number of carats will mean a larger and more expensive diamond.

For more info on choosing an engagement ring, we recommend this helpful guide from Harry Winston.  Happy shopping!

Mojuba Wedding – love, life, and the unexpected.