Forever I do....

Beautiful People!!!

Have you been enjoying the blog? If you have, then please please please share it with everyone and anyone you think may be interested. And guess who's found the PERFECT flower girl dresses? MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! They are so adorable, chic and DIFFERENT! And I don't do same old, so my little bootsies will be rockin that aisle like they own it. Now to find a nice hair accessory and shoes! My girls MUST be on point from tip to toe!!! Woop woop!

The title should give this week's topic away. This Saturday the winners of the Nation Newspaper's Forever I Do Competition will be announced. Now I MUST be honest. I approached Andy with the idea of entering, and he flat out said NO! Further honesty? I want as many expenses paid as possible peeps, call me Star Jones if you want to I do NOT care! Weddings are expensive and if we can get some discounts/concessions HALLELUJAH!!! More money for the house AND honeymoon FO SHO! And that was my ONLY motivation for even considering it. Plus, it seems if you have no problem with people knowing all your business, sordid details and all, this is the competition to participate in.  But I agree with Andy, it is way too personal and invasive, but the allure of having a reception partially paid for, attire and all the other trimmings was sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

This is PROBABLY where they got the title of the contest from (another CHEESY wedding song, it's lovely, you know the words and all but UGH) ...

Forever I Do - Lou Rawls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyaPDE0C9y0

Let me say it now and get it outta the way. It is THE cheesiest, most cringe-worthy execution of what COULD be a truly romantic, exciting and fun filled experience for the contestants AND supporters/voters. Please tell me why my eyes are required to bleed every time I read about how her mother didn't like him at first, the couple went through a trying period when she lost her job and then ooops, "they" became pregnant. Somebody nearly lost an eyeball watching the other partner walk by and one dude developed cavities cause the lady was just too sweet. Need I go on?

I am STILL clueless about the type of dress I want. But I know I'm getting close!! Dress Fitting soon ;)     

I speak for both Andy and myself. In fact, he suggested that I write about this as this week's topic. We feel similarly about the competition AND let me say it's potential. I love the prizes they win, the audience involvement etc, but the stories leave SO MUCH to be desired! I get that sensationalism sells. I worked at both local publications, I have a pretty decent idea about what makes the gen pop tick. But can I have some substance? Would it be possible for the stories NOT to be laced with saccharine and splenda. So much so that I wonder if Enid Blyton is relaying these obviously inflated and EXAGGERATED stories.

Still, they're like a car crash, I simply cannot look away. I must read them and often I'm tempted to vote for the LEAST cheesy, pathetic SOUNDING couple. Now don't get me wrong. I am not at all suggesting that the couples' love is not true or beautiful. I'm sure it is, but can we romanticize the how they met part? And NOT the negative parts of their lives. It's NOT always rainbows and butterflies peeps, no. But the how and THEN the why would be more appropriate to make all passionate and cute and sugary NOT the devastation or sadness. But then again, who cares about the happy, when the depressing is so much easier to relate to.

Kristian and Elica- Finalists in the 2013 Forever I Do Competition (not a bad story at all!)

So if you are unfamiliar with the competition ( how could you be?) You submit your love story and a panel of judges sifts through to determine who is eligible. After the finalists are selected, over the course of about 3/4 months via public voting winners are announced sometime in April. Criteria includes: romantic appeal, determination despite adversity, believability, uniqueness, commitment. HA.

Andy and I are planning on attending the expo this Saturday and I CANNOT WAIT to see all that it has to offer. As a bride I need to know what is available to me locally and even through research and internet and yellow page trolling, there's SO MUCH to learn. So we're spending the $30 ($15 per ticket) to see what Mr. Greg Williams of Flawless puts out, how all the local decorating vendors show out, and what Mr. Brian Green - Atlanta based Barbadian Wedding Planner person has to deliver. I'm excited!

Back to True Love Stories and the voting criteria:

Well if you bring a couple that was together for 20 years and one that was together for 2, you automatically think the first couple has stood the test of time. If you just give me the usual story about how they had financial problems, housing problems, car problems, job problems, BUT the couple that have only been together for 2 endured LONG DISTANCE for 18 months out of those two years, how am I supposed to rate their commitment? I am SO LOST!


Take the the couples highlighted on March 31, 2013 for instance:

"During this time, things progressed well and both thought the relationship was on solid ground, Bruce professed his feelings of love for Sarah, calmed her anxieties... they spoke of a future together, shared similar interests and everything seemed aligned. That is why, a year into the relationship, a sudden declaration by Bruce that he wanted out, floored Sarah.

The Proposal:

In keeping with the couple's personality, the proposal was 'casual'... he came home from work one evening late as he passed by my parent's house to ask my father's permission before coming."... "He cited one of the catch phrases from one of his favourite shows by saying, you know what would make me happy,happy,happy? If you wold become my wife, and I hugged him forgetting to say yes!"

Four more lines and that was it for the proposal! Seriously Nation? Where's the build up? The excitement? What did they do that day? Was she expecting it? Was he nervous? Hesitant? Vomiting? Good Gosh man!

Example #2: Couple #2:

'When she finally called, it was the beginning of what they call a great relationship - and as the saying goes: they never looked back.  (not cliche' at allllll)

Later in the article:

"Things continued to progress nicely (sound familiar MASSIVE EYEROLL).. blah blah.. Donna had a rough pregnancy, barely keeping anything down: Tyrone, unable to stay home during the day, would leave her buckets so she would not have to move much, cleaning up in the evenings when he returned home."

WHAT???!?!? Why is that even a part of the story? I don't know about you, but I'm glad to know he didn't leave her to have to drag herself to the bathroom, but then again did I have to hear about it at allllll? How about, he loves how reliable she is, committed, determined ambitious BECAUSE...??

He stood by her through a difficult pregnancy FULL STOP.

What about the qualities, the shared likes or even dislikes. Their hobbies, their joint interests. What they do apart, what they do to recommit. There are soooo many angles they could cover but nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo crappy, cheesiness takes precedence.

Man look, ya'll ever read the Just Engaged and Bridal Bliss Stories on www.essence.com
http://photos.essence.com/galleries/bridal-bliss-tracey-and-bradley ?

Still want believability? I love this!



From this month's article. Love her colours!!

I LOVE them! The love story is on the first page. It's usually very honest and open, yet matter of fact and succinct. And while the focus is on either the proposal or Wedding Day it is CAPTIVATING and MOTIVATING. And then there is a photo gallery with captions that offer tidbits about the couple and their journey. I'll give them a 3/5 for cheesy. But let me level with you, the strength of the quotes and the NATURAL look of the photos encourages me to read them every week. I am inspired by the photos that I see and by some of the couple's ideas AND ideals. I love that the stories are real and often it seems that they were at the point of breaking up BUT what is SUPER cool about it is that there IS the REAL! I don't doubt the love at ALLLLL. And the adversity? Is not glossed over, but it isn't glorified either. It really does make for a satisfying positive way to pass your time.
Nothing is forced and while they include things like " The bride was so excited when she saw her man for the first time, she squealed with excitement" it's still not OTT. I dunno you all can tell me if you agree or disagree.

Weigh in PLEASE! Comment on FB or here on Blogger Or send me an email (heidi@modenmakeup.com). Please indicate if you want your comment publicized or not.

Will I be seeing you on Saturday? Andy and I have loads to do. So we probably won't get there before 6/7, but I am DETERMINED to go!!

And by the way, here are two of me and Andy's fave 'Wedding Day Songs'. We are HUGE music buffs, so our playlist will be PHENOMENAL, just saying ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PjEntMdpw - Kenny
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fihlBfuA2B4 - Stevie
Enjoy!!

Take care!

Love
Heidi xoxo.