One of these days I am going to put aside the time to research the history of the candle. We give great acclaim to Mr. Edison for inventing the light bulb that serves us so well. Why is it then that I never hear about the individual who invented the candle? Bottom line is that the light bulb has been serving us for about 150 years. The candle has been around many hundreds of years more before the bulb and serves us well to this day. I would like to start a campaign to give it the recognition it deserves. There is something so romantic about a flame from a candle as opposed to the light from a bulb. I couldn't imagine a light bulb replacing the impact of a candle in the unity candle ceremony. Each and every religious and ultra spiritual event is magnificently enhanced by the flicker of a candle. It must have taken an incredibly creative mind, all those centuries ago, to develop the joining of the wax and wick and to bring it to such a fine design that has absolutely withstood the test of time. It would seem to me that it could only be surpassed by the discovery of fire itself. The next time you blow out the candles on a birthday cake, look back and pay homage to this timeless invention.

Jennifer and Marty are the kind of couple that were probably descendants of Army barracks NCO's. They are what I would refer to as "White Glove" people. Everything they participate in must undergo a thorough inspection.It took them 18 months to select their reception hall for their wedding. They underwent a year-long investigation choosing their wedding cake. My sister, who was the maid-of-honor was interrogated for three hours. Some bridal party members were rejected because they were NY Yankee fans (a real NO-NO in Boston). Speaking about their home town of Boston, these two would probably have found objection to the time of Paul Revere's ride and rescheduled it.I can't imagine the trials and tribulations they went through deciding between the sand and the candles for their unity ceremony. I could see them in the kitchen during the reception, tasting each item before it was served. My sister thinks they had an FBI agent, who is a friend of theirs, do a background check on each of the band members. When they had their blood tests for their wedding license, they had DNA tests done on themselves. Imagine what their poor children are going to have to endure.

Many young people today are of the opinion that beach weddings are the epitome of romance. Being, unfortunately, a tad older than these youthful romantics, I find my position on the subject to be quite the opposite. I see very little romance in the fact that the entire affair would be dependent on the weather conditions. The what ifs offer a preponderance of doubts. I would never find the courage to play the odds of the looming possibility of getting rained out or even worse winded out. Even tenting the reception would be a poor defense against the wind. Certainly there have been many successful attempts at this type of wedding, but there also are approximately 100 lottery winners every week in this country. The fact is, I have been around far to long to depend on luck. Possibly my view would be different back when my courage was at a far higher level. These thoughts have all arisen since the day our son and his fiancee announced to my wife and myself that they needed help selecting beach wedding favors for their soon to arrive nuptials at their destination wedding in Maui. I think they approached us because they have possibly bit off a bit more than they can chew with all the expenses involved in this destination thing. In other words, we'll be buying the favors.

Before the van picks you up or your son-in-law drives you to the airport. Before the weak airport coffee, there is the most important part of your journey. That is booking your flight. It has been said repeatedly that some of the poorest and user-adverse websites are those of many of the major airlines. The back and forth and the run around steps of attempting to get a time, a price and a proper destination can at time become a reason alone to forgo traveling at all. In this day and age of super competitive commerce, it should be a major priority of airlines to simplify and customize their online services to be user-friendly and virtually mistake-proof. In other words the digital agency must be as close to perfection as humanly possible. To have a better understanding of what they should all be shooting for in website development and foolproof navigation, they should all visit the Emirates Airline site and receive a valuable education. It won't be the first time that the adage "Less is more" has been proven. It is about time an entity has taken the initiative to set the bar at a height that is competent enough tom take the hassle out of air travel.

I have always had this feeling that flowers were nature's constant reminder of what we should strive for in our lives. If you take the time to observe their existence, you may easily be joining me in my quest to explain to the world around me how profound and exemplary a role they play. Like anything with life, they have a beginning, a middle and an end. They also have a purpose. Just about all of them begin as pollinated plants which parallel humanity. They begin to blossom in the same way we humans mature. Then they reach their potential and put on a display of their talents. In their case the talents are color and scent. Then something goes wrong. They suffer from neglect or they are picked and doomed. Just like we humans allow to happen to ourselves when we abuse our bodies though lack of proper nutrition and physical exercise. Which, in possibly an obscure way to some, brings me to why I offered to have predominately floral displays as her wedding decorations. I want to exhibit their importance in the influence they can have on her blossoming into the fabulous woman I know she has the potential to be. Her mother and I have always considered her to be our special flower from the day she was born.

My wife and I received a note from our son who moved to Nashville three months ago to pursue a career with a talent agency in that fair city. Things were moving along a bit slowly until we received this letter. He claimed he was given a golden opportunity to run the publicity event division for this major recording studio. Three weeks later another letter arrived. It didn't sound like our Richard. It was full of negativity and insecurity. Richard was a naturally confident boy and he was the only one of out four children that we were sure would always be capable and happy. It turned out that the problem he was having was that his new position was draining him. His mom got him on the phone one Sunday morning and told him she was concerned about his lack of sleep and he could come home anytime he wished. She assured him that his health and well being were far more valuable to himself as well as us than any job could ever be. He said he loved the work but there just wasn't enough time in a day to do it well. I got on the phone and asked him to describe the job. He was managing the events for some heavy-duty stars. I fortunately had just read about EventReady and their super event management software product. After I told him about it, he took me up on my suggestion and procured it. Two weeks later, we got our old Richard back, full of confidence.

Never doubt the message when you hear that you should be careful what you hope for, you might get it. I have personally been victimized by such a desire being filled. I was struggling with making a career choice last year. I worked for a really fine and generous firm that always rewarded employees for good effort. My problem was my immediate superior. She seemingly accepted all the praise and kudos for all the hard work my cohorts and myself produced. I say seemingly because I was about to learn some things I had no idea about. It took a very special event our department was putting together that could make or break the future success of our company. It was a monster of an event and was causing all of us to have nightmares regarding the outcome. My boss Miranda was in the thick of things when the thought came to me that if she were moved up the corporate ladder I would have the opportunity to step up to the next rung myself. It sounded pretty good, until it happened. Right in the middle of this huge product, she handed me the reins. My opinion of her instantly changed when my nine hour day became a fifteen hour day. I wasted no time searching for event management software to keep me from insanity. Luckily I found the perfect software and got the project completed on time. The event was super successful thanks to eventready.com.

Few things in life are as ethereal and emotional as the unity ceremonies being performed all over the world these days. I just love when people drop their shields and let their hearts dictate their actions. I can't remember one Saturday that our local chapel hasn't had either a communion or a wedding or any other ceremony going on. Most often it is a wedding occurring on Saturdays. I pop in whenever I am passing by to watch these beautiful and satisfying events. Last week, this happy looking young couple were in the midst of their sand ceremony when I opened the big heavy oak doors and peered in. The pastor brought attention to my presence and vocally invited me in. He said "You are always a welcome guest." I never realized that I was being noticed. Somehow I felt this warmth come over me and I knew I truly was welcomed and appreciated it with all my heart. I wished that these types of unity ceremonies were available for my wife and I when we wed. Then it struck me! Why not schedule one and surprise her on our 25th anniversary? I waited around after the service and set it up with the pastor. Now I have to wait four long months before it actually happens.

There is this reception hall in a town called East Orange, NJ. This venue is beyond gorgeous. I have been fortunate enough to attend three different weddings at this facility. Each time, I didn't want the evening to end. If you can afford it, they offer you a one stop option to get everything from the band to the personalized napkins from them. Naturally it would cost quite a bit so my nephew who was planning to have his reception there conferred with me about the pricing since he knew I had been there before. I told him I wasn't certain but I there would no doubt be a considerable fee for all the work they would relieve him of. This led him to forgo their service and arrange everything with his fiancee. They decided a bit late so time was their enemy. The wedding reception turned out to be fabulous. As I did in the past, I had a great time and didn't want it to end. The only glitch was that neither of them remembered to order the personalized napkins. If it weren't for my snooty sister bringing it up, no one would ever have noticed. All in all the wedding went beyond anything anyone would expect. The ambiance the kids created with their music selection and the decorations was just spot on.

Work, work, work was the theme of my life. I have been looking at my fingers on the keyboard for far too many months without a break in the action. I sometimes think the computer screen is my the only thing other than my fingers that exists. I walk around like an upside down letter "L". My back has the flexibility of an oak tree. On the rare occasion I do get up from my chair, I spend most of my time looking at the floor. Then this opportunity came along to actually free myself of the work and go on a pleasure trip to my beloved Canada. I remember Canada from a trip as a child in the 60's. I had illusions of skiing in Banff and visiting the gardens of Victoria. What actually happened was in my attempt to put on a pair of ski boots, I toppled over and slid down a hill. Now instead of enjoying the great outdoors, I wound up getting acupuncture in Edmonton. They shipped me there in the back of a funeral hearse because I couldn't feel my legs or bend anything. There I was lying fully stretched out on my back visualizing what was surely yet to come. The only things missing were the flowers and my death certificate. Now I am back to the grind. I must say those needles worked wonders. I can now experience feeling in my legs again.

Being the male side of a wedding is equivalent to being the side of broccoli that hardly anyone eats. They take their forks and play with it and move it around the plate. It is similar to being the stranger at a family reunion. You know, the guy that the sweetheart of a niece everyone loves, but this is the first time she is introducing him to the family. The women get together to plan the wedding. Being a male is an automatic disqualification from the team. There is one contribution I would like to make and I won't take no for an answer. I am going to make the wedding favor boxes. I made them for my brother's wedding two years ago. If I must say so myself, they were the talk of the town the day after the wedding. Trust me, this is no small task, but it is one that I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to. As a matter of fact, I have already procured the necessary materials for my project. I think I will tell them that I will take care of ordering them. My fiancee's mom isn't one to entrust my making them. I was sort of hoping that my bride to be would have remembered my brother's boxes and would request that I make ours. Wait a sec there's a voice mail on my phone. Oh wow! She just left me that very message. I knew I loved that girl.