August 31, 2011

{Veiled in Mystery}


Dear Bride-to-Be:
What has come to be known as a “bridal veil” in European-American heritage has its own unique story, borrowing the best from both Eastern and Western cultures. From Eastern tradition, you inherit a sense of being veiled as capturing a meditative space for your own private reverie. The Western lineage of the veil takes inspiration from the prestige and grandeur of past traditions from the royal courts. Together they create an elegant heritage and a pensive beauty for today's brides.

Whether you are aware of this legacy, or whether you wear a bridal veil or not, you are stepping into the past touched by women of the ages, offering a bit of themselves to your life. Open your heart and let that womanly support of strength and mystery in!

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

[Photograph: Kimberly Sayre & Shannon Stellmacher for Shannon Stellmacher Photography]


August 24, 2011

{Listen to Your Heart}


Dear Bride-to-Be:
When the busy-bustle of wedding planning spins you away from yourself and you’re feeling a bit frazzled, what do you do to ease back into your heart center? It’s important to take a quiet moment to listen to your heart each day. Close your eyes and take a few deep, soft breaths...long, slow inhales and exhales...and listen in. What’s the message you hear?

Slow down, be patient. Listen deep into the stillness so the message can get through. (Fine-tune your heart channel!) Listen for what soothes and supports your best self. Allow yourself to let love in from all directions and from all of life’s voices. When you find the quiet inside, you realize you’re not alone . . . your inner spirit is always there to guide and nurture you.

However, it’s not always easy to find that quiet moment of relaxation and contemplation in your day or evening. Yet your spirit and well-being calls for it! Take a walk in the park, in the woods, down the street, along a lane, beside a lake. Go sit by a tree or in a corner . . . or at least somewhere by yourself for a few moments of quiet each day. (Even a closet will do!) And listen for love.

Love. Listen. Let go.
....with love from Cornelia

[Photograph by Priscilla Wannamaker]

August 17, 2011

{Pocket-Full of Love}


Dear Bride-to-Be:
Are you planning to have a “sixpence in your shoe” or perhaps a “penny in your pocket” on your wedding day? Or maybe, like a lot of practical modern brides who like to follow some of the quaint old customs, you will tuck a lucky coin of some sort into your wedding purse!

History tells us that the first coins date back almost 3000 years, used by people who live in the area now known as Turkey. So if you use an old or new coin of any origin, you’re bringing a long lineage of riches and abundance into your wedding day from around the world!

But whether you use an old or new coin—or a dime or a franc—as your bridal token of abundance, remember that it’s only a “token.” True abundance is a full heart of love that you give away unconditionally and receive completely.

Now, that’s a pocket-full of riches!

Love. Listen. Let go.
... with love from Cornelia

[Photograph: Julie Mikos]


August 10, 2011

{Your Fabled Dress}


Dear Bride-to-Be:
There is a great deal of romance and juicy energy around the fabled “wedding dress.” These costumes with a past have become mythical creatures, described as “gowns of ritual” by historian Carol McD. Wallace in her book All Dressed in White. Wedding dresses—whether you wear something old or something new—connect women in an echoing sisterly heritage.

Share with a girlfriend or aunt or your seamstress or any woman in your life how wearing your wedding dress makes/made you feel. Soak in feeling feminine and luscious and gorgeous in your own eyes. Enjoy “playing dress-up” in your princess gown and take that womanliness into “regular life” so you can draw from that delight—especially on one of those “frumpy” feeling days!

Slow down during your wedding planning time and wedding day. Savor it. Breathe deeply and easily into your heart center and just hang out there for a bit. And in this soft and sweet place, remember the “feeling beautiful” feeling and carry it with you no matter what you are wearing.

Love. Listen. Let go.
....with love from Cornelia

[Photograph by Sarah Merians and Company]


August 3, 2011

{Remembrances}


Dear Bride-to-Be:
Last week marked a pivotal anniversary in the world of weddings. The 29th of July would have been the 30th anniversary of Diana Spencer and Prince Charles' legendary wedding. Even if you were unaware, couldn't care less, or not born at the time -- that wedding, and its shimmering bride, changed your world right this moment and altered how women looked at being a bride ever since.

If you want a little background history, check in to one of my other blogs that is the companion to my upcoming book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride: How Diana Exposed the Princess Myth for All Women. In honor of the anniversary that galvanized a very dull wedding industry thirty years ago, I began posting excerpts from my book's prologue that describe the glittering event and its impact on the world. (The descriptions of the wedding day itself are coming up in the next few posts.) Enjoy!

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia