{Love & English Teacups!}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 

With the popularity of Downton Abbey, all things charmingly vintage and elegantly English have a renewed appeal. (And for some us, such charm never went out of fashion!) I recently met a delightful woman at a wedding event who has a clever new business; she rents out “vintage mismatched fine china” for special events—like for your bridesmaid luncheon or wedding reception. Vanessa Gilbreath is English, ‘natch, and the treasures you can rent are from sets of beautiful china she inherited from her mother, grandmother and great-aunt ... all reminiscent of English flower gardens.

Like a lot of people who watched Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding and were inspired by the bride’s bouquet or lace-trimmed gown or veil or serene bearing, Vanessa’s idea for her Vintage English Teacup business was also inspired by this splendid yet intimate royal wedding. (And the table designs that can be created with Vanessa’s plates and teacups and other pretty things are something I’m sure Duchess Catherine would love!) 

Wherever your inspiration comes from for your wedding, be sure to include the elegance and beauty that calls forth your delicious imagination as well as your royally open heart!

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

[Images from Vintage English Teacup website]

{Bring Intimacy Back to Weddings}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 

“Weddings are increasingly notable for their amazing lack of intimacy, their evolution into industry,” commentator Jacki Lyden wrote in a report for NPR several years ago. And in our overly-commercialized, up-noised, garish culture, I share this idea over and over in an attempt to urge couples to “look inside” and follow their hearts first when planning their wedding.

In my book for same-sex couples (The Handkerchief Has Been Thrown!—just re-published in print form), I remind the reader of this dilemma. Suggesting ways to return intimacy to the wedding celebration, I encourage gay and lesbian couples to not just follow the fashion of “traditional” weddings, but to set a new standard inspiring all ceremonies to be more real and from the heart.

Unfortunately, Bridal Expos—those big gatherings that bring wedding vendors together with potential brides, grooms and assorted entourages—tend to boost the commercial, big-sexy-party aspect of modern weddings. (I was invited to have a book signing at a first-of-its-kind Same-Sex Wedding Expo recently. Aaaargh!! The epitome of “lack of intimacy.” Please guys, you can do better!)

Whether you’re marrying a man or a woman; whether your wedding is teensy-tiny or ballroom huge; whether you’re on a mountaintop or in a grand cathedral, you may want to hear what journalist S. Bryan Lowder has to say:  “I’m a gay man who wants to get married. But how do I have a wedding that’s not so … straight?” In other words, you don’t have to copy-cat the matchy-matchy, ho-hum aesthetic of many mainstream weddings—trends that have squeezed all the depth and intimacy out of the ceremony and celebratory festivities.

So, planning a wedding? Just don’t forget to bring your good taste, good sense, and especially your good heart along with you!

Love. Listen. Let go.

…with love from Cornelia

[Couples photograph: Courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings]

The Handkerchief Has Been Thrown! 

Something Old & Something New for Same-Sex Couples 

is available on Amazon.

{Princesses, Heiresses and Weddings}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 

I thought you’d enjoy my article published in the summer issue of Season Magazine. Click here to read it from the online magazine...and I’ve reprinted it below. ’Tis an excerpt from my new book The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride {Volume One} For Better or Worse, How Princess Diana Rescued the Great White Wedding.

Princesses, Heiresses and Weddings

“We knew that we wanted Diana to have a large bouquet,” explained her gown designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel. “The scale of the dress meant that a small one would have simply disappeared.” With the universal appeal of Princess Diana’s shimmering wedding in the summer of 1981, over-sized, shower-style bridal bouquets became the fashion. (Of course, most things in the glitzy, high-flying ‘80s were on a grander scale!)

Almost a hundred years earlier, Princess May of Teck (who became Queen Mary, Prince Charles’ great-grandmother), started a similar trend when she carried a huge, cascading bouquet for her 1893 wedding to the future King George V. It was called “a modern touch” because its “shape had only recently ousted the posy,” shared historian Ann Monsarrat. The 19^th century English journal Manners for Women attributed this “extravagant fashion to the influx of heiresses from the New World into British society through marriage.” These were daughters of the nouveau riche of the Gilded Age who took their fathers’ immense wealth abroad between the 1870s and early1920s to marry cash-strapped noblemen, like the character of Cora Crawley on Downton Abbey. They not only rescued a way of life for the British aristocracy—at least for a few years—but also lent their opulent taste to wedding celebrations.

Charles Frederick Worth, an Englishman who set up shop in Paris, became the father of modern couture—and a favorite designer of these rich American girls who in turn became famous for their expensive Worth wardrobes and diamond tiaras. They spent thousands every season at his salon and when the time came, ordered a dazzling wedding gown and fancy trousseau. Consuelo Vanderbilt, Jennie Jerome and Frances Ellen Work (Princess Diana’s maternal great-grandmother) were three of those nearly 500 heiresses from America who put their glittering mark on weddings.

During this time most British princess brides followed Queen Victoria’s lead and, instead of wearing one of the many diamond tiaras at their disposal, opted for the more sentimental choice of an elaborate, yet rather humble, bridal crown made of wax orange blossoms. However, many of the American heiress brides, more into opulence than sentiment, wore diamond tiaras—usually a gift from their father. 

Perhaps to make a proclamation all their own, several Windsor brides of the 20^th century (namely Princesses Marina, Elizabeth, Margaret and Anne) also broke with the orange blossom tradition and chose diamonds for their hair—large, old, spectacular ones. So for her wedding, Lady Diana followed suit by wearing the Spencer family tiara: a whimsical floral design in gold, silver and heirloom diamonds. (And as far as I could tell, there was not an orange blossom in sight!)

Weddings have always been a time to dress up, make a statement and dress like a princess. As author Carol McD. Wallace shared: “If a wedding isn’t the ultimate chance to show off, what exactly is it?” ~

{Flowers and Their Meanings}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 
Brides and the language of flowers have a romantic and mystical heritage. Through the ages, sentimental folks assigned meanings to flowers and herbs according to their innate nature—and a language was created.

Bridal folklore throughout history, inspired by goddess mythology, tells of maidens entwining creamy white, aromatic orange blossoms into a bridal wreath for their hair, to ensure fertility; or carrying a bunch of sweet smelling white lilacs, representing innocence; or tucking fragrant herbs into their bouquets, rosemary for remembrance and dill, believed to provoke lust. Both herbs were also eaten for their supposed powers!

So whatever flowers you are carrying or wearing or displaying at your wedding, consider their folklore and mystery and romance (like from Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers)—because sometimes knowing the ancient story of something, especially flowers, opens up some “fragrant” yummy-ness in the present...perhaps even opening your heart to give and receive more tenderness!

Love. Listen. Let go.

.....with love from Cornelia

ps: This is an excerpt from my latest book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride {Volume One} For Better or Worse, How Princess Diana Rescued the Great White Wedding. Enjoy....

{Victoria's Choice}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 
If you know one thing about “wedding gown history,” I would wager that it has something to do with Queen Victoria starting the fashion for brides to wear white. (And now, thanks to Victoria, it has been a tradition for 175 years.) But I would also wager that most people don’t know the real reason the 20-year-old monarch broke the precedent set by earlier royal brides (who usually wore cloths of silver or gold) and chose the color white—she even chose a wax orange blossom crown instead of a dazzling diamond diadem!

Her choice has been regarded as representing simplicity, modesty and purity—and indeed the young queen was sentimental and had an “uncluttered fashion preference,” according to costume historians. However, Victoria was deeply in love, and this became her guiding inspiration for her wedding attire. So with much consideration—taking into account her duty, her position and her subjects—nonetheless, “the queen decided to make her marriage vows to her ‘precious Angel’ as his future wife rather than as the monarch,” wrote curator Edwina Ehrman. Or as author Kay Staniland explained: Victoria decided “her role on her wedding day was primarily that of a bride” and opted against, not only wearing the silver and gold of royalty, but also chose not to wear her queenly crimson velvet robe of state, feeling “it would only emphasize her seniority, and overshadow the role of her future husband.” (And come the day of the wedding, Victoria’s adoring subjects happily received their queen’s choices!) 

Whatever you choose to wear on your wedding day, keep your relationship your first priority…and let the frills of fashion follow that. (It’s the queenly thing to do!) Of course you’re going to look beautiful…because a woman in love becomes her own spotlight.

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

[This post inspired by my new book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride {Volume One} For Better or Worse, How Princess Diana Rescued the Great White Wedding ... available at Amazon. I think you will enjoy it!]

{The Princess Myth}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 

In my new book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride, I write about the origin and mysteries of the “princess myth”—the underlying desire of women to feel and look like a princess. From my experiences working with thousands of brides through the years, I share how this desire influences many women when planning their wedding and, in some cases, it’s the core reason some want to be a bride! This “princess” desire—stirred by royal brides to Disney princesses—can work to deepen your feminine strength...your goddess nature; or it can move you to live in a fractured fairy tale of illusion and disappointment.

So a recent article in Vogue Daily about wedding gowns caught my eye: “The Cool Girl’s Guide to Wedding Shopping.” It shares that “while there’s nothing wrong with wanting to go traditional, not every bride dreams of a dress of Disney-princess proportions.” The article features colorful, floral, unfussy designer dresses—not a crinoline or corset or pouf in sight! (Of course what’s considered “traditional” hasn’t always been, well, “traditional”—you’ll find intriguing stories in my book.)

Yes, we’re all affected by what’s “fashionable”—even if we’re rebels or free-spirits! So keep that in mind when shopping for a wedding dress: Is it the latest fashion that’s tugging at your heart or maybe 'tis some once-upon-a-time “princess” yearning? Or perhaps something deeper happens when you try on the dress? Something more akin to: “I feel like a destiny-shaping goddess…inside and out!”

Love. Listen. Let go.

…with love from Cornelia

ps: I think you’ll enjoy the various stories and examples in my new book about how this “princess myth” lives in our modern culture…and perhaps you’ll see yourself in one of them! The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride {Volume One} For Better or Worse, How Princess Diana Rescued the Great White Wedding is available at Amazon.com.

[Image above from 1970s Gunne Sax, Jessica McClintock Inc.]