The Winner of the Tournament

Posted on 4/2/2012 7:00 AM By Marcie

Yes! Bride's March Madness is done. The winner of the tournament is you! You have planned the big day and honeymoon and you get to come home and enjoy your new life! The two categories we have left to investigate are the things you need after you are married. These will be fun to think about before your big day, and more fun to decide after you are home from the honeymoon and living your life together. 

Gifts and Home Furnishings is so fun! What are you going to choose for your home colors- kitchen, bath, bedroom? IKEA is here to help you with everything you could ever need or want. Check them out at the Draper store.

I Do Cookbook is a fabulous idea for a gift- I have one of them myself and it is now one of my top three cookbooks ever! It explains everything and I love that. The best part for me is it has a picture of each and every recipe! That way you know what it is supposed to look like, well... what it could look like. Tell your friends and family that this is one thing you want - it will be one of the best gifts you receive. 

_____  GIFTS AND HOME FURNISHINGS

   IKEA 

  I Do Cookbook

The other category you have is life planning. This is what the whole BIG DANCE was about- you get to live with the person of your dreams. LIfe planning is exciting because you get to communicate with your husband what it is that is important to you. The fist thing you need is great communication. We have 2 fabulous companies for that -- Stronger Marriage and Matt Townsend. You also get to think about insurance. There is a lot in this category- wedding insurance, health, life, dental, car, home, etc. Valley Insurance is a great resource and can help you in all that you need.  Then banking- We have 2 great options for you -- Utah Central Credit Union and Zions Bank. Call each of them to ask how they can help you. 

Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave. - Martin Luther

_____  LIFE PLANNING

  Matt Townsend

  StrongerMarriage.org

  Utah Central Credit Union

  Valley Insurance

   Zions Bank

Have a great life together and remember all of these life planning skills!  

***Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity; yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in marriage. - Sydney J. Harris

     The Communication Connection by Matt Townsend   

Keep the lines of communication open and effective.

Communication is the key to keeping the flame alive from puppy love through the golden years. No matter what problems your relationship has, effective communication can bridge the gaps and pick up the pieces.

Matt Townsend, relationship expert and founder of Townsend Relationship Center, says communication creates connections that can bring about positive change in relationships. Matt shares a few tips on how to keep those lines open and effective.

Learn to understand the seven basic needs of every relationship:

In order for a relationship to be healthy it must meet the seven basic needs: 

Safety

Trust

Appreciation

Respect

Validation

Encouragement

Dedication

Notice that these needs spell the word STARVED. When these needs are not met, the relationship becomes STARVED and malnourished. By learning to recognize the seven basic needs, you can then learn to feed and strengthen your relationship.

-Look through the “smoke” and get to the “fire”. 

   Couples tend to fight about superficial “smoke” and avoid the deeper “fire”.They say their spouse spent too much money when the real issue is financial safety. Smoke chokes; cut through it and focus on the root issues which are always the STARVED stuff.

-Assume you don’t fully understand everything

    Being married for many years doesn’t mean you fully understand your spouse’s perspective. Always ask questions and make

   sure you understand the answer.

-Focus on the positive

    One negative remark can erase the benefit of five compliments. To get ahead, say 20 positive things for every negative

    comment you express.

-Remember that the receiver has the power to interpret.

    No matter what is said, the listener creates meaning. As the listener, you are the receiver of the message and you have the

    power to interpret the intent of what is being said. You decide if a comment is malicious or not. When faced with a decision

   about how to interpret a statement from your spouse, think first about what you want out of the relationship. Treat your spouse

    like the person you want them to be. How you communicate today will determine the results of your relationship tomorrow.

-Keep your head in the game

    Sometimes, it’s easy to become negative and reactive. If the other person is difficult to talk to, remember this; two heads are

    better than one, but one head is better than none. Even if your spouse isn’t listening, you can make the conversations work by

    staying positive and engaged in what you want most from the relationship.

-Make a tradition of talking every day

    Set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day for loving communication. Don’t use the time to talk about kids, carpools or work – instead,

    talk about hopes, goals, dreams and why you love each other.

Salt Lake has so much to offer! Tour continues...

Posted on 2/15/2012 9:00 AM By Marcie

I headed to The Tower at Rice Eccles Stadium. What a fantastic place for a wedding reception or any event for that matter! The views are spectacular-- the University of Utah Stadium on one side, Salt Lake City on the other. I love the versatility of this venue- as you can see any color looks great here! The first pictures are from the Ultimate Utah Wedding done last year- photography by Dezember Photography, who is also found in downtown SLC. Diamond Rental did a beautiful job decorating, too- I love the red and black. 

These are a few other professionals that were at The Tower that I want to feature. This is Elizabeth's Catering . She goes all out and it not only looks fantastic but it tastes incredible!! She not only caters in Salt Lake, but anywhere! Did I say she is so nice and easy to work with? Yes, she definately is. She helped this cute couple merge what I thought would be almost impossible to do - mix Asian food with BBQ, well she did it- on one side was American BBQ and the other was asian cuisine. I went down both sides, of course, but so did most people :-) It was phenomenal! 

Aquafect is an amazing company that makes water features. They travel, too!   Lets see some of his work here at The Tower and elsewhere! James will custom make your water feature for your special event! What a fun way to entertain your guests.

The one above that looks like a TV is so cool! It has a projector screen on the back to put on your wedding video or any video. Then the waterfall comes over the entire screen! 

The Tower is awesome and you can win a free wedding there. Here's the contest info...

2012 Ultimate Utah Wedding

Entry Deadline: Monday, April 30, 2012

Engaged and planning to get married in 2012?  The University of Utah is looking for the biggest Utah fans to enter our Ultimate Utah Wedding contest.  The couple with the most Utah spirit will be the next Ultimate Utah Wedding couple.

You don't have to be going to the UofU, or even be an alumni... just be the biggest Ute Fan around!

Click here for the details on how to enter.

Happy Valentines Day!

Posted on 2/14/2012 8:00 AM By Marcie

If you are still looking for a great gift for your Valentine, here are some ideas provided by IKEA

Or perhaps you could try saying, " I LOVE YOU" in 130 different languages?

Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief

Albanian - Te dua

Amharic - Afekrishalehou

Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)  Ana behibek (to female) 

Armenian - Yes kez sirumem 

Assyr - Az tha hijthmekem

Australian- Allo there shiela!

Bambara - M’bi fe

Bavarian - I mog di

Bengali - Ami tomake bhalobashi 

Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo

Bokmaal - Jeg Elsker Deg

Bosnian - Ja te volimBelarusian - Ya tabe kahayu

Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo

Bulgarian - Obicham te

Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah

Cantonese Chinese - Ngo oiy ney a  

Catalan - T’estimo

Cherokee - Tsi ge yu i   

Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse

Chichewa - Ndimakukonda

Comanche - U kamakutu nu  

Corsican - Ti tengu caru (to male) 

Cree - Kisakihitin 

Creol - Mi aime jou

Croatian - Volim te

Czech - Miluji te

Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig

Dioula - m’bi fê Dutch - Ik hou van jou

English - I love you

Esperanto - Mi amas vin

Estonian - Ma armastan sind

Ethiopian - Afgreki’

Faroese - Eg elski teg

Farsi - Doset daram

Filipino - Mahal kita

Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua

French - Je t’aime, Je t’adore

Frisian - Ik hald fan dy    

Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort

Georgian - Mikvarhar

German - Ich liebe dich

Greek - S’agapo

Gujarati - Hoo thunay prem karoo choo 

Hausa: Ina sonki

Hawaiian - Aloha Au Ia`oe 

Hebrew  -  “ani ohev otach” (said by male)  “ohevet Otach” (said by female)

Herero - Mbeku suvera 

Hiligaynon - Guina higugma ko ikaw 

Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae

Hmong - Kuv hlub koj

Hopi - Nu’ umi unangwa’ta