Welcome to Wedding Ezine -The Online Magazine!

Issue April 16-30, 2003

Our Brides and Grooms have danced the night away at their fairytale weddings! Let us help you plan Your 1st Dance and MORE! Offers the most full service Bridal Dance Packages. We hope you enjoy our Wedding newsletter, full of fun and useful information to help with your wedding day planning. Don't forget to book your wedding dance lessons!

Table of Contents
Click on a topic or scroll down.

1) A New Bridal Themed Wallpaper for your computer desktop!

Now your computer screen can be dressed up too! Simply right click your mouse on our background and tell your computer to save ("set") as wall paper, BUT be sure you have saved the current background on you computer desktop first, if you want to get it back! If the background does not show up immediately, right click on your desktop background and click on refresh.

2) A Different Celebrity Wedding Photo from Past or Present!

This issue's celebrity brides really pulled out all the stops. While the guest lists were exclusive, there were no secret weddings for them! Decked out like princesses are the lovely Liza Minelli with David Gest, Deidre Hall with Steve Sohmer and
Andie MacDowell with Rhett Hartzog.

3) Poems, Prayers & Promises

A romantic quote to elevate your mood or to help you find the right sentiment for your vows or ceremony.

"Marriage joins two people in the circle of its love. Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can equal. It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.

Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships. A wife and a husband are each other's best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic. And there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other may resemble the tender caring of a parent for a child.

Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly.

Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences, and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than life.

When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfill."

Edmund O'Neil

4) Kim's Wedding Tips!

Saving Your Dress For Posterity...

# 1) Have your gown repaired as soon as possible and try to get a couple extra yards of fabric for alterations. Little snags and tears may seem easy to repair later, but there are 16 shades of white and you are better off getting the repairs done while the fabric is still available. If your daughter or granddaughter wants to wear your dress, you won't have to worry if she is taller and / or heavier than you were when you got married. I wore my grandmother's dress and the largest part of the money I spent, was acquiring satin of the same quality and having it dyed to match the color the dress had become since 1938.

# 2) Imperial Gown Restoration Company, this issue's featured vendor says these are 7 questions you must ask when picking a company to preserve your gown:
1) ASK how long they have been in business. Do they accept ordinary dry-cleaning? Who recommends them? What regions do they serve?
2) ASK if they require that you sign a "Release" or a "Disclaimer". You should never be asked to sign any document that says they are not responsible for damage to your gown.
3) ASK if they include all accessories, such as your headpiece, veil, garter, etc. and at what additional charge. Many "bridal gown cleaners" add extra charges for each item.
4)ASK about their preservation boxes. Demand that only properly sized, certified pH-neutral boxes or acid-free boxes, packaging materials and desiccants be used for the safety of your gown.
5) ASK if they guarantee that hidden stains like perspiration or white wines will be removed. Hidden stains can turn yellow within a very few years. ASK if they allow you to \unseal and inspect your gown - whenever you wish - to see that it has remained clean and preserved.
6) ASK to see a copy of their warranty! Do not accept any warranty that limits your right to unseal the box to inspect your gown! Do not accept "Lifetime" or "Refund" warranties! (Whose "lifetime" do they mean?) A genuine professional will give you a Replacement Value warranty, which covers you gown for an unambiguous, specifically stated number of years!
7) ASK about price. If they charge one price for any gown, they are doing all gowns one way. Different fabrics, trims & stains require different care and should have varying prices. You save nothing if you pay less, but your gown is damaged by improper or unprofessional care!
To view the full article with more specifics on gown preservation, click on the logo below for Imperial Gown Restoration Company


4A)Wedding Dance Tip
STARTING THE FIRST DANCE:
Many couples start their first dance on the floor. This tends to add to the awkwardness of the moment. You will almost always have to wait a minute for the music to start and some people feel really nervous standing with 200 eyes watching them do nothing. When the music finally starts couples tend to begin dancing with a jerky start. We have all of our grooms lead their brides out onto the floor as soon as the music starts, take dance hold and then start dancing. It is more elegant, shows off the bride more and leads to a sense of anticipation on the part of the guests. This also allows for the intro of the music which tends to be different rhythmically from the rest of the song. It is often hard to hear the beat and be on time during the intro.

5) A Wedding Tradition Explained!

"WHY DO WE NEED SOMETHING OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE?"
Something Old: This refers to the brides previous life before the wedding. It symbolizes that the bride comes into the marriage as a full person and will come into her new married life without forgetting the one she had.
Something New: It symbolizes the bright future ahead and all the love, hope and prosperity it shall bring. Many brides use a new penny of the year of their marriage.
Something Borrowed: This item tends to be borrowed from a happily married woman. You borrow it so that you may have all the luck, joy and happiness that the bride who first wore it has now in her marriage.
Something Blue: Blue, not white, was the color of purity in biblical times, and thus, women would marry gowned in it. Brides of ancient Israel wore blue ribbons on the border of their wedding cloths to denote, love, modesty and fidelity. Blue also denotes the purity of the Virgin Mary and remains the most popular of all colors. Before Queen Victoria set the standard for marrying in white, Blue was the most common color to get married in.

6) This issue's Featured Vendor!

Imperial Gown Restoration Company
2814 Merrilee Drive, Suite C,
Fairfax, VA 22031
Click on the banner above to visit their website or
Call 703-573-GOWN to speak with Steven Saidman,
Owner of Imperial Gown Restoration Company

Founded in 1947, Imperial Gown Restoration Company serves Brides and the Bridal Industry exclusively. They are recommended by many of the finest design houses, retailers, writers, curators and drycleaners in the world as well as museums such as the Smithsonian Institution. Imperial serves every state, province and continent from a single, state-of-the-art facility. This guarantees a unique, high standard of quality to every bride, everywhere. Local, chain, or multiple location care-providers cannot assure this high standard. Imperial always has and always will include all accessories, such as your headpiece, veil, garter, etc. for free as part of their standard, high quality full service. Imperial's wetcleaning techniques remove hidden stains that most dry-cleaning misses. You may unseal and inspect your gown, in your own home at any time in the future, without harming your gown or your warranty. Imperial Gown Restoration Company has been featured in magazines and newspapers, including Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Martha Stewart Living and The Knot.com. If you want the very best, these are the people you should chose!

Brides referred by First Dance Impressions will receive a preferred customer discount of 10% off the cleaning, repair and storage of their wedding gowns courtesy of Imperial Gown Restoration Company.

7) Special Events!

Our teachers run events and perform locally on a regular basis.

Assassination Tango In Theaters Now!

The Movie "Assassination Tango" is now in theaters. This much anticipated movie was written and directed by Robert Duvall. Robert Duvall fell in love with Argentine Tango about 7 years ago and found the intimacy, beauty and culture of the dance a fertile subject which has since dominated his imagination, and a lot of his free time. Stars include Robert Duvall, Ruben Blades, Kathy Baker and Luciana Pedraza, Robert Duvall's longtime Companion. Rated "R" for strong language and some violence. Both Deborah and I adore the Argentine Tango and having attended Luciana's classes and seen them dance Tango personally, I can tell you that this will be a fabulous film and I intend to see it at least twice!
Promotional trailer at http://www.mgm.com/ua/assassinationtango/trailer.html

Swinging Savoy Club on May 18th!

Kim Bosch van Drakenstein will be hosting a Swing Dinner-Dance event with the Night and Day Swing Band. In May the musical feast will be at the Tragara Ristorante in Bethesda. The event runs from 7:00pm to 10:30pm. This makes a fun dinner date for dancers and nondancers alike. Night and Day is one of the premiere Swing bands in the area. There will be a absolute beginner Swing lesson from 8:00 to 8:30 pm and a buffet dinner served by Tragara. Come and dance or just enjoy the live swing and jazz music all night long! Call Kim at (703) 868-0982 for more information or click the link to go to www.SwingingSavoyClub.com to make reservations.

Swinging Savoy Club on June 29th!

Kim Bosch van Drakenstein will be hosting a Swing Dinner-Dance event with the Night and Day Swing Band. In June, we return to Maggiano's Little Italy in DC. The event runs from 7:00pm to 10:30pm. This makes a fun dinner date for dancers and nondancers alike. Night and Day is one of the premiere Swing bands in the area. There will be a absolute beginner Swing lesson from 8:00 to 8:30 pm and a buffet dinner served by Maggiano's. Come and dance or just enjoy the live swing and jazz music all night long! Call Kim at (703) 868-0982 for more information or click the link to go to www.SwingingSavoyClub.com to make reservations.

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