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This issue features how to Design Your Dream Day.  All the local wedding information you need to know, as well as articles on a fairytale Denton wedding and how to choose a caterer for your event.

Sue Newhouse discusses how to get ready for springtime by properly preparing your soil.

Are you living with an alien?  Sometimes our teens seem like they are from another planet.  Here are some effective communication skills to help the parent-teen relationship.

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by Matt Fairchild, Extreme Cuisine Catering

Whether a simple cake reception or a full service catered event, so many new and fun ideas for receptions are out there and the possibilites are limitless!  What to cater should be determined by several things:  budget, size of your wedding, time of day, and most importantly, what you want.  Remember, a good caterer works within your budget to provide you exactly (or as close as possible) what you want without sacrificing quality.

A nice option for afternoon receptions that is budget friendly is simple but beautiful fruits, vegetables and cheese displays. The addition of melons carved into swans or your names carved into watermelons can be used to highlight the presentation. The addition of mini-croissant sandwiches or a nice spinach dip with bruschetta can round the display nicely.

A noon wedding usually requires heavy hors d’oeuvres or a light lunch.  The afore mentioned reception menu plus stuffed mushrooms, chicken and beef flank steak skewers with dipping sauces, or delightfully filled filo cups.  These may be plated or served buffet-style.  If it is lunch you are serving, let your caterer know what you would like or ask for creative ideas and suggestions.

An evening wedding will warrant a dinner or very heavy appetizers for hungry guests and also serve as a balance if alcohol is served.  Dinners may be plated or buffet depending on where they are held and what facilities are available. Prime rib and steamship round beef carving stations are great additions here.

Let’s not forget about the brunch; a wonderful way for a morning wedding to be followed.  Usually served around ten or eleven in the morning, everything from scrumptious pastries, tasty pasta salads, to ham and turkey carving stations are found in brunches.  Coffee bars with plenty of flavors and condiments to accompany along with mimosas and wine.

Many other creative options are out there as well from mashed potato bars, dessert receptions, themes from around the world and whatever your imagination thinks up. Remember this is your wedding – your food!

Ron Guthrie and Randy Reed were two young wingmen in the Tactical F-15 Fighter Squadron located at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida during the 1980’s. They and their wives would remain friends, if only by yearly Christmas cards for years to come.  Then a chance reunion of the families brought two of their children together, Codi Guthrie and Tyler Reed.  As love blossomed,  so did the plans for the fairytale wedding that Codi had always wanted.

The wedding details consisted of a Who’s Who of Denton. Cafe’ Duluxe became the spot for planning sessions, and the bridesmaid luncheon was held at The Chestnut Tree on the Square.  Wedding guests comfortably stayed at the Hilton Homewood Suites at Unicorn Lake.  For the special day,  hair was styled by Daphne with Salon LaPage and make-up by Divine Inspirations, and all of the beautiful photography was by Widyn Photography.

The ceremony began with harp music and vocals by local artists Valerie Dacus and Larry Clark, and was held at First Baptist Church of Denton.  The wedding reception was elegantly decorated with a royal southern flair in the historical Hubbard Hall at Texas Woman’s University, and the five-tiered wedding cake was created by Candy Haven and decorated with dozens of fresh roses.

Tyler delivered a letter to Codi the day of the wedding,  in which he wrote ”I know you have dreamed of this day all your life, and so have I.  I will see you at the altar.”

For Codi and Tyler, and their families, the dream of a perfect fairytale wedding came true…Denton Style!

make a plan…work the plan

by Dorothy Arrington , Event Planner, The Purple Cupcake

The perfect wedding is something that we have seen in our dreams for years. We know every detail before we have even gotten engaged. To make that dream a reality we must plan those details and work that plan with the cooperation of our friends and family.  Brides, you are the captain and it is your responsibility to develop a team of people that will make your dream come true.

Step One: The first, most important part of this plan is to set a budget. The internet has templates that develop spending guides such as www.vertex42.com and office.microsoft.com   Initiate the discussions with your family to determine who will pay for each portion of the plan. (Make the most of your money as you shop for services and supplies).

Step Two: Make a list of desires that you and your fiancé have for the wedding. Pick your theme: colors, flowers, etc.  Shop around but don’t book yet, just gather ideas.

Step Three: Your venue will set the stage for everything else. Once you find the dream location, be prepared that you may have to change your wedding date. (Also remember that not all venues supply the linens, renting those will be your next step).

Step Four: It is a common practice for florists to only serve one wedding a day. Be sure that your date is not already booked. Also, consider a second choice for your arrangement. With the unpredictable weather it is possible that your first choice is not available in time for your big day.

Step Five: Now is the time to shop for your dress. Don’t delay in choosing. It can take as much as 3 months for alterations and custom work.

Step Six:  Schedule your tasting appointments for cake and food. Be sure to take the time to view the caterers, designs and presentations. It won’t matter how good the cake tastes if it is ugly.

Finally six to eight weeks before the wedding mail out your invitations. Follow up with all the vendors no later than thirty days prior to your wedding date.

Working this plan will greatly reduce your stress and help to make your dream wedding a reality.

by Gloria Prince

Now is the perfect time to rethink your skin care regimen.  Winter is hard on the skin.  Outdoor cold and dryness, as well as indoor artificial heat, take their toll on the skin by taking moisture away from the skin.  Hydration in excessive amounts makes up for the loss by environmental causes.  Excessive is the key word here.  Drinking water is not the best water replacement tactic, although it helps.  The   skin is the last body organ to benefit from drinking water.

Hydration can come in the form of hydrating mists and water based products.  Your skin has to have a perfect balance of water and oil to be in perfect balance and have that natural occurring glow.

Another very important issue is using an SPF, even in winter!  Daily use will help to control damage and prevent further damage that the sun’s rays do to our skin.  Another important aspect is reapplication. That is what SPF is all about.  Usually foundation and moisturizers have SPF in them.  Basically a 25 – 30 SPF is recommended.  Mineral make up is an excellent sun block.  There is a difference in sunscreens and sun blocks.  Sunscreens take the sun and disperse it after it has penetrated the skin.  Sun blocks diffuse the suns rays and do not allow them to touch the skin.  All skin types and colors need protection.  Skin cancer is not skin color specific.

Be sure to know your skin care products and have a skin care regimen that you can stick to.  These two steps in themselves will make a lot of difference in your skin’s health and appearance, especially during this season of cold.

Gloria Prince is the Esthetics Instructor for the Cosmetology Department at North Central Texas College in Gainesville.

by Amy A. Watson, MS, LCCA, LPC, Director of Clinical Services at CPCH,
and Jennifer Livings, MS, LPC-I, Intake and Case Management Counselor at CPCH

Are your kids constantly arguing and trying to be in control? Have you been searching for ways to get along with your kids? One of the keys is to provide consequences with empathy, which makes the consequences the “bad guy” and the parent the “good guy.” Who would not want to be “the good guy” with their kids?

Using genuine empathy with kids helps soak up emotions and puts the problem back on the child. The use of genuine empathy helps to maintain a positive child-parent relationship while allowing a child to learn from his or her mistakes. Good Love and Logic^® parents pick one statement they like and use it over and over again. For example, the parent might say, “I cannot imagine how bad that feels.”

Neutralizing childhood arguing begins by giving the child a big dose of empathy by saying, “I love you too much to argue.” As a parent, you continue to say this one statement and refuse to be pulled into a power struggle with a child who is drunk on control. A parent might also back that up by saying, “I will be happy to talk to you when your voice is as calm as mine.” This is an enforceable statement that encourages thinking rather than fighting.

The consequences that follow are usually natural and logical in nature and may involve a child paying back our time and energy they sucked away by arguing. For example, the child may need to spend time doing one of your chores.

Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home (CPCH) believes so strongly in the Love and Logic^® philosophy of behavior management that they train their staff with these techniques and they find they help them maintain positive relationships with the children and families they serve.

Becoming a Love and Logic Parent^® is a research-based parenting program that focuses on preserving a child’s self concept while teaching them to own and solve their own problems.

CPCH teaches Becoming a Love and Logic Parent® monthly to community members as well. Their next classes will be held on Jan. 9, 2010, concentrating on early childhood, and on Feb. 13, 2010, concentrating on children six and older. If you want to learn more about CPCH’s parenting classes or to register, 940-382-5112 x 252.