Gorgeous Looking Brides

Color of the Day - BLUE

Blue is the overwhelming "favorite color." 
It is the coolest color in mankind. - The color of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. Blue symbolizes the Virgin Mary. A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is often the chosen color by conservative people. Blue is the calming color. That makes it a wonderful color to use in the home, especially for babies. Dark blue is the color of truth and moderation.

Blue is the least "gender specific" color, having equal appeal to both men and women.  

Indigo, a deeper blue symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward, to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings.

To all "Brides to Be", this really isn"t a bad idea. Cheers!!!!

Color of the Day - PURPLE

Purple has been called the "it" color or the "hottest" hue for more than a year but purple continues to reign supreme as the go-to color for fall and holiday. This passionate hue has held its own as a color trend with longevity in the market.

Purple has the ability to combine beautifully with other colors to produce many unique color combinations because it is the perfect blend of both the warm, stimulating qualities of red and the cool, calming effect of blue. It can be subtle and sophisticated, or powerful and punchy.

Some interesting facts and information about the symbolic, religious, Christian and Biblical meaning of the color Purple.

Purple is always associated with Royalty.
Purple togas were worn by the all powerful Roman Emperors.
Purple also has a Christian / Biblical meaning and is the liturgical color for the seasons of Lent and Advent.
Only the most expensive dyes were used to produce the color purple, it therefore became symbolic with wealth and power.
People who were allowed to wear the color purple during the Elizabethan era, as decreed by the English Sumptuary Laws, were the Queen, Queen's mother, children, and sisters, and aunts. The King, King's mother, children, brethren, and uncles.

Some interesting combinations of the color purple.......

 INTRODUCTION IN YORUBA LAND

This is the part of the ceremony where the groom's family introduces themselves to the bride's family, and asks for their daughter's hand in marriage to their son. It would take place before the engagement ceremony or wedding.

The participants of this are:
*The groom and his family

*Olopa Iduro (this translates to 'standing policeman'): an appointed speaker by the groom's family; could be a family member, or hired for the occasion.

*The bride and her family

*Olopa Ijoko (this translates to 'sitting policeman'): an appointed speaker by the bride's family; could be a family member, or hired for the occasion.

*Others if the families so choose.

The introduction takes place at the bride's house, and her family is responsible for the preparations and costs, but if the groom's family is able to, they can suggest helping out with some of the costs and/or the food. Both parties are in traditional attire, and I have not heard anywhere that these have to be matching.
Upon entrance into the bride's home, the groom's family kneels (the women do that) or prostrate (the men do that) for the bride's parents. The groom's family and the bride's family sit on opposite sides of the room, with the bride and groom sitting closer to the center, and the olopa iduro and olopa ijoko sitting in the very middle.

The olopa iduro introduces the groom and his family to the bride and her family. He then brings a proposal letter from the groom's family, usually tied with a pink ribbon, and gives it to the groom's family, through the olopa ijoko. The letter is read out, and responded to verbally on the spot. Since this is mostly a formality, and it is already known that the couple will marry, there usually is not much rejection at this point. Usually, a prayer is said at this point, and some symbolic items of food are tasted by the olopa's and then passed around to the guests. These include:


*obi (kola nut) is shared, during which the following words are repeated:

*Won ma gbo (they will ripen). Won ma to (they will eat and not go hungry). Won ma d'agba (they will grow old)

*ata ire: this consists of many seeds, and it is opened up, and the superstition is that the number of seeds that fall out is the number of children the couple will bear.

*oyin (honey), sugar, ireke (sugar cane): these all symbolize that the union will be sweet.

Some additional words may be exchanged, then gifts are exchanged, and then the families and guests eats traditional food, and there may be singers and drummers for some celebration later.
During the engagement ceremony the families are introduced to each other formally so the invited guest are familiar with everybody in either family. The two family would normally have a speaker each to relay messages across to the other, this is done in the ceremony (the brides family would sit on one side and the grooms on the other. A reply to the letter asking for their daughters hand in Marriage is read out by the brides sister or younger relative or even the speaker on the brides side.
Along with other things, the grooms family will come to this ceremony with traditional food stuff such as; yam, palm oil, sugar, ram, drinks and many more.. other things the grooms family will provide is a suitcase packed with traditional clothing include shoe, bags, jewelry and in some cases they will have to give a DOWRY...This is known as the bride price.The couple usually gives each other a Bible or Quran, give each other rings, and they may say some words to each other. After this ceremony the bride goes back to her father"s house to prepare for the wedding day.

Color of the Day - RED

Red also means "Beautiful" in Russian.There are at least 23 different shades of red crayons.The red stripes on the United States Flag stand for courage.The color red is most often associated with power and passion. It is a fierce and emotionally intense color. Red symbolizes speed, sexuality, and style. Fast cars are red. Beautiful women wear red clothes and red lipstick. Red is also the color of romance and love. If you want to express your love for a woman with flowers, the flowers must be red. In all cases, the red color will always attract attention. Red is definitely a cool color for weddings. You can"t go wrong with it.