Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2015

Well, it’s here again: Valentines’s Day. It is a mere ten days away so it is time to buy your paramour something wonderful. Here are some ideas we put together.
The Biscuit Box

The Biscuit Boxhappiness

The Biscuit Boxreview

The Biscuit Box You’re My Cup of Tea Biscuit Card- this is an iced teapot shaped biscuit with a personalised message. We thought it was super cute and the biscuit tastes great. Available from buyagift.co.uk

mr&mrsfamilyedition

Mr & Mrs Family Edition

If board games are your thing then you will love this. But if, like us, you are not too keen on board games you will still love this Mr & Mrs Family Edition game. Perfect for finding out more about your family and friends as well as finding out how well they know you. Mr & Mrs Family Edition Box Game is available here.

paulvalentinescake

Fraisier St Valentin from Paul. Tastes like heaven. The perfect size for two, heart-shaped and combines Genoese sponge, créme mousseline and fresh strawberries. It is then topped with pink marzipan. It costs £11.95 and is available from 12-15th February in London stores. You can also pre-order online.

arganiashampooandconditioner
Argania Desert Defence Shampoo and Conditioner.

Made with fairly-traded, certified organic argan oil to instantly nourish and hydrate hair, leaving it looking smoother, shinier and feeling healthier, naturally. A nourishing and restorative shampoo infused with certified organic Moroccan Argan. Great stuff that your girlfriend will love. Available from Boots.com

 

love print

Personalised Love Print

Very cool, stylish and gives an excellent personal touch. From buyagift.co.uk

mimisleepingbeauty

minisleepingbeautyreview

minisleepingbeautyreviewmakeyourownMIMI’s Sleeping Beauty Night Time Facial Oil

We love this. Such a smart idea and it looks great too. MIMI is a make your own skincare brand so you know exactly what goes into your skincare regime. All products are 100% natural and each kit can be mixed in minutes.  You can also adjust the ingredients whilst mixing, tailoring it to your preferences. It can also be used as a massage oil.

Available online at www.makeitmakeit.com, there are currently 3 kits in the range from £22-£35 and includes a night oil, body scrub and face mask.

MIMI’s Sleeping Beauty Night Time Facial Oil makes 35ml and comes with all the ingredients, recipe, instructions, mixing equipment and elegant bottle. Used every night will last four-six weeks so you can carry on enjoying this luxury face treatment for much longer past Valentine’s Day.
valentinesdaygiftguidechampagne

valentinesdayTaittinger_Brut_Prestige_Rose_Champagne

Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne 75cl Bottle and Taittinger Prestige Rosé NV

No words needed. Buy if you want them to love you forever more. Available from Amazon, sainsburys.co.uk and tesco.com

 

If you are stuck for where to take your love for Valentine’s Day then check out our Valentine’s Day restaurant guide.

 

 

 

Benedict Cumberbatch Sends Wedding Invites By Email

Benedict_Cumberbatch_SDCC_2014Would you send your wedding invitations by email? He announced his engagement in The Times in November but it seems in other areas Benedict Cumberbatch is less traditional. In fact, he sent his wedding invitations by email. The actor is expecting his first child with fiancé Sophie Hunter, a theatre director. It seems they are in a rush to marry and friends say they will marry “within months”. The couple got engaged after dating for a year. Benedict is up for an Academy Award for his work in The Imitation Game.

A friend told The Mirroer “The invitations have gone out already which is very quick, It’s shocked a few people but they want their special day to happen before they have the baby. The details have been sent out in an email rather than a paper invitation as time is of the essence.”

The wedding is top secret but the source also said “They’re planning the perfect day, Life couldn’t be much better for them at the moment.”

When my (now) husband and I got engaged we send out our save the date cards by email but posted out wedding invitations. I wrote about finding good but inexpensive wedding invitations here. Sending wedding invites by email is much more environmental friendly and we did think about it, in the end we thought our older relatives would like a memento that they could keep.

What do you think? Is it okay to send wedding invitations via email?

If you are getting married then check out my book The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity, it has everything you need to know about planning your dream wedding.

 

 

 

Dating News: Men Prefer Older Women, Women Prefer Younger Men

finding loveFrost came across this rather interesting dating news, and some stereotypes are born out in the data, such as men increasingly looking for a younger partner as they age. It turns out that men aged 20-29 preferring older to younger women, and women also preferring a younger to older man as they age.

Mind the (age) gap! What does age difference matter for love?

450,000 dating searches reveal the ideal age-gap for a modern relationship

 

  • Study of 450,000 online daters reveals age of perfect partner
  • Men aged 20-29 prefer older women
  • Women’s tolerance of older men decreases with age
  • Older men after the biggest age gap, wanting women 11 years younger 

 

What difference does an age gap make when it comes to love?  In 2015, are there still age-related dating taboos? Inspired by Stephen Fry’s marriage to a man 30 years his junior, new research by dating website EliteSingles, using anonymous search data from almost half a million of its members, reveals exactly what age differences singles look for in a match.

The study analysed the upper and lower age search limits for more than 450,000 of its members, finding that not all men are as focused on finding a youthful partner as the stereotype suggests.

As the male curve on the graph indicates, the stereotype of the older man seeking  an increasingly younger partner does in fact ring true. Men aged 60-69 set, on average, a desired partner age of up to 11 years younger than themselves, while the oldest they would accept is someone just  1 year older.

But younger men buck the trend, with those aged up to 30 preferring to date someone older than younger. Between the ages of 20-29, many men indicate a preference for a partner 3-6 years older than themselves.

EliteSingles Partner Psychologist Sam Owen believes that ‘’the finding that men aged 20-29 prefer older women rather than the suspected “younger model” is likely indicative of the change in gender roles in modern society towards more equality between the sexes. Young men nowadays probably also recognise that older women are adept at diligently juggling so many responsibilities (career, children, housekeeping, fitness, finances, socialising), which makes them intriguing and attractive and a more secure option.’’

Women may not be so keen to play the ‘cougar’ though. The data from female users suggests that still women prefer to be the youngest in a relationship. Women aged over 50, for instance, tend to focus on finding a match who is ideally 6years older than their own age. There is not much wiggle room in this instance: anyone more than years younger is deemed too young.

Younger women echo and even amplify this interest in men older than themselves. For 20-29  year olds, the average given age difference wanted was up to 10 years, whilst women aged 30-39 can imagine a partner 8 years older. And, for women aged 20-29, a man should be no more than 1 and 3 years younger.

 

 What do you think? Do you think age matters in a partner? Do you prefer to go older or younger?

 

 

 

Quotes About Marriage

The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast. – Gabriel García Márquez.
quotesonmarriage
Believing in marriage and not in divorce is like believing in joint stock companies and not in bankruptcy. – Neil Ferguson

 

Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution? – Groucho Marx

 

Where there’s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. – Benjamin Franklin

 

If I get married, I want to be very married. – Audrey Hepburn

 

When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you’re sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship. – Joseph Campbell

 

When marrying, ask yourself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this person into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory. – Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect. If it’s not based on respect, nothing that appears to be good will last very long. – Amy Grant

 

I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. – Rita Rudner

 

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me. – Winston Churchill

 

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

 

Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without. – James C. Dobson

 

It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. – Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Let us now set forth one of the fundamental truths about marriage: the wife is in charge. – Bill Cosby

 

Do you know what it means to come home at night to a woman who’ll give you a little love, a little affection, a little tenderness? It means you’re in the wrong house, that’s what it means.- Henny Youngman

 

One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again. – Judith Viorst

 

To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up. – Ogden Nash

 

If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married. – Katharine Hepburn

 

I’d marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he’d be dead within a year. – Bette Davis

 

Never get married in college; it’s hard to get a start if a prospective employer finds you’ve already made one mistake. – Elbert Hubbard

 

A good husband makes a good wife. – John Florio

 

Marrying an old bachelor is like buying second-hand furniture. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her. – Sacha Guitry

 

For years my wedding ring has done its job. It has led me not into temptation. It has reminded my husband numerous times at parties that it’s time to go home. It has been a source of relief to a dinner companion. It has been a status symbol in the maternity ward. – Erma Bombeck

 

Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives. – Samuel Johnson

 

Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage. – Ambrose Bierce

 

Marriage is an adventure, like going to war. – Gilbert K. Chesterton

 

When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife. – Prince Philip

 

Men have a much better time of it than women. For one thing, they marry later; for another thing, they die earlier. – H. L. Mencken

 

There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends. – Homer

 

The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship. – Jackie Kennedy

 

There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded. – Princess Diana

 

Marriage is a series of desperate arguments people feel passionately about. – Katharine Hepburn

 

The true index of a man’s character is the health of his wife. – Cyril Connolly

 

Scientists Reveal The ‘Language of Love’

finding love‘Physically fit’, ‘perceptive’ and ‘passionate’ – the words to a woman’s heart revealed

They may only be words, but the language men use in their online dating profiles can have a serious impact on getting them noticed by the opposite sex.

In a study of 12,000 dating profiles on eHarmony.co.uk, the relationship site identified the top ten words with the ‘D Factor’ – or ‘date factor’ – that were most likely to grab the attention of single women looking for great dates.

The data showed that men who mention some form of physical fitness, or described themselves as perceptive, passionate or optimisticall saw more approaches.

Conversely, women describing themselves as sweet, ambitious or thoughtful were more likely to see men start up conversations with them.

Interestingly the word ‘funny’ saw both male and female dater’s ears prick up, with both sexes ranking it sixth out of the top ten list; showing there are some things men and women do agree on.

And these extra approaches are far from insignificant. Physically fit or perceptive men attracted between 60-70% more interest from women who wanted to get to know them better; whereby sweet, ambitious or funny women saw between 20-45% more approaches.

The study also revealed that women are more interested in what men have to say for themselves, not just their looks – being more likely to consider a man based on his description rather than his picture. Words used on a profile were shown to have a wider impact (-64% to +69%) on women’s decision to approach, whereby this scale was narrower for men (-43% to +46%).

Jemima Wade, spokesperson for eHarmony.co.uk, said: “Whilst the research shows certain words serve to grab fellow daters’ attention, at eHarmony we know that daters are looking for quality dates every time. And that takes more than just a few words; it’s about finding someone with the same values, who instantly gets you.”

Jemima added: “That’s why we worked with the University of Oxford to develop our Compatibility Matching System and employ scientists to keep refining and improving our algorithm to ensure it’s the best tool to help people find that extra special someone.”

The top 10 words with the ‘D Factor’ (female / male)

1. Sweet (+46%) / Physically fit (+69%)

2. Ambitious (+39%) / Ambitious (+64%)

3. Thoughtful (+30%) / Perceptive (+63%)

4. Spontaneous (+30%) / Passionate (+54%)

5. Physically fit (+22%) / Optimistic (+44%)

6. Funny (+21%) / Funny (+38%)

7. Outgoing (+19%) / Spontaneous (+33%)

8. Optimistic (+17%) / Thoughtful (+21%)

9. Hard working (+17%) / Affectionate (+17%)

10. Passionate (+16%) / Outgoing (+17%)

Wedding Ideas: Vintage Shoot Part Two

Here is part two of our gorgeous vintage wedding shoot. Full of sigh-worthy dresses, hairpieces and cakes. It’s the stuff dreams are made of. Photography from Emma-Jane Photography. Time to start pinning. Here is part one.

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Photography and Art direction: Emma-Jane lewis of Emma-Jane Photography
Model: Nicky Robinson (Miss Deadly Red)
Makeup: Mel Kisman of Mel Kinsman bridal make-u artist
Hairstyling: AnneMarie Lawson stylist
Flowers: Liz Inigo Jones of Blue Sky Flowers
Cakes: Charlotte Geen of Langs of London
Dresses: ONEofOne by Maibritt Kokholm
Headpieces and jewellery: Rosie Weisencrantz Vintage Jewellery

 

If you are planning your wedding then get your hands on The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity. It has great advice on every aspect of wedding planning and lots of great advice. It includes an interview with amazing photographer Emma-Jane Lewis. The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity is available in printebook and Kindle. The Kindle version is only £2.99.

 

 

Wedding Ideas: Vintage Shoot Part One

We have a gorgeous vintage wedding shoot. Full of sigh-worthy dresses, hairpieces and cakes. It’s the stuff dreams are made of. Time to start pinning. Part two is here.

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Wedding shoot credits:

Photography and Art direction: Emma-Jane lewis of Emma-Jane Photography
Model: Nicky Robinson (Miss Deadly Red)
Makeup: Mel Kisman of Mel Kinsman bridal make-u artist
Hairstyling: AnneMarie Lawson stylist
Flowers: Liz Inigo Jones of Blue Sky Flowers
Cakes: Charlotte Geen of Langs of London
Dresses: ONEofOne by Maibritt Kokholm
Headpieces and jewellery: Rosie Weisencrantz Vintage Jewellery

 

If you are planning your wedding then get your hands on The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity. It has great advice on every aspect of wedding planning and lots of great advice. It includes an interview with amazing photographer Emma-Jane Lewis. The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity is available in printebook and Kindle. The Kindle version is only £2.99.

 

 

 

He Texted: The Ultimate Guide To Decoding Guys Book Review

Technology usually makes things easier, but when it comes to dating, things are now more complicated than ever. Sure access is easier: Twitter and Facebook has given all of us the chance to stalk. Not that we would, of course.

But with access comes more problems: we know a lot about people just from their social media, but also nothing at all.

As the He Texted: The Ultimate Guide to Decoding Guys back cover puts it:

He Texted The Ultimate Guide To Decoding Guys Book Review

‘You’re a busy, intelligent, modern woman. You stay on top of work e-mail. You “like” all the baby photos your sister posts on Facebook. You found your dream job through LinkedIn. But when your crush texts you “Sup?” every few days, yet never asks you out, what the hell does that mean?

These days, dating is more confusing than ever. Friending? Following? Liking? Poking? Linking? LOLing? WTF? In an era when FaceTime is no longer the same as face-to-face, it’s no wonder you can’t tell if he’s into you or just really into his iPhone.

This hilarious and essential guide from the founders of HeTexted.com—with totally straightforward guy sight from the HeTexted Bros—will help you autocorrect your digital dating life, from decoding your Facebook friendships, to reading the intentions behind guys’ perplexing texts, to deciding when—if ever—you should text him first. It’s He’s Just Not That Into You for the digital age and What to Expect When You’re Expecting . . . a second date—all in one invaluable package!’

I found this book entertaining, interesting and full of great information and advice. It reminded me of a He’s Just Not That Into You for the modern age. The book comes from the creators of HeTexted.com, which consists of Lisa Winning and Carrie Henderson McDermott. Lisa has worked in start-ups all of her life and Carrie bravely left her job at Glamour magazine. And with great success: He Texted is an indispensable guide to dating in the modern age.

There is a lot of amazing advice for decoding texts and avoiding modern dating pitfalls in this book from different sources, including some men. It is fun to read and will help you through the minefield that is modern dating.

He Texted: The Ultimate Guide to Decoding Guys