Wedding-themed entertainment in Broward County!

Both of us Bride at 35 girls are big fans of the classic oldies sing-a-longs - we're still swooning over Darlene Love's girl group-tastic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" performance from "The Late Show With David Letterman"`last week (That woman has to have an aging picture hidden in her closet, because I think she looks younger every year).

Which is why "A Taffeta Wedding" caught Leslie's eye. OK, the fact that this play, happening down her neck of the woods in Coral Springs, has the word "wedding" in the title has something to do with it too (Them things are on the brain, you know), It's about a sister act girl group called The Taffetas, who marry the four members of a doo-wop group called the Cardigans (also, incidentally, the name of the Swedish pop group that sings "Love Fool," Lynne's karaoke jam).

The play, a musical review with all your favorites of bobby soxed yesteryear ("Sh-Boom," "Do You Wanna Dance," the slightly culturally tin-eared but pleasantly catchy "Running Bear"), runs through Jan. 16 at the Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs. Check it out here here at http://www.miamiartzine.com/issue_main.cfm?btitle=taffetas+and+cardigans+wear+well&issuecatid=1007.

Go be cultured!

Merry Christmas from Bride At 35, Part 2!

As promised, this is the other half of the Bride at 35 team, Leslie, as I sit at a Little Rock, Arkansas sports bar with my husband, who is cheering on the Baltimore Ravens. And I'm writing about weddings, which is pretty much the antithesis of what he's doing. It also reminds me of the first time he took me to his favorite Baltimore sports bar with his old friends, where I interrupted him during a crucial play to ask him to look at a darling reception place setting idea in Martha Stewart Weddings.

Which brings us to why I, and my sister, am so thrilled to be able to share our experiences as brides of a certain age with you. The above story is just one teensy example of those funny things that happen as you are planning a wedding and more importantly planning a life. I am learning to integrate my life with my husband's, as I learn about Ray Lewis and interceptions and he learns about place settings and guest books. He is my partner and I am his, and as we celebrate our first married Christmas, we are both happy for the gift of each other and the patience, at the age of 39 and 40, to be able to accept the things we can not change and be humorously thrilled about the things we're learning.

And here at Bride at 35, we're embracing the season as well as our mission: to celebrate the love and circumstance that can happen at any age, and the beauty and wisdom (or not) that accompanies it. We want to share in your joy, your questions, your hope and fears and just the fact that love is possible. As are awesome place settings.

Happy happy joy joy!

Merry Christmas from Bride at 35, Part 1

Merry Christmas to all of you!! This is Lynne, 1/2 of the Bride at 35 team. I am writing this as I watch "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network. They are talking about yummy brunch. I, myself, am about to heat up the pastry thing we bought at Panera yesterday. Yes, I am a gourmand.

But designer re-heated pastry aside, there are two big things that stand out about this year for me. One is that I am going to be sharing that pastry with my husband,  because, yes, this year, for the first time in my 39 years, I have a husband. The second HUGE thing is that I am NOT sharing that pastry with Leslie, the other 1/2 of the Bride at 35 team, and also my twin sister, who is also celebrating her first married Christmas, or with my parents.

It's not that it's our first holiday as couples. Last year, Mommy, Daddy, my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I travelled to South Florida to have Christmas with my sister and her then-fiance, who has since been upgraded to brother-in-law, awesome Scott.  That was a wonderful vacation with plenty of excitement in the air, because Leslie and Scott were engaged, and because it seemed like a taste of things to come, with all of us together, because, with the exception of that one Christmas in 1994 when Leslie had moved north and couldn't come down to Florida where my parents and I were (we have ALL moved around in the last 16 years, and the tracking of who lived where when is a whole differnt blog post), my parents and Leslie and I ALWAYS spend Christmas together.

But new years bring changes, and this year, my husband and I didn't have the time off to travel to be with my immediate family this year. After being in denial for a couple of days, we decided to look at it as a cool thing. Since this is our first married Christmas, we are doing just us this year. After the Panera, we'll watch some movies, go out to eat and just soak up the day, which for us is mostly about Jesus-ness, then a little about fried breaded things.

And below the Jesus-ness, and above the fried goodness, it's about family. And this year, this new family of 2, my husband and I, are building a foundation of us, just today, before we add dogs and kids and such. Next year, I am sure that we will do a larger family Christmas day again. While I am missing the family that I'm not with today, I am so thankful for this new person that I have been blessed with.  And I hope that whatever your traditions, or faith, or location, that you are spending this day happy.

Merry Christmas.

The year in celebrity weddings: The Good, the bad and the "What the..."?

Just discovered a magically delicious and snarky blog called Celebrity Weddings, on the The Knot's Wedding Channel (if you are planning a wedding, we strongly suggest checking out The Knot's wedding store, where Leslie bought her Thank You cards and personalized favor fans. She also has extras, so...anybody want a personalized wedding fan?)

Because culturally we seem to love celebrities and weddings, it's not surprising that somebody's actually ranking and reviewing weddings like they're TV shows or sporting events. And some of these, honestly, are so over-the-top "LOOKIT!" that the argument can be made that the couples were begging for attention (and for snark.) And of course, we're talking about Speidi, who, while not over 35, seem to have been around and on our nerves for at least 35 years.

http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-ideas/celebrity-weddings.aspx?listpost=3&showpost=tag%3atypepad.com%2c2003%3apost-6a00e551ae05e388340148c6c40b11970c

Today's Bride (over) 35: Lynne Streeter Childress

Last week, Bride at 35 featured the wedding of Leslie Streeter Zervitz, one half of our sisterly blog team (Check out the post. So pretty.) Today, we thought we'd share the October 2010 wedding of Lynne, the other half.

2 years ago, Lynne was at a time in her life where she really wanted someone in her life, but decided that she wouldn't stress about it like she had been. She let go and let God, as the old people say, and God sent her an e-mail that E-Harmony was having a sale! At least that's how she likes to think of it. So, she met Arthur Childress, and they fell in love, and 2 1/2 years later (I am sure that she will elaborate more as this blog continues), he proposed. And they decided to not listen to people who told them that they couldn't plan the wedding that they wanted in 2 months (because at that point, they wanted to get the party started), and that Lynne was too old to have 9 bridesmaids, and sifted through other loving advice, some of which they took, and some of which they did not (but it was all in love, we know), and 2 months after their engagement, got married at the AWESOME Circle D Farm in Maryland. It was a beautiful October morning, and they laughed and ate and danced and cried (both of them) and had a happy day. And are so blessed. Beyond belief.

Here are some pictures, taken by UCricket Photography (and the last one by our my darling friend Nikki)...

It's been one week since you looked at us, turned your heads to the side and said, "They're Crazy!"....

...BUT you like it!  Maybe you thought, "They, like me, are over the age of 35 (or thereabouts) and they talk about weddings and stuff and I like that kind of thing but I haven't really seen myself reflected in magazines or dress shops or blogs or TV shows or such." Yes, it seems like in the week since we (Leslie and Lynne) started "A Bride at 35", we've hit on something. And that's that you never get too old to want to be loved and to celebrate it, whether:
You are planning your wedding now;
Or you just got married and are still obsessed with weddings;
Or if you aren't dating anybody but want to be married one day and want to hear that you don't have to give up on that desire just because you are closer to 45 than 25;
Or you just like reading this blog.

We just want to give you a voice. And give some hope. Or make you smile. It's all good.

Thanks for your feedback on Facebook. If you are reading us, here's what you can do....

• POST FEEDBACK HERE ON BLOGGER!! We would love to expand what we do, and part of knowing if people are with us is for them to tell us in a way that can be tracked. You can do us by commenting here on Blogger, directly to our posts. You can also be one of our inaugural followers here on Blogger!! We have 4! We love them!! Join us!!
• Write more comments on our FB page and "like us'!
• Send us your stories and pictures!
• Refer us to your friends.

We are having a freaking blast hearing your stories (both brides AND grooms) and seeing your beautiful pics, and we hope you keep it up, because, well, it's been a good week. And we forsee more.

So, as our one week gift to you, we give you "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies, because it's always a good time to hear that song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPo9ISQpzvM

You're welcome!! See ya tomorrow.

Bride at 35 Survey/Poll/Challenge Thing!!!

So, we've established that more and more people are getting married older than some might expect, so we think that we need a decent name to describe us. "Mature Bride" sounds stuffy, and "Older Bride", while accurate, doesn't sing, so....

CHALLENGE:
Suggest a name for brides over the age of 35! Post it in the comment section, on our Facebook Page, or e-mail it to us at bride35@gmail.com!! The interesting ones get mentioned, and if we find one we really like, we'll start using it!!

Sounds good?  Get to it!!