Eating Green To reduce your wedding day carbon footprint; create an eco-friendlier wedding reception with ‘green‘ food options. Whether your venue provides catering or you plan on hiring your own, inquire about each businesses’ wholesalers, food distributers, forms of transportation; and focus on any service providers with a history of environmental awareness. Chances are, with a little bit of research, you can find caterers  who use locally sourced, locally grown and organic ingredients. Consider asking potential catering companies how waste—primarily food waste—is disposed, how it is minimized,  whether it is recycled, composted or whether you have the option of donating leftovers to local food...

If you and your partner don’t already have a favorite song together, now is the perfect time to start looking for a tune that symbolizes your relationship. Start listening to your favorite bands and genres of music together to find songs that reflect your own love. Ask yourselves what kind of couple you are: Adventurous? Romantic? Laid-back? Are you nature-lovers or sports fans? Are you season-ticket holders for the symphony or regulars at a punk club? Are you the type to put on a Fleetwood Mac record and tend your garden or blast AC/DC when you wash your car? A little bit country or a little bit rock ‘n’ roll?The music that will represent your relationship best is the music that you actually listen to and love the most. One of the easiest ways to find a perfect first-dance song is to listen to the lyrics of great love songs and choose songs that you can relate to as a couple.Before choosing your song, listen carefully to the words and  and the underlying meanings each song represents. There are plenty of songs that have romantic melodies, but they may not always promote healthy, loving relationship behaviors. For starters, here are nine worthy songs that reflect true love with non-traditional love-song melodies. 1. “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash What it’s About: This simple love song is about a man who cannot contain his love for his special lady. Cash himself “walked the line” for a woman he credits for getting him off the wrong tracks of life and onto the right ones. Coincidentally, the rhythm of this song is very much like the rhythm of a train rollicking along the tracks. 2. “Umbrella” by Rihanna, featuring Jay Z What it’s About: Standing up for the one you love and sharing the burdens of life, no matter how big or small. Rihanna sings about inspiration and motivation: “You raise me up so I can stand on mountains, you raise me up to walk on stormy seas, I am strong when I am on your shoulders, you raise me up to more than I can be.” And the chorus of the song—“You can stand under my umbrella”—symbolizes how a couple shelters each other and the strength they have together. 3. “Changes” by David Bowie  What it’s About: This classic tells the tale of how you fall in love and go through changes together, how each of you will have to roll with the punches, good or bad, for a lifetime together. As you ‘turn the face of time,’ you’ll grow together, evolve together and share the years together. 4. “Faith” by George Michael What it’s About: Having faith in love, in each other, and in your love....

The Path to Success: Making it to the Top in the Wedding Industry Wednesday, June 19 at 2pm ET / 11am PT Register to participate live or purchase the recording.   Presented by  Kate L. Harrison, Green Bride Guide  Jane Dayus-Hinch, JDH Weddings  Milena Santoro, CMP, CMM, PIDP, MS Productions, Inc.   Join Milena at Experience! 2013 this July for her session “Leader or Manager – Which One Are You?”   photo credit: pkphoto.com Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a star in the wedding industry? Learn from a driven panel of veterans who have each created a phenomenally successful name for themselves. Join us for an interview with this exciting global panel and find out how to transform their stories into your path to success. You will learn: The top 3 strategies to build a solid business foundationthrough networking, education and partnerships How to develop a niche marketing strategy and build a robust product base around your wedding business How to develop a media strategy to take your wedding business to the top   Gain 1 contact hour toward your initial certification or recertification. Learn more at the CPCE page! Participate on-the-go! Download the GoToMeeting app and participate from your mobile device when you’re...

  A daily ritual focused on helping you live your WHY   I have recently made it my life purpose to inspire EVERYDAY people to live EXTRAORDINARY lives.  Every part of my being is centred around the power of WHY and helping millions of people define, extract and live it.  I define WHY as the World Helped by You. This Red Tip represents one a three part series helping you extract a new energy hidden deep with you.  With a compelling WHY, your universe opens up and allocates inspired energy fueling your HOW.  The key is to become aware of this WHY power and see it as an energy force driving the most inspiring chapter of your life.  Know with certainty that you were put on this earth with a life purpose.  It has always been there, waiting to be IGNITED by you and your belief in your untapped potential. As a human race, we all share this common thread, it connects us all.  We all have it, we are all born with these powerful WHY cells that have the innate ability to IGNITE a deeper purpose inside each one of us.  We were all meant to shine and greatness is our birthright.  It is not reserved for the few but for the many.  This is your time to give yourself permission to shine and ignite your WHY cells to become the person you were born to be.  Over the course of this month, I will focus on the 3 main areas MIND – BODY – SOUL. The three work in harmony to protect, stimulate, ignite, communicate and connect to our deeper WHY and connect with others. Its this state of vibration that we are able to influence motivate and inspire others to live extraordinary lives.   Part 1 of 3: Daily Ritual: Ignite your MIND The Mind  – when properly conditioned through the use of powerful visualization, stillness and affirmations, has the power to communicate our intention to these creative cells. For the next 7 days, live the following questions:  What makes me come alive, What is my BIGGER purpose and What do I want to be remembered for? Next, write out your answers in the form of an affirmation that starts with: I am…then fill in the blank. Every morning read these affirmations, then close your eyes and feel the experience of living your new life. Throughout the day, take 5 breaks, close your eyes and repeat these affirmations with purpose and intention. At the end of the day, write our what you are most grateful for, repeat the affirmations again and send out the powerful signals, believing that you are receiving your greatness.  Let it all flow, feel the energy building up inside you as white light, leaving your mind and resonating out to the...

Simple living will free your spirit As I prepare to create my 10th book together with Jack Canfield, the co-creator of The Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, I reflect on the incredible state of peace that I now experience as I write these words.  For the past several years, I have been on an inspired journey striving to align my actions with my passion and purpose. A recent client of mine stated the obvious to me – “I love that you do only what you want to do in life”. This Red Tip is focused on the ‘art of simplicity’ as a creative vehicle to help you simplify your life and free your spirit so you can focus on living a more purposeful life.   Strive to Escape the Weight of Accumulation Strive to de-clutter by going through all of your stuff – clothing – articles, etc. Donate things that you don’t use anymore or re-use an item in a new and creative way. Gratitude – Attitude and Positive Thinking – what are all the things that you are most grateful for? Write them down and share that list with your closest friends and family. This act will start to shift your life energy towards receiving more of what you are grateful for. Before drifting off to sleep – express all of the things that you are grateful for. Recommend getting a copy of Julie Boyer’s new book: 30 days of Gratitude.  Think only positive thoughts – remember – discomfort is growth and growth is the only evidence of life, so as you start to change your life some elements will need to shift and this perceived discomfort is all part of your journey. Make a list of the simple things that give you joy every day – for instance – finding that one hour to run, or read, journal, work in the garden, have a drink with friends….What ever that list is then start by doing one of those things at least once a day eventually adding more and more. Find a way to love everything around you- people – friends – family – your health. The more you spread the love the more you will attract into your life. Include a healthier lifestyle filled with good food – daily exercise and mental stillness. I start off every morning with a healthy smoothie and cellular nutrition from Usana Health Sciences.  So as you start to gain a larger awareness for yourself, the life that you want to create and your journey towards simple living – answer the following questions:   What is the bigger picture for your life that you’re stalling on? What needs to be faced head on? What do you need to let go of? What do you need to...