MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

SORRENTO WEDDING IN STYLE whishes to all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Anna Saccone: Fashion Stylist and Bride to be with SORRENTO WEDDING IN STYLE!

Confetti meets Anna Saccone: Fashion Stylist and Bride to be 

We have a treat for all our Confetti.ie readers. Fashion stylist and certified make-up artist Anna Saccone talks to Confetti.ie about her forthcoming wedding and shares her top bridal fashion tips with us.

Anna and her fiancé, Jonathan Joly, have set their wedding date for September 1st...

Will you be hiring a wedding planner or organising your wedding yourself?
Because I'm getting married in Italy, it will be too difficult to organise the whole thing myself, so I did hire two wedding planners. Emilia & Raffaella from Sorrento Wedding in Style. www.weddinginstyle.it

Read the article
http://confetti.ie/view.aspx?p=1622

Christmas in Italy!!!

Christmas season in Italy is traditionally celebrated December 24-January 6, or Christmas Eve through Epiphany. This follows the pagan season of celebrations that started with Saturnalia, a winter solstice festival, and ended with the Roman New Year, the Calends. However there are lots of Christmas things to see during December prior to Christmas, many starting on December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.
Italian Christmas TraditionsAlthough Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) and giving presents on Christmas are becoming more common, the main day for gift giving is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men gave Baby Jesus their gifts. In Italy, presents are brought by La Befana, who arrives in the night to fill children's stockings. More about Epiphany and La Befana.
Christmas decorations and trees are becoming more popular in Italy. Lights and decorations are often seen starting around December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, or even the end of November. The main focus of decorations continues to be the presepe, Nativity scene or creche. Almost every church has a presepe and they are often found outdoors in a piazza or public area, too.
More about Presepi - Italian Nativity Scenes and where to see them.

Traditionally, a meatless dinner is eaten on Christmas eve with the family, followed by a living nativity scene and midnight mass. In parts of southern Italy a seven fishes dinner is traditionally served on Christmas Eve. Traditional bonfires are often held on Christmas Eve in the main square of town, especially in mountain areas. Dinner on Christmas day is usually meat based.

Christmas trees, lights, Nativity Cribs, and Christmas celebrations in Italy:
Although you'll find Christmas celebrations all over Italy, these are some of the most unusual or most popular Christmas celebrations, events, and decorations.
Naples is one of the best cities to visit for Nativity cribs. Naples and southern Italy have other Christmas traditions, including the Christmas Eve dinner of the seven fish dishes, although it doesn't really have to be seven fishes and not everyone serves it. Naples Nativity Pictures
Bagpipe and flute players, zampognari and pifferai, are a part of Christmas celebrations in Rome, Naples, and southern Italy. They often wear traditional colorful costumes with sheepskin vests, long white stockings, and dark cloaks. Many of them travel from the mountains of the Abruzzo region to play outside churches and in popular city squares.

Christmas wishes!!!

Wishes can be given to anyone, whether you know a person or not. It is the way to share your feelings and happiness with all those whom you come across on this sacred occasion. You never know; you might make a lonely person smile because of your Christmas wish. The idea of Christmas wishes can go a long way in maintaining relationships and creating a bond that can only become stronger with time. Christmas wishes come in many different forms but have one single essence - To spread peace and happiness on this sacred occasion.

Wishes For Christmas

• Wish you a Merry Christmas and may this festival bring abundant joy and happiness in your life!
• May this Christmas be so special that you never ever feel lonely again and be surrounded by loved ones throughout!
• You are special, you are unique; may your Christmas be also as special and unique as you are! Merry Christmas!
• Here's wishing you all the joys of the season. Wish you and your family a Merry Christmas!
• May joy and happiness snow on you, may the bells jingle for you and may Santa be extra good to you! Merry Christmas!
• May this Christmas be bright and cheerful and may the New Year begin on a prosperous note!
• Love, Peace and Joy came down on earth on Christmas day to make you happy and cheerful. May Christmas spread cheer in your lives!

• Sending the warmest Christmas wishes to you and your family. May God shower his choicest blessings on you and your family this Christmas!
• May all your days be merry and bright and may your Christmas be white! Merry Christmas!
• It is that time of the year again, when you are thankful for everything merry and bright. May this Christmas be a delight! Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
• May Christ bless you with all the happiness and success you deserve! Merry Xmas!
• I am dreaming of white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write, May your days be merry and bright, and May all your Christmases be white. Merry Christmas. 
• May your world be filled with warmth and good cheer this Holy season, and throughout the year! Wish your Christmas be filled with peace and love. Merry Xmas. 
• May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow. Wish you lots of love, joy and happiness. MERRY CHRISTMAS. 
• Chritmas ka yeh pyara tyohaar jeevan mein laye khushiyan apaar, santa clause aaye aapke dwar, subhkamna hamari kare sweekar. Merry Christmas.

Christmas ideas!!!

Candles add warmth and ambiance anywhere they're used, and decorating with candles is a great way to bring a festive mood to any space during the holiday season. Here are a few ways to decorate with candles.

Decorating with Candles
A single candle looks good, but a grouping of candles looks great. When placing several candles together in one grouping try to use the same color candles. It looks cohesive and makes a stronger impact.

Centerpieces

• Gather together some fat pillar candles and place them together on your favorite serving plate. Use candles of different heights. To add a little holiday flair add some Christmas greenery around the bottom. Embellish it with pinecones and berries if you wish.

• Place a bunch of candles atop candlesticks and group them together. The candlesticks don't need to be exactly the same, but it's best to use the same material. For example, use mercury glass or clear glass candlesticks of varying heights and shapes.

• Put a bunch of fat pillar candles (matching ones) on top of a cakestand. Birch bark candles are festive and will lend a rustic look to your table.

Mantels

• Mantels practically call out for candles. Place a bunch of fat pillars on your mantel and then weave some garlands around them.
• Just as with centerpieces, you can use candlesticks of the same material, but not necessarily matching, to display candles. Place several along the mantel and intersperse them with votive holders of the same material. It will look cohesive, yet the different sizes will give it visual interest.

Stairs
If you have enough space on your stairs candles can be a great decorative accent, however, don't use them if you have pets or children – it's simply too dangerous. That said, you can use battery operated flameless candles to get the same look. They're safe and can look just as good.

• Place candles in clear glass hurricane vases and place one on each step (or every other step).

• Fill clear glass vases about one third of the way up with cranberries or tiny pinecones and then nestle a pillar candle inside. Place one on each or every other step.

Candles look great just about anywhere. Just be sure to use common sense. Never leave them unattended and don't place them anywhere they can be knocked or blown over. Also, be sure not to put them too close to anything that can catch fire such as curtains or drapes. Be careful, be sensible, and be safe.

Christmas traditions around the world ...

AustraliaOf course, in Australia, Christmas is in the middle of their summer!  So, Christmas is often celebrated like the 4th of July in the United States: at the beach or  with a back yard barbecue. Many Australians decorate Christmas Bushes, native plants with little red-flowered leaves. 

BrazilAgain, in the Southern hemisphere, Christmas falls during the summer! Pine trees are decorated with little pieces of cotton to represent falling snow.

BritainTrees: Since Henry VII deforested the land, the Norway Spruce which was replanted is the most common tree in homes in Britain.
Lights: Colored lights and wreaths are common in the High Streets and outside some homes. Gifts are left under the tree to be opened on Christmas morning. A large number of packages, even of quite small items, is preferred!
Mistletoe is still hung in doorways, usually during parties and New Years eve.  This goes back to Celtic beliefs that mistletoe had the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility, as it remained green and had white berries in the dead of winter. Kissing someone under the mistletoe became popular!
Foods: The main meal on Christmas day is a turkey, ham or roast beef.  Goose is quite rare. Turkey is a relatively recent addition, as turkeys are native to America and don’t do well in the English climate. Christmas pudding, Figgy pudding and plum pudding are English fruitcakes, saturated in brandy, that date back to the Middle Ages. Suet, flour, sugar, raisins, nuts, and spices are tied loosely in cloth and boiled until the ingredients are "plum," meaning they have enlarged enough to fill the cloth. Brandy is poured over it daily for weeks until it is well pickled! It is then unwrapped, sliced, and topped with cream or custard. You can feel your arteries hardening just looking at it; but it still tastes better than a fruitcake.
Caroling also started in medieval England. Wandering musicians would travel from town to town visiting castles and homes of the rich. In return for their performance, the musicians would (if they were good) receive a hot meal or money.
In both the United States and England, children hang stockings on their by a fireplace on Christmas Eve, hoping that Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus, St. Nick or most commonly in the UK, father Christmas) will fill it with small gifts while they sleep.

CanadaTrees: Thanks to the German settlers to Canada in the 1700’s, Canadians today still have Christmas trees!
Foods: Advent calendars, gingerbread houses, Christmas cookies are also popular. Of course, Canada has several major cultures, notably the French and English speaking groups, each of which has their own variations to Christmas traditions. Gifts are left under the tree on Christmas morning.

China
Of the small percentage of Chinese who do celebrate Christmas, most erect artificial trees decorated with spangles and paper chains, flowers and lanterns. Christmas trees are called "trees of light."

Finland Trees: In the year 1829, a Helsinki nobleman, Barön Klinckowstrom, decorated his  house (inside) with 8 Christmas trees; one of the earliest know uses of the trees. The first known outdoor Christmas tree decorated with electric lights was in the market square in the town of Pietarsaari in 1905. The city of Helsinki has had a Christmas tree in the Senate Square since 1930 and since 1954, Helsinki has donated a Christmas tree to Brussels, Belgian.
Other traditions: Finns love the sauna and many families visit the sauna on Christmas Eve. Families gather to listen to the national "Peace of Christmas" radio broadcast. More information about Christmas in  Finland
France
Trees: The French also like Christmas trees, but now quite to the extent of the Germans or English. The "yule Log" tradition stems from an ancient tradition in southern France, where some people burn a log in their homes from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day. 

GermanyGermany is the source of many of the world’s Christmas traditions. Martin Luther is attributed with bringing fir trees into the home, but it is much more likely that it is a tradition assimilated from the pagan’s winter solstice tradition in the early sixteenth century, combining the  Paradise tree (a fir tree decorated with apples) that represented the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Small candles were attached to the trees to represent the stars and the apples were replaced with red glass balls. 

GreeceIn Greece, many people believe in kallikantzeri, goblins that appear to cause mischief during the 12 days of Christmas. Gifts are usually exchanged on January 1, St. Basil's Day.

GreenlandChristmas trees are decorated with candles and ornaments here. Again, gifts are left under the tree to be opened on Christmas morning.

GuatemalaAs in Mexico, the Nativity scene is the center of Christmas decorations, and thanks to the large German community, a Christmas tree has been added as an ornament. As in other countries, gifts are left under the tree on Christmas morning for the children, however, parents and adults do not exchange gifts until New Year’s Day.

IrelandChristmas trees are brought in anytime in December and decorated with colored lights, tinsel, and other ornaments. As in America, the most popular tree toppers are the angel or the star. The house is decorated with evergreen garlands, candles, holly and ivy. Wreaths and mistletoe are hung on the door.

Italy
In Italy, as iun many Latin speaking countries, the nativity scene (presepio) is the center of decoration for Christmas.  Guests kneel before it and musicians sing before it . The presepio figures are usually hand-carved and very detailed in features and dress. The scene is often set out in the shape of a triangle. It provides the base of a pyramid-like structure called the ceppo. This is a wooden frame arranged to make a pyramid several feet high. Several tiers of thin shelves are supported by this frame. It is entirely decorated with colored paper, gilt pine cones and miniature colored pennants. Small candles are fastened to the tapering sides. A star or small doll is hung at the apex of the triangular sides. The shelves above the manger scene have small gifts of fruit, candy and presents. The ceppo is in the old Tree of Light tradition which became the Christmas tree in other countries. Some houses even have a ceppo for each child in the family. Italians say Buono Natale! or "Happy Birthday" for Christmas.
Foods: a traditional Christmas bread, called Panettone, which is light in texture and has nuts and fruit in it is very popular.

Christmas wedding!!!

Weddings occur all the time. There are in fact thousands of weddings each and every year in the UK and many many more across the world. So why do people get married? People get married for different reasons but mainly because they fall in love with someone else and when the time is right, they tie they knot.
Most people are so happy that they are going to get married that they really don't mind when it happens. There are 365 days in the year and for most people, just about any day in the calendar would be suitable. After all, marriage is a time of bringing two people madly in love together. Some people however, prefer to get married at particular times of year. The summer months are a popular choice but there is no better time of year than Christmas time.

 Christmas is a great time to get married as it has so many fun memories associated with it. Christmas is a time of giving and what better way to celebrate Christmas time than with two people truly madly deeply in love. Two people that can host a ceremony in a gorgeous location with all their family and friends wrapped up in layers of clothing eagerly anticipating a white Christmas. The chances of there actually being a white Christmas are very slim but occasionally is does happen and when it does it is a blessing. A blessing that should only come around once in a lifetime as the two people becoming wed are soon to be together for eternity.

To get married at Christmas time is also a great time to get married as everyone is in that gift mood. Christmas is after all, a time for giving each other gifts, and with two people becoming tying the knot what better time is there for buying a present. There is so much choice and so many great deals on that finding the right present should be pretty straightforward.
Some people refer to Christmas weddings as 'The Great Christmas Wedding'. The wedding is incomplete however without a ring. Finding the right ring is a challenge but there are some great rings at some of the top retailers in the UK. In fact, choosing the right wedding ring could never be easier, as particular retailers have given consumers as much information as possible to help them make a decision.
There are also ring guides available for consumers. These guides are a great source of information for choosing the right size wedding ring as well as supporting existing information a customer may have. Having a ring guide certainly makes it easy for consumers and it gives them a better overall experience of the buying journey. This can only mean one thing. A happy consumer!
With the perfect ring, a Christmas wedding and two people truly madly deeply in love the future is bright. Eternal happiness must last forever and all the family and friends can bask in the happy occasion.