Horrors to Avoid in Mother of the Bride Dresses

April 30, 2009

Much thought has been given to the bride’s and bridesmaids’ gowns and dresses during the wedding planning, which can cause the selection of mother of the bride dresses to be, well, an afterthought. Horror of horrors, this ought not to be!

Why? Well, because the mother of the bride will also be in the pictures and the videos and you can’t allow her to look dowdy, disastrous and disgusting, that’s why. With that being said, here are horrors to avoid in mother of the bride dresses.

H – Hugs like a Second Skin

Sure, you don’t like your mother to look matronly but you don’t want her to look like she could spill her oxygen-deprived internal organs all over the church at any moment either. Don’t forget, too, that many ripping accidents have happened at weddings, which you definitely will not want to happen to your mother.

O – Open to Speculation

Remember the mother of the bride dresses that competed for the title of the world’s airiest dress? Yes, stay away from the light, er, from them! Not only do they threaten to expose delicate body parts that must be hidden from view in a solemn wedding ceremony but it simply will not do for guests to speculate on what body parts will indeed make a run for it. It’s your wedding day, not your mother’s humiliation day.

R- Rigid to the Bone

Sure, rigid corsets can shape the body of a mature woman with extra poundage. However, you need to remember that your mother needs to breathe, needs to move, and needs to eat at your wedding. Besides, it’s the 21st century, not the 16th century with its fondness for stiff corsets! Instead, look for mother of the bride dresses that will flatter the figure but provide comfort for hours on end.

R- Rich Details

Nowadays, the design emphasis is on simple elegance. As such, your initial selection needs to adhere to this fashion dictum. Avoid unnecessarily rich details like ribbons and bows, heavy embroidery and glittering sequins, appliqu?s and cutouts. If you don’t want to inflict such pain on your bridesmaids, why would you inflict it on your mother?

O – Outrageous Designs

Admittedly, having an avant-garde mother has its merits. But unless your wedding veers towards unorthodox themes, it’s best to stick to fashionable-for-her-age designs that are classic, stylish and elegant. Besides, she might want to use the mother of bride dresses in other occasions, with some alterations, so it’s good advice to stick to the mainstream designs.

R – Retro

On the other side of the fence are retro-inspired mother of the bride dresses. Again, unless you have a retro wedding, try to find something that will complement the general theme of the wedding, which nowadays often means contemporary. If you really want to inject retro, well, at least try to keep it to a minimum.

S- Slinky

There must be enough cloth on this Earth to cover up body areas like the thighs and legs, chest and arms, back and buttocks of the women in your wedding entourage. So, why is it that your mother must sashay down the aisle in a dress that screams “Cloth Scarcity”? No reason at all!

The message is basically try not to embarrass your mother and yourself, stick to the wedding theme, and be mindful of the sensibilities of your wedding guests.

Best for Bride - The Best Bridal Stores

5359 Dundas St. West (at Kipling)

Etobicoke, ON, Canada, M9B 1B1

BestForBride.com offers the best selections of wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and mother of the bride dresses to suit the most discriminating taste. Visit them now!

Flatter Your Voluptuous Figure With Plus Size Wedding Dresses

April 30, 2009

With society’s emphasis on slim, svelte and skinny, helped in no small way by the tri-media, you are probably wondering about appearing beautiful on your wedding day what with your Rubenesque figure. But have no fear! You can choose from many plus size wedding dresses to flatter your body. Here are tips to do so.

Know your Body Shape

As much as skinny women have varying shapes and sizes, so do voluptuous women. You have to determine your body shape – pear, apple busty - to narrow down your initial selection of plus size wedding dresses. After that, you can start looking at dresses that flatter your figure and hide your flaws.

For example, pear-shaped bodies look best with A-line dresses and square-necked tops that draw attention away from the body’s lower half. Empire cuts and V-necks are good for apple-shaped figures while busty figures should opt for pencil-line dresses and tops with sleeves.

Carefully Choose Colors

Fortunately, plus size wedding dresses come in a host of colors that makes it easy to dress according to size and shape as well as skin tone. But whatever color you choose, it’s always better to stay away from fancy details like ribbons and bows because that will only emphasize your bigness.

The key to wearing plus-size dresses on your wedding day is to go for the colors of the season. You can wear rich, deep colors like orange, deep purple and dark red during the fall and winter seasons while for the summer and spring seasons, you can lighten up with colors like pinks, lilacs, coral, yellow and light blues.

And even if you do choose to wear white on your wedding day, be sure that the hue complements your skin tone. For example, if you are very fair, avoid stark white but instead go for a dress with yellow undertones.

Wear Good Undergarments

The key to holding it all together, literally and figuratively, for plus size wedding dresses is to wear good undergarments. Do not underestimate the perk-up/flatten down ability of a good strapless bra or the hold-in-your-flab goodness of girdles and corsets!

Good underwear, even sexy lingerie, will help you feel good about yourself. You can then feel beautiful inside and out, literally.

Accessorize Appropriately

Although there is no limit to what you can wear with your plus size wedding dresses, you must keep them to a minimum lest you compete with the church decorations, or worse, look like a walking Christmas tree sans lights.

For accessories, you need to stick to one focal piece of jewelry that will highlight your best assets and draw attention away from your perceived flaws. With plus-size women, the jewelry usually is concentrated on the neck or on the ears simply because you want to draw attention to your glowing face. Chunky arm bangles can often emphasize chubby arms although you can always pick fine jewelry for this purpose if you can’t live without arm embellishments.

Truly, your curvaceous figure is one that you should be proud of, skinny be damned. It’s just a matter of choosing the right plus size wedding dresses to wow your guests and, most importantly, get your groom’s salivary glands drooling.

Best for Bride - The Best Bridal Stores

5359 Dundas St. West (at Kipling)

Etobicoke, ON, Canada, M9B 1B1

For your evening gowns and wedding dress, go to BestForBride.com today, which also offers plus size wedding dresses for the Rubenesque-figured brides. Visit them now!

When Wedding Dresses and Mothers-In-Law Don’t Match: Tips to Overcome Escalating In-Law Tension

April 30, 2009

According to a long-term study conducted by Dr. Terri Apter, a psychologist, almost 75 percent of married women admit to mother-in-law difficulties. These, in turn, have resulted in unhappiness and stress on both sides. Contrast that with the substantially lower incidence – just 15 percent – of troubles between mothers-in-law with their sons-in-law and you will realize that you probably need to befriend your hostile future mother-in-law even before looking through all those wedding dresses!

Find a Neutral Ground

Before talking to your future mother-in-law to resolve your conflicts, you have to agree on a neutral venue. This must be a quiet place away from the meddling and needling of other family members, which will allow the conversations to flow more smoothly. Besides, the conflict is primarily between you and your mother-in-law and the presence of interested (in gossip) parties can muddle the issues.

And who knows? The next grounds you will step on are stores selling wedding dresses.

Agree to Disagree

The abovementioned study states that the conflicts between women in-laws start with disagreements on domestic matters like cooking, cleaning and children’s welfare. Well, of course, you will have disagreements simply because you were raised in different generations under different circumstances!

Thus, you will have to agree to disagree on the details of domesticity. Instead, you must focus on general principles and values that will affect the general welfare of the son/spouse and the grandchildren. Soon enough, you might even laugh over the ridiculousness of those ‘80s-inspired wedding dresses.

Focus on the Relevant Issues

Often in confrontations, serious disagreements get muddled by side issues. To avoid this from happening, you can make a list of the things that you feel are the main sources of friction. It does not have to be detailed, just as a general guideline.

When you are conversing with your future mother-in-law, strive to be respectful of her view. In the same way, you have to demand from her the respect that you deserve as the woman her son chose for a wife. When there is mutual respect, you are better able to focus on each other’s feelings and how each one affects the other.

For example, if the issue is about your initial choices of wedding dresses, you can always calmly discuss the reasons for your choices while considering her reasons as valid to a point. It may sound trivial but, often, starting with the little things paves the way for the big things.

Avoid Name-Calling

Not only is name-calling infantile, it can hurt people more than actions ever do. You both need to be calm, cool and collected at all times. Otherwise, it will be exercises in futility, not to mention escalate the tensions to more unmanageable levels. You need to remember that you might be the future wife but your future mother-in-law will always be the mother of your fianc?.

You, on the other hand, might find yourself shredding your wedding dresses when your groom-to-be grows tired of your bickering and just cancels the wedding. Let’s hope it will be temporary.

Indeed, it can provide peace of mind to the wedding planning when you know that both sides are agreeable to the union. At the very least, you can focus more time on finding the right wedding dresses for the ceremony and the reception!

Best for Bride - The Best Bridal Stores

5359 Dundas St. West (at Kipling)

Etobicoke, ON, Canada, M9B 1B1

BestForBride.com offers the best selections of bridesmaid dress, evening dresses and wedding dresses for your dream wedding. Visit them now!

3 Reasons Why You Must Plan Your Retirement Today

April 30, 2009

This might shock you as much as it did me but statistics show that the average American is saving up a “staggering” $392 per year! Three hundred and ninety two dollars per year or only about one dollar per day! You don’t have to be a math genius to see that only saving $392 on average will definitely bring some financial difficulties further down the road when people are getting closer to their retirement age. I can only imagine how desperate you must feel when you realize that you have absolutely no money to show after working an entire life and that the rest of your life where you’ll have all the time in the world to enjoy your hobbies and passions will instead be used on turning every cent because there are literally no savings.

Reason number 1:

The average American household makes about $50,000 per year and even though that is a decent amount you will still have to put a fair chunk of it aside if you want to be absolutely certain that you will have enough money to not only just get by but also be able to enjoy your life when retired. Most people will retire somewhere around the age of 60-65 and as humans are getting older and older, you can look forward to living 15-25 years retired from your job. Take your current monthly expenditure and multiply it to see how much you would need in savings to just keep your standard of living as it is. If you don’t start saving and/or investing today, then you’ll only make it harder on yourself by every day that passes by.

Reason number 2:

If you have ever heard of the term compounding interests then you’ll probably know that it can be a good thing if we’re talking about your savings and a bad thing if you have debt. Compounding interests are a mechanism that will increase the speed in which your money becomes more money. You’re letting your money work for you instead of you working for money. However you will also find that even though compounding interests can have a dramatic effect on how much your money increases in value then the fuel that makes it grow is time (and interest rates of cause). With very little time for money to do their job you will not get very much from it. Instead if you are able to let your money work for 30-50 years then you will see tremendous results. So again the conclusion is to start saving up today!

Reason number 3:

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 3 years you have probably seen that the world is in a financial crises where everything has dropped significantly. Share prices have plummeted and so has the value of most pension fund’s investments. So if you have been saving the bare minimum in order to just get by when you are retiring and the value of your portfolio have lost 50% or more then you’ll now have to live the rest of your life on half of what you had hope for. Doesn’t sound that compelling does it? So no matter how much time you have left before retiring you should start increasing your savings and investment strategy today because you can never know what will happen and planning on “luck” to come to the rescue is not something you should hope for.

For more information on retiring rich and to learn more about the strategies you can use to increase your chances of an early retirement as well as a financially secure retirement come visit our site at RetireRichRoadmap .

How Do I Tell if My Ex Wants to Get Back With Me?

April 30, 2009

You have broken off with your ex over the last couple of weeks. But your ex still shows a little bit of interest or it appears he wants to still go out with you again at least from the way he behaves when you run into each other. He tries to pretend as if nothing happened, that you are still in love with each other or that you are both still seeing each other. The way he behaves, you are finding it hard to understand. You are asking yourself “Does my ex want to get back with me?”

I want to help you answer that question. You want to know if your ex wants to get back with you.

There are some sure signs that an ex may be trying to get back to you, but a word of caution here. Do not go rushing into his hands or you may regret it forever.

The one way that I will advice is that you try to play a little hard to get. Do it moderately though as I always advice in all my articles on the affairs of the heart. You know I like to write about this topic.

When you act a little hard to get, your ex will understand. And this is even the reason he will come out with his intention – which is to get back to you. I will even say it was your “I don’t care” attitude that made him want to come back. You did not show you missed him when he left. Did you? I am sure you simply move on, found a new interest, enrolled in that health club where you met some interesting new friends.

So now he is showing some renewed interest?

What happens in case of a breakup is that both parties will miss each other especially if you shared some great moments together. This is natural. This is particularly so of relationships that lasted for more than one year. Imagine people who stayed together for five years!

Apart from missing you, there may be other factors at play. Sometime we are filled with regrets about our actions. We feel we have not acted well. Or simply we are the cause of the breakup or that what happened was not enough to have walked away and forget all the good old times. He may be feeling this way.

If you are seeing signs or you are thinking “does my ex want to get back to me”, chances are that the other person is also thinking along that line. The best thing is to wait.

Yes you heard me right. Just continue with what you are now doing. Get that driving or music lesson now! Find some new interests. Keep at them and if your ex is serious enough about getting back, he will come knocking.

When he or she comes knocking, it is up to you whether you want to get Back. Do not rush things. Don’t go running back, let it happen naturally.

You are not even sure of his intentions. Maybe he just wants to see if you are missing him. Maybe he just wants to throw a joke or play a stupid game. Maybe he has laid a bet with his friends. You never can be sure. So let him prove it if he is serious about getting back. Make him wait even if you try to encourage him.

What you may be feeling is common, especially if you still love him. It is love that makes a lot of people to keep thinking “does my ex want to get back with me?” My advice is that if possible try to forget about your ex and concentrate on what you are doing instead of just keep thinking if he wants to come back or get back with me.

If he actually comes back, act hard in moderation only if you still want him. If you act hard and he is not serious, he will go away sooner than later. Then you would not be hurt a second time.

You may have moved on especially if you find out that he wasn’t even good for you in the first place. Yes they are people that are not good for us and the earlier we realize this, the better for us.

====== Okereke U is s a relationship expert who like to write on the affairs of the heart. He has written a lot of useful articles on the magic of making up. He writes on how to rebuild that bridge and keep the relationship strong. If you like his article ?How Do I Tell if My Ex Wants To Get Back With Me?” then click below and visit his Blog for more: http://themakingupmagic.blogspot.com =====

Secret to Make Your Ex Return Your Call

April 30, 2009

I have been thinking about this…

Are there really magic words that anyone can use? Can you actually use some words to make your ex to return your phone calls or text messages?

I have heard it a lot. Words are powerful! Yes If then, then there must be.

So I got cranking.

You have just separated. Your ex still hurts. You feel it was a mistake. You still love her.

It is as if the sleep can not come to your eyes. You have got to get her back as soon as possible.

Then you pick up your phone to call.

She is not there to pick up the call or it is either she does not want to speak to you at least for now. The phone is ringing. Soon it will enter into voice.

You are thinking, what I say. At least it has to be so strong to make her want to forget and call you back.

Okay let us try to look at some of the things we can say.

Here we go!

There are two factors that play important parts in our lives. Put that to maximum use here. There are namely Curiosity and what I call personal or Self Interest.

Remember curiosity killed the cat! Then there is the first law of preservation - self interest.

These two factors applied together always work like magic. Do not just use one, but apply the two for maximum effect.

Now instead of just calling and leaving a message like this “Hi Jane, please, please call me. This is the forth or fifth time that I am calling you. Why are you being stubborn?”

Do you think an ex will return a call like this? No, makes here more furious.

Let us look at another scenario. You leave a message for your ex which runs like this “Hi Jane, it is me. I have to talk to you. It is important. Do not fail” You are issuing a command. Maybe this was the very attitude that put her off in the first place.

Now let us look at how this could have been done.

You know that voice tone that she wants you to use when you were together. That is the tone to use now.

In that tone you leave a message like this “Hi Jane, I want you to know that I appreciate what you did for me the other time. Call me back as I want to say thank you

properly”

A message like this can make anyone curious. If she still feels anything for you, she may just decide to call you and hear what you have to say.

I have to emphasis at this stage that getting her to call you is not the all in all. You have got to know what to say and how to say it or you may ruin everything forever.

So try to get a few books on relationships, do a little research on the female behavioral pattern before actually using the technique I just mentioned.

There are a few powerful e-books on clickbank.com

Do a little search online. With this, I think you will be okay and get back the love life you always wanted with your lover.

====== Okereke U is s a relationship expert who like to write on the affairs of the heart. He has written a lot of useful articles on the magic of making up. He writes on how to rebuild that bridge and keep the relationship strong. If you like his article “How to get an Ex back” then click below and visit his Blog for more: http://themakingupmagic.blogspot.com =====

6 Ways to Get Back at Your Ex

April 30, 2009

Human beings by nature are dependent on one another. That is why it is said that no one is an island.

Relationships have to be formed and fostered which leads to good natural feeling. But once in a while such good relationships do get broken. Hearts are shattered. Conflicts are inevitable or unavoidable.

When this happens, we are affected or impacted negatively. This is natural. This is particularly so in the affairs of the heart. Then we feel hurt. We may start to think, how can I get back at my ex? How do I get him to regret or miss not having me at his aide anymore? We are thinking “what are the ways I can get back at my ex?”

When we suffer a breakup or separation, we may be thinking of the other person, whether they did well or treated us badly. We are hurting and blaming the other person which may lead us to believe we can do certain things to get back at them. Yes it is possible to get back at your ex. That are thing you can do to tell him you do not miss him.

However in looking at some of the ways to get back at your ex, I want to reiterate that the ultimate aim should not be to punish or retaliate, rather to get back together after the separation.

Let us examine some of the ways we can get back at our Ex lover.

We would look at six tips we can employ to maximum use. Like I said the aim is not just to get back at him, but eventually to make him realize what he is missing and stage a come back to us.

1) Move on. Yes instead of thinking and crying over spoilt milk, why not move on literarily speaking. Move on, continue with your life, and do not broad over what happened. Pretend as if nothing happened. Learn that new skill, for example, you can learn how to drive a car or swim. Take that voice lesson that you have always wanted. Whatever you do, please move on. Do not let him or anyone catch you crying. Show him he does not worth it!

2) Be Strong. Do not cry or be desperate to get him back. Do not act desperate for anything in this life. Nothing but life is indispensable. You are who you are period. There are no two of you. You are unique. No one needs anyone who appears desperate. It is just natural. Be strong and let live go on.

3) Cut out communication. If possible delete his phone numbers from your phone book. Do not call him for anything, no matter the urge to do so. Do not leave any text message or send any email to your ex. You may think will this not be counter productive especially if you are still thinking of getting back together. I say no. In fact this is even one of the most effective way to get your ex running back to you. He would be curious and want to know what is happening to you.

4) Do not be resentful. Act normal. For example if your ex still has his or her things in your place, do not go throwing them out or giving an ultimatum. Just let them be. Ask him when he may be moving them out and please do not act resentfully to them. If you have a new date or lover, move ahead with that person and let hurt disappear. If you are acting this way and there is no new person, your ex will be surprised and this may even inspire them to stage a come back.

5). Go out and enjoy. Hey this is no time to start crying or brooding over spoilt milk. Go out with your friends. Go to night clubs or other social gathering together. You can go to the beaches and just relax in the hot sun on a nice weekend. Develop a social network. Join a club of singles if you like. Get to meet new persons.

6) Try to be who you are. Just go ahead and continue to be yourself. Be who you are – that loveable easy going personality that got your ex heads over in love. The person you are is the reason your ex was with you. Continue being that; do not try to change because you can only be you. Simply being yourself can easily rub off on people including your ex who may find he is missing your personality.

The above are some of the ways you can get back at your ex. If any of these makes him to beat recourse to you, fine. That is if you are still interested. If not just move on sweet heart.

====== Okereke U is s a relationship expert who like to write on the affairs of the heart. He has written a lot of useful articles on the magic of making up. He writes on how to rebuild that bridge and keep the relationship strong. If you like his article “How to get an Ex back” then click below and visit his Blog for more: http://themakingupmagic.blogspot.com =====

Enjoying a Beautiful Wedding With Silk Wedding Flowers

April 30, 2009

For as long as anyone can remember flowers have been a timeless tradition at wedding ceremonies across the world. Perhaps more than at any other time in one’s life, do the love and friendship the flower symbolizes seem more relevant. Their soft petals and beautiful colors add beauty and elegance to an already perfect day.

That is…unless your chosen style or color isn’t in season. Or they may just not be in stock. You may also have to add in the extra cost of shipping the flowers you want, having your florist working over time to get all one zillion of your arrangements done within two days of the ceremony to be sure the flowers don’t fall apart of wilt or both before your big day. If it sounds like a hassle, that’s because it’s a hassle. Fresh flowers aren’t cheap, portable, or made to last.

Luckily, artificial flowers are now more beautiful and natural looking than ever. They are becoming widely used in wedding ceremonies for a variety of reasons:

• No sacrifices need to be made. Silk bridal flowers are now equally as lovely as real ones, but without the headache.

• New trends in wedding planning, like getting married in the winter with a tropical theme, have led to many couples opting for silk flowers. They are always in season.

• You can choose any flower you desire to fit your own special purpose. Each flower has a meaning and you won’t be limited by season or area of the country you live in. Mix and matching flowers to create a more personalized sentiment also becomes possible. Each flower has a meaning, and you can combine flowers to say just what you feel.

• Florists have more control over the flowers when using silk, so fewer flowers are needed. If an arrangement required three dozen real flowers, for example, only two dozen silk flowers would be needed.

• Arrangements can be created weeks in advance, giving the couple a chance to view everything and be sure it is to their liking.

• Artificial wedding flowers can be saved forever. Your wedding party can have souvenirs and they’ll stay beautiful. In fact, many florists will use your wedding flowers and create new arrangements for everyday use.

When using silk flowers for you ceremony keep a few things in mind before you make your selection. With all the options in flower combinations you’ll want to be sure of each one’s meaning in combination with the others. Your florist may be able to help you, or you can check out a book on the topic. When shopping, you may also want to bring along a real flower to hold up to the one you are considering to be sure that it looks authentic.

You truly can get all the beauty of fresh flowers at your wedding without the trouble or expense. Quality silk wedding flower arrangements will perfectly compliment your special day, and many days to come.

Lura Mcdanell is using silk wedding flowers and silk roses extensively in her floral design studio.

Demystifing the Perfect Wedding Favor

April 30, 2009

Many brides envision what their weddings are going to look like when they are young. They may know what their dress is going to look like, the color scheme and decorations, but when it is comes down to the real planning of their dream wedding, most brides quickly begin to realize that there is much more planning to a dream wedding. There are lots of small details that need to be ironed out by the special couple. After all, this is their special day and it can’t be less than “more than perfect”.

One of the most difficult challenges for a wedding is picking a wedding favor that the couple can afford as well as suit everyone’s taste. Since the wedding favor is a gift the guests will be able to take home with them, choosing an appropriate memento is an important block when building your wedding.

The Internet is both a blessing and a curse for a bride and groom planning their ultimate wedding. There is a wealth of information and ideas to be found, all accessible at the click of a mouse. You’ll be able to perform price comparisons between different products and read reviews from previous customers, all from the comforts of home. The catch? There is a lot of information. You’re overwhelmed as it is, so you don’t want to go over the edge sorting through an endless amount of websites. The trick is to use the Internet to your advantage. You’ll need to do this by focusing on what is right for your wedding and not idling around picking out things you think are “just nice”.

First, brainstorm together as a couple to think of ideas. Take into consideration the ambiance of your wedding. Is it a more traditional wedding or more off the beaten path? Are you having a destination wedding? Do you have a specific theme? Envision the whole feel of your wedding so that you can use your wedding favors to help continue the flow. If you’re having trouble envisioning your wedding’s look and feel, take photos of some of your key d?cor pieces and make a rough layout of your wedding. It doesn’t have to be exactly how your wedding is going to be laid out, but it should give you a rough feel as well as help envisioning what your color scheme is going to be. If it’s still difficult to envision, take a break and come back to your layout with a fresh pair of eyes.

Here is where the Internet comes to play. Now that you have a more focused idea of what you would like, its time to use the Internet gather some ideas. Try very focused searches as opposed to searching using general keywords. You’ll get fewer results that are hopefully more focused to what you are looking for. This way, you won’t be sorting through random websites that don’t really pertain to you or are simply distracters from what you originally envisioned. As they say, your first choice is usually the right choice.

Now you have an idea of what you want, so it’s time to search for some sources of the wedding favors you had in mind. Take a little time each day to do some price and quality comparisons between each wedding favor company. Some have more options than others, like if you want to personalize your wedding favor. This may be important if you want to stay within the color scheme of your wedding. Make sure you fully understand how long it takes to process your order and how your order will arrive. If possible, give yourself enough time just in case something happens to your order or if assembly is required before the wedding date. If you ever feel unsure about something, don’t hesitate to contact the wedding favor company and use their expertise. Hopefully they can eliminate any questions or concerns you may have.

Choosing the right wedding favors may take a bit of time, but many aspects of building your wedding will. Some parts of your wedding may mold faster than others, but it will be well worth the effort to plan the day you will remember for the rest of your life. Just remember to keep focus on what you want as a couple, because it’s nobody else’s special day but yours!

etched wine

Are All Online Dating Profiles Faked? Get the Facts

April 30, 2009

Online dating… the whole concept sounds very exciting yet mysterious.

There are people around the world who have done the online dating thing, many of which were able to find their soulmates.

Most of us have dated at least offline, and some of us have dated online. Either way, online dating can be a good experience for each one of us - if we don’t let the bad outshine the good.

It has been said that risk is required to attain great reward. And after having heard some of the stories about the online dating experience, you just about have to concede that sometimes online dating brings with it great risk. Well, everything in this world involves some drawbacks and dangers with it and so does online dating.

Where there are good people, there may also be bad people. It is a risk we all take when we choose to socialize with others.

The greatest risk of online dating is that the person with whom you are speaking is not who he or she says that they are. Of course, that could happen in the real world of dating, but it is not as prevelent as it is online.

The people who are faking their online identity fall into one of three groups: lonely people, married people (sometimes also lonely married people), and the criminal element.

Ladies, don’t think that a reference to the criminal element only includes men who seek to harm women. More so, most of the criminal element in the online dating world are those who are looking for a mark for an identity fraud or money scam. Whether you are a man or woman, you should be forewarned that if someone starts asking for money to pay for some emergency expense, then you are probably talking to a criminal involved in some sort of money scam. You know, it might be different if you have met this individual in person, but if you have never met them and they are asking for money… BEWARE!

Faking an online identity on a dating website is not always indicative of a fraudulent mind. When lonely, some people simply create an online identity that might be more exciting and more attractive to others. This kind of fake may not hurt you physically or financially, but it may very well put a long-term relationship on the rocks as the deceptions are discovered.

By far, the most common reason for faking an online dating website identity is the ignorant spouse at home. He or she might be a wretch, but being a wretch does not make them dangerous.

The online dating websites have gotten pretty good over the years at setting up systems to identify and target the criminal elements within the dating site. Typically, the male or female criminal scammer will be identified and deleted from the dating websites’ database within 24-48 hours. So, if you find yourself talking to someone and their profile is shown to be deleted in mid-sentence, you can usually rest assured that the online dating site just saved you a world of headache and heartache.

While the dating websites are good at detecting and deleting the criminal scammers from the dating community, the dating websites are less inclined to eliminate the married members from their database. However, some of the bigger dating websites have provided mechanisms for members to prove that they are who they say they are, for the purpose of giving the website a method to tell its other members whether the individual has submitted proof of identity to them or not. The married guys and gals usually won’t go through the proof of identity process, for fear that his or her significant other will find out about the attempt to cheat.

But before you go jumping to any conclusions about an individual on an online dating website, keep in mind that many people simply will not go through the identity verification process, for a number of reasons:

1. Too much hassle;

2. It sometimes costs money; and

3. Some people are afraid to give private data to some unknown third-party that might be operating the website.

The truth is that the online dating community should be treated as a buyer-beware process. While most people who frequent the online dating websites are honest, single and looking for love, there are a few out there who are not.

If you gather a group of people in any single setting, whether it is an online dating website, a church, or a grocery store, most of the people you will find at that setting are good, honest, hard-working people. So, when you are online, you should look at the online dating experience as one where most people will be above-board, honest, and sincere. But you should also keep in the back of your mind that you do not know for sure what you are getting until which time you are able to prove to yourself that the person at the other end of the conversation is exactly who you believe that they are.

When searching for that proof of sincerity, keep in mind that lesson from our youth… Liars will never be able to keep their lies straight, and they will always begin to make mistakes and let the truth slip out.

At the end of the day, the online dating community is just one more way for people to meet a potential love interest. It is a way where you can meet people that you would not have been able to meet otherwise, and who knows, it might work out to be the best love connection you will ever make.

Lance Metzger writes about relationships, offline and online dating. In our minds, “No Strings Attached” simply means, “Let’s get to know one another before we start making any commitments to one another.” To explore No Strings Dating, please visit the NSA Dating Site at: http://www.nsadatingsite.com/

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