By Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway

These are challenging times, yet we still have much to be thankful for. We at Wedlok.com hope your day is beautiful and blessed.

There are many people around the world who struggle today because they do not have enough to eat, or they do not have warmth and shelter, or the love of family and friends around them. Let us send them blessings.

We cannot forget the women and men who serve our country. Our peaceful mealtime is ensured by their sacrifice and service to our nation. Wherever they are around the world, let us send them blessings.

If you are mad at your family, get over it today. Let us send blessings to all the families in the world, that they be strong and have fortitude to face these changing times.

Be grateful for what you have, those you love and the choices you can make in this life.

Even if your family has never said a dinner prayer in their lives, you may want to suggest one this year; or add this prayer to the customary grace that is said at dinner. You can adapt this prayer to your families' religious and spiritual beliefs:

Divine Spirit of all there is, we thank you for this opportunity to gather together in one another's company. We thank you for the light you bring to this family gathering.

We thank the Divine for this delicious dinner, prepared with love. May all consumed here tonight fill us with health and well-being. Amen. Dig in!

(A Thanksgiving Blessing for Family Grace and Peace, by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway, copyright 2007, all rights reserved).

Continue reading "Thanksgiving Blessing for Family Grace and Peace" »

Posted November 22, 2007 5:42 AM by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Since Valentine’s week is fading from view I thought I’d share one parting thought. Here are the lyrics to a great song by an equally great friend of mine.

In honor of my wife, Vickey…

For the love of a woman
A man unlocks his heart
And reveals all the secrets it holds
And the love of a woman
Will find his better part
When he gives her the key to his soul

He will listen to her dreams
He will ask her what she needs
He will help her build the life she wants to live
He will hold her when she cries
With a love that never dies
All these things he will give
For the love of a woman

For the love of a woman
A man will sacrifice
While he waits for a moment of praise
With the love of a woman
A man will pay the price
For the truths that he sees in her face

He will open any door
Leave the life he knew before
To convince her that he’s all she’ll ever need
And when he’s afraid to start
He will step into the dark
‘Cause he knows she’ll give his eye the power to see
With the love of a woman

And he promises to help her dreams true
No there’s nothing in this world that he won’t do
Though he’s not a work of art
He will try with all his heart
To become the man she knows that he can be
With the love of a woman

The love of a woman
He will give his life
For the love of a woman

Lyrics by Tyler Castleton

Recorded by Martina McBride and Jericho Road

Posted February 16, 2007 10:40 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Wedding Goddess Wisdom

Hoping that the odds are in your favor for a long lasting marriage? Why not have “The Art of Marriage” read at your ceremony?

Las Vegas lore has it that the first four lines of this classic wedding reading by Wilfred Arlan Peterson were included as part of the Las Vegas ceremony of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. They were married January 29, 1958 in Las Vegas and with 48 years together they remain one of the longest Hollywood marriages on record.

“The Art of Marriage” worked for them!

It is important for all of us to remember that a good marriage must be created, nurtured, built over time. Marriage is an art unto itself. And …

Continue reading "The Art of Marriage – It Worked for Paul and Joanne" »

Posted July 12, 2006 1:00 PM by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Wedding Goddess Wisdom

Spring is here and love is in the air. Around the country we are spotting more and more beautiful women in white and handsome men in tuxes. Wedding season is upon us!

One of the reasons people love Las Vegas is because is because wedding season is always upon us here! Any day, you can tap into that exciting, tingly let’s-get-hitched urge to merge.

Wedding chapels beckon, and we want to walk in and “just do it.” When in Vegas, so many people in love, (or perhaps who temporarily think they are in love), become inspired to stroll down the aisle and up to a wedding altar to utter the classic affirmation, "I Do."

Las Vegas weddings give us hope. Like all weddings, they bring with them the freshness of Spring’s new beginnings – flowers, colors, new clothes, new excitement and a new sense of opportunity.

Weddings have a way of opening our hearts and uplifting our spirits. There is nothing that has the same place in our hearts as a wedding.

Weddings restore our hope and our belief in Love.

Continue reading "Wedding Chapels Beckon: It's Always Wedding Season in Las Vegas" »

Posted May 8, 2006 4:29 PM by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

So you came to Las Vegas to get married like so many of the rich and famous have done before you. Now it is time to experience this fabulous city.

When making your plans for the ceremony, you found out that there are more chapels and churches to have a ceremony than anywhere in the world. For natural settings, you could have chosen mountains to lakes, forests to deserts. You made your choice, the deed is done, and now it is time to leave the honeymoon suite.

But did you know...

The term honeymoon relates to ancient times when a groom "kidnapped" his bride. The couple would leave and go into hiding. By the time the bride's family tracked them down, the bride would probably already be pregnant. A "bride price" would then be negotiated.

So now for the Vegas information you always wanted to know.

The Mandalay Bay Shark Reef holds approximately 1.3 million gallons of water. (No, your new in-laws may not swim with the sharks.)

Sharks at the Reef can go thru thousands of teeth in their lifetime. Some sharks have over 3,000 teeth in their mouths and may lose over 50,000 teeth during their lifetime.

A lion at the MGM Grand Lion Habitat sleeps 20 hours a day. (That reminds me of my ex-husband.)

The two largest animals in the Reef are the female sand tiger shark and the male nurse shark.

Continue reading "Taking in the sites after the wedding? Know the facts." »

Posted April 19, 2006 12:10 PM by | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Did you know...

On your wedding day it is BAD LUCK to see an open grave, pig, or lizard on the way to the ceremony, or hearing a crow after dawn on the morning of the wedding. Catching a glimpse of a monk or a nun is also thought to be an omen of misfortune because of their relationship to poverty and chastity.

For your Vegas wedding, it is unlikely that you will have a problem with all of the above situations, except possibly the lizard. There are a number of gamblers who might also have a relationship to poverty, but they are not listed as bad omens by the National Association of Ministers. I could say something about pigs, but we will assume the list refers to farm animals.

The bridesmaids' dresses being the same dates back to ancient times when it was believed that evil spirits have a more difficult time distinguishing which one is the bride and putting a hex on her.

Continue reading "Wedding trivia and other facts for fun" »

Posted April 12, 2006 2:13 PM by | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email This

Planning to get married? According to “Brides” magazine, there is much to do over the next year. However, you could fly to Las Vegas and get married today and avoid the stress and hassle of a year of planning. Start the party now. Hotels and chapels in town can handle it all for you.

The Vegas Plan

Just take a limo ride from the airport, then visit any number of chapels, and finally celebrate with a wedding reception at a fabulous hotel; it can be your wedding with one phone call.

You can just sit back and ride the gondola at the Venetian Hotel or sip Champaign at the Eiffel Tower at Paris Hotel or take a spa at any of the other world class resorts on the strip; it can be the answer to all your problems, NOW!

Or plan for a year or more ...

Continue reading "Avoid the stress of a year’s planning: Get married in Las Vegas" »

Posted March 13, 2006 7:03 PM by | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

According to an old legend, the month in which you marry may have some bearing on the fate of the marriage:

“Married when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true;
When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate;
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know;
Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man;
Marry in the month of May, and you’ll surely rue the day;
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you will go;

Continue reading "What month to marry?" »

Posted February 23, 2006 6:37 PM by | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This