Happy Valley Baptist Church

Bridal beauty is a must when it comes to the planning of your wedding day. Having the perfect set of nails will make a huge difference. You are the limelight at your wedding, so you want to look amazing and groomed perfectly. Your hands and feet will be showing, so it is essential to have both fingernails and toenails groomed and painted for your big day. Once you have sorted your wedding dress, your venue, and chosen your cake, it is time to get yourself beautified. You’ve found the most stunning ring so now it is essential your nails look just as beautiful as your ring. Here is our guide on how to get your nails looking amazing for your wedding ceremony.

Preparing your nails at home

Having the perfect nails takes months of routine and care. Here are some at-home tips to take care of your nails:

• • Your nails should be trimmed on a regular basis this will allow them to grow stronger and faster
  • Your nail file should be kept in your handbag, never attempt to tear a nail off that you may have broken
  • Your nails should always be filed down in the same direction only
  • Buff your nails to keep them smooth. If you have weak and thin nails only buff them every 2 weeks otherwise, they will become to worn down.
  • Moisturize your hands and nails, to keep your skin and cuticles soft. Moisturizing your cuticles will improve the growth of your nails. Sweet almond oil is good for your cuticles. Coconut oil also works great for your cuticles rub into cuticles and fingernails every evening.
  • Pushing your cuticles back will give the appearance of longer nails.

Your perfect nail length 

Every bride wants to feel comfortable with her nail length on her wedding day. Aim for medium length almond-shaped nails that look elongate and elegant on the fingers. In general, short nail beds look better with short, and less rounded and squarer tipped. If you have long nail beds these would be more suited to an oval or rounded tip.

Choosing your nail colour and the latest trends 

Choose a nail colour that will complement your overall look. Nude, blush, or neutral will always look elegant and clean on any bride. Always look at your skin complexion. Some colours may brighten your skin tone and others may make your skin look washed out. It is important not to distract from your ring, your dress, or even your flower bouquet. If your skin is typically fair and is a cool skin tone generally nude or pink shades would suit you best. People with warmer skin tones would often be best suited to golden, peach, or yellow neutral colours. Whether you choose a simple and plain colour, or detailed and embellished nail art, you have endless choices to choose from for your wedding manicure. Here are some of the most exciting wedding gel nails trends and styles.

• • White nails 

Many brides choose white as their nail colour to complement their dress wedding. Both gloss or matte finish is ideal, rhinestones or glitter detail is also a good base.

• • Blue nails 

Blue nail varnish is ideal if you are still looking for something blue. A pale shade like sky blue or duck egg blue will complement your look without making a too much of statement, you don’t want to upstage your dress on your special day.

• • Nude nails 

Nude nail colours are super classy, elegant, and simple. It looks great with embellished details like floral or lace overlays design. Your jewellery accessories or shoes could be matched to your nail colouring also.

• • A French Manicure 

A French manicure is very popular with a lot of brides. Why not choose a different colour or shape to make it a bit different?

• • Glitter nails 

Add some sparkly glitter to any manicure to make them glamourous and unique. This can be in the form of an accent or overcoat nail. You could also try a glittered French manicure.

• • Pink nails 

All shades of pink are very popular with most brides. Why not show your love with some small love hearts place them onto your nails and paint over them.

• • Chrome nails 

Why not choose a shiny chrome nail polish to add some shine to your nails and look. A silver or a pale pink will give off a pearly glam shine.

• • Nail art for your wedding nails 

Why not go for something different and break the traditional manicure nails for your wedding. Nail art will make your nails look more unique and creative. Opt for intricate designs, geometric lines, or a splash of glitter and sparkle. Your beauty salon will have plenty to offer you for your wedding nails.

When you hear the first few notes of a song, it can take you back to a place or a tine and make you feel an array of emotions. You may feel elated and happy, or you can become teary-eyed depending on the song you are listening to. With that said, it is important that you take the time to make the right musical choices for your church wedding.

Your wedding ceremony will be filled to the top with many unforgettable precious moments and the soundtrack to those moments will linger with both you, your wedding party and your guests long after the rice and confetti have been tossed on the two of you.

Whilst you nervously make your big entrance, when you are lighting the unity candle, during the signing at the register and even walking out of the church with your spouse as a newly married couple are just some of the special moments that will last a lifetime. The one way you can make these moments even more special is your music choice.

If you are currently in the middle of planning your wedding ceremony and you have arrived at the point where you need to select the music for your church wedding, it can be difficult to narrow down the choices especially when you have so many other things to do. It may be best to hire a church wedding band.

The following brief guide will show you the different points within your church wedding ceremony where you will need to have some music playing, and a list of song choices you can consider.

This wealth of song options are suitable for a church wedding, and some can even be played at humanist and civil ceremonies. However, if you are having a wedding in a church, you will need to speak with the parish/priest before you make your final song choices because there may be some restrictions on the songs you want to play.

Song Selections During A Church Wedding 

During the processional, the music will begin to play as soon as the first one in the bridal party enters into the sanctuary. This music will be played until the priest/pastor greets the couple and the couple, the couple is sitting in their seats and mass is about to begin.

These are some song choices: 

• •  You Raise Me Up
  •  To Make You Feel My Love
  •  In A Country Church Yard
  •  Marry Me by Train
  •  Warm by the Coronas
  •  God’s Plan by Derek Ryan
  •  Nella Fantasia
  •  Air on G String – an instrumental

The Lighting Of The Solo Candles 

During this part of the wedding ceremony, the bride and the groom both light a candle that represents themselves. This usually does not take any longer than 30 seconds, but music can be played during this time. An instrumental piece would be ideal.

Some choices are: 

• •  Wedding March by Mendelssohn (an instrumental)
  •  Gabriel’s Oboe (an instrumental)
  •  Air on the G String (an instrumental)
  •  Bridal Chorus by Wagner (an instrumental)

For The Responsorial Psalm 

• •  Only in God
  •  Eagles Wings
  •  The Lord is My Shepherd
  •  Mo Grathu

For The Gospel Acclamation 

• •  Alleluia

Marriage Candle Lighting 

At this point in the wedding ceremony, the couple will light another candle at the same time. This candle is a symbol of the two individuals coming together as one.

Again, an instrumental song can be played during this 20 to 30 seconds that it takes for the candle to be lit. The music that was played during the individual candle lighting can also be used during this time.

During Offertory 

• •  Amazing Grace
  •  Take Our Bread
  •  In Bread We Bring You Lord

Holy Holy And Mystery Of Faith 

These songs can be sung or they can be spoken. For Mystery of Faith, you can select ‘He is Lord’.

During Sign Of Peace 

• •  Shalom, My Friend
  •  I Wish You Peace
  •  Peace Perfect Peace
  •  Instrumentals previously mentioned

During Communion 

Typically, during communion, it is best to use liturgical music for your church wedding. Choose at least one hymn that could be played during communion, but depending on how many guests are in attendance, two songs may need to be played.

• •  One Bread, One Cup
  •  Amazing Grace
  •  The Prayer
  •  Make Me a Channel Of Your Peace
  •  Be Thou My Vision
  •  I Watch The Sunrise
  •  Fields of Gold
  •  Cloud’s Veil
  •  As I Kneel Before You

Keep in mind that all of the songs that are listed are merely examples. You are free to choose any type of liturgical song you like.

The Signing Of The Civil Register 

This is part of the wedding ceremony where mass has ended and the couple signs all legal documents. During this part of the wedding ceremony, you will likely have more flexibility when it comes to your choice of songs.

Usually, during the signing of the civil register, you can choose to have wide range of songs played as long as they are within reason. At this point, you may need to choose up to three songs. The final number of songs you will need will depend on the number of pictures that the photographer decides to take whilst inside the church.

• •  I’ll Always Love
  •  Footprints in the Sand by Leona Lewis
  •  All I Want Is You by U2
  •  Chasing Cars
  •  When You Say Nothing at All
  •  Isn’t She Lovely
  •  Endless Love

Recessional 

This is it! You are officially married and many couples choose songs that are upbeat such as:

• •  My Girl
  •  Higher and Higher
  •  Shine Silently
  •  Perfect Day
  •  Walking on Sunshine

Even with all of these songs listed, they represent a small sampling of some of the best music for your church wedding. If you are planning to get married during the holidays, you can choose themed hymns and songs to keep your wedding ceremony festive.

In the world today, couples are marrying in different ways than in the past. They are having spiritual weddings which are not religious because the couple does not share a faith or want to use one for their nuptials. Instead, they have the creative control over their ceremony that they want and in many cases, they use a government official to administer the nuptials for their marriage. This is becoming a popular way for couples to join together for a commitment that they make to each other for the rest of their lives.

Spiritual Weddings Do Not Follow The Normal Traditions 

Since they are free to develop their own plan of action when they marry in a spiritual wedding ceremony, the couple is not bound by the normal traditions that people usually see in religious and civil marriages. For this reason, the bride and the groom are excited to form their own type of wedding that is legally binding. With the government official taking part in only the nuptials, they are able to create their own type of ceremony specific to their likes and dislikes making it unusual and spectacular.

The Popularity Of Spiritual Weddings 

According to Wedding Wire, there are only 25% of marriages occurring in traditional religious ceremonies in the year 2019. People come up with all types of unique ways to start the beginnings of their lives together. There are no rules or traditions that they have to follow so they can get really imaginative and have a lot of fun when they are planning their ceremony. In order to make the marriage binding, they still need to have the official join them legally in a marriage bond. Here are some common ways to celebrate a spiritual wedding:

1. Special Vows – Many couples love to write their own special vows. This is commonplace in the wedding world today and a couple can make them as specific as they want to. Since they may also pick a special place for the ceremony that they both agree upon, the vows become even more personal and important. The special vows can be read allowed during the ceremony or just spoken to each other, it is all up to the bride and groom. Since the vows are personal and detailed, it gives a story of their meeting, their union, and their bond that they are creating.

2. Sand Ceremony – There are many couples that love the idea of a sand ceremony. They use two glasses filled with different colored sand. They continue to pour a little from both into a third glass that symbolizes their coming together and creating a common bond. It emphasizes that sand is strong and can withstand all types of weather and temperatures just like their marriage can.

3. A Wedding Tree – Planting a wedding tree is another fantastic way that couples are starting off their lives in a positive way. The tree symbolizes their union and they can watch it grow over the years. Picking a certain tree may have some personal feelings attached to it so the bride and groom will want to look into the different meanings that are associated with the different types of trees. They can also have a small wishing tree on their table and allow their guests to fill out forms that suggest different wishes for them.

4. Handfasting – This is what couples do with tying the knot by using a ribbon to bond the bride and the groom’s hands together to symbolize their wedding bond to each other. Couples can get really creative when choosing the style, size, and color of the ribbon and it makes for an excellent way to celebrate each year of their wedded bliss on their anniversaries where they can practice this again. There are couples that have used a rope from their sailboat as the ribbon, braids of ribbons tied together, and other types of ingenious ways to show their bond of love and commitment for each other.

5. Food And Drink – When couples decide to use food and drink in their spiritual wedding ceremony, they can use foods that represent a way to feed and nurture each other all the way through their united lives. The official can make an announcement of the food and drinks that they decide to share. It can be as simple as hamburgers and beer to extravagant meals and specialty drinks to celebrate each of their cultures. A seafood feast with cocktails or a taco dinner with Tequila were been used in spiritual ceremonies before. The food can be catered or homemade, simple or extravagant, and inexpensive or costly. The most important factor is the ability to agree on what they will be serving at their ceremony. Since guests will love whatever the couple wishes to share, they can get imaginative with what they offer.

Spiritual Wedding Ceremonies Allow For Individuality 

With the spiritual wedding ceremonies, there is an emphasis on individuality that joins together the couple in an intricate marriage bond. Since they come together as a whole, the official and their guests are able to witness their love and commitment for one another as they make their vows are known and their marriage bond official. By having special intimate touches that add a luster to their wedding ceremony, couples are extremely pleased with the options that they have available.

The common use of spiritual weddings is growing in popularity. Couples love that they have many choices for how their ceremony will occur. Since this offers them an even more personal touch to add to their union, they find that it is both creative and economical to proceed with along the spiritual wedding ceremony avenue. Having full control over what happens in their nuptials, allows them to be as creative as they would like with a lot of personal touches that mean so much to the couple. Their weddings are legally binding and recognized but they are not religious or based on faith for their vows and traditions.

Yes, The Bible is the guidebook by which we shape our lives, conduct our actions and relate to one another, ourselves, and – of course – the Lord Himself. This cannot be done solely through teaching the contents of our scripture. The Lord’s word is most powerfully delivered from the head of a congregation that enlightens the flock to the works of God that were achieved through Christ.

To understand why gospel is so important, it is vital that you first understand what the purpose of preaching is. To preach is the most serving of our Lord when done with the intention to transform lives. So, it is simply not enough to educate others on the contents of The Bible and its story. It is not solely about persuasion, either. Without transformation as its purpose, preaching is made less effective within the context of the Lord’s intentions.

What About Bible-Centered Preaching?

Of course, The Bible is what compels us to Christ and to work in the glory of Him. It is the essential narrative that guides our lives, so it’s word should be at the center of our every sermon. But the teaching of The Bible is only a part of delivering the message to one’s listeners as a preacher. The Gospel is what compels belief and confidence in those very words.

So yes, do deliver the words of The Bible. But do it in a way that is centered around the Gospel.

How to Center Your Sermon Around the Gospel

Are you not sure how you can achieve a more powerful sermon and become a more effective preacher through a gospel-centered approach to the Word? Here are some tips that you can put to your and your congregation’s benefit when preaching the word of the Bible and – most importantly – the Gospel.

• Your sermon should address the innate broken nature of humankind. How does the chosen passage speak to the sinfulness that we all live with before God? How can we work to become whole through Christ despite this nature? Your sermon should answer these questions.
• Understand the purpose of the passage within The Bible’s narrative. The Gospel is a story, and each passage fits within a greater context. Go “big picture” with your approach to retelling a portion of this story. Have a solid understanding of the events that happen before and after your chosen passage.
• Your congregation should understand where they fit into God’s story. How the events speak to modern living and what it means to serve the Lord in this day and age. When listeners understand these things, they will feel more confidence of their importance in God’s eyes as believers in Him.

No two sermons are the same, not in their content and certainly not in their delivery. When the time comes each week to deliver a sermon to your congregation, you want to effectively and powerfully get the subject matter into their hearts. To do this, you should know that there are “dos” and “don’ts” of preaching. In this article, we’ll discuss what you should be doing as you address the individuals who want to hear your message.

Below are 3 qualities that you should strive to use in any sermon.

You’re Speaking from the Bible

Other resources can be used as illustration or to evoke thought, but The Bible and its scriptures should be your primary source for every single sermon’s material. This is the word that our lives are shaped around and serves as our guide for day-to-day living.

More than being Bible based, gospel needs to have a role to play in a sermon. One’s message is most powerfully delivered when you can point to the ways that God achieved through Christ in our world. A sermon should serve as a serious reminder of the good that comes from placing one’s faith in Him.

You’re Telling a Story

After all, that’s what The Gospel is – a story to be told. This is the very story that has shaped who we are and will continue to shape not only who we become, but what the world becomes as we grow through Christ in it. Speak from The Bible and its narrative to truly connect with the hearts of your congregation. This is the story that Christ wants told, and it is our honor to share the narrative.

You’re Speaking with the Listeners in Mind

A passionate sermon can easily go from uplifting to challenging to follow when the deliverer isn’t coherent and concise in speaking to the congregation. Make your sermon direct and to-the-point, without a lot of different angles thrown in the middle. The message of Christ shouldn’t be difficult to understand. When it is, that is when followers become disengaged and even confused.

Delivering a sermon is an important responsibility, so it should be taken as such. No matter your personal approach to delivering the gospel to others, you need to do so in a way that is engaging and centered on the story told within the pages of The Bible.