Missy Dress – Romantic, Elegant and Feminine Bridal Fashion 2018

Good afternoon lovelies and what a gorgeous day it is – I had the most magical drive through my favourite country lane this morning and was treated to some real magic which you can see on my personal Instagram feed and Instagram stories. I hope that today is being kind to you too. Have you had a chance to enjoy this morning's super cute and cool wedding yet? We'll be popping another wedding onto our beloved wedding blog shortly.

Now if you're unfamiliar with the Missy Dress brand – the most important thing you need to know is that they create the most delightfully feminine, playful, chic and glamorous bridal gowns – four of which are modelled in these images, along with a collection of shoes and accessories from high street-fave, Dune. They also have the most fun and gorgeous Instagram feed MissyDress, and a brand new Instagram feed now established purely to share images of their beautiful wedding dresses.

A lot of our brides are picking a shoe that they can wear again after their wedding day – these heels by Dune have a bridal feel without looking too traditional. Perfect for brides to be who want something a bit different. To illustrate this, we donned our blogger hats and styled four different looks to offer some wedding day inspiration, especially for those having a city wedding, and who might be looking for something a little bit pared back, simple and elegant.

The first two looks feature our Missy Dress, both make in 100% pure silk satin and ooze elegance. We added a bohemian touch with floral crowns of baby's breath to keep colours tonal and showcase the beautiful unrivalled drape of the silk satin and the subtle peachy tones of the accessories.

Secondly we styled one of or best selling dresses The Petal Dress and two pieces from our separates collection, our Flossie Top and Petal Skirt (see top image above), for minimal yet sassy wedding day outfits for brides to be who are looking for a fitted silhouette with a modern feel. Both looks are made from 100% silk and lovingly handmade in our London workshops especially for each and every bride.

Love story: Charlie and Mary Routh are Mr. and Mrs. Fix-It

The couple that volunteers together stays together. That is one secret of Charlie and Mary Routh's long lasting marriage. They celebrated their 70th anniversary in June with the theme "still having a hoot after 70 years." And, they are — the spark that started between them in 1945 is alive and well.

Charlie and Mary met in 1945 at a dinner arranged by friends from church. Mary, one of triplets, was home from Woman's College (now UNCG). The meeting was a success by all accounts and led to Mary and Charlie's marriage in 1947. "Mary's been feeding me ever since," Charlie, 90, said with a laugh. Mary's sister Marian married the pastor who attended the dinner.

Mary, 93, has the same feisty spirit she had as a young newlywed who insisted that Charlie get a college degree (he graduated from NC State with a bachelor's and master's degree in engineering). She was from a long line of educated women including her mother. Mary worked at the North Carolina Extension Service after their marriage while Charlie commuted between home and Maryland on weekends during his stint in the Army.

Time has curtailed some activities for the two nonagenarians but not as much as one might think. Charlie — known widely as "Mr. Fix-it" for his propensity to repair almost anything from clocks, televisions, radios, you-name-it — keeps busy fixing things, volunteering (145 trips with disaster-relief organizations) and golfing. Volunteer awards fill a wall in their Friends Homes at Guilford apartment including one from then Gov. Bev Perdue. "I like to be part of the solution and to be positive, not part of the problem," Charlie said.

Charlie and Mary have done so much volunteer work over the years at Friends Homes, including building an outdoor boardwalk and re-building a deck, that the on-site dining room is named in their honor. Charlie even has a repair shop on the premises. Mary also has a long history of volunteering and spent 20 years with Meals on Wheels and serving on various committees at Friends Homes. Her love for helping others led the couple to donate 45 acres of her family's land in Pleasant Garden to the town, now home to the community's town hall.

Mary credits their marriage success to a simple fact. "I go with Charlie when he volunteers; I don't stay behind" she said, smiling. "I have been asked if I was the cook on past projects. I always say no." She wields a mean hammer and has crawled underneath many buildings while helping Charlie install wiring.

Each has marriage advice to impart. "She lets me have the last word," Charlie said. "And, I always say yes ma'am." The couple also enjoys their longtime ritual of Mary greeting Charlie at the door each day. "At the end of the day, I sit on Charlie's lap and he tells me what he did all day," Mary quipped.

If the weather is nice, they head outside to eat and enjoy the scenery. You know the two are home when you see their matching his-and-her silver Lincolns parked side-by-side.

Lucy Hale Talks About Her Favorite Date, Love Life

Lucy Hale might be super busy between her career moves, hair changes, and everything in between, but that doesn't mean she isn't making time to keep dating on her radar. Newsflash: You can be committed to your career, and your love life too!

In a recent interview with Remix, Lucy Hale talked about what she looks for in a partner, and what her ideal date would be. "I think I'm at that point in my life that I only want to be around people that make me feel good. There's so much negativity in the world and you really have to make a call on how you view things and how you see the world," she said. "I always gravitate to people who have a positive outlook on life. People that are not judgmental, who have an open mind, people who have a strong opinion, but are still willing to hear other people out. I think you sort of attract what you are, and I feel like I'm at a pretty good place in my life right now."

A good place, indeed. And speaking more literally, she also shared her favorite date spot, which is unsurprisingly, Central Park, New York. "A great date was recently in New York when someone asked me to walk around Central Park with them one morning. I thought that was the sweetest thing because it was purely from them wanting to get to know me and for no other motive at all," she said.

But not every date she's gone on has been as dreamy as that one, which is totally normal to experience. "I've definitely hung out with people where I've been in a social setting and they were rude to the waiter or rude to someone, which is my biggest pet peeve," she revealed. "I've had instances where someone drank too much and I saw their true colors. Nothing too catastrophic has happened, though."

I love my husband, but I miss my obligation-free single life

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," my husband Ryan said as he laced up his sneakers and stuffed his wallet in his back pocket. His parents were due at our apartment at any minute, and I was still in my pyjamas, wrapped in a cocoon of bedsheets and duvet cover.

"Are you sure they won't mind?" I asked. Although I was relieved Ryan recognised that I needed a day off from his parents, who were visiting from out of town, I couldn't ignore the guilt souring my stomach. Before he could answer, I hit him with another question: "Are you OK with me staying home?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" he said. "I'll text you later, and if you want, you can meet us for dinner." Ryan gave me a quick kiss before he dashed off.

I waited until I heard the lock click on our front door; then I exhaled. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy spending time with his parents. But after four years of marriage I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the unwritten family obligations I suddenly felt pressured to fulfill - obligations that were a nonissue issue in my own dysfunctional family, especially when I was single.

Growing up, I was hardly capable of distancing myself from my alcoholic mother and the alcoholic she picked to be my stepdad. Together they built a life dominated by booze and violence, which extended well beyond the four walls of our humble home. Their wedding, my Holy Communion, nearly every Christmas and so many birthdays were marred by drama that usually put someone in the hospital or in handcuffs by the end of the night.

It wasn't until after my 8th birthday that I escaped the chaos and moved 30 minutes away to live with my dad and my stepmum, two people who appeared calm and collected to extended family and friends, but who were just as erratic and irrational as my mum and stepdad. Over the years, my dad spent more time in his garage getting drunk than he ever did talking to me, while my stepmum used every emotionally and mentally abusive trick available to twist my already mangled self-esteem into a knot. While living under their roof, I was constantly seeking a way out.

Shortly after I started university, my stepmum packed up her car and headed interstate to be with a lover she met online. After a few days, in her new life, she called to explain why she left. "It's just like you leaving for college," she said.

Initially, as I'd done so many times before, I tried to make her excuse sound rational in my head. But I just couldn't do it - and that's when I realised that I wouldn't have to do it anymore, if I didn't want to. Through my stepmum's affair, I found my way out from under the dysfunction that plagued my family. From that point forward, I gave myself permission to say "no" to any family member or gathering that would put my safety or sanity at risk.

Over the years, that would mean saying no to Christmas Eve dinners at my aunt's house, missing a grandmother's funeral and never again feeling pressured to sort out Mother's Day brunch reservations or flower deliveries. What at first felt taboo became a level of freedom that both boosted my confidence and gave me the space I needed to recover from decades of neglect and abuse.

Being single with complete control over when and if I spent time with my family meant that my life was obligation-free. If I wanted to spend Thanksgiving Day in my pyjamas eating Chinese takeout and watching season after season of Sex and the City, then that's what I did.

During that time, it never occurred to me that one day I'd meet and marry someone like Ryan who sends flowers on Mother's Day, shows up to celebrate his grandmother's birthday, and shuttles out to Long Island on Christmas to spend time with both sides of his family. For me, such events have always been optional. But for my husband, it's how he shows his family he cares.

Back at my apartment, later that night, I got a text from Ryan about dinner: "We're eating at GBK. You wanna come?"

After Ryan left that morning, I showered and slipped back into my pyjamas. I ordered sushi for lunch, I watched a season of The Trailer Park Boys on Netflix, and I contemplated making cupcakes.

Although my obligation-free single days were over, that didn't mean that I couldn't occasionally take a brief day trip back to visit my old life. So I picked up my phone and replied: "Nah, I think I'm in for the night."

My dad left, then my aunt told me he tried to seduce her - do I tell my mum

The dilemma My father left my mum, abruptly and with no warning, after 38 years of marriage. My mother’s sister, my aunt, recently confided in me that she never liked my dad after he, for lack of better words, made a pass at her many years ago on a family trip when I was a toddler. This has shattered me. Apart from my own sadness at having my dad’s sins confirmed, I’m extremely close to my mother and we keep no secrets. I know my aunt will never tell her the truth, but I wish she hadn’t brought me into it. I feel like I’m holding Mum back from truly moving on by keeping this from her, but I don’t want to expose her to yet more grief, and I also don’t want to deceive her.

Mariella replies It may not be news to her. As LP Hartley famously said: “The past is a foreign country,” and it’s surprising how alien it can be. It’s very unlikely that the history of your parents’ relationship since they first embraced is clearly divided into right and wrong, or the guilty and the blameless.

When someone departs after 38 years of marriage, the new life they embark on can come as less of a surprise than the secrets buried in their old one. When a couple crumbles, their long-shared intimacy is given a makeover. The entire relationship, from start to conclusion, is liable to be reshaped in the sad but seemingly inevitable propaganda war and apportioning of blame that follows the end of love.

Your aunt may have carried this secret with her for decades, or refashioned it to suit today’s more favourable environment, but either way, dumping it on your shoulders seems unfair. If she felt compelled to open her heart to anyone, it should have been her sister some time ago, not when the emotional harm is starting to heal. Using you as a go-between with a piece of unsubstantiated anecdote isn’t acceptable.

You can be sure of one thing and that is that this small betrayal is not the key to your mother moving forward – even if it is rooted in hard facts. The idea that she’ll leap for joy the minute she hears that your father tried to seduce her sister is really not credible. It would be most surprising if, over the decades, there hadn’t been transgressions, allowances made, blind eyes turned, to avoid what was easier not to see. I’m not talking specifically about adultery or condoning it and I’m certainly not absolving your father of his possible misdemeanours, just pointing out that in many ways being fed a variety of viewpoints and being left to work out if they were accurate, is worse than knowing.

Accepting that no union is perfect means overlooking small defects to focus on the bigger picture – and that is what happens in most long-term relationships. It’s perfectly possible that your father was a flirt and he may indeed have been a serial philanderer, but your aunt’s description of this past attempt at seduction is definitely not conclusive proof of either. I suspect your mum will have been more aware of your father’s failings than she shared with you and that her way of coping involved a degree of wilful blindness.

We may not like it, but we all have a flexible relationship to “truth”, defining it as a literal, tangible thing when it suits us and when it doesn’t we expand the parameters to allow plenty of wriggle room. In situations that don’t involve an outright lie, veracity gives way to stories that shift and change depending on our mood, our relationships and our interpretation of the actions of others. Your aunt has placed a weight on your shoulders, but context is important, too, and peering into deep jars when you can’t see the bottom reveals very little.

I’m sorry to hear about your father’s departure and particularly the abrupt and inexplicable nature of it. You should definitely try to have an honest conversation with him about that. Meanwhile it’s great that you are supporting your mother, but she needs to stand on her own two feet. You are her child, not her emotional support system. I’ve no doubt you are being torn in two in terms of your loyalties and I can only advise from my own experience that you should fight to stay as neutral as possible. Love is irrational, from elated beginning to bitter end, and you are not there to sit in judgment on your parents’ choices.

No matter what divisions exist between them, they remain your parents and you have the right to maintain healthy relationships with them both, not suffer lobbying from either side of the fence. Your aunt’s admission may have thrown light into the darkness or represent another twist in a tangled tale. Either way you need feel neither guilt nor responsibility, just sadness that the love that made you didn’t last the course.

Why I’m falling in love with Sean Spicer

I hate to admit it, but I think I’m falling in love with Sean Spicer. No doubt Donald Trump’s stocky, gum-chewing, sartorially challenged press secretary will strike many readers as an unlikely object of passion. But it’s hard not to get red-hot for a man capable of inspiring so much outrage among the most boring, self-important people in America.

As press secretary, Spicer’s only real job is to run the President’s daily press briefing, one of those bizarre, quasi-official American institutions — like the State of the Union address or the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn — whose utility no one ever seems to question. It’s the closest thing we have to Prime Minister’s Questions, except that instead of, say, Bernie Sanders needling the commander-in-chief about unemployment figures or heath care, it’s a bunch of hacks talking to a PR man. During Obama’s time in office, the briefing always reminded me of that old cartoon where the wolf and the sheepdog enjoy a quiet lunch together — people who go to the same parties and pretend to cry at one another’s funerals asking niggling questions and feigning outrage over non-controversies.

For those of us who were allergic to school, even the format of the briefing is insufferable: bodies arranged in rows with hands raised, all of them having spasmodic muscular contractions at the idea of being given the opportunity to make some show-offy pseudo-point. The only difference is that there are no jocks, class clowns or even bullies: everyone is a nerd.

Like so much else in Washington, the briefing’s character has been altered, I hope forever, by Trump. What was once a boring tickle-fest for white liberals is now a kind of orgy of pouting and breathless self-aggrandisement. For the mainstream press, Spicer’s first offence was to install screens allowing him to take questions from reporters across the country: an agreeably egalitarian sop to the hard-working journos of places such as Fall River, Massachusetts. Even worse has been his lack of deference to national newspapers and cable TV channels in favour of Breitbart, LifeSiteNews and other dubious right-wing outlets. I suppose it’s all very dismaying if you’re the sort of person who thinks that asking whether a thrice-married serial philanderer who has appeared in a Playboy video opposes legalised contraception is a vital contribution to our national discourse.

As enjoyable as it is to watch Spicer work on television, the briefings are like Woodstock: you have to be there to get the full effect. The first thing you notice is that the briefing room itself, which used to be an indoor swimming pool before it was adapted by Nixon for the present purpose, is very small. Cynical as I am, I was astonished to realise that behind the chairs and the risers is a Keurig coffee brewer and a soda machine. Call me crazy, but this doesn’t look like ground zero in the war against fascism. (Would you accept a Pepsi from Hitler, much less pay him for one?)

Nearly all the chairs are assigned in advance by the White House Correspondents’ Association to very big names. The rest of us have to fight for our seats — and our lives. Outside of a combat zone you are unlikely ever to find people invested with a greater sense of purpose. They certainly have a very lofty conception of journalism’s role in safeguarding our cherished freedoms. If you don’t think the word ‘sorry’ can be uttered with contempt, much less deployed as an insult, you’ve clearly never heard April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks snapping at another reporter who, having been called on by Spicer, dared to follow up on her question before April had decided she was finished. Nor is this frenetic and omnidirectional intensity restricted to the people asking the questions. A few weeks ago a colleague and I were nearly trampled to death by a monomaniacal cameraman.

‘Would you guys move? I’ve gotta feed this material!’ he shouted, as if the fact that we were composed of matter rather than pure spirit were an affront to press freedom.

‘OK, bud,’ I said, determined not to take any guff.

‘Don’t “bud” me, dude.’

‘OK, my dude.’

Half the fun is watching and listening in on other reporters. It reminds you of the difference between people for whom journalism is a vocation and those of us who simply fell into it. You’ll be standing there pretending to tweet or email, trying to decide whether you should go for another smoke — easier to do on the White House grounds than in almost any bar in the country — when suddenly a woman bites furiously at her granola bar, like Ozzy going after the head of a bat, without even ceasing to type. Then one of the old lore-stuffed would-be sages carrying nothing but a notebook and a pen will say, to no one in particular, ‘There was a time in this press room when at least somebody was carrying a flask.’

If the press briefing is a circus, the honorary ringmaster is Glenn Thrush of the New York Times, who has built his reputation on in-depth interviews with Hillary Clinton, eliciting such gems as, ‘Well, but fly on an airplane, the whole thing makes no sense to me. Does it make sense to you?’ Thrush’s trademark is his fedora, which he probably thinks makes him look like one of those haggard old newspapermen from the days when reporters were more or less perpetually sozzled. He must be one of the only people in America who can pace around holding his phone sideways saying, ‘Hey, can I kiss your ass for like two minutes?’ with a straight face.

In the presence of such exemplars it is possible, if you’re not careful, to end up feeling inadequate. Everybody seems to be so good at their jobs, so smooth, so confident with their icy, fact-enhanced contempt, whereas I can barely remember my wife’s birthday. How, I remember thinking at the last briefing I attended, was I going to come up with one of those appropriately cutting impossible-to-answer questions, with the requisite follow-up statistics about the number of secondary school boys in counselling because they were denied access to the girls’ bathroom?

The answer turned out to be that I just needed to start firing off text messages to friends and colleagues. One came back with: ‘Has there been any movement on appointing a new ambassador for international religious freedom? Is Ken Starr’s name still being floated?’ With its gasping urgency about an unimportant-sounding, perhaps even fake position that I and everyone else at the briefing, including, no doubt, Spicer, had never heard of, I considered that the perfect question. Too bad I wasn’t called on.

Vegan dating: The struggle to find love when you've ditched steak and cheese

The thought of totally ridding our diets of animal products, from creamy Brie to steak and milk chocolate, is enough to make some of us want to lie down in a dark room. But for committed vegans, the choice to ditch anything that cause harm to animals, the environment and your health is an easy one to make.

Still, that doesn’t make living in a meat-and-dairy-obsessed world any easier. And a vegan’s lifestyle choices trickle down to what they wear to who they love. It’s those people that vegan dating sites are here to help.

In the decade following 2006, veganism has gradually become a more mainstream lifestyle choice, prompting a 360 per cent rise in those giving it a go in the UK. But while the number of people dabbling in a plant-based existence has crawled upwards, the figures of those sticking to it aren’t quite so positive. Separate research in the US, where levels of veganism have also shot up, show that  84 per cent of people can’t commit to a life where they can’t indulge in a beef burger once in a while.

Adam Connett has been vegan for almost a decade. The 27-year-old, who works as a video manager for a digital advertising agency in London, says a partner being vegan is "important but not vital.

“I wouldn't say it's a deal breaker for me. But as it has somewhat of an impact on day to day choices it does make things easier if we're aligned from an ethical and dietary standpoint.”

Asked if he has ever sought out people who are vegan or vegetarian when dating, he adds: “Not directly but I'd say it probably does sway my opinion. It's another box ticked for me in terms of potential compatibility. If someone states they're vegan it's something you have in common and can talk about. Especially places to go to eat.”

As he had a long-term relationship with someone who ate meat, his veganism hasn’t caused problems in dating but he says it could “ limit potential date or restaurant choices. But if it was an issue for them we probably wouldn't even get to the stage of arranging a date.”

But the picture seems more complex for those who use vegan dating websites. “Many vegans consider ‘being vegan’ more than just eating a plant-based diet. A 'true' vegan has made the lifestyle choice to not use, consume or purchase any animal products, which makes it even more important to date someone with the same values and priorities,” says Jill Crosby Owner and CEO of the Green Singles vegan dating site.

“Being a vegan is more than just a way of eating, non-vegans can find it difficult to understand and oftentimes don’t want to make the compromises and or changes that their vegan partner has already made,” says Corby, who used to be vegan but is no longer.

“Vegans tend to be environmentally conscious, in general, and many have organic gardens and practice permaculture, recycle and reuse over contributing to the landfills, buy eco-conscious cleaning products, clothing, use solar and wind energy, drive electric or hybrid cars and or ride bicycles and use public transportation. The list goes on and on.

“It can be a stress point in the relationship and cause tension. Of course, if someone has a plant-based diet or is vegetarian, that can be a more conducive match then say an omnivore.”

But is veganism really the basis for a stable, long-lasting relationship? After all, being a vegan, unfortunately, doesn’t make a person infallible. And as Michael Carter, the president of the Passions Network dating empire which runs the Vegan Passions website points out that there is even wide variation in veganism itself. "There are members who were are vegetarian and who are trying to move to a completely Vegan diet. We have raw foodists, and fruitarians.

"As to the question of whether or not one might draw some conclusions about someone simply because they follow a ‘vegan diet’, the answer is definitely yes and no. As a group, vegans do tend to show more interest in activism and being eco-friendly, but on an individual basis, it is all over the map."

Still, data from the website shows that vegans tend to gravitate towards each other more than non-vegans and focus on being "eco-friendly" and actively seeking out other non-meaters, he adds.

Unsurprisingly, Crosby sees vegan dating websites as at least worth a shot for those looking for a compatible partner. One of her site’s most memorable successes are John and Lori..

“They both had separately written lists of the qualities and characteristics their ideal partner would possess. When they read each other’s profile, they recognised that each matched the other’s list. He was widowed with two children, she had never been married and happily joined his family when they married after dating for three years.” They later created a company which creates satirical videos about the environment.

“We’ve had couples write books, open retreat centres, teach workshops and do many amazing things as a result of finding each other."