Mindset – change it and achieve your goals!

Do you ever ask yourself what it is that stops you from losing weight, or getting a better job or achieving one of your dreams? It is all down to our mindset – if we think that we can’t do it then you can be sure that we are not going to do it.

Are you a cup is half full or half empty kind of person? The people that achieve great things are always in the half full gang – they believe that they can do whatever they set out to achieve and so they do. They don’t have the word failure in their vocabulary, they just keep trying until they achieve their goal. Now I am not saying that some things are easy, you may be trying to overcome a fear of something, but if you take small steps to change your mindset you will get there, you only have to look at the likes of people like Paul McKenna – he achieves great things with people in short time spans by changing their thought process.

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When weddings go wrong: consumer protection guide

When you get married you put your trust in one person; when you plan your wedding you have a trust a whole lot more.

Suppliers can go bust, goods can fail to arrive or turn up in bits. But the glitches in getting hitched needn’t end up expensive glitches. Wedding insurance is one way to make sure you get your moneys worth; knowing your consumer rights is a double protection.

You have a number of statutory rights, as well as some additional forms of protection from debit and credit card providers. Take a look at the examples below to see how the rules could work in practice.

“My wedding dress shop went bust”

Let’s say you bought a £700 wedding dress. You paid £350 of that with a credit card and the rest in cash. Now the shop has gone bust and says it can’t supply the dress or give your money back.

Now, under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, your credit card provider is equally liable (with the retailer) for any purchase you make on the card between £100 and £30,000.

A business going bust is a classic case where Section 75 applies; you’d just call your provider to make a claim and get your money back.

Note also that you’d get the full £700 back even though you only paid £350 on the card. We like Section 75.

Note also that if you hadn’t paid with credit card and cash but with a debit card you could still be protected.

Chargeback schemes from card issuers – Visa, Mastercard and American Express – offer a full refund in situations like the one above. They’re not required to give money back by law and each scheme has its own rules so it’s less sturdy protection but, even so, many have benefited from giving their bank a call to claim.

“I bought plates online but they don’t look like I expected them to”

Under Distance Selling Regulations you have the right to cancel an order and return items for up to seven days after you received them by post.

Remember, too, that the Sale of Goods Act 1979 says goods must be:

- Of satisfactory quality

- As they were described

- Fit for purpose and

- Last a reasonable length of time.

These are often worth knowing when making a complaint to a retailer about a fault.

“I bought plates online… but I’ve smashed them”

Accidents happen and, unless they arrived smashed, this is certainly not the retailer’s fault.

However, this is something some credit card providers may be able to help with. Big providers such as Capital One and Barclaycard often offer cover against loss, theft and accidental damage for a few months after the purchase.

However, remember that every protection policy is different and many have exceptions so check the small print carefully.

A note on credit cards…

Finally, let’s end all this credit card talk with a warning.

You don’t have to pay any interest on your credit card to take advantage of the consumer protection offered to credit cardholders mentioned above. Nonetheless, credit cards are a way of borrowing and that means that, potentially, they’re a way to get into debt.

Anyone that thinks they may get into unmanageable debt should put the plastic down and back away - being mired in debt is no honeymoon.

Contributor info:

This is a guest post from Choose, a consumer information and credit card comparison site which includes tables to compare 0% purchase credit cards.

How to have a beautiful body inside and out by Zara Groves

I recently walked into the bathroom toilets in a local hotel bar and found this lady sat on the floor, she was crippled with pain from her irritable bowel syndrome. She said that it happened regularly and that it would pass soon, but until it did she was unable to stand up. She also said that she knew how she should eat to make sure that this didn’t happen but didn’t actually follow the healthy eating and therefore would suffer on a regular basis.

I found this absolute madness, why would you want to subject yourself to a crippling pain rather than eat a healthy diet without the kinds of foods that set off the symptoms. So it got me to thinking about what to write about in my next blog.

It’s quite funny really, you always hear of people going on about wanting to lose weight, but very rarely do you hear anyone say “I really want to have a healthy colon”

Considering everything that you put in your mouth goes through your colon, you would have thought that this would be more of a priority than fitting into a smaller dress size.

The term ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ (IBS seems to be used quite a lot, as it covers a vast diagnosis of people that suffer with stomach complaints. The doctors say that it can’t be cured only helped, but I totally disagree with this.

So what is IBS - it is a common gut disorder. Symptoms can vary and include abdominal pain, bloating, and sometimes bouts of diarrhoea and/or constipation. Symptoms tend to come and go.

What really needs to be addressed is what we are putting in our mouths, eating bad and unhealthy foods is the cause of the reaction within our colon and intestines. In the Western society a lot of people constantly eat food that is processed, high in sugar, contains caffeine and chemicals that really shouldn’t be eaten, too much wheat and dairy, and far too much alcohol. With this in mind it really is no wonder that people complain of pain, in their stomachs is it?

A more serious complaint is Crohns Disease – this is a chronic (long-term) condition that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive system.

Over time, the inflammation that is caused by Crohn’s disease can damage sections of the digestive system, causing additional complications, such as narrowing of the colon. The most common symptoms of Crohn's disease are abdominal pain, often in the lower right area, and diarrhea, rectal bleeding, weight loss, arthritis and skin problems.

So considering these problems you would think that people would take care of their insides more.

I would like you to read this from a client of mine

“For 25 years I have been suffering from severe Crohn’s Disease which affects the whole digestive tract – the intestine walls become inflamed causing a narrowing of the affected part of the gut. It causes many problems and I was taking 18 tablets a day for this condition – sometimes more.. I have had life saving surgery in 2009 and have been in and out of hospital far more times than I can remember.

At the time of writing this I am almost pain free and I do not take any medication whatsoever. I can only put this down to the Bootcamp Diet which I still stick to 80% of the time. I honestly feel better than I have ever done and I would strongly recommend anybody that has this type of illness or similar conditions such as colitis or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to try the Bootcamp I went on. Everything goes through our digestive system so maybe we should be a bit kinder to it.

Zara has done for me in 8 weeks what the doctors/consultants have-not managed all these years. I urge anyone to give it a try.

All the best, Be healthy, Alison x”

What an amazing story...... 25 years of suffering, dealing with numerous doctors and so called specialists with no luck and taking 18 pills a day to try and control it and then she meets me, I change her diet and within 8 weeks she is pain free and medication free!!

This statement should speak volumes to all of the people out there suffering, eating a healthy diet can alleviate those crippling pains, surely this is a no brainer.

So which would you prefer?

A. Eat healthy diet, be healthy and have no more painful symptoms and probably drop a dress size in the process?

B. Carry on eating the diet you are currently eating and carry on suffering with pain and take lots of medication to try and combat it?

If you would like any more information on this subject or any fitness/diet relate subject, please do not hesitate to contact me,

Zara Groves

www.twitter.com/ZaraGroves
www.facebook.com/zaragroves1

NEW mini jam-jar favours and other rustic goodies

One of our favourite wedding shops has some new products that we just cannot keep to ourselves!!

The Wedding of My Dreams sells all sorts of lovely rustic charmed decorative items with a section dedicated to weddings and this month there are some new goodies that we'd like to share with you.

Pretty mini jam jar and honey pot wedding favours finished of with red polka dot covers and a little message to your guests.



We find that brides are often looking for a new and unique way to display their wedding table plan and we think that The Wedding of My Dreams has found a great new table plan holder.

Full of rustic charm these wooden washboards make the perfect country chic table plan holder.


Why not pop on over to The Wedding of My Dreams www.theweddingofmydreams.co.uk and see the wedding table plan holder and the Mini Jam & Honey Pot Wedding Favours for yourself!

Happy Planning ♥

Keep Dry On Your Big Day - In Style!

ou may be THE most organised bride in the world with the best attention to detail, but the one thing that is out of your control, is of the course, the weather! And, let's face it, if you are getting married in, albeit beautiful Blighty you can half expect a spot of rain or more!

However, all is not lost, if it is going to rain on your parade, then let it land on a brolly that has panache!

These brollies are so pretty that you will want to keep using it after the big day.

This pretty little number is a subtle shade of soft cream adorned with white flowers.


We love this seethrough brolly! You won't miss a think peeping through this pretty brolly!



And this beauty is a gorgeous shade of turquoise blue adorned with fuschia pink flowers! Beautiful!

If you feel you cannot live without one of these little beauties then you need to get on over to Love Umbrellas http://www.loveumbrellas.co.uk/ where you can purchase them for as little as £12 - £28!!

Happy Planning ♥


Y

Claire & Paul at Brynkinalt Hall

This wedding is a great example of a fabulous marquee wedding at a stunning country house location. The bride thought of everything from flip flops & pashminas to toletries in the luxury portaloos!

The photography is courtesy of Dorset Wedding Photographer – Courtenay Photographic Ltd

Enjoy!

We ♥ This Website

It is so hard to keep up with all the wedding related websites and blogs these days because there are just soooooo many! But every now and again, I come across one that makes me smile and my heart flutter. And when I do, how rude would it be of me to keep it to myself?

So, if you like all things pretty with a touch of vintage (dahling) then you need to visit Hey Gorgeous Events.

I am sorry lovelies, she is in the US darn-it! But I am sure that you will find her work a true inspiration. Why not visit Rhiannon's (even better, she has a Welsh name!) Facebook Page too.

Happy Planning ♥

Wedding Planning Checklist

OK - so you are engaged. Now what?

Now you have some organising to do! But what? When?

Luckily we have already thought of that for you and here is handy wedding planning checklist for you. You can even download a paper copy to print off and keep with you in your wedding planning folder. No bride is complete without one!

Happy planning ♥

Fat is good for you!

Year ago the low fat diet was born and research shows that this diet is the one that seems to have done the most damage to people. You see we need fat in our diets and believe it or not some fat helps you to burn fat.

The problem with the low fat diet is that people now buy so called “low fat” products, what they don’t realise is if the fat has been removed from something then the manufacturers add all sorts of flavourings and sugar and basically whatever they can to still make that product taste nice.

There was a fantastic BBC 3 documentary recently with Zoe Salmon called “The big fat truth about low fat foods” she basically ate only low fat foods for 4 weeks. At the end of the 4 weeks I think she had lost 2 lbs in weight but her skin looked awful and she said that she felt awful always hungry and always tired. The show also showed you some of the ingredients which were used in things like Weight Watchers puddings and the ingredients definitely didn’t come from food. If you get the chance to watch it please do.

Margarine is a man made product and is only a few chemicals away from being plastic, so the information now is to eat butter – preferably organic butter, because at least that is a natural product. To cook we should be using coconut oil.

Coconut oil is really good for you, it was once believed to be a “bad fat” by doctors as it contains 90% of its fat from saturated fat. I need to tell you though not all saturated fats are the same. The saturated fat within coconut oil will not raise your cholesterol levels.

I am going to try and keep this simple, the saturated fat within coconut oil comes from Lauric acid and the only other place you will find this naturally is from breast milk. The human body converts this and it works as a fantastic defence against lots of common diseases.

Best of all coconut oil helps your metabolic chain and helps boost your thyroid. So in short it will help you lose weight and boost your immune system. Not bad eh!

So if you want a dollop of butter on your corn on the cob – go ahead, its fine. Dress your salads with olive oil and cook with coconut oil.

Remember we need fat in our diet, to make us healthy and glowing!

If you have any questions please get in touch I would love to hear from you.

Zara Groves

www.twitter.com/ZaraGroves
www.facebook.com/zaragroves1

A Match Made in Heaven!

We love these fabulous Save The Date cards created by Suzanne Osborne of Pretty Wild Design. Suzanne has used her obvious design talent along with a play on words to create these great "Match Made in Heaven" Save the Date cards and we know for a fact that if you received one you would put it in pride of place!
.

For more information and to see more gorgeous wedding stationery designs visit www.prettywild.co.uk

Affected by the Llangollen Hotels Ltd collapse?

This has got to be every bride and grooms' nightmare. Your wedding venue goes into administration or worse - closes its doors completely before your wedding day.

There are a number of couples in and around Wrexham, North Wales, who have found themselves in this situation following Llangollen Hotels Ltd being placed into Administration. A number of the company's hotels including popular wedding venues Bodidris Hall Hotel, The Wild Pheasant Hotel & The Bryn Howell Hotel are now being run by the Administrators KPMG. Others such as The Wynnstay Hotel, Wrexham have shut their doors completely.

Hopefully, if you were planning on holding your wedding at The Wynnstay in Wrexham, you have wedding insurance that you can fall back on but even then this leaves you without a wedding venue.

A number of local hotels in the local area are keen to step in and help and one, The Lion Quays Waterside Resort, which also owns The Moreton Lodge has gone a step further and set up a special hotline number for couples to call and chat through what is available to them.
The number is: 01691 684 330.

Both hotels are conveniently placed, on the A483 a short distance from Wrexham.

Between the 2 hotels there is something to suit all budgets so why not give them a call today and see what they can do to help.

Best Wishes

Mrs2Be

Do You Need an Event Co-ordinator?

If you are not getting married or holding your wedding reception in a Hotel, then arranging your wedding is going to involve a whole lot more organisation than if you were.

There are a wide number of wedding venues around the country that provide you with the space to get married in, or the space to put up a marquee in, however these venues are often family homes or have another main uses and so the owners or managers have limited involvement and will simply provide you with the space you need.

Nicky from Blue Leaf Event Hire says:

“There are a number items that couples need to be aware of, so that if their supplier doesn’t mention them, they will know that they may still need them."

Read More......

Flash Mob Weddings - The latest craze?

If you love spontaneity then you are going to love watching the latest craze of Flash Mob Weddings! Though, in reality the whole thing will have been very well thought out, organised and choreographed.

Remember those amazing T-mobile adverts where the crowd at the train station burst into song? Well, it has gone a stage further. Now, they become a wedding congregation, a bride, a groom and a minister!!!

And then what happens? Yep - you guessed it - they get married!!

Originally an American craze - this fab way to tie the knot has now shown up on our own fair shores starting with a beautiful looking Flash Mob Wedding which took place in Netley Abbey near Southampton.

The bride and groom Sam & Daryll Low surprised visitors to the abbey, along with their 70 strong congregation who on an previously arranged cue arranged themselves, along with a chapel set up complete with pews and a Pastor!! All in under 90 seconds!

Five minutes later the couple had exchanged vows, the congregation had burst into song and the whole site was cleared leaving no evidence at all of what had just taken place!

Amazing!

For more images & info visit the Daily Mail Online

Not sure what a flash mob wedding is? See below:

Get Rid of those Bingo Wings and Show off your Arms!

Arms are yet another area of a ladies body that are often kept hidden, usually by totally covering up or wearing the trusty pashmina. How nice it would be, to have the choice, (when you are attending an occasion that requires dressing up in a gorgeous dress) – sleeves or no sleeves!

Ladies consistently state,( when I am asking them to lift weights) “I don’t want to get big muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger”. If you ladies knew just how hard you would have to train, how heavy your weights need to be and how strict your diet would have to be to even come close to having huge muscles you would never utter that sentence again.

What you need to remember is:

1. Your muscles grow – you look toned!
2. Your muscles shrink – you look flabby.
3. The more muscle mass your body has the faster your metabolism works at all times.

Do you want to use weights to tone your upper body? To get results with your muscles you need to push them. If you are using piddly weights believing massive repetitions is the way to go, you will need to change.

You need to use the correct weights! This is achieved by selecting weights which require you to push yourself. If you have been told to do 10 reps, by the time you are getting to number 6 you should be thinking that you are not going to be able to complete the 10, but with determination you achieve your goal. It is then you have got the correct weight to gain the results you are seeking.

In addition to training your arms and achieving the toned look, you have to train your chest (yes, the dreaded push) and also your back. In comparison to your arm muscles, your chest and back muscles are huge.

I have added a 10 minute workout for your upper body to help you below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOaprCkeb_M

Remember though if you are not eating healthy nutritious food then your body is not going to change. The saying “you are what you eat” is so true. So here are 5 easy healthy changes that you can make which will make a huge difference.

1. Swap your normal white potatoes for sweet potatoes.

2. Swap your orange cordial for water with slices of oranges – get a jug, slice the oranges and leave. The longer the oranges are left in the water the more flavor they create.

3. Swap your coffee/tea for fruit tea or red bush tea (this is tough to start but so rewarding)

4. Swap your cooking oil for coconut oil.

5. Swap your sugar for Sweet Freedom or Agave

These are all small changes and not noticeable (well apart from the caffeine) but they will have a massive impact on your nutrition.

If you have any questions you want to ask me please get in touch, the quickest way to get a response is via twitter and second is facebook.

Zara Groves
www.facebook.com/zaragroves1
www.twitter.com/ZaraGroves

Fresh Summer Wedding Palette

Summer is brought to life in this mood board with the use of these fabulous summer sunshine colours!

Abby Clancy & Peter Crouch Wed

Footballer Peter Crouch weds his fiance and the mother of his 3 month old daughter, Abby Clancy in a ceremony at the Church Of St Mary Magdalene, in the 500-acre grounds of the Stapleford Park a luxury country house hotel in Leicestershire.

Abby, who only gave birth 3 months ago, looked absolutely beautiful in her Giles Deacon strapless wedding gown, and Peter looked pretty dashing himself!

The couple have chosen to have a live band, a magician and Karaoke at their wedding reception! I feel a new trend coming on!!!

Wedding Planning Schedule

It is sometimes difficult to know what to do, when and in what order so this handy little wedding planning schedule should help take away some of the stress of this for you.

There are more handy tools on the website so be sure to visit us, register and use them to help you plan your big day with the least amount of stress.

Get the Mrs2Be Wedding Planning Schedule.

Happy Planning ♥

Mrs2Be Loves.....................

The Wedding of My Dreams!

We love this online shop here in the Mrs2Be office. It has some pretty items to help you decorate your wedding venue or tables and it is pretty too!

The Wedding of My Dreams sell a number of items which could be used for a candy buffet table, such as gorgeous mini silver-plated tongs, pretty vintage styled sweetie jars and cute pink and white striped candy bags.

There are also a number of items such as place name holders & table crystals and hanging decorations.

To make it even easier to find the right item for the look of your wedding, they have categorised their items into themes which include:

• Green & Eco
• Black & White
• Holywood Glamour
• Vintage

and more!

With special offers and free delivery on orders over £100 - why not mosey on over and take a look for yourself? Just go to www.weddingofmydreams.co.uk.

Happy Planning ♥

Vintage Styled Weddings

Vintage is still big this season - so here is a reminder on how you can style your wedding if your passion is vintage.

The vintage wedding theme is one that has become more and more popular in recent years. The rise in popularity of vintage wedding dresses has now spilled over into the venue decoration, the stationery, the wedding favours and more.

Despite the many new wedding themes that have popped up and disappeared around it, vintage is here to stay offering more and more as the years progress. In fact, many of the modern themes such as hearts and feathers actually support and help this theme to grow. Whether you have a few vintage touches in mind or want to have a completely vintage wedding, the choice is yours and there is so much choice available! There are many true vintage items on offer as well as cheaper modern alternatives that can help to make an impact with this theme.

Where Do You Start?

Firstly consider the wedding dress itself and decide whether it is true vintage or simply a remake gown that you are looking for.

Asking your family members who married in this era if they have a gown that you can borrow or even let you have is a great cost saving idea. You may find that unless you particularly want to, you won't have to have any major alterations to the gown itself as there are some true gems lurking around. If you can't find what you are looking for, then try second hand stores or even ebay where you will find many dresses for sale or hire. Read More

Beautiful Bums – my 5 Top Tips by Zara Groves.

I have worked with hundreds of ladies over the years, to help them with their fat loss and to get them toned and fitter. One of the areas that they most are unhappy with is the hips, thighs and bums, either their bum is too big, too small, too lumpy etc, etc.

So here are my 5 top tips to getting the bum area smooth and toned. Remember to get the great butt you have to get off your butt!!!

1. Eat more greens – the best is watercress but also broccoli, cabbage, kale and spinach.
2. Do not microwave or boil your veg as it destroys high percentages of the flavanoids within the veg which help get rid of the fat– so steam.
3. Drink lots of water and minimise caffeine and alcohol intakes. Remember that De-Caff is full of chemicals to get the caffeine out so really isn’t the better option. Why not try and give up caffeine and alcohol for 28 days and see the difference – after all what is 28 days in your life for the fab behind.
4. If you already exercise you need to change your routine – If you don’t exercise then you need to start. You need to always push your body, take it out of it’s comfort zone. Most importantly you need to do some kind of resistance training. So Instead of spending hours on treadmills and spinning classes with no resistance, find a good interval/conditioning class or invest in a reputable personal trainer to guide you step by step.
5. Get a good night’s sleep. The body is repairing and burning fat while you are sleeping so if you miss out on hours of sleep then your body is missing out on vital work that it needs to do to be a better body.
   

To help you with understand the kind of resistance training that is needed to burn fat and tone the legs, hip, thigh and bum muscles here is a 10 minute workout. If you do this 3 times a week combined with all of the above then you will notice a huge difference.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ZaraGroves?feature=mhee

If you would like to ask me any questions at all please email me at zara@breaknspin.com or you can add me on facebook Zara Groves or you can follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/ZaraGroves

Have a great week, and make those changes now!

Zara x