Make Your Love Real - Enter to Win

Makelovereal.net is sponsoring a new blogger search contest. So if you are engaged and getting married soon, they would love to hear unique stories that go into the heart of a bride's expereince!

For more details please visit the Makelovereal.net blog site today.

The reward is a $3000 destination engagement session with multimedia presention by Neil Cowley. The quest is for a storyteller with heart and humor to tell the stories of wedding planning and engagement from inside their head and out through the web. Submit your journal, blog, video log, or contest entry to the comments here to be considered! Multimedia submissions will definitely score you bonus points!!

Good luck! Deadline is November 15, 2008.

-Percy

Video from MakeLoveReal.net

Write To Marry Day - October 29, 2009

The elections are just around the corner and here in California, we have a Proposition that would eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry. I know I have been blogging about Prop 8 a lot lately, but it is very near and dear to my heart, because it affects my family.

Here's my story. I met my partner (now husband) in 1992. We have been together for 16 years, we have a 4-year old son, and we just want the same rights that any loving and committed opposite-sex couple has. We want to be legally recognized as a "couple" under the eyes of the law. We never imagined that as a gay couple we would ever have the opportunity to marry legally in the State of California. In May 2008, that all changed. The California Supreme Court overturned Prop 22's Family Code definition of marriage as being between a man and woman, because the judges saw that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. So on June 17, 2008 a month after it was overturned, my partner and I were able to legally wed in California, giving us equality and the ability to be full citizens of the State of California.

Now proponents of Prop 8 want to overturn EQUALITY and put discrimination into the California Constitution. The California Constitution is suppose to protect rights of all its citizens, not take them away. So, I encourage all Californians to Vote No on 8, and keep all Californians Equal. This proposition is not about Religious Freedoms, Children, or Tax Exemptions. Proponents of Prop 8 are spreading lies and stating that it would affect their rights, well their rights are already protected under the California Constitution's Free Exercise of Religion clause. Well the truth of the matter is that Prop 8 is about "eliminating the rights of same-sex couples to marry (Period)." To learn the facts vs. the fiction, please visit the Vote No on 8 Website.

Regardless of how you feel about same-sex marriage or the LGBT community, passing Prop 8 would deprive certain CIVIL RIGHTS to a group of people, lowering them to the status of second class citizens. Additionally, it would add discriminatory language in the California Constitution. How would you feel if your rights were taken away?

I encourage all bloggers to blog about Write To Marry Day, today or tomorrow and encourage your California Readers to Vote No on Prop 8.

DON'T STOP AT THE TOP, VOTE ALL THE WAY DOWN THE BALLOT!
NO ON PROP 8!

-Percy

Logo from Mombian

Super Sweet Sixteens Just Got Sweeter

MTV's My Super Sweet 16 just got sweeter! They are no longer just looking at over the top Sweet 16 parties. MTV wants to show a wider range of celebrations, showcasing just how creative these parties can be, at every budget!

Want to showcase your party and put it up against someone else's to see who comes out on top? You think you're ready for the Sweet 16 Battle? MTV is searching for teens, or planners putting on Sweet 16 parties in the next few months. You think your party has what it takes to stand out, even with only a $1000 budget?

If you are interested and you think you have what it takes to throw the perfect Sweet 16 party, please contact sweet16battle@mtvstaff.com and send them your party date and information. They are looking for people who are throwing parties between now and December 31, 2008.

-Percy

Photo from MTV

Love Poem (LOVE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL)

A wonderful PSA against CA Prop 8. I had to share. Californians VOTE NO on Prop 8 and keep love the greatest reason not to support this constitutional amendment!

-Percy

Video by BrytonFilm (Found on www.youtube.com)

NO on CA Prop 8 - YES to Equality

It's my political statement for the month and this one is very close to my heart. If you are a Californian, I urge you to VOTE NO on CA Prop 8, which would eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry. I also ask that you tell your friends, family and loved ones to do the same. The proponents of CA Prop 8 have put out ads that lie about what Prop 8 is and I just want to put the facts in front of all of you.

Fiction: Teaching children about same-sex marriage will happen here unless we pass Prop 8.

Fact: Not one word in Prop 8 mentions education, and no child can be forced, against the will of their parents, to be taught anything about health and family issues at school. California law prohibits it, and the Yes on 8 campaign knows they are lying. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley has already ruled that this claim by Prop 8 proponents is “false and misleading.”

Fiction: Churches could lose their tax-exemption status.

Fact: Nothing in Prop 8 would force churches to do anything. In fact, the court decision regarding marriage specifically says “no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs.”

Fiction: A Massachusetts case about a parent's objection to the school curriculum will happen here.

Fact: Unlike Massachusetts, California gives parents an absolute right to remove their kids and opt-out of teaching on health and family instruction they don't agree with. The opponents know that California law already covers this and Prop 8 won't affect it, so they bring up an irrelevant case in Massachusetts.

Fiction: Four Activist Judges in San Francisco…

Fact: Prop 8 is not about courts and judges, it's about eliminating a fundamental right. Judges didn't grant the right, the constitution guarantees the right. Proponents of Prop 8 use an outdated and stale argument that judges aren't supposed to protect rights and freedoms. This campaign is about whether Californians, right now, in 2008 are willing to amend the constitution for the sole purpose of eliminating a fundamental right for one group of citizens.

Fiction: People can be sued over personal beliefs.

Fact: California’s laws already prohibit discrimination against anyone based on race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. This has nothing to do with marriage.

Fiction: Pepperdine University supports the Yes on 8 campaign.

Fact: The university has publicly disassociated itself from Professor Richard Peterson of Pepperdine University, who is featured in the ad, and has asked to not be identified in the Yes on 8 advertisements.

Fiction: Unless Prop 8 passes, CA parents won't have the right to object to what their children are taught in school.

Fact: California law clearly gives parents and guardians broad authority to remove their children from any health instruction if it conflicts with their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Regardless of how you feel about same-sex marriage, we should not eliminate fundamental rights for ANY Californians. Please vote NO on Prop 8.

PS: Congrats to the State of Connecticut choosing EQUALITY and allowing to legalize same-sex marriages!

-Percy

Facts and Fiction from No On Prop 8
Photo by the Santa Barbara Independent (Wedding Day of Percy Sales and Ross Beardsley) 06/17/08 - Santa Barbara, California

Destination Couture

I heard about this fabulous mapmaker from another blog, Wedding Wire, who learned about it from the {ritzy bee} blog, and I am absolutely in love with her work and can't wait to suggest it to my future couples and party throwers! It's Couture Maps by Stephanie Barba.

Couture Maps by Stephanie Barba will customize a map specifically for your event in a whimsical style. It's perfect for any event and it's just cool to look at. A custom map by Couture Maps by Stephanie Barba take about 6 weeks to produce, from design concept to print, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

Check out her portfolio at Couture Maps by Stephanie Barba, she has some awesome examples of past maps that she is artistically made. She can make a map to fit an invitation you may have already purchased, or have her design an invitation with the map you want! Additionally, to match your couture map, their calligrapher can hand write the directions, step by step, in the same fashion of your one-of-a-kind road art.

Hope this guides you to the right location for providing directions to your event.

-Percy

Photo from Couture Maps by Stephanie Barba

Have A Sky-High Wedding

Brides.com is giving an opportunity to 14 lucky couples to have a Sky-High Wedding on top of the Empire State Building in New York City!

So enter today at Brides.com to tell them why you are deserving of this fabulous opportunity, submissions must be made by 11:59:59 ET on October 24, 2008.

If selected as one of the 14 couples you will get:

1. Get married in an intimate ceremony amongst family and friends, styled by the experts at Brides.com.
2. Have pre-wedding consultations by Brides.com editors.
3. Be pampered with hair and makeup for the bride.
4. Enjoy a champagne toast as a newlywed couple.
5. Receive a gift bag worth over $500 and so much more.

Good Luck!

-Percy

Photo from Brides.com

The Big 4-0 is Just Around the Corner

My 40th is just around the corner...well in March actually and I am trying to figure out what to do. I am torn between going to Paris/Prague with my family for a week and throwing a big 80s bash at some dilapidated warehouse and turning it to say something like The Palladium, DV8, The Limelight, Das Klub, Noh Club or Paradise Garage...throwing myself a Super Sweet 40th Party. I've even joked that it would be funny for my husband to surprise me with a mini-van rather than a luxury car.

Paris and Prague would be super fun, but with the economy being down, I think I would spend a lot more than throwing a party that my family and friends can come to. Paris and Prague will always be there...I keep telling myself.

I would really love to recreate the club scene of my youth and having people experience the sights and sounds that defined my "clubbing" days. Box dancers, cigar girls, thumping 80s modern rock and old school hip hop, and maybe even some impersonators doing impressions of my favorite singers of the time, such as Pete Burns and Boy George...did you hear that Kim Goodwin! I would really love to have my most favorite DJ ever, Paige Hodel, DJ the event and give it that Box vibe that I miss. The Box was my favorite funk, hip hop, gay and lesbian club in San Francisco...I was there every Thursday night sweatin' (literally) to Paige's ultra great sounds. Is it bad to go back to your hey day?

So I am torn on what to do. I know I can never get back the actual club scene I loved, but it sure would be fun trying to recreate it and mixing it all together. Paris and Prague has pluses because I just have to explore the city and J'aime Paris, but with a 4-year old in tow it would be less romantic than I have it envisioned in my head.

So sound in and tell me what you think I should do!

-Percy

Photo archive from The Palladium, NYC

Location Location Location - Casa Barranca in Ojai, CA

I'm giving props to a local estate and vacation rental in my hometown of Ojai, California. This 54 acre craftsman home nestled in the hills of the Ojai Valley is probably one of my favorite rental homes ever! It's called Casa Barranca.

Casa Barranca is surrounded with lush landscaping, incredible views and is the perfect backdrop for a wedding or event. It offers so many options for your event and guests. Additionally, the jaw dropping architecture and furnishings are sure to amaze. If you are staying in the home, you will be pampered not only by the staff but by the location. Talk about a time to relax!

The main house is called the Pratt House and "Architectural Digest notes that in the grace of the Pratt House "...the sun translates the Greenes' structural poetry into ever-shifting patterns of light against polished wood. At night... the silhouette of live oaks is framed against the Milky Way. A closer approximation to Shangri-La is hard to imagine."

Additionally, Casa Barranca also has their own organic vineyard and their wines are fabulous! Accoridng to the Casa Barranca Organic Wine Website, "Our boutique wines are handcrafted in our century old underground stone winery where we use gravity to rack our wines. We are committed to employing winemaking practices without the use of toxic solvents and cleaners. Our winery is powered by solar electricity and we grow and purchase grapes that are farmed without the use of any pesticides or herbicides. This is in keeping with the most time honored traditions of old world winemaking."

Visit the Casa Barranca Website for a virtual tour of the house. If you are interested in checking out this home and other retreat homes in the Ojai Valley, contact Judy Gabriel with Retreats of Ojai and she will be happy to show you what great estates and retreats Ojai has to offer.

-Percy

Photo from Casa Barranca

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