gifts and registry

Whether you’re looking to give or receive, gifts are an important part of any marriage ceremony or bridal shower; do it with thought and care.

The Real Reason Oval Engagement Rings in London Look Bigger and Brighter
If you’ve been browsing engagement rings lately, especially in London, you’ve probably noticed one style standing out again and again — oval engagement rings. They look bigger, brighter, and somehow more elegant than many other shapes. But why is that?
By layladiamondsadarsh diamonds5 days ago in Marriage
The Unsent Confession
Mark was digging through the junk drawer in the kitchen. Not really digging, more like excavating. Years of forgotten keys, dried-up pens, crumpled receipts from hardware stores and takeaways, a single dice from some board game they hadn't played in a decade. Dust motes danced in the slivers of afternoon light cutting through the window above the sink, illuminating the detritus of their shared life. He was supposed to be looking for that tiny screwdriver Sarah needed for her reading glasses, but mostly, he was just procrastinating, enjoying the quiet hum of the fridge and the faint, almost nostalgic, smell of burnt toast from breakfast.
By HAADI7 days ago in Marriage
The Glint of Dust and Memory
Margo’s hands moved over the counter, muscle memory making the coffee. Two scoops for her, three for Arthur, just like always. The house was quiet, that morning quiet that had settled into their lives like a fine layer of dust on everything. Not heavy, not oppressive, but present. She could feel it in the air, the way the light from the kitchen window caught the motes dancing in the stillness. Another Tuesday. Another sunrise that promised nothing new, just another day to navigate.
By HAADI9 days ago in Marriage
Whispers in an Ancient Library
Elara traced the spine of a book, her finger leaving a pale line in the thick dust. Her arthritis hummed a low complaint in her knuckles, a familiar ache. Another Tuesday afternoon in the stacks. Thomas, her husband of forty-two years, was a shadow at the far end of the aisle, lost in the brittle pages of some medieval tome. The air in the old city library was always the same: dust motes suspended in the weak light from the tall, arched windows, the faint, comforting scent of aging paper and something else, something metallic and cold, like forgotten iron. She’d come here every Tuesday and Thursday since she retired, not because she loved the musty quiet, but because he was here. He always was.
By HAADI14 days ago in Marriage
The Glass Below
The resort suite was too quiet. Too plush, too perfect, another stage set for a life they didn't live anymore. Sarah picked at a loose thread on the expensive duvet cover, her gaze fixed on the endless turquoise spread of the Caribbean outside the oversized window. Fifteen years. Fifteen years since the day she'd convinced herself Mark was the one, since she’d seen a future so bright it hurt her eyes. Now, the glare off the water just made them ache.
By HAADI16 days ago in Marriage
Moon-Dusted Floors
The house was settling in for the night, groaning its old bones. Sarah stacked the last plate in the dishwasher, the machine’s hum a dull throb against the quiet. Mark was in the living room, a silhouette against the blue glow of the television, a sports game he wasn’t really watching. They’d barely spoken since dinner, not out of malice, just a tired sort of silence that had become another piece of the furniture, heavy and always there. She dried her hands on a dishtowel that had seen better days, smelling faintly of lemon cleaner and the chili they'd eaten.
By HAADI18 days ago in Marriage
The Unwinding
Arthur wrestled the damn thing through the doorway, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The grandfather clock was taller than him, dark oak, ornate, and smelled faintly of dust and forgotten cigars. It was another one of his 'finds,' dragged home from a dusty estate sale he’d sworn was going to yield a fortune. Clara stood in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised. "Another relic, Art? What’s this one supposed to do, tell us it's time for the apocalypse?"
By HAADI19 days ago in Marriage
The Ghost of Ballynahown
Eleanor folded laundry, the familiar smell of fabric softener clinging to the clean cotton, but her mind drifted. Not to the kids' school forms, not to the grocery list tacked to the fridge. To the salt spray of Ballynahown. Mark’s Ballynahown. She’d never set foot on that rocky shore, never felt the wind whipping off the Atlantic that he swore tasted different, colder, cleaner. But she knew it. Knew the way the low, winter light hit the thatched roofs, saw the faint sheen of rain on the cobblestones, heard the distant, mournful cry of gulls. It was a place she’d built, brick by imaginary brick, from Mark’s stories.
By HAADI25 days ago in Marriage
Puddle Light
The rain was a cold, insistent whisper against Sarah's collar, clinging to the strands of her hair. It ran in dirty rivulets down the brick walls of the diner they’d just left, blurring the harsh yellow glow of the 'OPEN' sign. Tom walked a step ahead, his shoulders hunched, the cheap umbrella doing little to keep the wind from whipping droplets onto his back. He didn’t offer to share it. Not really. Just held it over his own head, a silent, flimsy barrier between him and the night, between him and her.
By HAADI26 days ago in Marriage
The Unwinding Hour
Sarah found the grandfather clock more of an obstacle than an antique, its dark, brooding presence a permanent fixture in their too-small living room. It was Mark’s inheritance, a hulking oak beast that had swallowed up half the light from the bay window for twenty years, chiming with an irritating, slightly off-key bong every quarter hour. Or, it used to. For the last five years, it had stood silent, a mausoleum for time, its hands frozen at a permanent 3:47. She’d stopped noticing it, really. It was just part of the furniture, like the stain on the rug under Mark’s favorite armchair, or the way he always left his coffee cup by the sink instead of in it.
By HAADI27 days ago in Marriage
Comedian Andy Dick Reportedly Found Unresponsive in Hollywood After Apparent Overdose — What We Know So Far
Comedian Andy Dick, 59, is back in the headlines after being reportedly found unresponsive on a Hollywood street following an apparent overdose, according to a widely circulated report. The incident raised immediate concern among fans as emergency services rushed to the scene to assist the actor.
By X Crimeabout a month ago in Marriage
The Unwinding Hours
Arthur and Eleanor’s house hummed with the quiet inertia of fifty years. The silence between them wasn't hostile, merely worn smooth, like a river stone. Their days unfolded in predictable patterns: separate newspapers over lukewarm coffee, the rustle of Eleanor’s knitting needles, Arthur’s murmured commentaries on the evening news. The old mantelpiece, usually a shrine to dust and faded photographs, gained a new occupant one Tuesday afternoon. Eleanor found it at Mrs. Henderson’s estate sale, nestled amongst chipped porcelain and tarnished silver: a squat, mahogany pendulum clock, its face a creamy enamel, Roman numerals elegantly etched. There was something in its stillness, a silent defiance, that called to her. She brought it home, a quiet rebellion against the encroaching stillness. Arthur, peering over his spectacles, merely grunted, "Another dust collector, El?"
By HAADIabout a month ago in Marriage