Online dating can be fun, and I know a few people who have fallen in love. My daughter and (now) son-in-law met in a chatroom for “computer geeks”, definitely not an online dating site, but he and my daughter met “online”. They found they had lots in common and corresponded for almost a year before they decided to meet in person. The rest is history. It was a match made in heaven.I admit I was horrified at first. I simply didn’t trust him. He lived in England; she, in the USA. I was constantly warning her to be careful; be cautious; be alert. She took my advice and didn’t neglect safety and common sense. They have now been married for almost eight years. and have a wonderful life together.

Many people would like to find someone online but they are fearful - and with good reason. There are many horror stories. But you can have success if you will be patient and take the necessary precautions. I will write more about this in the future but for now, at minimum, take caution in the following areas.

Protect Your Computer

Take care of your equipment and systems before you head out into the Internet realm. You need to have a firewall and anti-virus protection for your email and for when you search websites and interact online. At the bare minimum, you may want these two solutions that are offered at no charge to home computer users (i.e. not for commercial use):

Firewall Download: Free Firewall
Anti-Virus Program: Avast - www.avast.com

Protect Yourself

Take care of yourself, too, by choosing appropriate dating sites (or, chat rooms). You should search for and choose onlyt reputable online dating services or companies who offer chat room facilities. Ask advice from friends, neighbors, co-workers and others you may know who have tried online dating, and see which places they recommend. In addition, search “online dating services” and keep a notebook of their URLs or website links, the fees, rules and regulations, complete contact information of each and any other useful information that spikes your interest. Then compare each place. Try only those places where you feel safe. Avoid the others.

These are the minimum precautions to take. Browse around truesoulmate.com and you will find other suggestions and tips on safe online dating. Take care. Arm your computer – and yourself- with the correct tools and knowledge!

~Linda

Depending on the size of your wedding the budget for your wedding favors can be very important. This is important because you may want to provide a favor for each guest or one for each couple. Whichever you decide a large number of guests will greatly impact the amount you can afford to spend on each favor. If you are only have a few guests you may be able to splurge on more expensive favors. However, if you are expecting a large number of guests on a limited budget you should consider searching for inexpensive wedding favor ideas.

Candles are one of the simplest ideas for cheap wedding favors. You can find simple candles available at very affordable prices. You might even consider purchasing personalized ribbons to tie pretty bows around the candles. These ribbons can usually be ordered and may include your names and the wedding date. This may sound like a pricey item but if you purchase these ribbons on a reel instead of precut it can be very affordable. A simple taper candle tied with your personalized ribbon can be placed at each place setting to create a really inexpensive wedding favor.

Candy is another low cost wedding favor idea. There are a number of different ways to give out candy as an inexpensive wedding favor. One way is to purchase a pretty fabric and some ribbon in the colors of your wedding theme, cut the fabric into small squares, put a few small pieces of candy on each square and pull the corners together and tie with the ribbon. This is not only a very inexpensive wedding favor idea but it is also a very simple idea which can be assembled at the last minute. Another way to use candy as a wedding favor is to purchase small tins and fill them with the candy of your choice. You can purchase the candy in bulk to keep the price down and separate the candy into small portions for each guest. A final way to give candy as a wedding favor is to buy candy bars with personalized wrappers. The wrappers can include your name and wedding date and even a picture of the two of you. This can be very affordable especially if you are ordering in bulk and are only using one design for the wrappers.

Packets of flower or vegetable seed also make great wedding favors which are also very inexpensive. You can stack up a few different types of seeds and tie each with a ribbon to create an attractive presentation which will not blow your budget. Another way to give flower or vegetable seeds as a wedding favor is to put the seeds in a small pot. The pot does not have to be big enough to grow the flower or vegetable it is merely a symbolic gift so it can be rather small. The pot only needs to be large enough to hold the packets of seeds. This is important because small pots can be purchased rather inexpensively while larger pots will be significantly higher priced.

Another great idea for an affordable wedding favor is a pen with the names of the bride and groom as well as the wedding date inscribed on the pen. These can often be purchased for very little and can be paired with stationary and a note encouraging your guests to stay in touch. This is a wonderful idea for a wedding favor because it is something your guests can really use plus by including some stationary and a note encouraging the guest to stay in touch you are letting them know you truly value their friendship. You might want to even consider including a self addressed stamped envelop with the favor so your guest will be more likely to follow your suggestion and send you at least a short note after the wedding.

~Linda