He popped the question and you are engaged! You have the ring now your next step is to find that perfect location to hold your big party and reception. We have put together an archive of many popular reception halls that have a perfect setting for any price range from all over the beautiful state of Alabama.

Kings Inn
Reception and Rehearsal Dinners fit for the new King and Queen Dothan, AL 334-793-9871

The Carrawy-Davie House and Conference Center
Wedding facility and Events Center Birmingham, AL 205-956-4472

Embassy Suites
Hotel Birmingham, AL 205-879-7400 ext.195

Von Braun Center
Multipurpose facilty able to accommodate your wedding celebration. Huntsville, AL 256-551-2242

Alabama Belle Hotel Resort
The Alabama Bell is a gorgeous hotel resort built as a nineteenth century paddlewheel riverboat on Lake Weiss. With luxury rooms and a large Antebellum Ballroom, the Alabama Belle is perfect for weddings. Centre, AL 866-252-2355

Rosewood Hall at SoHo Square
Rosewood Hall at SoHo Square encompasses a contemporary design and is the ideal place for your perfect wedding reception. It features three separate rooms, which can be combined along with the Terrazo area to accommodate up to 600 guests. Homewood, AL 205-332-6119

Bragg-Mitchell Mansion
The Bragg-Mitchell Mansion is one of the Gulf Coast’s grandest antebellum mansions. We offer free bridal consulting and event planning to make YOUR day more special and worry-free! Mobile, AL 251-471-6364

We hope you will find among this elegant collection of reception sites, a reception hall, banquet facility or wedding site that will fit your style and taste. Next step… your wedding dress and favors!

Ashley Rader is the owner of Moments of Elegance, an online wedding boutique specializing in momentsofelegance.com wedding favors, momentsofelegance.com/catalog/place-card-holders-c-53.html unique placecard holders and a huge collection of momentsofelegance.com/catalog/bridesmaid-totes-c-104.html bridesmaid totes that will say thank you with style and will truly make your event unforgettable. Event planners can receive 10% off their order with coupon code: saveonfavors10.

Have you ever walked up to a girl, said, “Hi” and then just stood there in an awkward moment because you didn’t have anything to say? Have you ever said something that you thought was really clever when you approached a woman but after that things went down hill because you couldn’t think up something good and original to talk about?

I’ve found that a lot of people don’t realize the importance of story telling when talking to virtually anyone. When you have good conversations with someone, you tell stories back and forth. That’s how casual conversations are made.

One way that it might happen is that you bring up a subject. You might ask a question, give a statement or make some type of hook to create intrigue in what you’re about to say. For example, you might say something like, “The craziest thing happened to me today” or “Do you remember that girl I met at such and such bar?”

After the initial hook, whoever you are talking to will typically tell a story or give some acknowledgement of what you’re talking about. If they don’t tell a story, you’ll usually lead into a story. When you get finished telling your story, the person you are talking to will typically link something from your story to something that happened to them and then the same thing happens when you link something to their story.

You are in the process known as rapport. You are sharing linked experiences from your life with another person. If the other person doesn’t create a link to your story or you don’t to theirs, the conversation ends and you must bring up another topic to continue conversing.

When you approach a woman, you’re going to have to do the majority of the talking. You just walked up to a stranger and started a conversation. It will take a little while for them to get into your world. You absolutely need to be prepared for this because it will happen. This is absolutely essential.

So, you might as well start off telling stories from the very beginning. Yeah, you can say something about the situation you are in or make a joke about something as the first thing you say. But, you need to have some stories prepared ahead of time so that you don’t get caught with nothing to say.

That’s right… you need to prepare stories ahead of time. Its great if you can walk up to a girl and just start immediately talking about things, get her interest and maintain for a long period of time. But, what if you run out of things to say and can’t think of anything?

You need to have a default thing to say at all times. You need to have a story that you can sit there and talk about that you’ve prepared ahead of time that will keep her interest while you think of other things to talk and she gets into the talking mood with you.

So, the next question naturally is… what do I talk about? That’s a good question. I’ve found that the absolute best thing to talk about is something that has to do with relationships. Women LOVE to talk about relationships, what they think about them and all the drama and emotions involved in them.

I’ll give you an example. And you know what? You can go ahead and use this one when you’re talking to the next girl you meet. In fact, after you tell this story, I want you to get back on here and email me and tell me what type of a reaction the girl had when you tell this story. Email me at comments@datethewomenofyourdreams.com and tell me about it.

Here’s how the story goes:

“Hey, get this… if you went on a first date, would you expect rose peddles and candle light?”

Wait for her to answer… then say,

“I met this girl at a bar about two weeks ago. We had a pretty good conversation. We talked for about an hour and I got her number. I gave her a call a few days later. She asked me if I wanted to go to her place for dinner. I agreed and ended up showing up the next day for dinner.

When I got there, she had candles lit, romantic music playing and laid out rose peddles all over the dinner table. And guess what she cooked for dinner… she cooked a turkey. Not like turkey slices or sandwiches or something. She cooked an entire turkey.

So, I’m thinking, this girl is crazy. But, I decided to stay and eat anyway. And the meal was pretty good. It was like Thanksgiving all over again. We had stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn. It was crazy.

When we got done eating… I went and sat down on the couch. This girl comes up, sits next to meet, scoots up close to me and then gives me these innocent eyes. I got up and was like, “Hey, it was really nice to meet you… dinner was great… but, I’m sorry, I really have to go” I mean, imagine if I would have done something with her. She’d be stalking me right now… you’re not a stalker are you?”

That’s the story. Guaranteed to make women interested in what you’re saying. Try it, email me and let me know how the story went. Make sure you know the story when you say it, act it out and tell it in details enough to get women to visualize what you’re saying. You’ll see a dramatic difference.

Great stuff huh? Well, let me tell you something. This little story that I gave you will get you into the game. But, it won’t win the game for you. There’s a lot more to creating attraction with women than just saying something or telling a story. This will get you in the playing field but you’re going to need a little bit more.

You can learn about this stuff inside my book, “Date the Women of Your Dreams”. You’ll learn all of my favorite techniques for creating attraction with women all the way to getting physical with them.

Matt Buschbacher teaches men all across the world how to meet and date women. He offers books, audio programs, seminars and workshops where he takes people into social venues and teaches them how to meet women. Visit his site at datethewomenofyourdreams.com/ datethewomenofyourdreams.com/ and download a free sample of his book as well as get other great information about women and dating that will cut years off of your learning process.

An innovative program called Community Support Advisory Council (CSAC), an initiative of the Illinois Department of Corrections, is helping hundreds of ex-offenders learn how to become productive citizens while providing loving support to their families.

The work begins at the Sheridan Correctional Center, dedicated solely to drug treatment in the state of Illinois. Through CSAC, the formerly incarcerated meet with community and block leaders on a weekly basis right in their community, to find ways to re-enter society without returning to crime.

James Coleman, Project Director for CSAC’s Prisoner Re-Entry Services program, is an African-American minister, former chef and a formerly incarcerated individual himself. He helps former prisoners see the possibilities of a new life, from both inside and outside the Sheridan prison. Through his work with CSAC, Coleman serves as a liaison between the corrections system and the community, visiting men while they are in prison, and helping them with support when they return home. He also makes policy recommendations to the Department of Corrections and helps develop best practices which can be duplicated throughout Illinois prisons.

Block leaders and other interested community residents can attend a monthly meeting, where they meet with parole officers, police, social service providers and formerly incarcerated individuals, to discuss ways to help the returning inmate keep from returning to a life of crime. At these meetings, formerly incarcerated men are often given awards and citations for staying clean and “doing the right thing.”

CSAC also assists ex-offenders with housing, job leads and other immediate needs. Weekly Overcomers Group Meetings offer ex-offenders and their families an opportunity to share their troubles and find support from each other and the broader community.

“It’s really about relationship building,” explains Coleman, with a ready smile. “Sixty percent of the population in the Sheridan prison is from the Chicago area. Some are ready for change, and some aren’t. About 80% of ex-offenders from Sheridan come to our offices.” Most are African-American, like himself.

“I work by teaching the job preparedness and training classes,” says Coleman. “I talk with every individual. I inform them of changes in their community during their incarceration and what services are available to them upon their release. They’re invited to our office after their release for whatever they need.”

Sheridan Prison uses the Gateway Foundation and the Safer Foundation to assist inmates with developing social, life and job skills while they are incarcerated, but the role of the community in providing an infrastructure for the returning inmates cannot be minimized. Coleman has witnessed miracles happen through CSAC’s Overcomers group meetings. “The meetings are faith-based; and all are welcome,” says Coleman. “When I started the meetings in 2004, I wanted to teach from the Bible, but that’s not what God wanted. People needed to talk…to understand that the power to change was within themselves. It’s just awesome to see how people are beginning to understand their own capacity through their own faith.”

Coleman reflects on the progress of CSAC over the past two years with satisfaction. “We’ve made a great difference. About 60% of the Austin’s residents are directly impacted by someone in their family who has been incarcerated.” Yet the impact of the change is difficult to measure. He relates a story of a young girl, who considered suicide while her father was incarcerated. Through the support from the CSAC’s Overcomers meetings, she gained hope and strength to overcome her suicidal thoughts, and now attends meetings with her father at her side.

Walter Terry, 34, an ex-offender, who now is drug-free and holds a full-time job at Streetwise says, “You have to be active, positive. My job is my foundation. In my spare time, I make meetings. It all plays a part. It’s good to talk about your feelings. If you don’t deal with your feelings, your feelings will deal with you.”

“It’s inspirational,” says Sedrick Waller, 45, an ex-offender whose life has totally turned around. “The meetings feed the body, mind and spirit. People come from all walks of life… looking for a way out. It helped me to keep my commitment to a new way of life, and made me feel like I belonged to someplace. People embrace you for who are you. It’s my family outside of my family… they let you know you’re not alone.” Waller, now employed as an ambulance driver, got married and pays rent. “God makes a way out of no way. Now, I’m giving back to others.” Waller was in and out of the penitentiary eight times, and encourages others to have hope. He has also connected six ex-offenders to employment opportunities.

Stanley Owens, 27, a student in the last stage of getting his truck-driving license, looks forward to the weekly meetings. “Anytime I have questions, I can go to the CSAC meetings for support. You can get good advice; you can’t go wrong.”

Reginald Banks, 39, one of the original members of the Overcomers meetings, now serves as an Outreach Workers at CSAC. “It gave me a whole lot of different outlets. I learned how to stay out of prison, and not go back to the old routines, like using and selling drugs. If you have the mindset to do it, anything’s possible.”

Lynn Sanders is President of Park Avenue Productions, a full-service writing and production company, which creates motivational, promotional and educational films, along with marketing and publicity to make a positive difference to the world.

If you are over 40 and dating there is a trap that you need to be aware of so that you can avoid it. It is the trap of negativity. It can rear its ugly head in your online dating profile, in your dating emails, and during actual dates themselves.

Why is it that over 40s and 50s may be particularly prone to negativity? It is because they most likely have some failed relationships behind them, or they may lack confidence in the dating arena. It may be many years since someone of this age group has been a date. They may be self-conscious, even unsure of themselves. Being over-conscious of your age can in itself lead to negative attitudes.

To begin with, you must be ultra-positive about yourself. Age and the appearance of ageing are not themselves negative things, because the people you are looking to date are most likely of your own age group, so experiencing the same things themselves. Take a moment to think about the positive characteristics you can offer somebody else in a dating relationship. Concentrate on these, your strengths, and you will feel much better about yourself.

When it comes to joining a subscription dating service and writing your online profile, avoid negativity like the plague! Your online profile is your ad in which you present yourself to the world. You must come across as upbeat and positive, not complaining about anything, or seeming doubtful about even being a member of the service. Such things are a complete turn-off for other over 40 singles browsing the personals. Presumably you want to attract people to click on your profile, not put them off?

When it comes to emailing other over 40 or over 50 singles, again be upbeat and positive. Do not ramble on about mistakes of the past or failed relationships or things that could go wrong. Instead concentrate on the good things in your life, and always make an effort to understand the person you are writing to and to take an interest in their life.

It is when it comes to going on an actual date that some people over 40 are most likely to let themselves down. Many over 40s have reported that their dates have a tendency to talk about previous dates they have been on which ended in failure. This is the last thing that somebody on a date wants to hear about — other dates that failed!

Nor do those dating singles over 40 or 50 want to hear about the grisly details of their relationship with their ex. Leave your relationship with your ex where it belongs, in the past, and concentrate instead on the present and the future.

Be positive rather than negative when dating over 40 or over 50 singles and you are much more likely to have a successful new relationship.

Resource Box: For more on dating singles over 40 and over 50 visit: singledating.com/40.html Single Lady Over 40. Stephanie Constantina writes for singledating.com/ Single Dating. For Senior Personals over 60 go to singledating.com/senior-personals.html Senior Personals over 60. You are granted license to use this article in your website or ezine provided you make no alterations and keep all links, anchor texts, html, etc. in the Resource Box intact.