Written by our Founder and CEO, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life. Father’s Day is about honoring the men who have been our pillars of strength and sources of wisdom as we were growing up and beyond. It’s a day to celebrate their dedication and the countless ways they’ve shaped our lives, big and small. Many of us are lucky to still have our dads so that we can show our appreciation in person or over the phone ..read more

Nature is a great balm, a timeless way to balance your emotions. We speak of “grounding” when we are off balance for good reason. Contact with the ground ― literally dirt ― is good for you. This is especially true when you’ve lost a loved one. Gardening is so well-known to help the bereaved that experts use the term “grief gardening.” A memorial garden combines those mental health benefits for you with a special focus on your loved one. This may help visitors to your memorial garden experience healing as well when they visit alone or you reminisce together. Being sad is OK When bereaved, you ..read more

Written by our Founder and CEO, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life. As summer begins to heat up, we’re faced with several questions: Where do we go on vacation? Who are we inviting to the weekend barbecue? How are the kids spending their time away from school? And, very importantly, what do we give to dad for Father’s Day? That last question can be perplexing, judging by the questions I receive. Dads and all fat ..read more

“Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities in the world.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Flowers, in all their forms and colors, evoke an immediate warm connection and appreciation of beauty. They have been the subject of art, literature, poetry, and music, and have figured prominently in world religions and cultures. Why is that? Why are flowers such purveyors of pure emotion in the human heart? One reason is that flowers are available worldwide for everyone to see and experience, since they grow on all continents — including Antarctica! The old saying that “Beaut ..read more

A First Communion is not only a milestone event for a child and his or her family — it is a wonderful opportunity to bring together the people who play a role in the young person’s spiritual journey. While a First Communion celebration can vary in scale and style, it always is a joyful and meaningful gathering for all. The meaning of First Communion First Communion is a religious ceremony in Christian tradition during which a child in the church — usually one 7 or 8 years old — receives the Eucharist for the first time. It usually is part of a succession of events between baptism and confirm ..read more

Written by our Founder and CEO, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life. Over the four-plus years that I’ve been writing this letter, we’ve explored the many ways people can express themselves. Speech and written words certainly top the list, along with facial expressions, touch, and physical acts like giving a gift. But there’s another way people share their feelings, and it’s easy to overlook de ..read more

Roses are the royalty of the floral world and have become a universal expression of life and love. Their beauty captivates our hearts and has been the subject of art, literature, and music for millennia. The exquisite varieties we admire today are products of the ongoing, meticulous process of plant hybridization, a breeding technique in which two parents are artificially crossed to create offspring with desired characteristics. Early rose hybridization One hundred fifty wild species of roses and a staggering 30,000 cultivated varieties exist today. All these cultivars originated from crossin ..read more

First Communion is a significant milestone in the life of a young Catholic. It’s a sacred occasion during which children, usually at the age of 7 or 8, receive the Eucharist for the first time, symbolizing their growing faith and commitment to their religious beliefs. As friends and family gather to celebrate this special day, expressing your love, support, and blessings through a heartfelt card can mean the world to the communicant. But whether you choose a traditional message or craft your own personalized note, sometimes finding the right words can be challenging. If you’re struggling wit ..read more

Written by our Founder and CEO, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life. This weekend, we welcome the unofficial start of summer by firing up barbecues, opening our pools, and gathering outside with family and friends to embrace the return of warm weather. We’re also celebrating Memorial Day, one of our country’s most solemn holidays. The juxtaposition of revelry and solemnity is stark. After all, Memorial Day i ..read more

While Mother’s Day has its timeless standby gifts of flowers and candy with a heartfelt card, Father’s Day is a tougher parental holiday to gift for. Plenty of fantastic and well-deserving dads already have man caves, garages, and offices packed to the brim with necessities, collectibles, and other random doodads that men just can’t seem to get rid of. Then there are those dads who have kept their personal space free of clutter on purpose (often at mom’s request). Come Father’s Day, these are the guys who say they don’t really need anything. (The common refrain you’ll hear from them is: “Havi ..read more