Category: Special Moments Page 3 of 8

Stories about staying connected with loved ones.

What to Keep in Mind When Preparing for a Summer Wedding

On July 18, 2019

Summer may be the most popular time for weddings, but that doesn’t guarantee a hitch-free ceremony! If you’re tying the knot at the height of the season, make sure to cover all bases by following these tips.

Dress for summer.

While spiffy suits and heavy beaded gowns register beautifully in photos, it can be a bit uncomfortable for summer, especially if you’re holding an outdoor event. To keep everyone smiling throughout the day, make sure you and your guests are clad in light, chic outfits in cool fabrics. Try linen suits for guys, and draped jersey dresses for the ladies.

Be mindful of the drinks you’ll serve.

Stick to light, refreshing beverages early in the ceremony and reception, as alcohol and frozen concoctions might make your guests more parched. Opt for light, refreshing juices or iced teas, and invite your guests to help themselves to bottles of water.

Consider practical wedding giveaways.

Summer weddings inspire a range of creative keepsakes your guests will use long after your big day. If you’re having an outdoor ceremony, Panama hats, fans, and sunglasses will make for great souvenirs. Luggage tags will complement their summer vacation plans, while chic utensil sets will help them make more eco-friendly decisions.

For your entourage, a more personal memento that celebrates your relationships will be a suitable gift. A Nixplay Smart Frame pre-loaded with all your favorite photos and videos would be appreciated not just in summer, but throughout the rest of the year as well.

Keep your guests cool.

An outdoor ceremony at the height of summer can be absolutely gorgeous–and absolutely sweltering. Help your guests keep their cool by setting up tents and air coolers, and distribute water misters to help them stay cool.

Have a Plan B venue for outdoor weddings.

We’re sure you’ve checked the weather forecast several times ahead of your big day, but still, you never know when it might rain! Tents can provide refuge in case of a sudden drizzle, and they will also come in handy if the sun shines a bit too brightly.

How to Take Your Dad’s Birthday to the Next Level

By Kiley Morrow

On July 12, 2019

In Special Moments

Dads are some of the most special people in our lives. Life advice, childhood memories in the playground, and unending support—these are just some of the things you’ll thank him for. And there’s no better way to do this than by giving your Dad the most incredible birthday.

From the moment he wakes up to the end of his birthday week, here’s how you can take your Dad’s birthday to the next level.

Start the morning right

Serve him breakfast in bed

Sometimes, it’s best to take a tip from the old days when you want to start your Dad’s birthday the right way. Just before he usually wakes up, take the time to make him a tasty, nutritious breakfast. Aside from giving him all the energy he needs for his birthday extravaganza, it’s also a great way of showing him how much you care.

Play it safe by cooking him a hearty fry-up breakfast, complete with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

Get him the best present

Stick to something personal

You could go all-out and get your Dad an expensive present, but the best gifts usually come from the heart. These days, most people tend to start with a smaller, personal gift, before presenting him with a showstopper. Anything from handmade knitwear to a monogrammed leather wallet is sure to do the trick. Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of getting your Dad something he will never use, or something that he already owns.

Then for a showstopping gift, why not give a luxurious gift with a personalized touch? With a range of personalized cookery sets and digital photo frames on the market, finding a special present is cheaper and easier than ever.

Give him an experience

It turns out that 74% of Americans value experiences over possessions. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that weekend breaks and memorable parties are becoming a great way to celebrate a birthday.

These go perfectly alongside special, material gifts, and can include anything from weekend breaks to days at the beach. Some people prefer to plan these kinds of experiences for big birthdays, like the big 5-0.

Hold a birthday party to remember

Choose the perfect cake

No birthday party is complete without a cake. It doesn’t matter how old your dad is—you’re bound to find a cake that suits him.

Don’t fall into the trap of buying an ordinary sponge cake that you can find in most bakeshops (unless it’s his favorite). Instead, head to your local baker and tell them exactly what your Dad loves. You can also ask them to decorate the cake with designs that mean a lot to him.

If your Dad doesn’t have a sweet tooth, consider making a ‘cake’ out of his favorite food. One popular option is baking mini pies and arranging them in the shape of a cake.

Invite all his loved ones

Birthday parties are a special occasion. This means your Dad may want to have all his loved ones around him when he celebrates his big day. Take the pressure off your Dad, create a guest list, and send out invites to his closest friends and family. This is also a great way of turning his party into a surprise, as he won’t know anything about it. Remember that some guests may live far away, but they are sure to go the distance if it is a special birthday you are celebrating.

Secure attendance from your guests by creating personalized invitations by hand, or using some nifty online templates.

Choose some fun entertainment

When people have traveled from all over to attend the party, you’ll want to make sure everyone stays entertained. One of the best ways of doing this is by setting a theme for your party, as this is the kind of entertainment that takes care of itself.

Popular ideas include casino nights, the Great Gatsby, or a Hollywood party. Accompany your theme with a killer playlist. You may even wish to hire a local band to play some of your Dad’s favorite tunes.

Make it last forever

Extend the party

Your Dad’s birthday celebration need not last just one day! If you’re set on giving your Dad the most memorable birthday ever, consider celebrating the occasion throughout the week. This doesn’t mean having a party every night. On one night, you could go out for a family meal, and on another, you could have a fun day out together. This is also an excellent solution if your Dad doesn’t have much family to celebrate with, or if he’s not a party person.

Take some special photographs

Birthdays don’t last forever, but memories can.

The best way to do this is by taking some high-quality images of your dad’s big day. If you don’t have a camera that you can use to commemorate your dad’s birthday, it’s worth taking a look at this roundup of the best digital cameras of 2019 to see if there’s one that suits you. If these options are too expensive, buy a lot of disposable cameras and hand them out at the party. You’ll get some fun, vintage-feel photographs that can be printed and scanned onto a CD.

And when you’ve developed the images, don’t hide them away in a photo album. Display them in your Dad’s home using a Nixplay Photo Frame, so he can relive memories of this incredible birthday.

5 Cool Dads We Admire

By Nixplay Team

On June 14, 2019

In Special Moments

Fatherhood isn’t easy, with its fair share of late nights, dirty diapers, toddler tantrums, and teenage angst. However, some dads make it look like a walk in the park (and no, we don’t mean Jurassic Park). Here are some utterly cool dads whom we look up to.

Will Smith

Will Smith isn’t just a fantastic Genie: the Aladdin star is also a certified cool dad to Willow and Jaden, his children with Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Trey, his son with his first wife, Sheree Zampino.

“We respect our children the way we would respect any other person,” said Will in an interview with Haute Living. “Things like cleaning up their room. You would never tell a full-grown adult to clean their room, so we don’t tell our kids to clean their rooms. Actually, we tell our kids ‘you don’t have a room, that’s our room and we are letting you borrow it.’”

David Beckham

David Beckham, the more handsome half of the power couple known as Posh and Becks, juggles a successful football career, multiple endorsements and events, and fatherhood with much aplomb. It wasn’t easy, though.

“I didn’t want to miss a second, but of course there were times that I couldn’t be there. I feared they would do something for the first time and I wouldn’t be there to see it,” he wrote in an essay for Men’s Health. “I knew that spending as much quality time with my kids as I could, especially when they were young, was the most important thing in the world…I also realized pretty quickly, that there are never enough hours in the day to do all the things we want to do with our kids so as long as we make whatever the time available to us quality time, where we are present, as dads we’re winning.”

Gordon Ramsay

The Hell’s Kitchen host may be terrifying towards adults who are hopelessly inept in the kitchen, but he’s quite a softie when it comes to kids. You can see Gordon’s tender side on Masterchef Junior, where he mentors young kitchen geniuses, as well as on Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, where he banters with his cheeky children. He has also been very vocal about keeping his kids grounded despite his family’s fame.

In an article on The Telegraph, the top chef explains that his younger years were rough, and that he worked very hard so that his kids wouldn’t go through the same thing. “They have a completely different life than I did growing up. I worked [very hard] to get out of the mess that I grew up in and they’re grateful, they’re not spoilt.”

Prince William

Prince William’s children, George, Charlotte, and Louis, inspire him to do everything he can to make the world a better place.

“I worry about the future more,” he says when asked about how fatherhood changed his life in an article on Vanity Fair. “When you have something or someone in your life to give the future to, I think it focuses the mind more about what you’re giving them, and are you happy that you’ve done all you can to leave it in a good state.”

Barack Obama

What’s better than being the 44th President of the United States of America? For Barack Obama, it’s spending time with his daughters, Malia and Sasha. This is a hands-on dad who, despite occupying the most powerful position in the world, still coached Sasha’s grammar school basketball team and took the time to have a proper dinner with his family five times a week.

“It is in my capacities as a husband and a father that I entertain the most doubt,” Pres. Obama confesses in a Washington Post article. “I am a black man who grew up without a father, and I know the cost that I paid for that…And I also know that I have the capacity to break that cycle, and as a consequence, I think my daughters are better off.”

This Father’s Day, make sure to let the fathers in your life know just how much they mean to you by reminding them of your most treasured moments together. Place your favorite photos on a Nixplay Frame, and give it to dad–he’ll be in for a sweet surprise. Plus, we’re making it even sweeter: Get up to 25% off Nixplay and NIX frames, only until June 16!

Will Smith image via Wikimedia.

How A Professional Photo Organizer Preserves A Family’s Milestones

By Patty Hopp

On September 13, 2018

In Special Moments

Nixplay has partnered with the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO) for the Save Your Photos initiative, a public service outreach campaign that teaches individuals how they can preserve life’s irreplaceable photos, videos, and documents in case of an unforeseen accident or disaster. Visit the Save Your Photos website for more information.

Major family milestones, such as weddings and birthdays, should never pass by undocumented. As such, people are willing to invest in the services of professional photographers and videographers who can best capture the celebration’s spirit. However, what do you do with your beautiful photos and videos in the wake of your family’s event?

This is where professional photo organizers like Patty Hopp come in. Patty, along with the other members of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO), helps her clients tell their stories better by immortalizing their memories in photo books, videos, and framed images.

“I love working with my clients’ photo collections, and especially love all the stories that go with the photos,” Patty shares.

One of Patty’s long-time clients is Mary, who belongs to a large family with members living across the globe. Mary’s family has decades’ worth of photos that needed to be stored properly, and Patty’s services quickly proved invaluable.

‘I started working with Patty several years ago to help me organize photos for my son’s high school graduation,” says Mary. “I have several thousand print photos and just as many digital photos, and they are not all organized yet. It’s a work in progress with four generations of photos, and we are still taking lots of photos every day.”

Over the past ten years or so, Patty has worked on numerous projects for Mary’s family. These include print photo organizing, digital photo organizing, scanning photos, and creating several photo books.

The photo organization process

Photos have the power to elicit fond memories, and Patty uses this to her advantage.

“During my first meeting with a new client, I ask if they have a big upcoming event such as a high school graduation or a 50th wedding anniversary,” shares Patty. “If there is a special event, then I like to set up monthly photo goals to make photos a big part of their event.”

One of the biggest projects she worked on was the 50th wedding anniversary of Mary’s parents, for which she created a photo book and a video to be shown during the celebration.

“The video and the photo book were to include the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary, their two children and spouses, their 11 grandchildren, two of which are married, and their little great-granddaughter,” recalls Patty.

“To complete this project, I worked with Mary and with a daughter who lives in Virginia. I loved gathering all the pictures and stories to create a video that they loved and a photo book that they still treasure.”

The video and the photo book brought so much joy to Mary’s family, and it easily became one of Patty’s favorite projects.

Recalling forgotten memories

Like any other profession, being a professional photo organizer has its own set of challenges.

“The most challenging part of my job is helping the client understand that it will take time to organize their images, especially if they have thousands of photos,” Patty says.

To hasten the organization process, Patty sets up Nixplay frames for her clients so they can enjoy their photos and recall the best moments of their lives. She recently set up a Nixplay Seed 13.3-inch Widescreen Wi-Fi Frame to display the milestones of Mary’s family, which they loved.

“Our son and his family came to visit last month from Germany. While they were visiting, we surprised them with photos on our Nixplay,” says Mary. “Many of the pictures that Patty put on our Nixplay were of our son when he was little and we lived in Germany. They loved seeing pictures of what things looked like in Germany many years ago and how much things have changed over the years.”

“I believe that everyone has a story to tell and your family photos are the best way to do that. Your pictures are truly priceless and are worth enjoying and sharing with your family,” adds Patty.

“Nixplay frames have helped families once again enjoy the fun times in their lives.”

*Photos are for illustrative purposes only.

Patty Hopp

Patty Hopp lives in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan with her husband and two children. She is a professional photo organizer, a member of APPO (Association of Personal Photo Organizers), and is the owner of Pictures of You. She believes that everyone has a story to tell and her passion is to help her clients tell their story. For the past 16 years, Patty has helped clients enjoy their favorite photos in photo books, framed photos, and in digital photo frames.

Through Thick and Thin: 15 Reasons To Be Thankful for Your Family

By Mars Salazar

On July 31, 2018

In Special Moments

You can’t choose your relatives, but you can choose the people you consider your family.

Your next-door neighbors, whom you grew up with and who would always help you whenever you needed anything. They’re family.

Your friends from school, whom you forged a bond with while facing bullies and finishing projects. You rarely see them, but know you can count on them. They’re family.

The fellow backpackers you met on the road during your vacation in Europe whom you instantly bonded with, who took care of you when you got sick, and who made your trip infinitely memorable. They’re family.

They’re your rock, your source of support. They’ve seen you go through all of life’s ups and downs, and they’ll stay by your side and help you face everything life throws your way.

And you wouldn’t be where you are right now without them.

Now, here’s why you should be thankful for your family.

15 Reasons to be Thankful for Your Family

1. You can count on them to cheer you up when you’re feeling down.

2. They’re always willing to listen.

3. They love you for who you are and actually appreciate your quirks.

4. You can trust them with your deepest secrets, and they can trust you with theirs.

5. They’re your biggest cheerleaders.

6. They forgave you for all the regrettable things you’ve done to them.

7. They’ll wholeheartedly support everything you do.

8. They can still surprise you, even when you think you’re unflappable.

9. You can count on them to always be on your team.

10. They always have your best interests at heart.

11. Need someone to shop or dine with? They’ve got you.

12. They took care of you when you were sick.

13. You never want to leave when you’re in their company.

14. They always see and bring out the best in you.

15. They always feel like home.

Here at Nixplay, we believe that your bond with your family is always worth celebrating. For Nixplay Family Week, we’re giving you the chance to show your loved ones how much they mean to you by giving them their own Nixplay Wi-Fi Frame.

For a limited time, you can get your own Nixplay Iris at up to 35 percent off. The more frames you buy, the greater the discount you get–all the more reason to get Nixplay Frames for you and your family. After all, what better way to celebrate family ties than by sharing your best memories with each other?

Mars Salazar

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.