As soon as I laid my eyes on these gorgeous images, I knew this was going to be the perfect way to kick off my day. You know a party is beyond gorgeous when you wish you were on the invite list. The event was held at Luigi’s Deli. I can’t tell you what I love most – A dreamy Dessert Table filled with all sorts of delicious treats by Debbie Brule from Sweet Surrender, the elegant floral centerpieces by Amanda Klawitter of House of Flowers. Kelli of Kelli’s Keepsake Photography captured all the elegant details. The lovely ladies of Fairy Godmother effortlessly pulled together all of these details with such perfection.
When you start planning your wedding, you will be consumed with details that might take months to complete. Think about it. You’ve got to make decisions about the ceremony, receptions, rehearsals, attendants, flowers, food, music, your dress, decorations, a honeymoon to plan and wedding guests to accommodate, to name just a few.
Don’t Make Them Travel Too Far
Think about the logistics of your wedding, your reception and the hotel/motel accommodations you’ve arranged for out-of-town guests. Since popular site bookings for weddings tend to fill up early, it would be a good idea to book your wedding site, reception hall and the overnight accommodations for your guests as early as possible in order to get them reasonably close to each other.
Pass on the receiving line
Thank each guest for coming during the reception (table by table or as a toast) and don’t hold up the party by having a receiving line. Trust us, your guests will appreciate not having to wait around after the ceremony.
Plan Your Menu Carefully
Food is another possible mistake at your reception. Your guests will be hungry and hors devours and a supply of cold soft drinks will be welcomed by those who arrive at the ceremony before the bride and groom. If you are serving the traditional reception meal, stick to customary food. You will be serving a meal to many guests with many different tastes and tolerances for food. Your taste for exotic dishes or ethnic selections will not be a hit at your reception with children and those with tender stomachs. Any caterer can help you with your food selection. It might be a good idea to send a request for information about any food allergies to your reception guests along with your invitation.
The Never Ending Speech
While guests appreciate the sentiment of wedding speeches, sometimes they can be too much of a good thing. If you have many people speaking–even if the speeches are good ones–it can become boring for the guests. Harsh? Perhaps. True? Definitely. Keep it as short and sweet as possible and should be refreshing for guests to hear.
Two Strangers and a Wedding
Nobody likes being at a table of strangers. A table where strangers are all seated together will be very uncomfortable for your guests. You should attempt to strike a balance and arrange a mixture of guests where everyone knows a few people at their table. This way everyone will feel comfortable chatting with him or her and have a great time at the reception.
Stick To Your Timeline
Sticking to your time frame will keep prompt guests happy. Consider hiring a wedding planner. They keep you on track. They live by their calendar, their lists, and their plans. They are super organized and make sure that you are always on track and on schedule with your wedding plans. They are the “mothers” of the wedding world. Don’t write the start time on your wedding invitation as 4:30pm if you really meant the ceremony to start at 5 pm.
I Can’t See Who I’m Sitting With
Table centerpieces are a key element to dressing your room although they can sometimes cause issues for your guests. Choose low floral arrangements or something high with a thin stem so that the main arrangement is above eye level. This will make it easier for everyone on the table to see and talk to each other, helping them feel involved in the conversation.
We have to pay for our drinks?
Having a cash bar, is a big don’t. All ceremony and reception costs should be covered. If the bar is breaking your budget, scale back by limiting what type of alcohol is served. Most guests feel that if they are going to the time and expense of attending your wedding, the least the happy couple can do is make sure they don’t have to peck their way through the Chicken Dance stone cold sober.
If you don’t care to serve the fancy plated dinner, then don’t. Wedding food has switched from the typical plated meal to a reception filled with food stations and a selection of several foods. When considering a stylish food option, think about your own preferences, your guests’ taste preferences — and your budget. You should also consider the time of the reception and how eager the guests will be.
Downsize to Minis
Guests love picking up bite sized minis. Food items like a cheeseburger slider that they can eat in one bite. Mini sized tasters have become one of the hottest trends in wedding food, from shots of soups to large spoons of macaroni and cheese or whatever you prefer.
Comfort Foods
Dress up conventional comfort foods. Mashed potatoes look absolutely stylish at a martini potato bar. Guests create their own potato mixture in a martini glass and get both a side dish and a conversation piece out of it.
Food Stations
Giving your guests the option of visiting food stations creates a comfortable and informal atmosphere. Guests will enjoy the variety and being able to converse with people not seated at their table. Personalize your wedding by creating a food station that says something about you and your spouse. If one of you loves grits, then feature a grits station with different toppings — anything from cheese to spicy shrimp.
Fondue Station
Fondue isn’t new to weddings but it still feels new and fresh. Provide bread and vegetables for dipping and if you can, offer more than one fondue. Less courageous guests will enjoy a basic cheese offering, such as the traditional Gruyère, while other guests might prefer trying something unusual, such as a goat cheese fondue.
Cross-cultural Cuisine
Marriage is often a fusion of two cultures. Embrace it and create a wedding menu to reflect it. Creating a theme such as East meets West (Asian-Mex food, anyone?) can inspire creative and delicious dishes that will impress your guests. Be sure to talk to your caterer to see what they can create and make sure they can carry out your wishes.
Ordinary Transformed
Many foods can be elegantly transformed into an innovative entrée for wedding guests. Instead of serving the traditional filet of fresh fish, have the chef serve it as stuffed roulade medallions.
Sushi/Raw Bar
A sushi/raw bar will please the most health-conscious guests, but these can be expensive. This option is not recommended for couples who are on a tight budget.
Eco-Friendly Fare
This can run up the price tag of your wedding if you want all-organic, cage-free, wild-caught items. But there are ways to be eco-friendly and stick within a budget. Look to local, seasonal foods as inspiration for your menu, which require less gas to transport, lessening your wedding’s carbon footprint. Some farms practice green approaches to growing food, yet haven’t completed the process of becoming organic-certified. They tend to have lower prices than certified organic farms; your caterer may be familiar with these suppliers.
Nix the Cake
While cutting the wedding cake may be a tradition, don’t let it box you in if you’re more of a creme brulee kind of girl. You can serve whatever type of dessert you like at your wedding, whether that’s individual cobblers, milkshakes at a milkshake station, or an array of cookies and candies at a sweets table.
(1 month ahead for a formal party; 2 weeks ahead for a casual gathering)
__Decide on the date, place, and style of party.
__Make up the guest list.
__Plan the menu.
__For formal parties, mail invitations. For casual parties, mail invitations or telephone your guests to invite them.
__Decide what table settings, decorations, centerpieces, and music you’ll use.
__Make arrangements for any items you’ll need to rent or borrow.
Preliminary Preparations
(1 to 2 weeks ahead)
__Telephone any guests who have not responded to your invitations so you can get a definite guest count.
__Do preliminary housecleaning, especially any time-consuming tasks. Make sure all appliances that you’ll be using work. If you’re grilling, don’t forget to buy charcoal or fill the gas canister.
__Compile your grocery-shopping list. Check on items such as matches, candles, and liquor, and
shopping list (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)
add the things you’ll need to your shopping list. Don’t forget ice.
__Check that table linens are clean and ready to go. Decide on tableware and serving pieces.
__Order any special flowers, meats, seafood, or other ingredients you’ll need.
__If you’re making decorations or centerpieces yourself, now’s the time to get started.
__If possible, make some foods ahead and freeze them.
Gearing Up
(2 to 3 days ahead)
__Shop for everything but the most perishable items.
__After you return from shopping, recheck your recipes to make sure you have everything you need.
__Plan your timetable for cooking the foods.
__If possible, make non-perishable items, such as snack mixes, ahead.
Down to the Nitty Gritty
(1 day ahead)
__Shop for perishable and last-minute items.
__Reclean the house as necessary.
__Decorate for the party. Prepare an area for coats and umbrellas.
__If possible, arrange and set your table(s) and serving areas.
__Prepare as many recipes and ingredients as possible. For example, chop vegetables you’ll cook as part of a recipe. Some chores, however, such as cleaning salad greens, should wait until party day.
__Thaw frozen items. If the items are perishable, thaw them in the refrigerator.
Let’s Party
(Party Day)
__Go over the house again for a final cleaning check. If necessary, move furniture.
__Prepare the foods according to your timetable so everything will finish when needed. (Wash dishes as you go along to save cleanup time later. Don’t forget to run the dishwasher, so it’ll be empty and ready for party dishes.)
__Make sure all foods and beverages to be served cold will be well chilled by party time.
Last-Minute Details
(1 hour ahead)
__Put all the finishing touches on the meal and tables.
__Clear a spot for placing used dishes as guests finish with them, and provide an easily accessible place for garbage.
__Set out cheese and non-perishable appetizers or snacks, if using.
As the Doorbell Rings
(5 to 15 minutes ahead)
__Open wine, if serving. Set out remaining appetizers and snacks, if using.
The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, “The Fifth of May”, commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army. Why not throw your own Mexican theme party? When you are doing a Mexican theme, think vibrant and vivacious. The colors should be bright, loud and excessive. The music should be upbeat and fun.
The Invite
Get the fiesta started! Send out colorful invitations asking friends to join you for Margaritas and Munchies. Like this one here. Spice up your Cinco de Mayo fiesta party with these fun invitations featuring a chili pepper border.
The Look
Layout Mexican blankets, sombreros, dolls or any other souvenirs you’ve collected from Mexico. Incorporate them into your decor. Decorate with lots of colorful streamers using colors mainly such as red, green and white.
Decorate the room with colorful, oversized paper flowers and make smaller flowers for the female guests to wear in their hair. Tutorial here.
Don’t forget to hang a pinata!
Margaritas!
As your guests arrive, have a cold margarita ready to hand out. Hint: Give your glasses an edge by rimming them in lime juice and rock salt or sugar first. Try this “guilt-free” Partida Margarita here.
Make a Create-Your-Own-Taco Buffet or Burrito Bar
Keep it simple. Make two DIY main course meals out of the same ingredients. Place shredded chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo in serving bowls; then arrange hard and soft shells on a platter. Layout burrito sized tortillas. Encourage guests to pile up their tacos and roll up their burritos…and come back for seconds!
Music
Play Latin tunes like Mariachi music. Just hook up your iPod to a small set of outdoor speakers and you’re ready to jam.
Dessert
How about serving up these Corona Popsicles with a slice of lime. Maybe Strawberry Margarita popsicle sounds better. Keeping it really simple…no recipe! Just pour and freeze. Instructions courtesy of Bakers Royale
Dixie cups, popsicle sticks and Mike’s Hard Lemonade Strawberry Margarita. As a side note, the traditional margarita made with Tequila needs a much colder temperature to freeze than the traditional home unit allows, so that’s why something like these Mike’s Hard Lemonade is better suited for making these popsicles.
To assemble: Pour and freeze the Strawberry Margarita for two hours then insert the popsicle sticks in the middle. Freeze for another two hours or until the Strawberry Margarita Popsicles solidify. Garnish with a lime and serve.
Small note, do not rim with salt until serving time as the salt will melt the pops. Alternatively, you can rim the Strawberry Margarita Pops with chunky crystal sugar for an aesthetic effect without worrying about the melting factor.
To keep popsicles chilled as long as possible, place the serving tray in the freezer and then top the tray with a layer of crushed iced.
An easy manual for making one part of your own special day forgettable
No, we’re not encouraging you to serve cheap tasting wine to your guests. We’re providing you with an easy guide that will make selecting your wines an easy task. One you can quickly check off from your to-do list. So relax, pour a glass of wine and browse through these tips for a successful celebration. Make your choices and forget about it!
Where Do I Begin?
Start out planning to stock one white and one red, plus a sparkling for the toast.
How Much Should I Plan to Buy?
Typically, the rule is two glasses of wine per person one glass of sparkling wine for the toast and additionally a glass of wine per hour after the first three hours.
Generally servings of sparkling wine are less than when serving red or white wine. You can plan on getting 8 glasses from sparkling wine and typically six glasses from a bottle of red or white wine.
How Do I Calculate What I’ll Need?
Let’s use a round number. {It’s easier that way} Round your number up or down accordingly. We’ll go with 20 guests.
Remember you can expect to get 8 glasses from a bottle of sparkling wine and 6 from the table wine.
Let’s start with sparkling wine used for the toast:
20 guests x 1 glass per person = 20 glasses/8 glasses per bottle = 3 bottles
Now let’s calculate the table wine:
20 guests x 2 glasses per person = 40 glasses/6 glasses per bottle = 7 bottles
Plan to purchase 3 bottles of sparkling, 7 red and 7 white bottles of wine.
Do Your Friends Like to Drink?
You’ll need to take this into consideration. The younger the crowd the more alcohol is consumed. If this is the case consider bumping up the minimum:
Sparkling wine: (20 people x 2 glasses per person = 40 glasses/8 glasses per bottle = 5 bottles)
Table wine (20 people x 3 glasses per person = 60 glasses/6 glasses per bottle = 10 bottles)
Using this revised formula plan to purchase 5 bottles of sparkling, 10 red and 10 white bottles of wine.
But What About The Other Alcohol?
An open bar is important in factoring how much wine you’ll need for your party. That earlier figure could very well drop by more than half. On the other hand, if you’re only serving beer, wine and champagne and you have bunch of drinkers, that figure could increase by 25% to 50%.
How Do I Account for the Open Bar?
For an open bar you might want to include .75 glasses per hour as the consumption rate. If you’re party will last longer than the initially calculated three hours consider this as well. Let’s bump up the party duration to five hours. You’ll need an extra 5 bottles added to the total calculated above. This would bring your total to 10 bottles of table wine.
Your formula would look like this:
(20 people x 2 extra hours x .75 glasses per person = 30 glasses/ 6 glasses per bottle = 5 extra bottles)
If you’re not having an open bar but serving a thirsty crowd consider using 1.25 glasses per hour as your consumption rate. You’ll need an extra eight bottles added to the total calculated. This would bring your total to eighteen bottles of table wine.
Your formula would look like this:
(20 people x 2 extra hours x 1.25 glasses per person = 50 glasses/ 6 glasses per bottle = 8 extra bottles)
Remember, all you need to figure out how much wine to buy is a basic math formula and calculated guesses.
Eventually, the rain and cool weather will fade and the sun will come out. Here in Bakersfield it will come out blazing!. When it does, we will make the best of it and shift cooking to the outdoor grill. Barbecue season is coming and it’s time to make plans with friends and get together. Some may shift their wine selections to whites when the heat comes to town. However, those of us that are red diehards will want something more substantial with our messy rack of ribs and grilled steaks. I present you with four excellent choices and a recipe to try. Any of these would make great but inexpensive hostess gifts for your next party. Enjoy!
Warm and rich in the mouth; the ripe fruit is well supported by the depth of the structure, great finish, and not overpowering.
Notes on the name from the maker;
“My grandfather made and enjoyed wine for 80 years,” said Jayson Woodbridge.
“He told me the soils in which the vines lived were a layer cake.
If properly made, the wine from these vines was like a delicious cake layered with fruit, mocha, chocolate and hints of spice – and rich, always rich.
‘Never pass up a good Layer Cake,’ he would say, I have always loved those words.
Now I get to apply this knowledge to my own experiences in these various lands.”
2. Earthquake Zinfandel Lodi 06
“It will Rock Your World !!”
What Makes You Quake?
Juicer plum, spicier clove and fuller in body than ever before!
Your taste buds will be in upheaval over the suede-like tannins churning together with vanilla and toasted raspberry cobbler. The loooong, smooth finish will leave you in a state of aftershock!
3. Christine Andrew Old Vine Zin 05
Lodi, California is otherwise known as Zin country. Christine Andrew’s Old Vine” Zinfandel is made from fully mature grapes, from 70-year-old vines, It’s loaded with rich juicy berry flavors. The finish is smooth and elegant.
The Kautz Family are the owners and operators of Ironstone Vineyards. The wine is named after the great-grandchildren from the family’s fourth generation.
4. Marietta Old Vine Red
Marietta Cellars, Geyserville, CA
Predominantly Zinfandel, more than half of the blend.
From the owners:
“Rich, ripe, dense, lush, jammy, juicy, lots of blackberry fruit and hints of pepper and spice a balanced, approachable, lip-smacking red wine ready to drink full of fruit with just enough tannins to make things interesting”
Honey-Wine Smoked Ribs
Ingredients
SAUCE
2 cups Zinfandel wine
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
RIBS
4 lb. fully cooked smoked pork loin back ribs, cut into serving-sized pieces
Directions
GRILL DIRECTIONS: Heat grill. In medium saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients; blend well. Cook over medium-high heat for 25 to 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced by half and slightly thickened, stirring frequently.
When ready to grill, place ribs on gas grill over medium-high heat or on charcoal grill 4 to 6 inches from medium-high coals. Brush ribs with sauce; cook 15 to 20 minutes or until ribs are thoroughly heated, turning and brushing frequently with sauce. Bring any remaining sauce to a boil; serve sauce with ribs.
I can’t believe month of March is behind us and we are now in April . Easter is coming right up and spring is here! Springtime…..the freshness, the passing of dreary winter to bright, fresh spring. There are very few times during the year that I enjoy being outside and Springtime is definitely one of those times that I can say I don’t mind being outdoors. It just doesn’t seem to last long enough and because this is Bakersfield our weather seems to go from cool to scorching hot in no time at all!
Speaking of spring, this outdoor spring colored tablescape is right on trend for your Easter brunch.
I love this beautiful table setting. The original article can be found here. These nests are filled with large peonies instead of eggs!
So simple to add any colored flower inside the nests to match your theme colors. Makes a pretty table setting for Easter, Mother’s Day, weddings or “Nesting” baby showers. These peonies are sitting in a shallow plastic bowl of water then placed into nests of twisted fern vines. Finish off the theme with miniature nest place card holders. These smaller stems would be placed into a floral water tube and then placed into the smaller nest. The large round wine glasses kind of mimic the roundness of the nests .
Of course you can use any flower you prefer and hopefully one you have in your own backyard!
I love the muted coral, pinks and whites of this traditional looking table setting, the banded vintage jar adds to the overall look, as do the handwritten food labels. The original story can be found here SMP
This spring green invitation features intricate butterflies and colored stars throughout the card. Add your personalized text to complete the look. It would also work for a spring themed shower as well. Give us a call to discuss ways to make it unique for your celebration.
And now for the fun part…..the kids have their candy and so the adults need something too.
Mango Peach Sangria
Try serving this lightly sweet, fruity white-wine sangria over plenty of ice cubes. Using Viognier gives it the right balance of fruity sweetness. Yummy!
Recipe: Mango-Peach Sangria
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup Grand Marnier
1 bottle Viognier
1 mango, chopped
2 peaches, cut into thin wedges
1/4 cup mint
MAKE-AHEAD
In a saucepan, cook the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves; transfer to a pitcher and refrigerate until cold.
Stir in the Grand Marnier, Viognier, mango, peaches and mint and serve over ice.
I am so ready to try this out today…….Let me know how it turns out for you if you happen to try this recipe.
Margaritas!
Make a Create-Your-Own-Taco Buffet or Burrito Bar
