Save the Date!

What a great way to let help your family and friend remember not to make any other plans on that special date! Send your out-of-town guests save-the-date cards four to six months before the wedding so they can plan accordingly, and then send all your invites (local and out-of-towners) at least eight weeks prior to your wedding date.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Your save-the-date cards can be as simple as a postcard or as elaborate and interactive as a magnetic puzzle.
• We're fans of a picture taken shortly after the engagement (think holiday cards).
  Some brides favor save-the-date cookies, although you may have to send out a second reminder to all your sweet-tooth friends who might munch before they mark down your date!
• We absolutely love the idea of save-the-date stickers that will fit into those tiny boxes in appointment books or on desktop calendars.
• Refrigerator magnets -- ones with just your names and wedding date -- are cool too.
• An all-time favorite done many different ways is the calendar. Invitation designers are creating cards that look like a mini calendar month with the date you've chosen circled or decorated or knocked out with a mini three-hole punch.
• The hottest trend is a photo strip (the kind you create yourself on a beach boardwalk) with funny faces and the wedding date. In each of the four pictures, hold up a sign. 1) We're getting married. 2) Save the Date. 3) June 5, 2005. 4) Be there! (You get the idea.)

Forget the Beer! Cocktail Ideas for Your Super Bowl Party!

The Super Bowl has become one of the biggest game days of the year. No matter if you like football or not or are a fan of either team, there is something captivating about this big event and it's a great excuse for a fantastic party.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans can cheer for their team with this cocktail that fit the team image perfectly.

A Black & Gold is a super easy cocktail that makes a dramatic statement, both in taste and look. It features Blavod Vodka, which is black, and Goldschlager, that luxury cinammon liqueur with the gold flake floating around inside. The result is a beautiful, black and gold cocktail with the flavor of cinnamon.

Ingredients:
2 oz Blavod vodka
1 oz Goldschlager

Preparation:

1. Pour the Blavod into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake well.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Top with Goldschlager.

The Arizona Cardinals fans can cheer on their team with the Cardinal Cocktail. This cocktail is simply a Kir made with red wine. This is a simple way to dress up a less desirable red wine that you don't find your favorite but you couldn't bear to see go to waste. The creme de cassis also adds some delicious sweetness to a Merlot or Pinot Noir that you may find a bit too dry for your taste at the time. One thing is for certain, for wine lovers a bottle of cassis is a fantastic and easy way to spice up the average glass of vino.

Ingredients:
1 oz creme de cassis
red wine

Preparation:

1. Pour the creme de cassis into a wine glass filled with ice.
2. Fill with red wine.

Pound Cake: The Ultimate Comfort Food!

My Nanny used to make the best pound cake in the whole world. It was so rich and creamy.She explained to me that it was called a poundcake because it used a pound of butter and a pound of sugar. This was what made it so rich. I still remember the aroma in the kitchen *deep breath* was sooooooo wonderfully buttery! I am a pound cake junkie! I love all kinds, Lemon, Chocolate, Coconut and my favorite Sour Cream..yum.

You can only imagine how excited I was to find these cute Pound Cake Petit Fours at Nonnie Waller's Traditional Southern. These cute Petit Fours are perfect for weddings, corporate events, promotions or fabulous parties. Nonnie's favors can be custom designed with scrumptious silk ribbons, the finest in patterned papers, jewels and seasonal fresh flowers only a few of the many dazzeling options to deck your dessert and make your event memorable.

Wedding Wreck Wednesday!!!

How to Pick, Decorate, and Find the Perfect Wedding Arch

Thinking of using a wedding arch? You're not alone — for many brides, they serve as an indispensable grace note when it comes to getting married in a garden or park, in a spacious backyard or by the sea.

A beautiful moment of the wedding ceremony is the point in which the bride and groom express their lifetime commitment to each other. Many couples choose to verbalize their expressions of love beneath the traditional wedding arches. However, though traditions favor an arch, do know that there are countless ways to decorate this symbol of the gateway to a couple’s marital bliss.

Types of Wedding Arches

• Fall Wedding Arch: Decorate with apples, leaves, chrysanthemums, cattails. Colors: Forest green, burgundy, rust, cranberry.
• Winter Wedding Arch: poinsettias, pinecones, fir branches, white lights (candle-shaped lights if you can find them), ornaments. Colors: Similar to that of the fall shades. Don't go overboard with red and green, but do add in ornaments wherever you can!
• Square Tube Arch: A very practical design with straight lines.
• Gothic Wedding Arch: In order to attain the Gothic look, use a very dark arch substructure (ideally dark wood if manageable). Adorn the archway with simple white linens, and no other embellishments. Hang a kissing ball from the center peak.
• The Hawaiian Arch: Fashion a square-shaped archway out of bamboo poles. Ornament the corners and base with hawaiian blooms such as: anthuriums, heliconias, tropical foliage, and dendrobium orchid sprays.
• The Human Arch: Perhaps the most moving possibility for a just-married ceremony finale. Have family members and closest friends assemble into two lines, facing each other. As they raise their arms to create a tunnel of arches symbolizing their protection and love, the bride and groom pass underneath. Each guest could bring one small memento to hold in the air as they create the arch of arms, thus enhancing the meaning and beauty of the moment.

Do not overlook the beauty of any arch. It is particularly attractive in photographs as a natural frame for the subjects of any portrait. Wedding arches can be custom-made and tailored to complete the themes of your wedding.

Sometimes you need a focal point, but arches just aren't firing you up. Some great-looking alternatives:

• A simple chuppah or mandap (Indian)
• A flat arbor screen, with potted arrangements on each side
• A large, low-hanging tree
• A gazebo
• A grape trellis

Whatever style you choose, your wedding arch will symbolize magic, romance, and all the possibilities of a shared and cherished union.

Turning the Oridinary into Extraodinary!

The latest trends in linens have come a long way from rented white table clothes and padded chairs. Step up your wedding décor by incorporating some great new ideas:

• Instead of plain tablecloths use dramatic fabrics like satins, organzas, damasks, embroidered or beaded fabrics, and tone-on-tone designs
• Lace table linens, particularly in metallic lace placed over a solid colour fabric are all the rage right now
• Create visual interest by using multiple table linens in different colours and textures
• Square table clothes are in and round table clothes are out, unless you incorporate the two
• Glass, metal, ceramic, and stone table tops instead of linens are the cutting edge
• Cover chairs in damask and use matching or coordinating chair sashes
• Accessorize chair covers with ribbons, bows, or flowers (real or artificial)

Top it off with some "Bling"

Wedding Cake Jewelry is the latest trend to enhance the top of your wedding cake. A wedding cake needs a topper or it’s just not a wedding cake. Whether you choose cake jewelry, monograms or a picture of the bride and groom, wedding cake jewelry adds an air of elegance. The choices are incredible. Dramatic to whimsical, sparkly or subdued, whatever your taste.