Signature Drinks!!

Let’s say you’re planning your wedding reception.  I’m sure by now you have been clued into the many decisions you’ll have to make:

• Sit down dinner?
• Open bar?
• Buffet?
• Knee length or full length tablecloths?
• Special songs?
• Cocktail hour before dinner?
• Cocktails with dinner?

So many questions!! and while you may not answers to these questions, your wedding planner can help you decide what fits your style and budget for the hardest and simplest questions.  Now you are left alone with a much more fun question to answer (fun research!).

What will your signature cocktail be?!?

I can help with that 😉

I recently stumbled upon a really entertaining and intriguing site drinkify.org.  It’s objective is pure fun and entertainment, but since when do we mind that?  You type in the music you are listening to and… THEY TELL YOU WHAT TO DRINK!!!  Obviously the music sets the mood and the alcohol just makes it more fun.  So- match your signature wedding drink to your favorite artist!!!

Maybe Boyz II Men has the song you will dance to all night on one of their records, then might we (drinkify.org) suggest a light coconut milk mixture?
Perhaps high energy music like Michael Jackson or Backstreet Boys are your thing, well, turn to a bar full of Red Bull!
If you like the music of the B-52s then mix up a drink with Red Bull, Horilka and Bitters.
Yanni music lovers should provide just plain, romantic red wine.
At a destination wedding to the beach maybe you’ll play lots of Bob Marley… Drinkify.org will tell you that you should mix redbull and ginger ale.

Some artists that you plug in don’t spit out a cocktail but rather a suggested alcohol base.  Don’t be disappointed!!  You can use this connection to your wedding and plug it into other sites I found and… voila!… signature cocktail. 🙂

www.drinksmixer.com is a site that has a searchable menu for mixed drinks.  Even if you are not looking for a signature wedding cocktail.  This site is really fun to play and experiment with, for all occasions!  Strictly for research purposes, of course 😉

If you are having a girls night in, listening to… let’s say Spice Girls.  Drinkify.org will tell you to drink vodka on the rocks.  Then you can scoot over to www.drinksmixer.com and find … The Blue Lady!  or perhaps a delicious Absolute 600 would be more to your taste.

Whatever you use these sites for, and I’m sure you can figure out some really fun stuff, make sure you think of me when you mix those drinks.  (Maybe even send me one if you want.)

What will the signature cocktail be at your wedding?

cheers!!

Wish us LUCK!!!!

Hi!!  I was thinking about luck the other day and how weddings are full of superstitions.  That whole old, new, borrowed, and blue thing is so common, even if the bride says she usually isn’t superstitious.  I mean, we all want good luck for our future right?!

So, I did some digging and reflecting and I came up with some other ways couples wish good luck?

One thing that I’ve seen a few couples do is write the names of their friends on the bottom of their wedding shoe.  Then, after a night of walking down the isle, greeting guests, and dancing the groomsman or bridesmaid whose name is still there is the one who will get married next!  Cool, huh? It’s defiantly a twist on the traditional throwing of the bouquet and garter.  But why stop there?  Why not write wishes for the future on our shoes and then the ones that rub off are the ones that will come true first.  “hmmm, ok…. let’s strategically place fortune riiight HERE!”

I’d say think about it, even if you’re not a superstitious person…

I don’t know about you, but I love making things just a little bit quirky, so everyone knows it’s me.  You know, give your special day that little unique thing that really makes it YOUR day!  But how can I do that, you ask?  TRADITION.  But let’s we learn some new traditions for good luck:

1. Instead of a white dress we can wear a bright red one!  In china a bride will ensure good luck with this color statement!  But maybe you’re not into too drastic a change and you prefer adding just a little color, in Japan brides sometimes wear purple flowers embroidered on their dress to symbolize love.  Or if you are somewhere in the middle of the color spectrum?   Some brides in Indian cultures wear pink saris and AS MUCH JEWLERY AS POSSIBLE.  Fun right? I bet you can get your “something borrowed, old, and new” there real quick!!

2. Exchanging of the rings and the promise to spend a lifetime together is one of the most iconic parts of a wedding ceremony.  Probably we don’t really want to get rid of that completely…it’s pretty sweet and romantic.  But why not add a little something extra?  We can take a note from Mexican culture where they have an additional symbol of unity.  During the religious ceremony in Mexico a double ribbon or chain is put around the couple’s shoulders linking them together throughout the ceremony. I’d say this is a strong symbol of unity and a romantic symbol of the lifelong bond we are pledging to our significant other, wouldn’t you?  And it’s really pretty…

3.  In most Jewish weddings couples stand under a wedding canopy to symbolize their new home.  As brides, we are forever deciding how best to decorate the altar for the ceremony, why not use a symbolic canopy to wish ourselves luck in our new home?

4.  One of the things brides consider the most important part of her wedding are the people closest to her that she invites into her wedding party.   You know, that girl or group of girls who are there for you day in and day out. They help you plan the wedding and they are there on the wedding day, too.  We couldn’t get through this important day without them, right?  But sometimes in other cultures those special ladies are not the bride’s best friends but rather respected older women that can give the bride helpful advice for her new married life.  In China there is even a respected older married women called the Good Luck Woman who holds a red umbrella over the brides head.  Now, how about that for a slash of color?  Not to mention, it would be a really special job and honor for your matron of honor!

5. One other thing our girls do for us is our bachelorette party!  Who doesn’t like a night with just the girls to unwind and get ready?  In Morocco and many other North African and Middle Eastern countries many bridal parties hold a special ceremony the night before the wedding.  During this fun filled evening of music and advice the bride gets henna drawings all over her body.  There are a lot of techniques as to how this is done but not matter how the designs are drawn it is a symbol of good luck, for life and for fertility.  Besides, it LOOKS really COOL!  Sometimes the groom’s name is hidden somewhere in the design for the groom to find on the wedding night.  Talk about a sensual gift for your husband!  Mix that with your traditional wedding night lingerie!

Well, my friends, those are just a few of the ideas I had.  I’m sure you could find some other interesting good luck traditions if you just looked.  Ask your mom or grandfather about what traditions they did at their weddings.  Think about ethnic or religious traditions from your background.  If you’re interested in a destination wedding, incorporate the traditions of a foreign land into your ceremony, “when in Rome… “  You get the idea.

What is a tradition you will do at your wedding to bring good luck to your marriage?

Cheers,

Guest Book Idea

I got married in Mexico.
I like books with nice pictures, they make great coffee table books.
hmmmm…. how do these two sentences go together, you ask?
Two words: Guest Book.

If you are like me and like books, beautiful, colorful, hard cover books, I have a great story for you!

When I was planning my wedding I found a BEAUTIFUL book with gorgeous pictures of Mexico, including the city in which I got married.  My guests then wrote their well wishes in the margins and in any blank spaces they found inside the book.  Now, I have a sentimental, educational, colorful souvenir from my wedding that I proudly display on my coffee table.

 

This is how you can do it too:

1) find a book.
I was fortunate enough to be in Mexico with enough time before the wedding to look in physical book stores.  However, this meant that the writing in the book and the captions were in Spanish.  This might not be ideal for everybody, especially if you don’t understand the language of your destination 😉 Online book stores would be a great place to find the perfect book for your wedding destination.
2) mark special pages
I marked the pages with pictures showing the city in which the wedding was held.  If your book is in English this might not be necessary, but it is interesting for guests because they probably won’t have time to really look at the whole book, they will want to enjoy your wedding 🙂
3) find a pen
Gel pens work well because you can find them in a wide variety of colors but sometimes they take longer to dry.  Felt tip pens are also good but sometimes they smear on photo gloss paper.  I used an art quality, fine-tipped, permanent marker in a purple that matched my wedding colors.
4) set up a guest book station at the reception and let the signing begin!

This is just one idea of how to use books as a special keepsake guestbook.  It is great for destination weddings!  I have also seen people use many other types of books as their guestbook.  For example, a cook book, a photo essay book of the couple’s shared interest, “Oh the Places You Will Go” by Dr. Seuss, or a book of sheet music or songs.  The most important thing is to choose a book that portrays YOU.

What books have you seen make into wedding guest books?

Cheers!!!