Nine Cakes

     To be honest, I’ve been completely brain washed over the last decade when it comes to wedding cakes.? I sort of felt that if you don’t have fondant, you are going to china prom dresses  be left with a messy, 80′s style confection of buttercream and lace frills and sloppy looking frosting flowers.? If you wanted style and pizazz, then you were going to have to endure a layer of rolled fondant over your baked delight and if you hated the texture or the test… well, it’s the price of beauty.
   So I was delighted when I found out about Nine Cakes, whom I’d read about via Brooklyn Bride (she’s participating in the Urban Wed event).? I had a client on my hands who really hated fondant, and wanted simple, delicious goodness. ?I thought I’d ask Betsy what her take on this was and if she could show me what people were doing with buttercream these days.? I was BEYOND surprised with the images of?gorgeous confections that she sent my way. Her buttercream cakes look just dreamy, with artful decorations that seem almost dreamy.?AND the TASTE!? As light and airy as the cakes look and just so yummy. We sort of pigged?out at the event at BAM a couple of weeks ago.? Here’s a prom dresses clearance  pic of one of my FAVORITE of Betsy’s cakes, but for more cake porn, check out her delightful site.
Hey there! I hope you might be all toiling away creating your Nina Shoes inspiration boards. Although I ought to admit, in the event you are anyplace near the NYC/NJ region you may have taken a few hours off to appreciate this magnificent weather. A lot of a peep-toe and sandal will make a cameo today… plus, it’s Friday! WIN WIN :)
      Seriously, time is running out to send in your Nina Shoes inspiration boards. All submissions must be emailed to .us no later than Thursday, April 8th. EEK! Less than a week ladies! Come on… FREE SHOES! Remember – visit Nina Shoes and pick your fave, get your creative bulk prom dresses  juices flowing and put together a fabulous look to go with the lucky pair you have chosen. rocks for making inspiration boards but feel free to create however you would like, just make sure to send it over in a jpeg format. For full contest details, check out the original post here . APRIL 8th. Six days and counting. Make us proud.

Name Change Express Giveaway

    So, I don’t know how many of you out there are considering bulk prom dresses  changing your name, but let me tell you that it is NOT an easy task! First you have to decide WHAT you are doing with your name. Are you taking his last name? Are you hyphenating? Are you making a new last name that is a hybrid of your two last names…. something that can be a challenge to do well, to say the least.?
   And then there is getting the word out there. I have a past clientfriend (that’s what they are called, btw, once the wedding is over- Clientfriends) who months later still needs to end every email with “Please Note my new last name….” and that’s just inter-office.? There is the DMV, passport office, bills, and more. All the reason to consider using a name-change service.? They make it easy and tend to gather and consolidate all of your information giving, and sending into one convenient place…. well at least that is what Name Change Express does. And as a plus, they don’t require you to submit tons buy prom dresses  of personal information online, minimizing exposure to your identity. So, we are giving away 2 Name Change Express packages worth $30 each.? ]
      Simply leave a comment below, and the person who leaves the 10th comment will automatically win one of the packages.? The 2nd package will go to the commenter with the most unique hybrid name of your first and last names (whether you intend on using it or not… you know I’m cheap prom dresses  always open to a good joke!)?? I’m going to keep this contest open until Friday… so you can ponder what new and ridiculous last name you can create together over Turkey day.? Or you can just try and leave the 10th comment. Please don’t comment more than once ladies!

Mr. Mittens 1

    I was going to do a Valentine’s day post today, but then yesterday Mayra and I started reminicscing about a wedding we worked on about a year ago and our thoughts ran to Mr. Mittens.        
       Last year, around February 1st, we got a call from Ms. S.  cheap prom dresses  Ms. S. and her fiance were entering into a second marriage for both and wanted to get married in about 2 weeks in a small home wedding here in the city.  The ceremony would actually be off site and they owned a gorgeous brownstone townhouse where they thought we could have the reception.  Our charge was to help them figure out how to make it look more "wedding like", decorate and help manage the day in general.          We headed up to the home, which was truly stunning, for a site visit.  It really was the perfect place for a small cocktail party with plenty of room for catering prep in the lower level and room for dancing and mingling on the parlor floor.  It seemed perfect, and frankly, almost easy.  As we were about to cheapest prom dresses  leave, she mentioned, also, the only other thing is that you’ll have to keep our pets downstairs in the basement. "How many pets do you have?" we asked. At that moment I noticed the world’s largest dog crate behind the sofa area.  I mean, Mayra and I could have easily gotten in there with the bride and continued our meeting.   The front door opened and in bounded Sam- a St. Bernard- trailed by the groom-to-be.
          Very excited, Sam really REALLY wanted to greet us.  Ms. S. was horrified.  "Sam!  Sam, please go to your crate." Sam, very well behaved, proceeded to do just as china prom dresses  directed.  Only, I think there had been a recent growth spurt because it wasn’t exactly that smooth of a fit.   The effort was aborted and Mayra and I went home never getting to meet Mr. Mittens and Calico.  Luckily, I would have quite the chance to get acquainted. The day of the wedding

More Great Guestbook Ideas

    So, here could be the reality: I’ve been at hundreds of weddings where a guest book has just sat there…listless and not interacting with anyone. ?I think that a guestbook is only worth having if you are a) going to do something interesting that your guests will actually sign and b) if you china prom dresses  are actually going to look at the book after the wedding to appreciate and enjoy the things that guests take the time to right to you. I love an unconventional guestbook. ?Last weekend, when asked by my client to procure I guestbook for her, I went browsing in my local bookstore and found a few, less conventional options that could be used ?

       for really remarkable books. I love the growing trend of issuing blank response cards and encouraging creative replies. ?We’ve been seeing such great things and even putting them on display at the receptions to share with the other guests… SOOO, I was really drawn to this idea of encouraging a bit of creativity on your guests’ part and thought that 642 Things to Draw would be fun for a creative couple to use a s a guestbook. How awesome to have a showcase of your friends and families doodles done at your wedding after hitting the bar. ?Instead of a collection of ?just notes, you can keep this awesome book of their artwork (directives like “rolling pins” or “oven” or “True Love” offer them up options) prom dresses clearance  on your coffee table. Another favorite suggestion that we’ve offered up to clients is to purchase coffee table books that relate to their location or a subject that they both love and have guests sign throughout the book on the images or in the margins. ?We’ve working on a wedding in Napa, and I just loved this book Nappa Valley: The Land, the Wine, the People that showcases the MAKING of wine in the region as well as the people who make it. ?Here is just ONE of the amazing images. ?
       The point is, if you pick a pretty book that you want to look at, there’s more of a chance that you will keep it out on display and enjoy it AFTER the wedding. Another idea of a utilitarian guest book that I love is to take a gorgeous cookbook that relates to your cultures or lives or bulk prom dresses  menu from your wedding and have guests sign within the book. Then, when you use the book, you’ll always have the pleasant surprise of getting to read some of your guests’ notes. ?I was on the train the other day reading over the shoulder of the girl next to me and I fell in love with this BEAUTIFUL book “Great British Food” . The photos are stunning with tons of white space for writing. ?I was sad that I hadn’t seen it a few months back, it would have been the perfect guestbook for one of my clients who married a British gent and we took the time to add some British treats to the wedding menu.

Mexican Traditions to Borrow

    Some years ago, (amazingly, two kids ago!!) we flew to Mayra’s home town of California to work on and attend her brother’s wedding.? While we specialize in fusion celebrations, Mayra’s brother’s wedding was a traditional Mexican Wedding, punto. So, when I bulk prom dresses  saw this lovely wedding on the Envelopments blog, I got a little misty eyed remembering Juan’s trip down the aisle, preparing for the nearly 500 guests that attended the reception and me, taking a late night? “nap”? after several too many palomas and a hot day in the sun!

     Maria, who works at Envelopments, and Carlos had a traditional Mexican ceremony, that included the laso, arras and of course, the sounds of Mariachi. A lot of the time, our clients seeking to infuse a Latino element to their wedding (or who just like the sound) will have us secure a Mariachi for their cocktail hour.? In traditional Mexican culture though, Mariachi are a major aspect of the ceremony.? In fact, ideally, the Mariachi come to where the bride is getting ready to serenade her before heading on to the ceremony.? Can you imagine how awesome those photo ops would be? Mariachi buy prom dresses  really make for fabulous ceremony music, and it is a great way to incorporate a cultural element into your day. Another one of my favorite traditions from a Mexican wedding is a dance called La Vibora de la Mar.
     As far as cultural dances go, it is not as famous as the Horah or the Tarantella, but it is certainly as much fun!? The bride and groom stand on chairs and the groom holds the brides’ train or veil.? The guests, holding hands “snake” (vibora) through… it gets fast and furious and a little cheap prom dresses  bit wild! Obviously, since Maria works with Envelopments her invitations were just fantastic.? Here is a sneak peak, but you should DEFINITELY check out their website to see how they created this look as well as some of her other stationery pieces and more pics from her wedding.

Marvelous Martha

       I often really feel like I have a blessed little life (the stresses of owning a small company preserve me feeling alive:-) but yesterday was just BEYOND. 1 of those cheap prom dresses  FANTASY days where just actually cool stuff occurs. From commence to finish, an excellent day.  This post I’ll limit to the fabulous Martha Stewart. Really early in the A.M., we went to the taping of the Martha Stewart Show in the morning, which was tons o’ fun. We were able to sit right up front, and Joey, the warm up guy, was so much more fun than he even appears on TV.
        Actually, 1 of the personal highlights for me was the MUSIC that they played before the show started and during breaks.  I don’t know what I was expecting to hear at Martha Stewart, but it wasn’t Rihanna, Usher’s Love in the Club or T.I., all of which were played.  I can’t help but dance to dance music, so Mayra had to remind me that we weren’t at Ellen, we were at Martha.  So, onto the Wedding Nitty Gritty.  So much of this is featured in the new issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, but seeing Darcy really go through the ideas was so fantastic.  They had a lot of VERY easy, and economical ideas.  As well as some fun favors.  Darcy Miller, who we got to met after the show, truly does know her stuff and couldn’t be sweeter.  Here are some of my favorites.  I thought that this cake was a fantastic idea.  Ribbon like this can be bound on any simple Fondant cake as a great cost-saver in lieu of pricey piping.  The photo is a great touch, and this was printed on a simple HP printer. Ribbon like this can be found at Tinsel TradingSpeaking of reasonable cakes, the guest yesterday was actually Emeril Lagasse.  I’m not an Emeril-phile, cheapest prom dresses  but I do love his Italian salad dressing (OMG, it’s delicious) but he was a fantastic guest.  It was his birthday and as a surprise they brought out this golf themed Rice Crispy Treat Cake.  I thought this concept would make for a FABULOUS groom’s cake!
        First of all, it is so reasonably priced, but also, it offers a totally different flavor from your typical cake.  This one is a golf theme. (Photo courtesy Anders Krusberg/The Martha Stewart Show) My favorite idea, because it was both cute and subtle, were these photo embellished Hershey Kiss favors.  We’ve given out kisses before, but never with this little photo detail, which I loved.  china prom dresses  Directions for how to can be found on the Martha Stewart Weddings site. All in all a totally awesome experience.  Here is a shot of Martha and Darcy and the favor cake that graces the cover (how to can be found in the magazine) and (fingers crossed) we should be posting some more photos of us at the show a small later today.