Signature Cocktails

To add a personal and fun touch to your wedding, create a signature cocktail you can serve your guests during cocktail our or during the entire event. To help find ideas think of you and your partner's favorite cocktail, different seasonal flavors and colors.  Below are some images and cocktail recipes I have found:

Orange:

Orangesicle Cocktail (One of my favorites):
Ice cubes
Orange Juice
Vanilla flavored Vodka
Vanilla Ice Cream
Orange Soda
Directions: Place ice cubes, vanilla ice cream, vanilla flavored vodka and orange juice in a blender and blend well. Pour 3/4 full into serving glass. Equally top each glass with orange soda. Dip orange slices in sugar and place on rim of glass for garnish.

 

Peach Martini:
2 fl. oz. vanilla-flavored vodka
1 fl. oz. peach schnapps
2 fl.oz. fresh peach nectar*
1/2 fl. oz. fresh lime juice
Ice Cubes
Peach Slice (for garnish)
chilled martini glass
Directions:
*Fresh Peach Nectar
You’ll need enough soft, ripe peaches (about 1/2 lb. by weight) to equal 1 cup of sliced peaches.  Boil enough water in a pot to be able to just submerge the peaches.  Place the peaches in the water just long enough for their skins to loosen, then immediately remove them and shock them in some ice water. You should be able to easily remove the skins with your hands.  Peel the peaches, remove the pit, and slice them.
Combine 1 cup of sliced peaches and 1/2 cup of water in a blender and liquefy until smooth and free of chunks.  Next, strain the peach puree through a sieve.  You can store this for 3-5 days in a glass jar or bottle in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it

Add the vodka, peach schnapps, peach nectar, and lime juice into a martini shaker along with some ice.  Shake until thoroughly mixed and chilled, then strain into a chilled martini glass.  Garnish with a slice of fresh peach.

Mango Margarita:
. 4 oz. tequila1 oz. Triple Sec 2 mangos, peeled and seeded1/2 oz margarita mix
2 oz. water 2 cups crushed ice
Directions:
Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Makes 2 servings.

 

Purple:

Blueberry Mojito

Ingredients:

2 oz Van Gogh Açai Blueberry Vodka

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

1 oz Fresh Lime Juice

10 Mint Leaves

10 Fresh Blueberries

Club Soda

Directions:

Muddle mint leaves, blueberries, and simple syrup in cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, add the vodka and lime juice and shake well. Strain into an ice–filled highball glass and top with the club soda. Garnish with mint sprig or skewer of fresh blueberries.

 

Purple Rain Cocktail:

1 shot of Blue curacao
1 shot of Peach Archers
Lemonade
A dash of Grenadine
Optional: 1 shot of Vodka

Directions:

Fill serving glass with ice. Add shot of Blue curacao and Peach Archers. Fill the the glass with lemonade. Add a dash of Grenadine. Stir all ingredients together in glass. Garnish with lime slice.

Pinks:

Blushing Bride:

Pink Lemonade

Vodka

Lime Twist

Optional: Add 7 up for a bubbly drink!

 
I love the idea of serving the drinks in a mason jar, SUPER CUTE!!

Want to make it kid friendly, remove the vodka and pre-make it in a large jar for family and friends to service themselves!

Watermelon Champagne Cocktail:

3 watermelon chunks
1/4 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup (equal parts sugar:water)
1/4 oz. Grand Marnier
1 drop orange flower water
3 oz. Veuve Clicquot Champagne
Directions: Muddle the watermelon in the lemon, simple, Grand Marnier, and flower water in a mixing glass. Add ice and Champagne and stir briefly. Strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top off with extra splash of Veuve. Garnish with lime twist or watermelon slice.

 

Green:

Midori Sour:
1 part Midori
4 parts sour mix
Melon balls
Directions:

Serve in a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with melon balls.

Midori Cosmopolitan:

3/4 oz Midori

2 oz  citrus vodka

Splash of white cranberry juice

Berries or green fruit to garnish

Directions:

Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Add an optional curly lime peel garnish.

 

Blue:

The Something Blue:

2 oz Hpnotiq

2 oz white wine

1 oz ginger ale

Directions:
Pour all ingredients into a champagne flute!

Blue Moon Cocktail:

1  cup  crushed ice
1/4  cup  vodka
1/4  cup  blue curaçao
1/4  cup  whipping cream
2  tablespoons  vanilla-flavored syrup (such as Torani)
2  tablespoons  fresh orange juice
1  tablespoon  Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur
Directions:
In a blender, combine all ingredients and whirl until smooth. Pour into four martini glasses (4 oz.) and garnish the rim of each glass with a slice of orange.

Here is an example of where the bride used her name in the signature cocktail name:

Enjoy and drink safely! :)

Honeymoon Registry

This summer, my family and I were invited to a friend's wedding and noticed on their invitation they had a link to where guests could pay for fun adventures for them to do on their honeymoon as a wedding gift. I thought it was an amazing idea!! Here are a few links and ideas of fun adventures for you to think of while planning your honeymoon!

Honeymoon Wishes is the top honeymoon registry website!  Couples register for which activities they would like to do for their honeymoon and the quantity of that item is known as "wished for." Couples search and select the specific location of their honeymoon and a list of activities is listed for each location. Once the couple has signed up for the website, Honeymoon Wishes provides them with a wedding website, announcements, a guest message board and the ability to post photos to a photo album where friends and family can print out the photos for free!!

Here are a few ideas from previous couples' registry:

Romantic Candlelight Dinner: The couple can choose a special restaurant with excellent cuisine, romantic and calming atmosphere to enjoy each other's company!

One Night Stay in the Honeymoon Suite: The couple can enjoy a night stay in the spacious, comfortable and romantic Honeymoon suite.

Strawberries and Champagne Welcome: Once the couple arrives to their destination, they will be welcomed with a bottle of champagne and juicy strawberries!!

Honeymoon Classic Champagne Tour: If the couple plans their honeymoon in France, this gift allows them to travel to the Champagne region to explore cellars, enjoy tasting and drinking champagne with a delightful lunch.

 

Plataforma Show: While in Brazil, the couple can be entertained with popular samba music, colorful costumes, Mulata dancers, and a traditional Brazilian cuisine.

Travelers Joy is another great honeymoon registry website for couples to create and design their own special registry page where they can share images, videos, gift photos and descriptions and traveling plans.

Maui Luau: If the couple plans on visiting the tropical islands of Hawaii, they can experience an amazing Luau filled with Polynesian food, dancing, music and entertainment!!

Swim with the Dolphins: A couple from New Zealand requested for an adventure of swimming in the warm ocean waters with wild dolphins!!

River Surfing: Another fun and daring activity is jumping into a wild river while surfing on a board through the rapids!!

Safari: What more could ask for while honeymooning in Africa beside a thrilling safari tour watching wild animals in their own territory!

Make sure to check out your local hotel, resort websites to see if they provide specialty honeymoon registry ideas and gifts!!!

Vintage Jewlery and Accessories

This year, when looking for your perfect accessories, look for old, unique, antique pieces of jewelry and accessories. A huge wedding trend that has continue to grow is the vintage look, as it makes a wedding more glamorous, elegant and romantic. A great way to find those unique pieces is to go to look through your mother's or grandmother's jewelry box. While looking over the jewelry, you are bound to hear more about your family history and stories of past family members. By using family pieces, you will bring something special, unique, personal and beautiful to your wedding. It is also a great way to save money! Don't forget to check out your local antique shops to find beautiful pieces.  Below are some pictures I found that I love!

 

Flowers on wedding dresses are a huge trend for 2011, therefore add more floral details with hair pieces like the ones above.  

Pearls are always elegant and timeless!

 

These rose and bronze pieces add a soft touch of color.

Eco-Friendly Candles for Tables

The other night I went to dinner with my family and found a great lighting alternative for weddings! In the center of the tables were miniature lamps, or so it appeared...They were actually wine glasses with the battery operated flickering candle lights in the glass with a paper shade placed on top! The battery operated candle lights are great for outdoor weddings, ensuring you will not have to worry about starting a fire!

These are cost effective and easy to create yourself. I recommend purchasing a heavier set wine glasses so they will not break or tip as easily. You can find the heavier glasses at craft stores or at the dollar store. The battery operated lights can also be found at the dollar store, a local pharmacy or department store.

To create your shade, you can either purchase them online or create them yourself. What you will need is  8 1/2" x 11" sheets of vellum paper (one sheet per shade), glue pen, decorative scissors and any other accessories you want to add to your shade such as glitter, ribbon, photos, rhinestones, pearls, etc. You can find a wide variety of printed vellum paper and accessories at your local craft store or online.
Once you have all of the materials, I recommend using a shade template online to trace onto the vellum paper. Cut out the vellum paper shade, place glue on one edge and overlap with the other edge to form the shade. Once the glue has dried, add any other designs and accessories to the shade.

                 

Once the night is over, either hand out the wine glasses as favors or keep them for yourself to enjoy your favorite glass of wine with your new husband or wife!! :)

Add Sparkle to your Winter Wedding!!!

By planning your wedding in the North West, you will have a good chance of having snow on your winter wedding day. Since majority of winter weddings are placed indoors, you are limited on using nature as decorations and backdrops. Although, this is your opportunity to bring the fun, fresh and beautiful aspects of the snow indoors.

While playing and enjoying the fun winter weather, one is able to see the beautiful shimmer found within the snow. A way to bring this shimmer and shine to the indoors is to add glitter to almost any and all aspects of your wedding.


Escort Cards & Menus:
Print names in a fancy, elegant font in a silver, blue, or gold glitter ink. You can also use card-stock paper with shimmer already made within the paper. Also try using ivory or white colored feathers to add a softer feel to your paper items.

Or even make your escort cards in the shape of a snowflake! 

Cocktail Hour:
Find shimmery ivory or white cocktail napkins to give to your caterers to disperse while handing out your favorite hor d'oueves. Think of fun and creative drinks to where you use sugar; it tastes amazing and looks similar to snow...try this Blue Sky Martini!!

Flowers:
Request for your florist to use spray glitter that is friendly to plants and flowers. The light will pick up the light shimmer and add a sprinkle of glam to your photos.

Just like with your paper items, add ivory feathers to add the softness to your day.

Decoration to Tables:
Place glitter snowflakes and ornaments s to your guests tables, favor table and bar.

Another popular and cute idea in bringing the outdoors in, spray pine cones with fake snow and glitter. The pine cones add a true North West feeling to your wedding!! :)

You can choose to either just paint the pine cones with glitter....

Or spray the tips of the pine cones with the fake snow.....

To add height and drama to your tables, use branches and twigs painted with snow! This is another great way to add a North West touch to your wedding!!

Lighting:
With winter days, comes early dark nights... although, use it to your advantage by using plenty of candles all over your venue. The more candles, the better!!! The candle light will give a very romantic and warm feeling to your event. It will also add shimmer and sparkle to all of your photos!

Below is a photo of a table from a wedding where the bride requested for all the lights to be off so the only light was put off from all the candles within the ballroom! This wedding definitely had the romantic, soft and elegant feel.

Cute and Tasty Winter Wedding Idea: Hot Chocolate Station!!

So the winter wedding season is coming and there are so many wintery ideas to add a fun and seasonal touch to your wedding. I found of a very cute and tasty favor to present to your guests at your wedding; hot chocolate station! Hot chocolate is a great warm beverage to serve to your wedding that guests of all ages can enjoy!

You can use a wide variety of toppings and flavors for guests to add to their hot chocolate, such as:

Favorite Hot Chocolate Toppings:

• Marshmallows- you offer a wide variety of colors, sizes and flavors
• Cinnamon Sticks
• Chocolate Sprinkles
• Peppermint Sticks- Candy Canes for a more seasonal touch
• Chocolate truffles
• Caramel Squares
• Cookie Pieces
• Orange Peels
• White and Dark Chocolate Hunks
• Candy pieces such as M&M's, Hershey Kisses, Reese's Pieces candies
• Instant Coffee for those who want an extra kick to mix in ;)
• Whipped Cream
• Cherries

I love this idea of chocolate on sticks, then you and your guests and stir and melt the chocolate at the same time! Maybe enjoy a bite or two before it's all gone!

 

Favorite Hot Chocolate Syrups and Sauces:

• Caramel Sauce
• Peppermint Syrup
• Coffee Flavor Syrups
• Almond Flavor Syrup
• Vanilla Syrup
• Maple Syrup
• Blackberry Syrup
• Hazlenut Syrup



I absoultely love the holiday and winter season and was so excited to offer this idea for future winter wedding brides! :)  You can use decorative bowls, mugs, spoons and containers that match your wedding style. You can also personalize the hot chocolate mugs to give out as a favor by printing you and your spouse's name and the wedding date. Here are a few sites to look at for personalizing some mugs:

Based out of Hood River, we love this local company: The Fruit Company
http://www.thefruitcompany.com/

Discount Mugs offers a wide variety, nearly 100 ceramic coffee mugs to choose from!!
http://www.discountmugs.com/



Have fun with this idea and be creative, but I would make sure to have adult supervision with the little ones making their beverages ;)