Tag Archives: Nerissa Balland

Customize your Cocktail Hour

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Fashionable Foodie by Markia Raveau-Violette

What’s a better way to customize your cocktail hour than by having personalized cocktail napkins?

Print the logo from your save-the-dates, invites or menu cards onto your napkins like this couple did:

I love these “did you know” napkins. It’s a great way for your guests to learn fun facts about you and start conversations at the bar!

Cocktail napkins are also a great (and super easy!)  way to incorporate your color scheme.

Happy Honeymooning!

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Diary of a Bride to be by Lauren Cooper

Sunrise from Haleakala

Last week we booked our flight and first hotel for our honeymoon!  Destination:  Hawaii.  We’re spending 10 days in both Maui and Kauai and I can’t wait!  I got the call last Tuesday that the 2012 Disney Vacation Club points were finally available for Hawaii and FH booked it immediately.  (Disney Vacation Club points = staying in approved hotels for free) 

Our first week we’re staying in the Grand Wailea Hotel on Maui and I already have a list of things I’m dying to do.  I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf, so I want to cross that off my bucket list while we’re there.  The beaches on the northwest side of Maui are great for beginners, with slower, easier waves to ride and a variety of surfing schools to join.  I’m also looking forward to snorkeling;  Hawaii offers some amazing snorkeling expeditions through Molokini, a State Marine Life and Bird Conservation District.  Yay, sea turtles! 

Even though I’m not an early riser, I really want to go to Haleakala National Park to see the sun rise over the mountains.  Haleakala is Maui’s highest mountain peak, almost 10,000 feet above sea level.  Yea, we’ll have to get up way before dawn to drive for two hours, but it’s a once in a lifetime experience.  More coffee, please!  In case I can’t get FH into that idea, I’m sure I can get him to go hiking through Haleakala to Maui’s picture perfect waterfalls…maybe we’ll even go zip lining!

Of course, I also plan on spending plenty of time working on my tan on those to-die for beaches!  Aloha, Hawaii!  Here we come! 🙂

Engagement Chicken

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Fashionable Foodie by Markia Raveau-Violette

While searching for a something to cook for dinner I came across this recipe for “engagement chicken.” This meal is said to inspire men to pop the question to their girlfriends. The engagement chicken got it’s name about 30 years ago when Kim Bonnel, the fashion editor of Glamour magazine, passed this recipe on to her assistant. After making the meal for her boyfriend, he proposed to her a month later. Since then, this recipe has been passed along with more and more men proposing to their girlfriends after eating this meal. Does it actually work? Who knows, I guess we’ll just have to try it and find out 😉

 

 

 

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Pretty Paper

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Diary of a Bride to Be by Lauren Cooper

The good news is the save the dates are all sent out!  (Well, except for one) The bad news is, with the response I got from our save the dates, I now feel like the stationary I had originally picked out is below par.  😦 Yea, I know I said I didn’t want anything fancy because people just throw it out, blah, blah.  And I still feel that way, which is which I’m trying to find pretty stationary for a good price.  

So I’ve gone back to the drawing board to look at more invitation options.  We’ve been traveling so much on the weekends, that spending an entire day at a stationary store is sort of out of the question.  I also feel I’ve exhausted my options through places like Minted and Wedding Paper Divas.  And so back to trusted Etsy I go.  I swear I should start a fan club for this site.  Who knew how many thousands of stationers are on Etsy?  It kind of makes my head spin.

So far I’ve reached out to five vendors whose work I really liked.  I requested samples and pricing and started an excel sheet to compare.  Obsessive?  Yea, maybe.  But there’s so many different options for stationary that it’s impossible to keep straight if I don’t have it written down.  There’s letterpress, thermography, and offset printing.  Then you have to choose how many enclosure cards you want, and what sort of card stock you want to print on…oh and some places offer menus and thank you card printing while others don’t.  It’s all very confusing.  The good thing is:  I can go custom made!  Which is really what I’ve wanted from the very beginning;  something that incorporates our theme and personal style onto an invitation.  And the prices?  SO much better for work that is created just for YOU!  Yay.  🙂

Take Two (Dresses, that is)

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Diary of a Bride to Be by Lauren Cooper

I’ve sort of been coasting along with wedding plans lately…besides buying my dress of course!  So I’ve turned my attention to the other wedding event.  The rehearsal dinner.  A  few months ago I assigned my future husband to research some places in the area; then he proceeded to bombard me with questions and links to places, etc.  BUT, he somehow narrowed it down between two places; both of which I really like. 

While he’s deciding on which venue to go with, I’ve been dreaming about what to wear to the rehearsal dinner.  (So much more important)  🙂  Call me crazy, but I’d really love to wear a white dress to the rehearsal dinner.   Something a little old hollywood glam; a little 40s style jazz singer-esque.  And I just about fell off my chair when I saw this dress from Monique Lhuillier’s Fall 2012 bridal collection. 

  Hello, Lover!  Alas, our wedding budget doesn’t allow us to purchase TWO wedding dresses but this is certainly something I was dreaming of for the rehearsal.  I can just picture Grace Kelly strolling the red carpet in this dress.

Along more realistic lines…check out  my other favs so far.  This Nicole Bakti dress from NewYorkDresses.com and the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Dress…love that movie!

But a girl can dream…

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Photo courtesy of Brides, Monique Lhuillier “Holiday” gown, Fall 2012. 

The Vegetarian Bride

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Fashionable Foodie by Markia Raveau-Violette

As a vegetarian, you wouldn’t cook meat for your guests at home, so should you serve it to them at your wedding? If you have strong beliefs about not eating meat, or any animal products for that matter, would you go against them just to please your guests? Planning your wedding can be difficult enough without worry about what you should serve. Here are some tips to planning a vegan/vegetarian menu that all of your guests will enjoy:

1. Work with your caterer: Let them know that you are only planning on serving vegetarian options. If the choices they present you are not what you had in mind, bring them a recipe that you love. Most caterers will be more than happy to help create the perfect menu.

2. Have variety: You may love Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce, but that might not be something your guests would choose. Choose menu items that will be a hit with the meat eaters as well as your vegetarian guests.

3. Stick to your guns: You may have a lot of people who will try to persuade you to have at least have one meat option, but if this is what you believe in stick to it. Show everyone that you can hold an amazing meatless reception that everyone will enjoy!

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photo courtesy of  Austin Wedding Blog