Hello Kitty Is All Grown Up

Hello Kitty is an icon that has now made it to the bottles of white wine and perfect for a party or wedding reception.  What a whimsical, wonderful idea.  How fun!!!!

Here are some tasting notes for the four types:

Hello Kitty Sparkling Brut Rosé – A deep reddish pink sparkling rose made from 100% Pinot Noir that has a frothy mousse as well as a pretty nose of rose petal and red currant scents.

Hello Kitty Sparkling “Sweet Pink” (Half Size) – This semi-sweet sparkler sports a pale pink hue and has very delicate bubbles.

2008 Hello Kitty Angel White – This is a fresh, very “blanc” white wine made entirely from Pinot Noir free run juice.

2006 Hello Kitty Devil Red – Garnet red with brickish highlights, this is a classically rendered Pinot Noir that presents a seductive bouquet of wild flowers and forest aromas.

Complete tasting and technical notes for each wine type at HelloKittyWine.com.

Thank you Simply Natural Events for doing an article about  this on your blog.  Love it!

Breakfast At Tiffany Fashionable Stationery

Something blue  that never goes out of style  is found at  the world famous store Tiffany.  Many brides use the inspiration they get from Audrey Hepburn in the classic movie Breakfast At Tiffany for their bridal shower theme, and it couldn’t be more fun to decorate, and to get your guests anxious for the festivities when they receive their invitation.

I always enjoy bringing new artists to your attention, and I’m sure you’ll agree, “getting your party started” with these gorgeous invitations will set the tone for your beautiful bridal shower.  Elaine Biss designed this invitation, and there are many more delightful designs to choose from.

Courtesy of Elaine Biss

Every girl needs their “Little Black Dress” and this would also be a perfect design for your Breakfast At Tiffany party.

Courtesy of Elaine Biss

If you’re known for having a pair of shoes and purse for every outfit,  this design would be perfect.  I think going to a thrift store, buying purses you love and using them as a “container” for your centerpieces would be fabulous.

Courtesy of Elaine Biss

Don’t forget to send your bridesmaid’s an invitation to be in your wedding party.  A perfect way of doing this would be a Tiffany blue box with a  diamond paperweight (how appropriate for a Tiffany theme).

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

For other decorating ideas visit my bridal shower section and scroll down until you come to the article on Breakfast At Tiffany Bridal Showers.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

While wedding cakes are still one of the most beautiful features of your reception, cupcakes are holding their own as a popular trend in 2010.  If you were concerned they wouldn’t be elegant enough, look at  what some decorators are doing with them to enhance their beauty and make them fit your reception decor, including a cake at the top of the display for tradition.

I love the fact that they included a crystal monogram on the top of the cake and for added elegance, they have the crystal trim surrounding each layer.

Courtesy of cupcakecollection.com

Black and White is still a very popular color scheme for weddings, and this display of cupcakes looks gorgeous.  There are also black and white cupcake wrappers if you’re doing it yourself,  that will enhance even store bought cupcakes.

Courtesy of vanillabakeshop.com

Courtesy of The Cakery

The Cakery’s display, above, uses Filagree Cupcake wrappers on some of the tiers.  Notice they also have a cake at the top, which is a touch I really like.  Since the Filigree wrappers come in black and white, I can see alternating them on each tier for a black and white color scheme wedding.

These cupcakes by Blue Cupcake  represent a wonderful Summer or Springtime wedding.  A lovey cake at the top, and the cupcakes bring a smile to my face as they are still very elegant, yet suitable for an outside garden wedding.

Courtesy of bluecupcake.com

Courtesy of bluecupcake.com

If vivid colors (a big trend for 2010) is your fav, look at the above cupcakes by Blue Cupcake, for inspiration.

I enjoy the fact that you have so many options available to you to suit any budget.  You can have one of these wonderful bakeries do them for you.  You can bake your own and have fun decorating them yourself.  You can pick up cupcakes from your local bakery or even supermarket and use the gorgeous new cupcake wrappers that come in a wide variety of designs and colors to enhance them.  It’s great when there are so many choices.

DIY Wedding Invitations & Clipart Help

These days so many brides love to have a hand in creating their own custom designed invitations and programs as well as all kinds of fun things to make their wedding stand out from the rest.  Today I found a wonderful site, WeddingDNA,  which I had to share with you because it has all the tools to help you accomplish creating an elegant professional look, made with your own hands.

If you’re artistic like I am, you love finding beautiful clip art to enhance whatever project you’re working on.  This site will become your source over and over again.  They even have some gorgeous free clip art you can play with…what’s better than that?

Sample Inviation: Wedding DNA

Dessert Buffet – A Yummy Wedding Trend

The new trend in reception treats,  that keep your guests coming back for more,  is the Dessert Buffet. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up on having a gorgeous wedding cake if you really want one, but it can save you money to have your cake made smaller for your pictures and cake cutting tradition.

There is no end to what you can serve on a  Dessert Bar.  Cupcakes, pie, bite size brownies, rice krispy treats, cheesecake, etc.  Big taste can come in small packages.

1- Keep the servings small and presented beautifully.

2- Give a nice variety of tastes to satisfy your guests preferences.  Even some sugar free selections would be nice if possible.

3- Chocolate covered strawberries or a chocolate fountain with fruit, marshmallows, cut up pound cake is another wonderful presentation.

4- How about cookies with milk in cute glasses?

5- Make sure you have boxes to send home with your guests for their goodies from the dessert bar.

For the DIY bride, or a reception on a tight budget,  this is a wonderful idea.  You can have a dessert reception mid afternoon or after the dinner hour so guests will know they will not be fed a meal.  Make sure you note that in the wording of  your invitation “Dessert Buffet Reception” following.

I love this idea for your bridal shower or engagement party too if you still want to do a traditional wedding cake for your reception.

Now for the inspiration:

This is a brilliant idea (I can’t take credit for this one, but I love it).  Use your favorite pie recipe to make these miniature “pies” on a lollipop stick.  Wrap the top with cello tied with a bow and put them standing up in an attractive container or make an “arrangement” with them by inserting the stick into a piece of styrofoam which can be disguised with crumbled oreo cookies (that is my idea).  Use a round cookie cutter to cut the pie dough out, use your favorite pie filling, crimp the edges, and make these little pies as would any pie, except make sure you insert the lolli stick before baking.

"Lolli Pie"

Rice Krispy Treats in a Vase

Chocolate Fountain Buffet

Rice Krispy Cake

Dessert Bar

Brownies, Mini Eclairs, Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Cupcake Boxes

Boxes for all your guests to take home their desserts are available in 10 of your  favorite colors and a variety of sizes.

Gourmet Rice Krispie Treats come in different choices including Rice Krispie Pops and Decadent Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Pops.

Individual Cupcake boxes are also available.

Clear Boxes & Cupcake wrappers

For an elegant way to present your cupcakes, there are many styles and colors of cupcake wrappers to make them look elegant.

Now, this is fun!!

We have a winner!$250.00 shopping spree!!

Favors By Serendipity is offering a $250.00 Shopping Spree towards anything on their site – including Cake Jewelry, Bridesmaids Gifts, Bridal Shower Favors, Wedding and Party Favors, Candy Buffet Packaging and more…..

Imagine getting a free gift just for giving your opinion.

Post a comment here telling us which item from the Favors By Serendipity website you especially like or would love to get if you win.

Giveaway ends Thursday, August 13 at midnight, PST.

Winner is chosen randomly and will be notified Friday, August 14, and announced here as soon as they accept the prize.

Here are some ideas of what you can win:

DIY Wedding & Bridal Shower Decorating Ideas

Decorating a wedding or party can be great fun if you have a vision and pictures to help inspire you.  I love the challenge of  “decorating on a dime”, while at the same time having the event look like a million bucks.  For those of you who enjoy doing it yourself (or with your family and friends), these will be some helpful ideas.

Flowers usually take up a large part of the budget when decorating an event.  There are alternative centerpiece ideas that can be equally as elegant while bringing  in the color palette you desire to give your event that Wow! factor.

1- One way to accomplish this is with Pillar Candles. Finding candles in your color scheme, in various sizes and widths and grouping them together so you have a nice presentation on the table can look gorgeous.  Choose one color for all the candles.  Use a strong contrasting color in your color scheme in satin ribbon in two different widths, and wrap around the candle at two levels.  Depending on the size of your tables, I would suggest you use an odd number of candles per table ie.,  3, 5 or 7.

Duplicate the look with added flowers at base of candles and make the arrangement of the candles more horizontal for  the buffet table, escort card table or sign in table.  To keep the flowers fresh, use those little tubes that contain water and put the stems in them (the tube can be hidden from view)  If your site doesn’t allow open flames, simply use LED tea lights and embed them a little in the top of the candle.

Image: La Premier

2- Vases can be costly if you are having a large reception, so when I saw what Colin Cowie  did with glass vases, I immediately thought of an idea you can use for a fraction of the cost.  Now, stay with me here…don’t think this is too silly until you try it.

Start saving your milk cartons (orange juice cartons will work too).  Use both the quart size cartons as well as the 1/2 gallon size.  Rinse them out well and start stockpiling them.  You should figure on 5 per table if your tables are large round ones.  Since these cartons are obviously already used for  a liquid, you know they will  hold water for your arrangements.

Your objective is not only to have different width cartons, but you’ll want to cut them down so you have different heights.  Once your happy with the different heights, measure them and cut all of them the same way.

Practice on your different size cartons with inexpensive fabric so you can make patterns from a paper bag  for the fabric you will cut up.  Allow room at the top and bottom to iron a little “hem”  so the ends are finished on both ends.

Choose a beautiful fabric.   You can even be extravagant in your choice of fabric because it won’t take much, and most fabrics come in very wide widths. Once you’ve made your patterns you can figure out how much fabric you will need.

Simply wrap your gorgeous fabric around the container and hot glue the seam together (being careful to use the glue sparingly so it doesn’t seep out the edges when you press down.  When placing the vases on the table, make sure the seam side is facing inward so all the guests see are nicely wrapped containers.    Add a contrasting ribbon to top and bottom and fill with flowers that are easily arranged (see my tips on arranging flowers in a previous post).

If you feel your container needs more weight for the flowers you are using, place a glass of water in them to hold the flowers and this will give additional weight and support.  The containers pictured here  are filled with lots of roses, however, if you use a large bloom, you don’t need as many flowers.  Experiment with your flowers to determine how many you will need per container.  Make sure whatever flower you choose you do a “mound” design of them making sure the bouquet covers the top of the container  to make the arrangement look luxurious.

Fabric Covered Container With Ribbon

Fabric Covered Containers Grouping

Fabric Covered Containers With Colored Votives

A crystal rose favor, if you’re using roses, would be a perfect remembrance gift for your guests.

If you use this idea, I’d love to see your pictures.  Send them to eileen@yourweddingwhisperer.com and I’ll post them so everyone can see your creativity.

Wedding Color and Chocolate Too!

Brides are always looking for ways to add color to their reception.  The obvious ideas are flowers, linens, lighting.  Today I discovered a most unusual and wonderful way to not only add color,  but have the most awesome dessert table with a Colored Chocolate Fountain. You can rent the fountain or just purchase the chocolate or do both.  What a beautiful,  elegant yet whimsical and  colorful way to have dessert.  Here are some examples for you to feast your eyes on (talk about eye candy)!

Chocolate Fountain Buffet by Sir Chocolate

Chocolate Fountain Colors

Chocolate Fountain Colors

Candy Buffet Tips & Inspiration

A Candy Buffet has become a very trendy, popular way of offering sweet treats for your guests to take home.  You can choose a nice variety of candy in your colors and do a combination of colors, or you can do a variety of candy in different shades of one color.  Think  outside the box for containers.  Containers don’t have to be made for holding candy, you can  borrow glass vases  or containers  in different shapes and sizes for interest .  Isn’t this the perfect excuse for hitting your local garage sales and thrift stores?  Of course, your local craft store would have glass containers as well.  Or, if you’re doing a shower, engagement party or rehearsal dinner and want to use this kind of set up, you can be as creative as you want for the containers.  If you have a theme, tie your candy buffet in with your theme.  Look at planters, boxes, toys, etc. and repurpose them.  We have a shoe store chain that sells women’s shoes very inexpensively.  Sometimes they have an offer where you buy one pair and get the other free.  Why not use a cute shoe filled with candy? Get a variety of colors or styles.  How about purses?  They can be lined with plastic and filled up with candies.  Or just set little cello bags of candy in them.  Let your creativity shine through.

You’re probably wondering how to figure out how much candy you will need.  I would suggest about 4 oz. per person.  There are 16 oz. to a pound .

1) How many guests do you expect?

2) How many varieties of candy will you be offering?  This will determine how many containers you will want.

3) You need to  figure out the total capacity of all your containers.  Then the number of containers times the ounces  per container  (16 oz in a pound)  and this would give you a rough idea of the  amount of candy to buy.  Keep in mind you can subtract several pounds to account for the non-takers.

4) Try to find different heights and shapes of your containers and if you can elevate some of them, it makes the buffet table more attractive.

5) You can create a cute slogan to put on the candy buffet.  Two suggestions are:

Sweet Memories

How Sweet It Is……

Sweet Remembrance

I welcome any other suggestions that you’ve found for bulk candy or slogans.

www.metrocandy.com ,www.candywharehouse.com ,are  good sources  for bulk candy.  Favors By Serendipity  has wonderful candy coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds in all the popular colors.   Bags for your candy buffet can be varied and fun.  And there are many  boxes and labels you can use.

Now for the inspiration:

Candy Buffet

candy buffet variety

Candy Buffet Monochromatic

Candy Buffet Different Levels

Breakfast at Tiffany Bridal Shower Decorating Ideas

Image: Cake Girls

 

Tiffany Box With Flowers

Tiffany Cake Table

Tiffany Centerpiece

Tiffany Cupcakes With Diamond Rings

Diamond Paperweights on Tables

Diamond Rings in Cupcakes

Tiffany Box Cake

Image: Just Cupcakes

All White Centerpiece

For decorating  ideas you can:

(1)Use Tiffany colored boxes wrapped in white ribbon stacked on tables for centerpieces – filled with diamond paperweights that can be given as prizes for games played.

(2) Hat boxes for decorations. You could put a stack of different sizes arranged on the buffet table. You could have the top one open and fake pearls hanging out of it, etc.

(3) Collect  silver pieces from second hand stores, family and friends to use as decorations. A candelabra, a square silver tray for the “Tiffany box” cake, boxes overflowing with pearls.  Wrap packages to look like the “Tiffany Box” and put pearls inside and use them for the centerpieces.

(4) Use plastic martini glasses, stacked on top of each other (in a pyramid) with crystals glued to the base.  Have a signature “Blue” colored drink served.

(5) Spray paint branches white, add fine opalescent glitter when wet.  Put branches into a crystal vase. Hang crystals from branches with tiffany blue ribbons for buffet table.

(6) If you want fresh flowers for the centerpieces, spray paint or wrap the bottom of the box to look like half of a Tiffany box.  Use white ribbon to make it look like it’s wrapped with ribbon and fill the box with all white flowers.  If possible, insert a small crystal into the openings of some of the flowers, such as roses.

(7)  White cupcakes or cupcakes decorated with blue frosting on silver tray stands with a faux diamond ring in each cupcake and sprinkle the diamond rings on the tables.

(8) Cover top of cake table or buffet table with bunched tulle.  Use a Diamond Ring napkin holder and pull parts of the tulle through the napkin ring.  Use Diamond Paperweights in different sizes on the table top or cake table.

(9) Give Diamond Ring keychains as your favors.