Archive for March, 2010
Have you ever noticed that white wine lasts a bit better than red wine? It’s partly due to the acidity of white wine. The acidity helps to preserve it’s original composition and freshness. The process by which white wine is fermented (cold fermentation) also helps to preserve the wine after it’s been opened.
On the other hand, it’s the tannins in the red wine that aids in preservation. A wine with a high tannins will last longer on the shelf than a wine lower in tannins. Just as a note, the amount of tannins do affect the taste.
Other factors such as oxygenation, fluctuation in temperatures, grape variety, and location where the grape is grown are all factors.
We order the wine for our clients – when they are purchasing their own. There have been many a day that we have loaded the car with a few bottles of opened wine. What do you do with those bottles? Pour them out? Put them in the refrigerator – and hope they are decent when you want to drink them?
Get a sucking devices, and a few stoppers for your bottles. Re-corking the wine, or just putting a stopper in – is not enough. You have to suck out the air to inhibit oxygenation – which is THE destroyer. Look for screwpull plastic or metal wine pumps with stoppers.
They can range in price between $10.00-$40.00 on Amazon.com or Williams Sonoma.
Alternatively, if you have enough wine left over, you can reuse empty Perrier bottles. Fill the bottles all the way to the top and cap tightly. Voila!
What do you do to preserved the wine after it’s been opened?
Happy planning!
I have always loved spring. I love the crisp cool mornings – and the warm (but not too warm) afternoons that warm my kids faces as they play in the sandbox. I love the circle of life – the creation of new life and the creation of new love! It’s all around us. It engulfs us like a warm blanket on a cold evening. I cannot get enough of the dewy mornings, the rainy quiet days – the love abound. Spring is the renewal of life – the getting out and enjoying the days and nights -the unstructured, the smiling, the laughing, and the loving.
What spring means to me…
Happy planning!
Thanks to all for the fresh spring bouquets
In this day and age, it’s common that couple’ are combining homes, and therefore, they do not need to register for the typical stuff of days ole’. Likewise, some couples just don’t want to go through the process of registering because they want to minimize. Then, there are other couples need a traditional registry, but want to feel good about what they do on their wedding dazes.
So, what do you do?
Donation registries.
There are tons of charities on the web where you can create a bridal registry – by either donating to a charity directly, or working with stores that will donate a portion of your guests’ purchases to a charity of your choosing. You simply place the registry address on your website and your guests choose what they want to give.
The registries allow you to give in so many different ways – it’s wonderful! It’s quick, easy – and a way to help others.
Some possible registries
What’s more Eco-Friendly and life altering – for you, your guests, and the charities?
Happy planning!
Oh by the way, that beautiful china set that’s posted above is from Gore Dean. Gorgeous!
You rarely see a wedding planner who has a $5,000.00 budget and a $105,000.00 budget coexisting in the same gallery – a gay wedding, a Persian wedding, a Jewish wedding, a Korean wedding and a Catholic wedding coexisting on the same website.
We work with everyone and we are very proud of that!
Take a look.
Happy planning!
We need a caterer who is going to give us something nice for the money that we have.
What can you feed 50-60 guests on a $5,000.00 budget? Dessert or stationary hors d’oeuvres. Because this is a wedding – and we want to present a nice picture – we are going to rent real china, flatware, dishware, and linen. This is very important as we are holding the wedding in a nice location. If it were a picnic, we would plan differently, but since it’s not – we have to plan accordingly.
Because we are not doing a full meal, we have to hold this shindig at a time other than a meal time. Since the Bride and Groom want to marry at night, here is my general timeline.
We need to know how much time we will need at the site and with the caterers as we are paying both hourly. Most sites and caterers have a 4 hour minimum – so we need to make sure we satisfy these requirements – which we do. Based on our schedule we will need 5 hours of time including set up and clean up.
You can go back to the video tour of the site we are using. We are going to use the main reception hall (the Pavilion room) for the ceremony and cake/dancing portion of the reception and we are going to use the outside hallway for the dessert/hors d’oeuvre portion.
For 5 hours of time, the rental fee will be $650.00.
The couple decided that they wanted to have an hors d’oeuvre display. Therefore, we are working from this Menu from Entree Metropolitan.
Typically for a normal cocktail hour, I would recommend 6-8 pieces per person as a minimum. Since the guests have (in theory) have already eaten (which we will tell them to do on the invitation), and we are working with 45 minutes, we are going to work with 6 pieces per person. Two pieces are included in each item – so we need 3 different items.
I’m going to show you how it can work.
The only food item that’s not included in this breakdown is the cake.
The site only has black chairs, so we have allocated additional monies to rent white chairs. Since the site has linen, we have have not included linen in our budget. The site has all the tables that we need.
Happy planning!
Here is a lovely piece for your ceremony. It could be played during the sign of Peace, Unity Candle, Sand Ceremony, After the readings and before your vows, after the exchange of rings, or just at a nice meditative place.
It’s really beautiful with a male or female voice. Of course, Sarah Brightman is always nice!
Happy planning!
Traditional Jewish weddings are graced with a number of pre-ceremony events – Bedeken (Badeken) being just one.
Bedeken , which translates as veiling, is the grooms act of veiling his bride immediately before the ceremony.
There are two explanations of the tradition.
1. This custom is based on the Biblical story where Jacob – who intends to wed Rachel – actually weds Rachel’s sister Leah. He was tricked because she had a veil over her head. To avoid mistakes, Modern Jewish Grooms come to the Bride after his Tish (another pre-ceremony celebration) to place an opaque veil over her head. He does this just to make sure – just one more time -that he is marrying the correct woman.
2. The veil represents modesty and conveys the lesson that no matter how attractive the Bride – beauty fades and the soul and the character remain paramount. The veiling symbolizes the Grooms responsibility to clothe and protect his wife.
The Bedeken ceremony is traditionally public, but can also take place at a private location if it suits the Bride and groom.
Whatever the origins, the ceremony is beautiful and meaningful for the entire family.
Happy planning!
Thanks to Thomas Graves for this beautiful photograph
Cote du-Rhone-Villages A work horse appellation of southern Rhone. Many wines can be gotten for under $25-30. Most are meant to be drunk between 2-3 years after bottling.
Cote du Rhone- The main work horse of Southern Rhone. Many bottles can be gotten for less than $20. A true value.
Hermitage is the undisputed king of northern Rhone, producing big, lush tannic reds from primarily Syrah grapes. Hermitage wines are capable of aging well and can be quite pricey.
From Top to bottom Right…
Alain Vogue Dotes du Rhone Les Peyrouses – 100% Syrah grapes from the northern Rhone region. This wine is purple in color and has an intense flavor of ripe cherries. This wine is great paired with grilled meat and veal. Less than $20.00
Feraud-Brunel Cotes du Rhone Villages – Medium bodied from the south. It has an exotic mix of crushed blueberry, boysenberry and blackberry fruits. Great with heartier dishes like grilled steak and roast pork. Less than $20.00
Delas Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes – From the north, this wine has a deep garnet red color. Made from a region with a lot of Syrah grapes, that are aromatic, rich and full bodied, this wine is best paired with game, grilled meats and rich foods. 2007 between $20-30.00
Domaine de Mourchon Cotes du Rhone-Villages – From the south, this wine is a deep dark wine with rich and concentrated notes of raspberry and blackberry fruits on a spicy background. This wine is wonderfully paired with red meat, game and cheese. Less than $20.00
Information from The Wine Examiner
Happy planning!
Okay guys – welcome to the revolution of unrealistic beauty standards!
They are at Neimens!
There is no need to suck in that gut on your wedding day! Spanx for men are in. There are 3 styles of cotton compression tops ranging in price from $55.00-$58.00, including a crew-cut tee, v-neck and tank top. All promise to flatten your chest, suck in your stomach, improve your posture, and offer lower back support.
Everything a dude needs to look great on his wedding day!
Awesome!
A before and after shot posted on the Spanx website
Take a look at the new Spanx featured on the Today show!
Happy sucking!
I am one to advocate that my clients forgo favors and save the money and the time. From my experiences – 99% of time, the favors are left on the tables and at the end of the night, I end up putting 75% of them in the trash. In my opinion, it’s just not a great use of time and money.
With that said, there were two instances where guests took an interest in and really enjoyed the favors – and in both of those instances, the Bride and I went through great lengths and expense putting them together.
Despite my thoughts – many of our clients still feel that favors are a necessary part of their wedding – but how do you minimize waste and expense, while maximizing impact? In December I wrote about some very cute plantable seeded favors from Dream Green Weddings. Very cute, very practical and very unique.
Another very ecologically and socially responsible way is donation. Almost everyone has something they care about. Why not help someone else on the most important day of your life? You can donate privately in all of your guest names – and then place a nice sign at the guest table, or make little cards out of post consumer recycled paper – and place one at each guest place setting or put them at a favor table – as they make an impressive impression in bulk.
Happy planning
