I don’t think the all-white wedding cake will ever go out of style. They are timeless!

I saw these images on Brides a while back and thought they would make a great post!

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. I adore the crisp mornings and cool evenings, the color changing leaves, and of course, the fabulous fall fashions! Another plus to chilly autumn days? Delicious warm drinks.

Even if you’re not going with the stereotypical burnt oranges and yellows and chocolate browns for your fall wedding, these yummy beverages would be a treat for any guest. Set up a station and serve a signature drink, or serve them all at their own special bar. Check out below for some that sound particularly amazing.

Hot Apple Cider

Ingredients:

* 3 quarts apple cider

* 12 whole cloves

* 1 cinnamon stick

* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil. Strain and serve hot spiced cider hot in mugs. Makes 12 cups of hot spiced cider. [Source]

Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

* 3 cups milk

* 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, grated

* 1 tablespoon white sugar

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1 egg

Preparation:

1. Put milk into a microwave-safe container and cook on High in microwave for 2 minutes. Mix in chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, whisk an egg until smooth, then mix it into the chocolate mixture.

2. Return to microwave and cook on High for 3 to 4 minutes or until foamy (be careful not to let it boil.) Whisk until smooth and pour into 3 mugs. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired. [Source]

Wassell

* Okay, so technically this is dubbed a “Christmas” drink, but I think it’s delicious year round.

Ingredients:

* 1 1/3 c. sugar

* 1 qt. water

* 2 whole cloves

* 4 sticks cinnamon

* 4 whole allspice

* 3 c. orange juice

* 2 c. lemonade

* 2 qt. apple cider

Preparation:

Boil sugar and water for 10 minutes. Add spices. Let stand for 1 hour. Add other ingredients. Serve warm. [Source]

Irish Vanilla Coffee

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 oz Bailey’s® Irish cream

* 1 1/2 oz vanilla vodka

* 4 oz coffee

* 1/2 – 1 oz whipped cream

Preparation:

Pour into a coffee mug 4 oz. of coffee. Add 1 1/2 oz. each of Bailey’s Irish Cream and Absolut Vanilla Vodka. Stir lightly and top, if desired, whipped cream. [Source]

Hot Tea

Not too many instructions here. Buy a few packs and let guests chose whichever flavor they’d like to steep. Harney & Sons is my fave – adore the Passion Plum!

I love sweets – candies, cakes, cookies, you name it. In fact, I think all of my teeth are sweet (I just love sugar that much)! That’s why I was thrilled when Thea from the Gumdrop Cookie Shop contacted me about her fabulous cookies! I agreed to sample a few if she sent some my way – I figured cookies that had gone through the mail just wouldn’t be as tasty and didn’t want to talk up something I had never tried. But, when my samples arrived, I gobbled them down with no problem. Yum yum!

Let me tell you a bit more about the Gumdrop Cookie Shop. They are all about customized sugar cookies. They have done, and can do, just about anything! Special messages, designs, logos, photos, monograms – the list goes on. They are popular for weddings, showers, birthday parties, anniversaries and company events. I think they would also be great for wedding professionals to have in their shops or to pass out at bridal shows.

Here are a few examples of the fabulous things the Gumdrop Cookie Shop has to offer!

Blossom

Monogram “Prominent”

Custom Brides

Get your own fabulous, customized cookies! They are sold by the dozen and are quite delicious.

Here is a helpful article for Wedding Favor Diva, Shirley Tan. Check out what she has learned from her years in the business and what she has to say as a favor expert!

We have heard it all: the bride’s family pays for the wedding and the groom’s family pays for the ring. Don’t ask for gifts on the invitations. Send hand-written thank you notes within two weeks of receiving gifts. Proper etiquette throughout the engagement is extremely important, and luckily there is plenty of useful advice to assist brides-to-be during the wedding planning process. Unfortunately, the etiquette surrounding wedding favors is often glossed over or forgotten in lieu of more common questions concerning gift giving, the wording on the invitations, the reception, etc. I often receive calls from curious (and sometimes frantic!) brides who desperately want to know the proper etiquette regarding wedding favors. Hopefully this information will assist some of you nervous brides in finding beautiful wedding favors.

DO give favors. Yes, weddings are expensive and can be very stressful to plan. However, part of your job as a bride and groom hosting a wedding is to be gracious to your guests. Many of them will travel far distances to be there, and often guests spend good money on gifts for the happy couple. Wedding favors, and party favors in general, are proper etiquette that cannot be skipped. Giving favors at the engagement party is optional, but suggested. Handing out favors after the bridal shower is very strongly recommended, and sending wedding guests home with reception favors is a must. If you need to keep costs down, there are plenty of beautiful favors for affordable prices. Do-it-yourself favors are a rising trend because you save on the built-in packaging costs of other favors. In addition, with the control exercised over every favor component, you can often produce more personalized and gorgeous favors than you could otherwise afford.

DON’T be tacky in your favor selection. Do not rummage through drawers, attics, and hall closets to find favors. Tacky favors can completely ruin that gorgeous wedding décor into which you have put so much thought and money. Your wedding is an upscale, elegant occasion that requires the same attention paid to every detail. If you find a fun favor you want to use, but clashes with wedding décor or is too casual for a wedding, buy those favors and hand them out at your bridal shower. By choosing the right favors, you may even be able to incorporate them into your décor and save money. For instance, save on floral centerpieces by putting favors on a tiered cake stand in the middle of the table. Another option is to use wedding favors as place cards (that way guests receive a lovely, personalized favor and you save money by buying one item for guests instead of two).

DO give one favor per guest. I do not care what you may hear to the contrary. It is absolutely bad form to give one favor to every couple or to an entire family; save that for smaller parties. For a wedding reception, each and every guest should receive one favor. If you think that a family owning more than one favor seems unnecessary, rethink your favor selection. Either opt for unisex favors or choose two different favors to give to the women and the men to ensure that every guest loves their favor.

DON’T give wedding favors to your wedding party as gifts. Proper etiquette dictates that the wedding party receives special gifts for their extra services. In many cases, these are lifelong friends who have gone above and beyond any normal expectations of friends to perform wedding duties. It is almost an insult to forego the wedding party gifts. As wedding guests, they will receive favors. However, the gifts designated for the wedding party should be in conjunction with wedding favors. Generally, the bride and groom manage their respective wedding parties, but you can choose to either give the same gift to every person or buy each person a unique gift tailored to their tastes.

DO order more favors than you will need. Shipped boxes are highly mistreated, and in large orders the chances of damaged favors is almost a guarantee. As soon as you have an accurate prediction of who the wedding guests will be, order your favors with plenty of extras to compensate for this damage, last minute guests, and miscalculations.

I hope this has cleared up some confusion regarding wedding favor etiquette. Etiquette is a delicate issue and must not be regarded lightly. Adhering to proper etiquette labels you a gracious bride, which will resonate better with guests, build happier memories in yours and your guests’ minds, and provide an overall happier and smoother experience.

Shirley Tan is the President of AmericanBridal.com, a leader in the wedding favors industry. As an expert in this industry with success building her business from scratch, Shirley has been featured on BridalGuide.com, in In Style Magazine, and on HGTV’s Designing Spaces. An acclaimed advisor on wedding tips, she recently authored The Bridal Handbook, to be released February 2009.

I think the nicest gifts you can give someone are handmade. Really, instead of sugar-coated almonds or little chachke you decided on in a panic, how nice would it be for your guests to give them something lovely, from the heart? Here, I’ve made a Dragonfly Box that is a great gift by itself or you can fill it up with your favorite treat! I will walk you through how I did it:

What you need: (I purchased everything at Michael’s )

1. Small Box

2. Ornamental Dragonfly or Butterfly

3. Ribbon (Martha Stewart has some nice ones!)

4. Glass Beads

5. Glitter

Glue

Scissors

1. Twist the included wire (on bottom of the insect) in the shape of a flat circle and glue to lid of box.

2. Cut enough ribbon to fit over lid of box. Trace the length of the ribbon with a small stream of glue and attach it to lid.

3. Put small dabs of glue inside lid and wrap ribbon so that the ends of the ribbon curl around the lip of the lid. Cut excess ribbon to look tidy. Let dry.

4. Put lid on box and use a pencil to trace where the ribbon will go on box. Cut and glue ribbon around the box to match up with markings so that the ribbon looks like it’s wrapped around the whole box (when lid is on).

5. Put a spot of glue on the center of the lid and add beads to it. Then put more glue around beads and add glitter, carefully shaking off any excess.

You can place your new gift box directly on top of place settings, which can add another decorative element to your tables!

xoxo Siena – Wedding Videographer

www.digitalprincessproductions.com

p.s. Feel free to contact me. If you want to try to make something or need an idea, let me know… I’ll help you out! DiyWeddingGirl@gmail.com, diyweddinggirl.com

I won’t lie to you – I have a sweet tooth. A big one. In fact, I probably have more than one. And although I tend to prefer the fruity candies, I do love some delicious chocolate from time to time (you know, for all of its “health enhancing” qualities ; ).

Enter : Choclatique. This fabulous site is all about chocolates. From their information on chocolate, detailed flavor guide, and customizable chocolates boxes, you can find what you’re looking for!

The site offers a variety of products, not just chocolates! Try marshmallows, nuts, sauces, ganaches, beverages, and even sugar-free goodness! And if you’re really fanatical, you can join the Club de Choclatique to received monthly chocolate deliciousness!

If you happen to be looking for something for a wedding or anniversary, they also have some items you should check out. Yum!

Now for the really good stuff. Choclatique is giving one of our readers an 8 piece Love assortment (pictured above). Doesn’t it look delicious (and almost too good to eat)!? To enter, simply tell us what you think looks like the best Choclatique goodie. We’ll randomly pick a winner at the end of the week.

And congrats to Erin E. from the Invitation Consultants’ custom stamper giveaway!

LABELS! I love them. They should be on EVERYTHING!

Okay, maybe not everything.

But, they definitely work on wine bottles! Wine bottles are cool enough on their own, but slap a personalized label on them and they suddenly become very “you”. Let me share with you PersonalWine.com, a great site that where you can customize your own labels, get them put on bottles of beverages of your choice, then order a case (or two, or three, or four … or more). Look at the little pretty we created:

You can chose from reds, whites, blushes, champagne and sparkling, in a number of prices from a number of places (Napa Valley, Italy and France to name a few). You can even order mini bottles! And to make it better, the site is really easy to navigate and use. Just hop on, select the label design you like, edit, pick a bottle, order and pay! Voila. You can use your custom labeled wines as favors, welcome gifts (for out of town guests), or just to serve during the big day.

And if you’re just into wine because, well, you love wine, check out their sister site, Wines.com. You can purchase wine or accessories, join a wine club and read and post on forum!

Sorry for my absence the last two days! I haven’t been feeling too swell. BUT! Today I’m back with something fabulous! Another GIVEAWAY!!! This time the little something special is from Le Viette – a new super cute “treat”. Let me share a bit more with you (and before you leave, make sure you check out the bottom of the post for the giveaway details).

Le Viette carries a line of desserts… with a twist. They are actually towels folded and molded to look like scrumptious desserts! To die for! There is a collection that resembles Swiss Rolls, check out the picture below.

But wait, there is more! How about the Mousse, “Celebrations”, “Elegance” collections, and not to mention the Desserts!!

Here is a little something more about the company:

The word “Viette” from Le Viette is derived from the French word, Serviette, meaning “towel”. Le Viette presents to you towels exquisitely designed to resemble real desserts. Each Le Viette product is made with 100% cotton towels, ensuring its highest quality and softness. Individually prepared by hand with carefully selected materials, Le Viette invites you to indulge in our dessert towels as a décor, gift, and of course, a towel.

And a few more pieces of eye “candy” for you:

GIVEAWAY details: Just leave a comment naming/listing your favorite dessert(s) (wedding or other). We’ll randomly pick a number at the end of next week (Friday). Le Veitte is providing us with a “Chocolate French Toast” to give away – delicious! Best wishes!

To see all of their products or to read their blog, just check out LeViette.com!

I’m not much one for smoking…anything, really. But I do, as much as I may not wish to admit it, like the idea of a cigar bar for a wedding reception.

So what exactly IS a cigar bar? Well, you can kind of fit “it” to your needs. Bring in a cigar roller and have him (or her) work throughout the reception making cigars for your guests (usually the males…). Or, bring in a few cigar humidors stocked with different cigars and set them out, almost like you would a dessert table, and allow guests to brows. If you want to go all out, have an attendant there to assist guests in selecting and preparing the cigars.

Here is an image from NGALA showing a roller in action:

And here is a great example of a very legit cigar bar.  It’s almost like a mini cigar shop!! Image from The Puff Lounge.

In honor of last weeks post on the ever-so-fabulous French wedding cake, I thought I’d post on something a little closer to “home”. I’m mainly Norwegian and Germain… pretty awesome, I know. So imagine my giddy, school-girl excitement when I discovered this FABULOUS traditional Norwegian wedding cake (it’s a little patriotic but hey)!

From hfb

This almond-y treat is made up of 18 rings stacked on top of each other and drizzled with a sweet frosting. Its consistency is more like that of a cookie than a cake. If it tastes anything like krumkake, sign me up!