Real Wedding: Tiffany + Mark

As promised (albeit long ago!), Dulcet and Dapper is featuring its first real wedding! This wedding has special meaning to yours truly as this marked my true desire and motivation to launch LK Events & Design.

Here's a snippet from Mark's proposal written by Tiffany: "Mark took my parents out to dinner the week before he proposed. On the night of the proposal, he picked me up at my parents house and we drove in silence. He had the Brad Paisley song "Everything" on repeat. We pulled up to Sunday Park, a local waterfront restaurant, still barely talking. Finally on the walk out to the Gazebo Mark told me he felt like we were on our first date again. He was so nervous. He had planned it so that once the sun started setting, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! We both got so nervous he had to read what he had written on paper. It was adorable! Of course I said yes! After that we shared a private dinner and champagne that he had prearranged lakeside. It was a great night!"


Tiffany and Mark's winter wedding was so crisp and clean--full of romance. You can just see it in their faces! And maybe a little bit of an "Ahhhhh...yesssss!" for Mark.


For me, a black, white and ivory affair is a tough one to pull off. Such crisp, clean, classic colors are very hard to use without looking too stark and even boring. With contrasting colors like these, prints are a great way to add texture to an event and Tiff used just the right amount on her cake and pre-wedding stationary. Not overdone and blinding, but simple and sophisticated. Leave it up to my girl Tiff. It was soft and classic. Just how she wanted it.

From the bride: "When planning our wedding we wanted it to be very simple yet classy. We both love Christmas and the feel of winter, so we decided to have it December. We wanted a very intimate feel during such a happy time of the year."
Love and emotion filled their reception. It makes you tear up just looking at it.

Tiffany:"The best part of the day was the whole day. But if I had to choose, my favorite part was when the door first opened and I saw my future husband. The feeling was amazing as I walked down the aisle to become the future Mrs. Hoover."



{catering: Homemade by Suzanne, florist: Flowers Make Scents, bridal gown: Tiffany's, bridesmaids: David's Bridal, Groomsman: Groom's Corner, Stationary: Cynthia Steiner at Stampin' Up, cake: Becky Bolhuis (local), photography: Dan Iott Photography, dj: Will Rollins Entertainment}

Just a bit of post-wedding information that may make you fall in love with love. I asked Mark how married life was going. His response: "Married life is the best thing." [turns to Tiff and smiles] "It's absolutely wonderful. She's absolutely wonderful." [I gag]. But only because this is so obnoxiously cute. And by gag I mean it was so sweet my heart hurt.

Thanks Tiff and Mark for sharing your beautiful winter wedding!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

In honor of the torrential downpour that will consume Richmond and inevitably ruin our walk to date night...


How adorable! Embrace rain on your wedding day.

I apologize again for the delay in posts. Comcast hates me and my new place. I have no internet again.

Happy rain, Richmond!

Ideas?

Do you have a signature drink idea? Maybe better ones for Brittany and Ben's tangerine and robin's egg blue theme? Leave comments and tell me! We love feedback! ...and of course we'll give you credit.

Do you need to create a drink for a specific color? Let me create one for you. And we'll name it that means something to you. First date place? Favorite sports team? Something creative!

Signature Drinks

The idea of a signature cocktail makes me squeal with delight. I didn’t even really give my sister a choice for her wedding. [And my September bride will get a persuasive essay on why it’s such a great idea.] It’s a perfect way to extend a couples personality and add a pop of your event colors in an unexpected way. Plus, any excuse to create more work for myself by creating little drink flags is what I’m all about. To add an additional budget friendly tip to my previous open bar vs. cash bar post, just serve beer, wine and a signature cocktail. It requires limited ingrediants and if you make it from typical bar liquors and mixers its an even cheaper option! In my sister’s case, its BYOB for her affair—which means anything goes! And the one thing the happy couple has requested is a monstrous amount of alcohol and fun for their guests. I surely will make that happen.

I’ve come up with a few different cocktail options for their theme of robin’s egg blue and bright orange (names are still pending). And yes, this is the first time they’ve seen these.

As I know Ben is a HUGE fan of the Christmas tree liqueur, gin, here’s a delicious orange drink recipe:

2 oz. gin

2 oz. orange juice

2 oz. champagne (substitution: 1 oz. triple sec and 1 oz. sprite)

Serve on ice in a highball. Garnish with an orange peel.

Like me, my sister loves her blueberries. I wanted to put a twist (and beautify) our most favorite drink of Smirnoff Blueberry + club soda:

2 oz. blueberry vodka

2 oz. triple sec

1.5 oz. pineapple juice

1 oz. blue curacao

Shake and pour in a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with sinking blueberries.

Some other options:

2 oz. mandarin vodka

1 oz. lime juice

1 oz. orange liquour

Splash of club soda

Shake and pour in martini glass. Garnish with floating orange peel.

And lastly (because I love champagne):

1 oz. vokda

1 oz. triple sec

1 oz. blue curacao

.5 oz. lemon or lime juice

Champagne the rest of the way!

Shake on ice the first 4 ingrediants. Pour in a chilled champagne glass and fill the rest up with bubbly! No garnish—perfect the way it is!

For more drink ideas, go here or just contact me. Hey, I came up with these recipes!

Drinks, Drinks, Drinks!

Rounding June, we’re in the heart of wedding season. Our weekends are quickly filling with the anticipating nuptials of friends and family. This means three things: good friends, great dancing and OPEN BAR! Er, unless you’re the fuddy duddy friend with the cash bar. Which brings me to the point of this entry:

The Battle of Open Bar vs. Cash Bar

Who will reign supreme?

(Sorry food network overload).

I am a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. Translation: You will drink at your friend’s weddings and they will drink at yours. And well, if you don’t get married—hey, you came out ahead. If you don’t already see where I’m going with this, I fully support an open bar.

Now some of you may say this is a bit presumptious and not everyone can afford an open bar. As the self-proclaimed queen of DIY and budget friendly events, I say YES YOU CAN! Penny pinch on other things such as floral, favors, even the DJ (thank you, Apple, for the iPod!) Pick up some seasonal flowers at your local market. Have a wedding planner or crafty friend (not in your wedding party) arrange the day before the event. Order pre-designed stationary from online retailers like www.vistaprints.com or if YOU are crafty enough, design your own and print them online or at Kinkos. And the list of budget helpers could go on…and on…and on. By prioritzing, you are able to budget for an open bar. And for me, the biggest priority is making sure my guests are full of great food and drunk off delicious drinks.

Many reception and event hall vendors are allowing you to BYOB. Yes—bring your own beverages. Imagine how much money that could save you! Just steadily stock up from those trusty bulk discounters over the course of a few months and you’ll barely see that cash gone (or at least we’ll avoid the heart attack when you cut that big, fat check to the catering company).

Ultimatly, with almost any budget there is a great way to provide good food and great (free!) libations to all your guests. Because didn’t Uncle Fred allow you to drunkenly bust out the robot on the dance floor last year? Maybe you should let him do the same.

Stay tuned for more DIY tips and budget helpers coming soon...