Last weekend, after months of planning, we finally had the bridal shower!  It was fantastic and everyone loved the food and had a great time.  After all of the planning that went into this, I realized that even thought I thought I could do it all myself and save money, it is important to know your limits and know when to ask for help.  The shower would have been impossible to throw without the help of my sister and my mom, and all of the other bridesmaids.  As you get ready to plan your shower, you should keep these tips in mind…

Similar to planning the wedding, you should start with a list of everything you need to take care of and give each item a budget.  To start, keep it simple by listing out the major things you need done for the shower.  Here is how I had it broken down: invitations, decorations (includes all plates, utensils, etc.), food and beverages, favors, and games. From there, add in the projected budget for each area as a way to keep you in check so you do not get carried away with any one thing and spend more than you can afford. If you are lucky like me and you have a lot of helpers, then it should be pretty easy to divide up the responsibilities.

To make decorating easier, you should pick a theme and color palette.  We stuck with the beach theme of the wedding, but feel free to use any theme or colors you choose, you do not have to use the wedding colors.  One of the other bridesmaids found some great vases and filled them with sand and starfish, which looked fabulous on the tables.  Instead of typical placemats, we used 12×12 scrapbook paper.  It was easy to make all of them coordinate and there are so many more paper choices than you get with fabric.

I thought the food was going to be the toughest part, but it turned out to be pretty straightforward and we got so many compliments!  Here is our menu (along with some of our secrets!)

Appetizers

• Pita chips and hummus
• Cheese and Crackers
• Veggie Platter

Entrees

• Quiche (frozen quiche from Costco, super tasty, but also low in cost!)
• Orzo salad (homemade)
• Barbeque Chicken Chopped Salad (from California Pizza Kitchen)
• Asian Chicken Salad (from BJ’s)
• Fruit salad

Dessert

• Red velvet cupcakes (Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix, but with homemade cream cheese frosting piped on)

I do not know how all of you feel about bridal shower games, but my friend hates them.  She was pretty adamant about not wanting to have games, but we ignored her wishes.  We played my favorite shower game: gift BINGO.  Blank BINGO cards were passed out to all of the guests, who then filled in the squares with gift predictions.  As the bride opened her presents, people crossed off items until they had five in a row.  We ended up with 4 people winning the BINGO game and it made the present opening a lot more interesting!

Good luck with all of your shower planning!

Cinnamon rolls would be a great addition to a bridal shower menu!  I used to make this cinnamon roll lamb as a kid, and when I made it again recently, it was just as fun as I remembered!  For a bridal shower, this could make a great cinnamon roll bride too!  Instead of organizing the rows as indicated below, I would arrange them starting with a row of 2, increasing until you have a row of 6.  You can use the extra dough for arms, legs, and the face.  Since the original recipe makes two, you have the option of mixing and matching the lamb and the bride for your shower.

Cinnamon Roll Lamb

Ingredients:
Rolls:
2 packages active dry yeast
4.5 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
1 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs

Filling:
3 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water

Orange Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp orange extract

Directions (makes 2 lambs):
In a large bowl, stir together the yeast and 2 cups of the flour.  In a saucepan, heat the milk, the 2/3 cup sugar, the 1/4 cup butter (cut in chunks), and the salt to 120-130 degrees.  Gradually add to the yeast mixture and blend until smooth.  Add the eggs and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.  With a heavy-duty mixer or wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour (about 2 cups) to form a soft dough.  Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and satiny (about 5 minutes).  Add flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Turn dough over in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1.5 to 2 hours).

Punch down dough and divide in half for two lambs; return one portion to the bowl, cover, and let stand at room temperature while you shape the first lamb.  Pinch off about 1/4 of the dough portion and set aside for the head, legs, and tail.  On a lightly floured board, roll the remaining portion of dough into a 10 x 15-inch rectangle.  Brush evenly with half the melted butter.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough.  Starting with the wide edge, roll up dough jelly-roll fashion.  Moisten edge with water and pinch snugly against the roll to seal.  With a sharp knife cut roll into 20 slices, each about 3/4 inch thick.  On a large, greased baking sheet, arrange the slices side by side in 4 rows.  Place 4 slices in the top row, 5 slices in the second, 6 in the third, and 5 in the bottom row.  For the legs, tail, and ears use about half of the reserved dough.  Roll it about 1/4 inch thick and cut into pieces with a sharp knife.  Tuck the legs and tail under rolls where appropriate to maintain a lamb shape.

Gather together the remaining dough and form the head, using scraps to shape the nose and eyes. Set eyes, ears, and nose in place to make a face.  Then, position the head next to the body. Cover the lamb lightly and let rise in a warm place until puffy (about 25 mins).  Repeat with the second half of your dough to make a second lamb.

Brush the entire lamb lightly with the egg white mixture.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned.  If some parts begin to brown too quickly, cover them with pieces of foil.  Remove the lamb from the oven and carefully loosen from baking sheet by running a long spatula underneath, then gently slide it off and onto a rack.  While still warm, drizzle the lamb’s body with the orange sugar icing and serve.

If made ahead, let bread cool completely (don’t ice it) and wrap airtight.  To reheat, place unwrapped bread on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil and heat in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until warm.  Then drizzle with the icing and serve.

To make the icing: Beat together all icing ingredients until smooth.

Have fun, and I would love to see the photos of your cinnamon rolls!  Or, if you have any questions let me know and I would be happy to answer them for you.

Do you remember when you went to the brick and mortar store to find your place settings that you always wanted, scan them, and then move onto the next coveted item. You could do this at 2, maybe 3 stores max, but if you chose items from too many stores, you would overwhelm your family and friends.

I still get a certain pleasure out of entering stores and going through their inventory, feeling the texture, and looking at the shine, but you no longer need to feel limited to specific store fronts or even household items for your wedding registry.

There are many creative registries that fit the needs of today’s bride…honeymoon registries for travel lovers, and online wedding registries that allow you to add any item from any online store. For example, take myregistry.com or WishpotWedding, both of which provide you with a toolbar widget that you push when you come across an item online that you want to add to your registry.

Wishpot takes it a step further with a search function that enables you to search for a specific item across their product database. This is great if you are not sure exactly what you want.

But, for all of you who are not interested in furnishing your home, or outdoor gardening, there is the Honeymoon registry. Personally, I’m a huge fan of Honeymoon Registries. It is your special time…why not indulge a little after all the stress from the wedding! Some Honeymoon registries include Traveler’s Joy and HoneyMoon Wishes.

Whatever your final decision on wedding registries, just know that there are many options out there. And, it means you get to go SHOPPING!

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I was thinking about what to get my friend for her bridal shower gift and thought to myself “what is something a bride will need, but may not think of for herself?”  Then it hit me: Thank You cards!  My sister and I decided that to make it even more special we would make them ourselves.  It was a little time consuming, but definitely worth it.  Here are a few instructions to help you get started making your own cards too!

One of my favorite techniques is dry embossing.  It is very simple, but always looks great.  Here is what you need to get started:

Items you need:

• Blank cards and envelopes
• Colored paper that matches the wedding colors
• Stencil
• Embossing tool (round tool that fits within the stencil lines)
• Ribbon
• Stamp pad (any color)
• Thank You stamp

Instructions:

Step 1:  I recommend cutting your colored paper to the appropriate sizes.  Measure one color to match the size of your stencil, with another piece slightly larger.  Then, cut your third color to be slightly wider (approximately 1”) than your stencil and a few inches longer so there is room to tie the ribbon.

Step 2: Place your stencil on a clear surface that is lit from the bottom.  (I used my glass coffee table with a flashlight underneath.)  Place your smallest piece of paper over the stencil. Wiith the light shining through, you should be able to see the design.  Trace the design using the round tool from the list above.  If you do not own an embossing tool and do not want to buy one you can try using a small nail head, ballpoint pen, or anything you can think of that will not go through the paper.  When you are finished and you flip over the paper, you should see a copy of the stencil imprinted in it.  That was the hardest part, you are almost done!

Step 3:  Glue your embossed paper to the other two pieces you cut in step 1 (as shown on my card). Tie a piece of ribbon around the bottom and affix the entire thing to the card.

Step 4:  use the stamp to put “thank you” on the card.  I chose the bottom, but you could also put it on the top or running down the side.

Everyone will be super impressed when they find out you made these cards yourself!

Even the least crafty bride can give her wedding a personal touch by making boutonnieres for the groomsmen and important  guests.  Boutonnieres are one of the simplest ways to add a do-it-yourself element to your wedding without getting in over your head.

To get started you’ll need:

floral wire (26 or 24 gauge should do it—you can get pre-cut lengths or buy a spool)

wire snips

scissors

your choice of flower along with some greenery

floral tape (I prefer the light green)

Creating a boutonniere:

Begin by trimming your flowers to remove any thorns and leaves you don’t want to keep. Take one large bloom, such as a single rose or gerbera daisy, grip the stem just below the flower, and trim about the length of three fingers down (roughly an inch to an inch and a half of stem will be left). Take a length of wire roughly 10 inches or so long (you can always trim the ends later) and insert it where the base of the flower bloom meets the stem. Slide the flower until it is centered on the wire, then fold the wire ends together. The wire can now act as an extended stem plus give the flower added strength and stability. Starting at the base of the bloom, begin wrapping green floral tape around the stem and wire. Floral tape is designed to stick to itself, not the flower, and only when it’s stretched a bit, so pull tightly when wrapping and work your way down the stem. Continue wrapping the tape over an additional inch of wire beyond the end of the stem then cut.

To add a leaf to your boutonniere the technique is much the same.  Insert the end of a wire through the middle of a leaf, catching just a bit of the stem. Bring the ends of the wire together and wrap them together with floral wire.  Place the leaf against the flower and wrap their two stems together.  If you’re using baby’s breath or another spray of tiny buds you don’t need to wire their stems, simply wrap them together with the main flower.

Once you’ve wrapped all components together, create a twist at the bottom using your fingers or by wrapping the end around a pen. Attach the finished boutonniere to a lapel with a long pearl-headed stick pin. Voila!  DIY boutonnieres for beginners. Feeling confident in your skills? Spice up a basic flower by covering your finished stem with a plain or patterned ribbon. Or try incorporating ribbons, herbs, fiddle ferns, or crystals into your design.  The possibilities are endless!

I was planning to make the bridal shower invitations for my friend’s wedding, but as the date neared I realized that I was going to have trouble making them and sending them out in time.  As an alternative, my sister found a great site called Zazzle.  On the site there are hundreds of different card options to choose from.  It can be overwhelming, but I was able to narrow down my choices by searching for starfish, the symbol for the wedding.

The step-by-step process of choosing and then ordering the card was super simple.  After selecting the design of the card you have the option of selecting from a variety of paper types.  This site is great because if you do not know the difference between linen, speckled, felt, etc., each one comes with a short description to help you make your decision.  There is even a recycled paper option for all of you eco-conscious brides.  After that, all you have to do is enter in the specific information (bride, address, time, and RSVP info).  One of my favorite things was that after each change the picture is updated to reflect your choices, allowing for a comprehensive preview before placing the final order.

If you are feeling extra ambitious, each design also has a more in-depth customization option.  On this page you are allowed to change the colors, font type or size, alignment, and pictures.  You can even add your own photo to the invitation.  In total we spent about 15 minutes choosing the design, editing the overall look by removing some of the starfish on the front, and adding in all of our own information.  The invitations arrived yesterday and they look just as I imagined, with no surprises.  I couldn’t be happier and am definitely considering Zazzle again next time I need cards or invitations!

By Erin Frank

DIY Desserts made by family members

My Do-It-Yourself wedding advice continues!  If you read my DIY Flowers post, you’ll know my husband and I were on a small budget for our wedding and took the Do-It-Yourself option to the max. We did the flowers, the decorations, the music (courtesy of my iPod nano), brought in the alcohol, and even the handled the food for a 75-person reception ourselves—DIY food being the topic of today’s post.

For the bride on a budget, providing the food for your wedding reception may be the answer. You can save literally thousands of dollars and still end up with satisfied, well-fed guests. But before you decide, take a close look at your resources. Do you have a talented network of friends and family who like creating meals? Do you have bulk food stores like Costco and restaurant supply stores nearby? Do you have transportation large enough to accommodate heavy loads? While saving money on food sounds like a dream, you can’t do it alone—without the right help and gear this endeavor will become a nightmare that threatens to spoil your big day.  And let me say this up front—if you can afford to have the meal you want catered and still stay within your budget, then absolutely have it done professionally. Caterers “get married” dozens of times each year—this is your first.  If you do decide to forge ahead with DIY food, here are a few tips to help you get started:

Boudin Bakery makes animal-shaped sourdough creations that taste even better than they look. They're a big hit with out-of-town guests.

1) Get to know your wedding site inside and out — Ask all of the important questions well in advance: Do they allow food from outside sources? Do they require certification for servers and/or bartenders? What are their policies on Sterno cans and other open flames? How many electrical outlets are there and where are they located? Is there running water and/or a kitchen area available for use? Does my liability insurance cover anything that might go wrong? Knowing the answers to these will help you pick food for your wedding that is easy to prepare in your environment.

2) Plan, plan, then plan some more — There are a number of great resources out there to be found. Cooking for Crowds for Dummies keeps it simple, and there are tons of websites. Just search for “Make your own wedding reception food” or “Cooking for a crowd.” What you cannot do without are estimates on how much food each person needs, so here’s a basic “Rule of Thumb” guide for quantities:

Hors D’oeuvres

• 6 individual pieces or bites if preceding a meal
• 4 – 6 bites per hour if hors d’oeuvres are the only meal

Main Course

• Meat, Fish or Poultry – 6 ounces when you have one main dish, 8 ounces of combined meats if you are offering two or more types
• Rice, grains – 1.5 ounces
• Potatoes – 5 ounces
• Vegetables – 4 ounces
• Beans – 2 ounces
• Pasta – 2 ounces for a side dish, 4 ounces for a main dish
• Green Salad – 1 ounce undressed

3) Keep it simple and don’t be afraid to “cheap it up” — Choose hors d’oeuvres that can be eaten with fingers and a napkin to avoid needing silverware for cocktail hours. Select pre-cooked meats, pre-sliced when possible, to avoid long cook times before the wedding. Ideally you can buy nice cuts of pre-cooked and seasoned meats, store them in their serving dish, then simply heat them to a safe temperature above sterno cans in time for the reception. This keeps things clean, and easy to transport and heat, but be sure to do a trial run in your home a month or two before your wedding to ensure success. Think about what your audience likes to eat, and don’t fancy it up too much.  My guilty little secret? The most popular dish at my wedding was the mashed potatoes. They were awesomely buttery and delicious. And folks, they came from the Safeway deli department. Was it a gourmet recipe? No. Did my wedding guests rave? They sure did, and it was insanely affordable. Remember, at the end of the day only you and the groom will know what the label on the package said.

4)  DIY means Delegate It Yourself — Now listen closely here: on your wedding day you are not to touch the food until it hits your plate. No bride should be slaving over a hot stove before she says I do. Remember that list of resources you made at the start? Assign tasks well in advance to your friends and loved ones. You can provide the recipes, money, and even serving bowls but let them make the food. All you need is a core group to make one dish each in the quantities you need and bring it on site the day of.  Provide them a place to set it up and heat or chill it if needed and you’re off and running down the aisle!

There’s a lot more to catering your own wedding than one blog post can capture. Leave a comment below if you want advice on a particular problem and I’d be happy to help!

As vendor bids come in and your wedding budget gets more and more difficult to balance, I’m willing to bet you’ll think to yourself “I could make that for less!”  I wholeheartedly applaud a DIY wedding, but let me be the first to tell you—kid, it ain’t easy.   When my husband and I wed last October, we funded the wedding ourselves on a very limited budget.  It was DIY from top to bottom, including the ceremony, decor, even the food! One of the places I was able to save a ton of cash was on flowers, and here’s how I did it:

1) Shop where the florists shop: Search online or get friendly with a local florist to find out where they source their flowers from.  If you’re a Bay Area Bride it’s the San Francisco Flower Mart.  Go several months before your wedding to start building a relationship with a vendor whose flowers you like. Your vendor will be more honest and accommodating if you’re a familiar customer.  After a few practice bouquets or centerpieces, and a little calculation, get a quote on what the flowers will cost and schedule a pick-up date and time.

2) Keep it simple: For your centerpieces pick one or two colors and florals for your blooms then add a little greenery. Buying direct from a floral supplier means you can get more flowers for your money, as you are providing the labor yourself. Use clear floral tape to construct a grid over the top of your vases, especially wide-mouthed vases. The grid will give your arrangement added structure and stability.

3) Throw a party: Enlist the help of as many friend as you can comfortably fit in your work area.  Put some to work de-thorning and trimming flowers while others make grids and start arranging.  Provide mimosas, snacks, and a little music to make the afternoon more fun.

5) It’s all in the details: Narrowing blossoms to two types of flowers and colors leaves you room to add special details without making the final look too busy.  This could mean incorporating table numbers into your floral arrangement in a unique way, or adding a touch of ribbon.  Here I used wide ribbon around the edges of pots that were all the same size and color, but had different raised patterns.  The ribbon covered any bits of tape that overlapped from my grids and really brought the look together.

6) Get Your Timing Right: Even with help, this process will take you longer than you think.  Time yourself from start to finish on a sample arrangement, including cleaning and trimming, then multiply it by the total number you want.  Give yourself a cushion on top of that to avoid stress.

7) Cool Off: Keep the flowers well-watered in a cool place until they are ready for their big moment! Make sure in advance that you have boxes for transporting your arrangements. On your wedding day, enjoy!  All of those compliments about how beautiful things look?  They’re the reward for all of your hard work.

Rice, or no rice?  Traditionally, rice is thrown at the bride and groom to symbolize fertility, fruitfulness, or other good wishes.  This tradition has been passed down since the Middle Ages and there is no good reason to stop the tradition now.  In recent years, people began spreading the myth that birds would eat the uncooked rice, it would swell in their stomachs, and they would burst.  According to multiple articles, this is untrue, and the uncooked rice thrown outside a church will hurt the birds no more than birds eating rice out in the fields.

Champagne Bubbles From American Bridal

However, due to the popularity of this myth, a number of alternatives to rice throwing have taken hold in the wedding industry.  In addition to the simple option of throwing birdseed, one new alternative is blowing bubbles as the happy couple makes their way out of the church.  American Bridal is one company which offers a number of different keepsake bubble bottles, including these adorable ones shaped like champagne bottles.

Another alternative to rice are flower petals.  I recently went to a wedding where the bride’s mom and aunt dried all of their flowers from their gardens

Rose Petal Cones from Moments of Elegance

during the months leading up to the wedding.  They then rolled paper into cones and decorated them with black bow ties to represent men, and maroon ribbons for women.  They were adorable and everyone had a good time throwing the petals.  You can buy these pre-made cones from Moments of Elegance if you do not have time to make them yourself.

What are you planning to do for your wedding?  If you like the tradition of throwing rice, then I say, let them throw rice!

Lately I’ve noticed an increasing number of party invitations arriving via e-mail.  I know it is cheaper and much less time consuming than creating paper invitations, but how do you make an evite classy?  The answer…Paperless Post!

Invitations sent by Paperless Post arrive via e-mail and look like a typical envelope you would find in your mailbox.  When you click on it, the envelope opens and out pops the invitation.  Clicking on the invitation generates an RSVP to the host.

I decided to give Paperless Post a try and created an invitation to a bachelorette party.  The choices for invitations seemed endless with a large variety of colors and backgrounds, font styles, and pictures.  For more personalized invitations you even have the option to upload your own photos.  In under ten minutes, and for about thirteen cents a card, I was able to create something environmentally and user friendly.

With Paperless Post you still have a classy invitation but at a much lower cost.  What do you think about going paperless?