Beverage Monday.

Fall Cocktails

Today is the Autumn Equinox, the first day of fall. So here are some fall inspired cocktails to start off the season.

Autumnal Equinox
2 oz Port
1 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz Amaretto
Fill Old Fashioned Glass with ice. Pour ingredients into glass and stir. Recipe courtesy of The Webtender.

Cotoño Mexicano {Mexican Autumn}
1 oz. El Patron (Gold) Tequila 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
6 oz. Coffee
Combine ingredients in a mug. Top with whipped cream then sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.
Recipe courtesy of Cocktail.com

DeKuyper Apple Pie
1 part DeKuyper HotDamn! 30 Proof Cinnamon Schnapps
1 part DeKuyper Pucker Sour Apple Schnapps
2 parts ABSOLUT Vodka
Pour ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass
Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and an apple slice.
Recipe courtesy of Drink of the Week.

Cheers,

Venues of the Southland~The Queen Mary

The Queen Mary is a spectacular art deco venue and hotel located in Long Beach. Her maiden voyage was in 1936 and she has been berthed here since 1967. She is 1,019.5 feet long with 12 decks. She went on 1001 transatlantic crossings and could hold 1957 passaengers.

You can get married inside in the Royal Wedding Chapel {160 guests} 0r you can get married outside on the Verandah Deck {350 guests} or the Gazebo on the Sun Deck {100 guests}.

There are also a few different Salons for your reception.

The Grand Salon was the First Class Dining Room. It can hold up to 600 people for dinner and dancing.

This is the Queen's Salon, you can have up to 300 guests in here. Originally it was the First Class Main Salon.

The Royal Salon was the First Class Smoking Salon. It can hold up to 160 guests.

Enjoy,

Mexican Inspiration Board

In honor of this week's Mexican Independence Day I thought we should feature a Mexican Inspiration Board. Mexico is a very colorful place. So this one features the many colors of Mexico and also a couple of must haves at Mexican weddings.

• Almost all Mexican weddings (bodas) include a Mariachi Band.
• These favors include milagros. Little religious medals. From Brides.
• This is at Hacienda Las Trancas, located in the heart of Mexico, about 4 hours northwest of Mexico City, in Guanajuato.
• This floral cake is from The Knot.
• The Los Muertos cake topper was found on Brides.
• The fountain picture was taken at Las Trancas.
• How about personalized Hot Sauce for a favor?
• Arras are coins used during the Mexican wedding ceremony. A groom gives his bride 13. Arras symbolize the groom's promise to support his family.
• Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies. Yum! From Epicurious.
• This Table Scape was found on The Knot.
• A little Senor and Senorita favor. Found on Santa Barbara Wedding.
• Invitation from Exclusively Weddings.
• Sangria photo from Eat Around the Pitt.
• Bout from The Knot.

Adios,

Beverage Monday. Happy Birthday Mexico.

Mexican Independence Day is September 16. So we are going to get the party started a little early with some Mexican Flag inspired drinks.

The Mexican Flag Shooter
1/3 shot grenadine

1/3 shot white tequila

1/3 shot green creme de menthe or Midori

Pour them slowly in order into shot glass using a bar spoon. It is also a 'flaming' shot. You light it on fire diffuse the flame after 3 seconds and suck it up with a straw.

Coctel Bandera Mexicana( Mexican Flag Cocktail)

1 1/2 shots tequila

Lime Juice

Powdered sugar

Green Grape

Slice of Jicama or banana ball

Cherry

Put the lime juice and powdered sugar into a shaker. Mix thoroughly. Add ice and tequila. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a green grape, slice of jicama or banana and a cherry.

Banderita (Little Flag)
2 ounces of tequila blanco/reposado

2 ounces of natural juice/clamato
2 ounces of freshly squeezed lime juice

Put each one in an individual cognac or shot glass.

Then you start with a sip on the tequila glass and continue with the tomato
juice and finish off with the lime juice. Continue these steps until you
have finished your tequila. Salt can be added to the lime juice if desired. You can add Tabasco or hot sauce to the tomato juice for taste.

Cheers and Viva Mexico!

Click on the photos for source.

Venues of the Southland

Starting this week, I am moving Venues of the Southland to Friday's. Here is a recap on the venue's I have featured so far. Click on Venues in labels to see them all.

Wayfarer's Chapel

The Aquarium of the Pacific

Greystone Mansion

The Sky Room

Hornblower Cruises and Events

Disney's Fairytale Weddings

{this wasn't part of the series but I did feature them}

Have a great Sunday,

Traditions & Superstitions-The Bride's Attire

This edition of Traditions and Superstitions is based on the Bride's Attire. Why we wear what we do.

Brides were always thought of being vulnerable to evil spirits. Many of our wedding customs and traditions originated as an attempt to fight them away.

The Dress

• Ann of Brittany started the tradition of the white wedding dress in 1499 when she married King Louis XII of France. And so it begins.
• Queen Victoria wore a white dress at her wedding in 1840. Royals usually wore silver to their weddings. She's the reason we do it today.
• The tradition of virgins wearing white began with the Romans. They would wear white to celebrations.
• Royal British brides sew a silver horseshoe into the hem of their gowns.
• Until the 1800's women wore their best dress, usually red or yellow.
• During biblical times, bridal dresses were usually blue since it symbolized purity.
• Beginning in early Roman times, white symbolized a joyful celebration.
• Since the Middle Ages, the length of the train equaled your rank in court. The longer the train, the higher your favor was with the King & Queen. Remember Princess Diana's?
• During the twentieth century white stood for purity. Today it just means happiness.
• If you look in the mirror right before you leave to the ceremony it will bring you good luck. But, if you look in one again before your ceremony your luck will tarnish to bad.
• It is bad luck to make your own wedding dress.
• You also shouldn't wear all of your ensemble before your wedding day. Some women leave a stitch undone till their wedding day.
• The English believe a spider found in a wedding dress means good luck.
• Here is a Victorian Poem about the color of the dress~
  Married in White, you have chosen right
  Married in Grey, you will go far away,
  Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
  Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
  Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
  Married in Blue, you will always be true,
  Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
  Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
  Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
  Married in Pink, you spirit will sink

The Veil

• The veil was worn with the belief that it would disguise the bride and fool the evil spirits.
• Early Greek and Roman brides wore either yellow or red veils.
• Early Christian brides wore white or purple.
• The veil originally symbolized the bride's virginity, innocence, and modesty.
• Historically, the bridal veil relates to the head coverings worn by unmarried and married women in different cultures as a sign of modesty and female subservience.
• The veil as a symbol of purity, is from the Judaic tradition when Rebbecca wore a veil to cover her face when she met Issac on their wedding day.
• In the bible, Leah tricked Jacob into marrying her instead of his beloved Rachael by wearing a heavy veil and concealing her face.
• The reason we wear veils here in the United States is because of Nelly Curtis. She was standing behind a sheer curtain when her fiance, Major Lawrence Lewis, an aide of George Washington, told her how beautiful she looked. So of course, she decided to wear one on their wedding day.
• The lifting of the veil at the end of the ceremony symbolizes male dominance. If a bride lifts her veil first, presenting herself to him, she is showing her independence.

Headpieces

• The earliest brides topped their heads with floral and herbal wreaths.
• Queen Victoria wore a crown of orange blossoms and myrtle, instead of a tiara.
• The earliest tiaras are from ancient Egypt. They used them to decorate the heads of royal mummies.
• In Greece, goldsmiths created tiaras to adorn the heads of statues of their Gods and priests. They also awarded tiaras to contest champions. Remember the Athens Olympics.
• Highly ranked individuals wore them during social functions and special occasions in Ancient Greece and Rome.
• Inspired by ancient Rome, women of the court in the 1700's used tiara designs that were simple and symmetrical. These tiaras were usually decorated with laurel and olive leaves.
• English jewelers were designing finer, sought after tiaras early in the 19th Century. That's when brides started wearing them to their weddings. It was the birth of the wedding tiara.
• In the middle of the 19th century all across Europe, court life flourished and magnificent jewelry tiaras became all the rage.
• In the early 1900, more tiaras were worn than ever before.

Gloves

• Are symbols of modesty and romance.
• Without the 'g', they are 'a pair of loves'.
• Princesses almost always wear them.
• Tuck a sugar cube into your glove and the sugar will sweeten your union.
• During the 18th and 19th centuries, gloves were the traditional wedding favor for all guests.
• Up until the 1960's, all well-mannered ladies wore them, even during the day.
• Formal etiquette still says that a bride should wear gloves as a symbol of grace.

The Handkerchief

• The wedding handkerchief is usually passed down from mother to daughter and from generation to generation.
• Early farmers thought a bride's wedding day tears were lucky and that they would bring rain for their crops.
• It is thought that a crying bride meant that she would never shed another tear about her marriage.
• We now use a handkerchief to dab away our tears of happiness and joy.

The Garter

• It's how most bride's achieve their something blue.
• Brides wore a blue ribbon to signify "fidelity" in ancient Israel.

The Somethings are actually from a Victorian rhyme.

• Something Old-something passed down through the bride's family. A symbol of continuity.
• Something New-is for good luck in the bride's new life and new family.
• Something Borrowed-should be on 'loan' from a happily married woman, that way her luck 'rubs' of on the bride.
• Something Blue-represents faithfulness, purity, hope and love.
• Silver Sixpence in your Shoe-it should be in the bride's left shoe for wealth and happiness in her marriage. Not only financial wealth but a wealth of happiness and joy throughout her married life.

Shoes

• There's a Turkey custom that has all of the bridesmaid's sign the bottom of the bride's shoe and whichever name wears off first will be the next to wed and gets to keep the shoes.
  

• Modern Traditions-I am loving the colorful shoe. Brides are now adding splashes of color to their gowns if not forgoing the white gown altogether. I love having your something blue not being a garter, but maybe shoes, toe nail polish, or what I did, a heart toe ring with blue stones.

Happy Reading,

The photo is of me.

Beverage Monday. National Bourbon Month

This week are featuring Maker's Mark a bourbon from Kentucky, where they are celebrating National Bourbon Heritage Month.

"Maker’s Mark Just Peachy"

1 oz Maker’s Mark
3/4 oz Peach Schnapps
4 oz orange juice
1 orange slice
Fill a cocktail shaker 3/4 full of ice; add all ingredients. Shake for 30 seconds. Strain into stemmed glass (small goblet or brandy snifter). Garnish with orange slice.

The "Maker’s Mark Manhattan”



1.5 oz Maker’s Mark.
5 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 teaspoon of maraschino cherry juice
Maraschino cherry
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice; add ingredients. Shake for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled Manhattan glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.



Recipes and photos courtesy of Maker's Mark.

Cheers,