Beverage Monday

!Monday Night Football~

Tonight is the Chargers {yes, they are my fav team} opening game against the Raiders. So let's celebrate them and football today with football inspired cocktails! GO CHARGERS!

Touchdown

1 oz Absolut® Mandrin vodka

6 oz Red Bull® energy drink

Fill a shot glass with Absolut Mandrin. Seperately, fill a highball glass a little less then 1/2 way with Red Bull. Drop the shot class of Absolut Mandarin into the glass of Red Bull and slam it.

Charger

1 1/2 oz dark rum

1/2 oz cherry brandy

1/2 oz lemon juice

1/2 tsp superfine sugar

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Oakland Raider

1.5 oz Patron® silver tequila

2 oz Bacardi® black rum

cola
Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add all ingredients.

Cheers,

Photo courtesy of Sportslogos.net
Drinks Courtesy of Drinksmixer.com

Beverage Monday

"Lemonade" Cocktails

For those of you that know me I would never drink one of these. I do not consume anything with lemon or lime. But other people do enjoy it and since it is Labor Day why not feature not for children lemonades.

Electric Lemonade

1 1/2 oz. Vodka

1/2 oz. Blue Curacao

2 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix

7-Up or Sprite

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend for 15-20 seconds until smooth. Pour over a highball glass filled with ice and garnish with a lemon slice and maraschino cherry.

Lynchburg Lemonade

1 oz.Jack Daniels

1/2 oz.Triple Sec

1 oz. Sweet & Sour
Lemon-lime soda

Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add ingrdients and top off with the soda.

Absolut Lemonade recipe

1 oz Absolut® Citron vodka

1 oz amaretto almond liqueur

2 oz sweet and sour mix

Lemon-lime soda
Fill a Collins Glass eith ice. Add ingrdients and top off with the soda.

Cheers,

Photo Creative Commons License

A Day in the Life of a Wedding Planner

Last week was part one of the series. It covered 6:30 am to 10 am. Click on Wedding Planner to see it. This week will take us through the ceremony.

~The Happy Couple~

10:05

• Set up the ceremony area. Pour the sand into the the vases, They had a vase of sand for the officiant, too. They officiant is still with the Trio discussing their cues. The guest book attendants want to know if the guests can sign anywhere in the book. They did a cute photo book and of course where ever they want. The banquet captain is helping me by putting the finishing touches on the candy bar.

10:23

• I noticed looking at my phone so I knew it was exactly that time. Went to change. I usually come in 'set-up' clothes & no make-up and then change into my nice wedding clothes and put my make-up on. As I am getting my clothes out of the Bellman's closet. {Since it was outside there was no place for me to store my clothes anywhere else.} I just miss the bride getting back from photos, but I was able to chat with the photographer for a moment.

10:35

• After I am dressed, my hair is done and my make-up put on. You need to be quick! I go look out the set-up and make sure everything is going smoothly. I check in with the DJ. He teases me since I haven't changed into my pumps, yet. I am still in my flip flops easier to walk around in right now!

10:45

• I go make the long trek to go get the Bride. The Banquet Captain is getting the guys. I get to her room which is up some stairs, down a hallway and down a elevator and then down another hallway. I get to the room and tell them it is time! We gather everybody up and make the long journey back. Everybody won't fit into the elevator so the bride, her dad and the photographer get in with me. We leave the bridesmaids to take the next one.

10:55

• I get our little party into the staging room and leave the bride, her dad and the photographer in there. I am off to search for mom. Find her, send her into the room. Look for the grandparents and the groom's parents since they will be in the processional. They are were they are supposed to be. The Banquet Captain meets up with the bridesmaids {whew, we missed the groom} and they along with the groomsmen come up to the staging room. The groom goes off to the side to make his entrance with the Officiant. I went back into the staging room and let everybody know it is time. I walk back out to where I will be sending the bridal party down the aisle. I let the guests know it was now time to take their seats. Have the officiant meet the groom at the designated area.

11:05

• Send the Groom' parents and the Bride's mom and Grandfather down the aisle. The Groom & Officiant come out from the side. Once they are seated I do I huge hand wave to get the trio's attention that is now time to play Canon in D. They finally see me, turn their pages and start playing. I send the bridal party down the aisle. Smile everybody, have fun and hold your bouquets at your belly button. As the best man is in the line up I ask, "You have the rings?" Of course he did. The flower girl DOES NOT want to go down so her mom picks her up and carries her down the aisle. I wave my hands again. It's the brides turn. Her music is starting. Tell her to breath, smile and how beautiful she looks. She goes down the aisle with her dad to become a wife. I fix her train as she turns. Whew! The ceremony is out of my hands now.

11:10

• I take a few shots of the reception and ceremony. Move the guest book and gifts to the other side of the ceremony area. I watch the ceremony for a sec, then I go back to put my pumps on.

11:20

• They're not with the rest of my stuff. Did I leave them in the car? I grab my set-up clothes and run out to my car. As I am almost there I realize no, I left them in the ladies restroom where I changed. I run there, find them and put them on.

11:30

• As I go back the wedding is over and everybody is back in the staging area. A tray of appetizers is passed around to the bridal party and we get everybody back outside to take photos.

Enjoy,

Beverage Monday

Today's Beverage Monday is about Fire. Or the brave men & women that are working hard throughout Southern California today, because when it gets hot here we catch on fire.

My son at his pre-school field trip to the fire station.

Fireman
2 1/2 oz vodka

4 oz cranberry juice

2 oz peach nectar

Everything must be ice cold. Pour vodka into glass, add cranberry juice and peach juice, in that order. No ice, no shaking or stirring. If you did it right, you'll understand the name.

Fire Engine
1 part Jagermeister®

4 parts red soda

Pour it in a highball glass with ice. Should be served cold.

Fire Fighter

1 shot Bacardi® 151 rum

1 shot Fire Water cinnamon liqueur

Mix 1 shot of Bacardi 151 and 1 shot of Fire Water together in a glass over ice. Strain into shot glasses and serve.

Cheers,

recipes courtesy of Drinksmixer.com

Chivas

Natural Goat Milk Skin Care, soaps, facial cream & bath salts. All made from hand milked goats. They also make a vegan lip balm. The farm is located in Southern California, just a little south of Santa Barbara. The name of the company means goat in Spanish. They also use herbs from their garden in the products.

I heard about them when Lauren, the co-founder, came to an ABC meeting in Orange County earlier this month. We received a bar of soap as our favor. Which is in the photo below. The reason she was there was to promote favors for weddings or showers. They can custom blend scents and make a custom label for the items. They will also stamp them. Our bar was lily of the valley with a tree stamp. They do need at 60 days to make these since they are hand made, but for a unique favor or welcome basket gift, that will be used, this is a great item.

Enjoy,

Venues of the Southland~The Viceroy, Santa Monica

The Viceroy in Santa MonicaThe hotel is on the corner of Pico & Ocean Avenue. It is "an urban retreat at the shore" or so says their website. It has a cool vibe and the style inside is British/Hollywood Regency with lots of green, white, black & gray. The top three photos are from them and the rest are mine.
The twin plunge pools. You can buyout the poolside and outside dining rooms for a wedding of 180. This is an outdoor dining cabana. It is permanent so you have to adapt it to your event, but so cool.This is part of the Bristol Patio. The Bristol dining room holds about 70 guests.

I took these to give you a sense of what it looks like at night. They are not the best but you get the idea.
These plates are outside by the dining room.These are lined up in the lobby

I always love that when I see I new property they take us to see the rooms. This one has just been remodeled.

I love the guest bathroom.

This green restroom is off of the lobby. What a great restroom!

I love the look of the hotel. If you have a small guest list and are looking for a hip place, than this is a place to look at. One of the other coordinators on our tour talked about it looking a little South Beach. Judge for yourself. I like the vibe of the place. Alison Montgomery is the person to talk to about planning your wedding at the Viceroy.

Enjoy,

Steph

A Day in the Life of a Wedding Planner

Today, I am going to start telling you the multi-part story of what one wedding planner {me} did on the day of the wedding at a luxury resort. It was a daytime wedding. The ceremony started at 11am and the reception was over at 4pm. The ceremony and reception were at the same place. The Bride, Groom, wedding party and parents all stayed at the hotel the night before.
6:30am

• Wake-up. Shower & dress, in casual clothes. Say bye to my little boy who woke right as I was leaving.

7:05

• Left home. I wanted to leave at 6:45-7:00 but, oh well.

7:15

• Stop by a fast food drive through. Not sure when I will have time to eat later.

8:05

• Arrive at the venue. Almost missed the off-ramp. I am so not a morning person and thought I was driving to San Diego, oops!

8:10

• Park, go to the bell desk to retrieve the wedding stuff from the Catering Managers office. Too much for one bell cart need to call another bellman.

8:20

• Get to the ceremony & reception site. Everything will be outside today. Photographer’s assistant arrives and we go over to the bride’s dressing room. She has been to this venue before and know the trick to get in without a key. Another photographer calls. She’s on the way. Their original photographer went into labor that day. There is confusion about which photographer is going to be with the bride.

8:35

• Go see my Bride. So beautiful! She’s a bit nervous. Talk with the Maid of Honor. She just had a baby two weeks before the wedding and couldn't make it to the rehearsal the previous night. I gave her a rundown of what she needed to do. Told everybody that they needed to be ready by 9. One of the bridesmaids argued that she couldn't be. OK, not your wedding. Except the bride. The photographer’s assistant was loaning her BMW for the get-away car and the Mother of the Bride wanted to decorate it. So I get them together.

8:45

• Start setting up ceremony & reception. They are within a few feet of each other. Checked in with the Banquet Manager, confirmed floor plan and table set-up. Started putting together their candy bar. Realize I don’t have the glue dots. Go to the Groom’s room. The groomsmen are rocking pink ties. The guys are so very restless. Had them go out to the lobby to wait for their photographer; Call the photographer to let her know that she needs to meet the guys in the lobby. Walked over to the bride's room to get the boutonnieres. The bride's photographer was taking shots of them so I asked her assistant if she could bring them to the lobby when she is done. Go to the lobby to let the guys know what's going on. The go back to the wedding area.

9:05

• Continue the set up. Florist is working on the ceremony area, great. Met the Banquet Captain. She is fantastic and helps me A LOT! plus, she brought me some ice tea. The drink of the gods! She helps me set up Candy Bar. The first person of the string trio arrives. Concerned there isn't enough shade. So ask if we can get another umbrella over where they will be playing.

9:15

• Continue setting up.

9:30

• The DJ arrives. I introduce myself. You email and talk on the phone but you don't always meet the other vendors till wedding day. Hear the the guys yell out the DJ's name as the drive off for their photos.

9:50

• Guestbook Attendants & one of the Ushers arrive. Let them know what their duties are. I also give them a timeline to look over. Get officiant and the trio together so they can discuss the cues for the ceremony. Finish setting up. Cake is there. I didn't even notice it arriving.

Part 2 will be next Tuesday.

Enjoy,