Month: March 2012

The Stressed Bride Asks, Do They Make Wedding Centerpieces Out Of Cookies?

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Truth be told, you can find a centerpiece made out of anything you want, as these baby shower masterpieces demonstrate.  (personally, I would throttle friends who decorated a party in my honor with poop receptacles).

But as wedding planning progresses, stress can start to get the better of you.  And many of us, when stressed, start munching.  The sticky point is that the very reason brides are stressed, is an event where they want to look their best. Not exactly the time to pick up the family size package of Oreos, is it?

Long before my wedding, I completed the Weight Watchers program to “lifetime” status. After that, WW encourages you to come once a month, and stay on top of your eating habits.  And so when I got engaged, I was within shooting distance of my goal weight. With Weight Watchers’ support, I got to where I wanted to be, and had the support to make sure I stayed there.  They aren’t paying me or anything – this is straight from the heart: If you have some weight to lose, for your wedding or any other reason and want to do it in a healthy way, I highly recommend Weight Watchers.

As for those wedding centerpiece cookies, I’m including this Weight Watchers cookie recipe that, whether you’re on the program or not, is a much better option than diving for the Double Stuffs.  All things in moderation of course, but healthier recipes are a good way to start.

Be well, and love well.

-Dinah

Weight Watchers Caramel Cookies- 1point plus/cookie

½ cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Cup flour

¾ Cup flour, whole wheat

¼ tsp table salt

½ tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients and beat thoroughly. Scrape dough out of bowl and onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Roll dough into a log, about 2.5 inches wide. Completely wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 20 minutes or up to overnight.  Cut dough into 1/8 inch slices and arrange on ungreased cookie sheets 1 inch apart. Bake until lightly browned around edges, about 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on sheet 1 minute, then remove to wire rack to cool.

 

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Wedding Planners’ Social Networking Happens Over Cocktails

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Sure a lot of good social networking and self promotion happens online.  You’re the CEO of SEO and doing it while sitting at home eating oreos. Great! Right? Well…sometimes a girl’s got to make some friends. Live and in person – not of the facebook variety.

Where does one do this? Meet sympatico types who share your passion for the wedding/event business, and want to share idea, inspiration and business tips, tricks and advice?  Professional associations and groups are a great way to go.

 

 

 

Here in the Coachella Valley, we started a group called Wedding Warriors.  As you can tell from the name, we’re a little more rock-and-roll than your average consortium of bridal professionals. Boiled down, our mission is to educate, to build relationships with other business people, and to give back to the community. In practice, we come together to learn from each other about the business climate in the wide variety of communities that make up our region – and the best ways for small businesses to survive and thrive.  We enjoy each other’s company at some HOT parties (these are not your Mama’s COC meetings)! And last, we raise money at each of our events for a community charity. Funds raised at our April 4 gathering will benefit the music department at Palm Sprinhs High School.

So want to get linked in in real life? RSVP now for the Wedding Warriors April Spring Fling Mixer.

We’ll be celebrating the season at Palm Springs’ most colorful new resort hotel, the Saguaro. Come join in the off-line, real-time actual live, in-person fun!

Hope to see you there, party people!

RSVP

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Gerbera Daisy Crazy! Centerpiece, Bouquet, Invite Daisies To Your Wedding!

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Wedding magazines are full of breathtakingly beautiful flower arrangement photos. Bouquets good enough to eat. And they are, actually. Though stunning, for the price of one of those arrangements, you could feed a family of five for a week.

The magazines sometimes just aren’t in touch with reality when it comes to the fact that there are brides on budgets out there.  And while the trend of all baby’s breath arrangements is very “couture” in the eye of some beholders, it causes allergic sneezing in the noses of others. Besides, there’s no color there whatsoever. What’s a bride to do for centerpieces?

Enter the Gerbera Daisy.  Also known as the Gerber Daisy, these sweet and bright flowers exude sunshine. They come in a wide range of colors, and are reasonably priced.  Don’t be fooled by a florist who tells you they are too casual, Gerberas can be as elegant as you want them to be. Uses abound! The heads are sculptural, and look great in floating centerpieces with candles. The stems are sturdy so they can stand tall. They line up like little soldiers, or can be shaped into soft groupings. All sorts of options for wonderful wedding centerpieces with Gerber daisies.

So get to it! Go crazy with Daisies!

 

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