OmniBride™ & TWC: New Beginnings & Fond Farewells
The Wedding Chat has been a labor of love and a launching pad to something new and exciting for the entire online wedding community. You see we discovered a black hole…
As bloggers in the wedding industry we adore the vast blogosphere but, for a while, have felt such a deep void when attempting to research and find great content. Oh, we know it’s out there. In fact we take pride in the topics we’ve covered. But think about it-when you try to find something it’s often a time-consuming, hit-or-miss experience. There is so much valuable information out there and searching is like drifting aimlessly out in space.
Well, our frustration turned into opportunity. We connected with some tech virtuosos to help us create OmniBride, the first search-find-share destination solely for the wedding industry.
Our mission was to bring the entire online wedding community together so none of us has to wander aimlessly through the Internet to find great ideas, inspirations and resources.
We are just beginning to officially launch OmniBride and say a fond farewell to The Wedding Chat. We are sad for TWC to end as it has been steadily growing in popularity but feel our mission to bring together the entire online wedding community is the best use of our energies. We felt it even more when blogger Kelly Gribben, Keg Design, landed on us while she was randomly checking her site meter…”I discovered OmniBride as a referring site and one that is solely devoted to wedding-related things. What a cool concept! It’s definitely something the online wedding community can use.” We hope you think so too!
For brides: You’ll find that OmniBride is the most comprehensive destination for researching and planning your wedding.
For bloggers: Your voices will be heard by an exponentially greater audience. If the community loves your content, your stats will grow—and so will your fan base.
For industry: You have the opportunity to find out what the online wedding community is saying (or not saying) about your goods and services. You can engage in the community dialogues.
For journalists: This is your tool for researching and uncovering the latest buzz and resources.
You have the power to rate the value of a search result by either “loving” or “trashing” it so, unlike a general search engine, the community determines what rises to the top. So participate often and let your voice be heard throughout the wedding universe!
But there’s more to OmniBride—check out our feeds for the daily news and the most current wedding-related contests and giveaways. And if it’s being talked about—we’ll find it!
You may have noticed that this is a BETA version of OmniBride. This means that Version 1 is ready for take-off. But our vision doesn’t end here—count on an explosion of features and functions in the near future. For now, enjoy your exploration…and let us know about your experiences of finding it in the wedding cosmos.
$5,000 Wedding – Dancing Under the Stars
BRIDAL GUIDE asked me to come up with a elegant wedding idea for fifty guests at a budget of $5,000: It’s strictly ballroom these days thanks to the Hollywood’s current culture craze. So it’s time to celebrate in Tinseltown style and have your first wedding dance under the stars. Here’s how you can pull it off brilliantly…
VENUE: Ballroom Dance Studio
THEME: Dancing Under The Stars
GRAND ENTRANCE: Red Carpet & Stanchions (Rentals) Guests will walk the red carpet and enter through Dance Studio Entrance.
COLOR THEME: Ruby Red, Dark Teal, Silver, & White
ROSE CONSTELLATION (STARS): The star effect is created using LED Floralytes tucked into roses hung with clear fishing line. 100 to 150 rose lights can be hung by pinning in the acoustic tiles or, pinned into fabric or hung from clear netting.
Rose Constellation Photo By: Soo Photography.com
MUSIC: Typically Dance Studios have a sound system in place, so you can load up your MP3 player with hours of the perfect dance music. Go to www.abc.com to the Dancing with the Stars on the ABC website for a list of the music played each week and make your music play list from this.
ENTERTAINMENT: Hire a ballroom dance couple for an hour at the reception to teach a few steps and to entertain your guests.
ADDITIONAL DECOR: Give your dance-shy guests a place to hang out and drape a few tall cocktail tables with Teal Linen and create vase luminaries to give the glowing star effect by wrapping star punched craft paper around straight, clear, candle-filled glass vases. Tuck a few votives and rich red rose heads around the base of the luminaries so your centerpieces will have a touch of elegance. Add additional chairs around the studio when your guests feel like sitting one out.
FAVORS: If the dance studio has a ballet bar, hang custom CD’s with your favorite dance tunes. They’ll reflect the light for a Disco Ball effect and let them double as the wedding favors. An alternative idea is to send your parched guests home with a bottle of spring water with a custom star-themed label from Beaucoup Fine Favors or Silver Star Bath Beads from Loop Creations, so they can kick of their dancing shoes and relax their tired feet.
MENU: For this party budget, the caterer can provide the 5 additional passed hors d’oeuvres, various cigar cookies, and the service to include the Caviar Station Attendant.
- DIY American Caviar Tasting Station -
You don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy this ocean treasure. The American Caviars such as Hackleback Sturgeon, Paddlefish, and Flavored Whitefish Roe are very affordable, decadent and can be creatively displayed and served with traditional accoutrements to include lemon slices, crème fraiche, and toast points. With gourmet infused flavors such as Truffle, Ginger, and Beet-Saffron from San Francisco’s Tsar Nicoulai Caviar Company, this station is sure to impress your guests!
To make it even more special, ask the caterer to provide a station attendant (This person can also manage portion control.)
The tasting station should be set up using a 6ft. table with a shimmery Teal Tablecloth such as Wildflower Linen’s Iridescent Teal Taffeta.
Use Tall Clear Glass Vases partially filled with rock salt or recycled glass chips. Rock salt can be found very inexpensively at any local hardware store. Recycled glass chips can be purchased online from American Specialty Glass.
Photo By: Soo Photography.com
Nestle in tall, extended branches and hang silver star ornaments among the branches to add sparkle. The caviar can be displayed and served using two–part martini glasses that often double as caviar servers.
- Passed Hors d’oeuvres Menu Ideas -
Mini ‘Cobb’ with Watercress, Shaved Point Reyes Blue Cheese,
Crisped Pancetta, & Early Girl Tomato Vinaigrette Drizzle
Served in Tiny Butter Lettuce Cups and Garnished with Quail Egg
Dungeness Crab & Asparagus Tartlets “Au Gratin”
with Red Torpedo Onion Marmalade
Sambuca Marinated Breast of Chicken
Wrapped in Hobbs Rustica Prosciutto on Crostinis with Scallion Pesto
Medallions of Porcini & Garlic Marinated Beef Tenderloin
with “ Merlot-Morel Jus” on Rosemary Ciabatta Rounds
Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, Toasted Pine Nuts and Banyuls Glace,
on Herbed-Asiago Brioche Bread Pudding
- A Sweet Stogie Ending -
Ending with Cigars is a luxury experience. A perfect end to an elegant evening, without the smoke, would be passing “stogie” sweets: a myriad of handmade Butter Tuille, Florentine, and Meringue cigar-shaped cookies, elegantly displayed in cigar boxes.
Additional ideas include, replacing the inside box label with a custom design, or you can even individually wrap the cookies with custom cigar labels. Empty cigar boxes can be found for a bargain price or free at your local smoke shop. The cookies can be purchased at your local bakery or the caterer might have a pastry chef available. You might even find something acceptable at a gourmet grocery store. – LM
Making Fondue for a Crowd!
Traditionally, fondue is for smaller crowds…but I have had the chance to serve fondue for larger crowds on two occasions. The first time was fondue for 30. My client wanted to have an elegant, Valentine’s Day-themed, sit-down dinner. The second fondue party was just for fun and friends. This party was for 50! Below you can see some of the details of both of these fondue parties, and hopefully, you will be inspired to try fondue for a crowd! Perhaps, for an engagement party or bridal shower….
In this picture, you can see the dinner service setup. All the guests had their own bowls to hold 3 hot sauces and 4 cold sauces. I was able to use butter warmers that looked like mini fondue pots. The three hot sauces were Stilton Crème, Sauvignon Beurre Blanc, and Comte-White Truffle. The four cold sauces were Cabernet-Black Olive Reduction, Slow Roasted Garlic Aioli, Mirin-Chile-Peanut Sauce, Saffron-Meyer Lemon Sauce.
This was one of my all-time favorite menus! The salads and cold sauces were set for service and the fondues were preset, hot, and ready for service! The elegant faire prepped for dipping included:
Main Course Fondue Menu
Telicherry Pepper and Stolichnaya Marinated Kobe Beef Filet Mignon
& Matsutake Mushrooms en Roulade
Armagnac-Chive Marinated Maine Lobster Tails & White Asparagus en Roulade
Poached Wild King Salmon Cylinders & Diver Scallops in Champagne-Pear Essence
Bellwether Farms Baby Spinach & Chantrelle Mushroom Ravioli
Pavé of Caramelized Cippolini Onions & Yukon Gold Potatoes
Mélange of Chantenais Carrots & Baby Squash
Dinner was formal, so I thought that a whimsical fondue dessert station would be a fun way to conclude the evening. We made fresh heart-shaped marshmallows, macaroons, and pound cake, and served three sweet fondues: dark, milk, and white chocolate.
Above Pictures Courtesy of Lea McIntosh via a 2MP Sony Mavica. LOL!
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This gives you a view of the fondue meat station. When serving fondue for a large crowd, the best way to prepare the meat is fresh and à la minute. I enlisted two friends who love cooking to man the station. Thank you to Carl Mindling and Lak Tuigamala!
A good rule of thumb when planning any party or wedding detail is to SKETCH IT OUT! As you can see, the final meat station was very similar to the sketch. This also helped me make sure I had all of the service pieces, from platters, to sauce bowls, to utensils. Without the sketch, I might have easily forgotten something and could have been running around at the last minute. Instead, through planning ahead, I was able to enjoy my guests.
The meat selection was filet mignon, New York strip, chicken breast, prawns, and Italian sausage. We ended up using 20+ pounds of meat for 50 people. This is more than usual; however, the meat station was the highlight of the evening.
Thanks to two ol’ (anonymous) lady friends of mine, we served fresh, handmade, mini-braided challahs and an heirloom recipe of miniature honey rolls. Mmmmm, these are to die for!
When entertaining in a small space, you need to utilize the surfaces as much as possible. I have a coffee table with a glass top, so I used it to serve the vegetable fondue station. A variety of freshly blanched vegetables surrounded an elevated Gouda Cheese Fondue with traditional buttermilk ranch sauce for dipping.
Another example of maximizing my space and utilizing surfaces was the use of two round glass table tops from Pier One Imports placed on top of two side tables, turning them into surfaces suitable for food service. I used one to serve cheeses, truffle honey, and fresh mushroom pâté. The other was just cubes of bread and cheese fondue!
Dessert fondue was just lots of sweets perfect for dipping: Pound cake, Macaroons, Rice Krispy Treats, Marshmallows.
What is a dessert fondue without long-stem strawberries! Mandarin Slices, Grapes, Banana, & Pineapple are prefect for dipping into chocolate, too.
Above Pictures Courtesy of Mike Danen Photography
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