Wedding Festivities

Weddings are all about the growth of a couple as they depart on a journey of a lifetime. Like a flower, the seeds of love are planted in the beginning of a relationship and then blossom on the wedding day. If you’ve just recently become engaged, or if you’re starting to plan your wedding, it’s time to start thinking about ways to make your wedding day a little bit more like a garden. It’s time to start thinking about lending a little green to your special occasion. PWPOnline.com offers up these ten tips on how to make your eco-friendly wedding both beautiful and budget friendly. Enjoy!

1.Place Cards
Instead of going for paper place cards, opt to write your guests’ names on stones using chalk, or make home made place cards out of scraps of cardboard and colorful markers.

2.Favors
PWPOnline.com has a great selection of Wedding Favors that are designed with the green wedding in mind. Choose from several different flower seed varieties to pick the one that’s right for your wedding colors or theme.

3.Rings
Try picking out a non-traditional ring that uses eco-friendly diamonds and gold made with fair labor practice. Or check out some of the conflict-free gem rings that are available. Recycled jewelry and hand me down heirlooms also work well.

4.Location
Choosing a location for your wedding that’s central to most of your guests will cut down on CO2 production caused by travel.

5.Confetti
For your guests, opt to use dried flower petals or biodegradable confetti instead of rice to throw.

Q: Hi Courtney, I want to have a signature cocktail for the bride-to-be’s bachelorette party, as she’s having a cocktail themed wedding. Do you have any ideas for wedding themed cocktails?

A: Well, I do love my martinis, so I’d be happy to help. I have a friend who’s a bartender at a local martini bar, and she gave me a few suggestions. All tasted and Courtney approved, may I add!

Wedding Cake Martini
- 2 ounces vanilla vodka
- 1 ounce pineapple juice
- 1 ounce cranberry juice
- 1 teaspoon artificial sweetener
Combine, shake with ice, strain and pour!

Tuxedo Cocktail
- 2 dashes of Orange Bitters
- 1.5 ounces of Gin
- 1/4 teaspoon Sambuca
- 1.5 ounces Vermouth
- 1/4 teaspoon Maraschino
- 1 cherry
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Wedding Bell Cocktail
- 1 dash of Orange Bitters
- 2 teaspoons of Cherry Liqueur
- 1 ounce Dubonnet
- 3/4 ounces Gin
- 1 tablespoons Orange juice
Mix together with ice in a glass and garnish with mint leaves.

Blushing Bride
- 1 oz peach schnapps
- 1 oz grenadine
- 4 oz Champagne
Pour the peach schnapps and grenadine into a champagne flute, and top off with champagne!

The Something Blue
- 2 oz Hpnotiq
- 2 oz white wine
- 1 oz ginger ale
Pour the ingredients one by one into a champagne flute.

Enjoy your cocktails (responsibly, make sure you have a designated driver), and have a fun bachelorette party and wedding! Personalized Martini Glasses make perfect gifts for your bridesmaids!

Q: Hi Courtney, I live in Philadelphia, Pa, and I’m getting married in February. I’m worried it’s going to be so cold that I’ll turn into an icicle when walking from the church to the limo, limo to the reception hall, etc. How will my guests and I enjoy blowing wedding bubbles outside the church? – Kelsie

A: Hey Kelsie, first: Congratulations on your wedding! Let’s take a second to sit back and celebrate your upcoming nuptials, and then worry about that pesky winter weather! We’re located in King of Prussia, Pa, so we’re right there with you in trying to cope with the chilly February weather. Here’s some tips for keeping warm and having an enjoyable winter wedding for you and your guests.

• Get To The Church Early – Make sure the church’s facilities manager turns that heat on early enough in the day to ensure the church is warm and toasty! This way, your guests will be able to focus on your lovely wedding, instead of goosebumps!
• Faux Fur – When walking from the church to the limo, throw on a faux fur stole. It adds a classic, beautiful touch to your wedding dress. Give your guests adequate time to throw on their coats before you waltz out of the church so that have time to blow bubbles at the happy new couple!
• Warm Up With Some Bubbly – We all know a drink tends to warm us up a bit, so pass around the champagne glasses, and warm up with some celebratory toasts! Just be sure to caution your guests against drinking and driving.
• Tropical Honeymoons – Here’s a great way to keep your mind off the cold: honeymoon somewhere tropical! This way, you’ll be able to look forward to warm weather right after your wedding. Check out cute Just Married Flip Flops for your honeymoon!
• Winter Wedding Favors – Embrace the cold weather by adding Winter Wedding Favors to your wedding reception. Get everything from Personalized Cocoa Wedding Favors to Ornament Place Cards.

Best wishes, and don’t fear the cold. Just cuddle up to your husband!

Favor Fridays – December 12, 2008

Beaded Snowflake Ornaments – Just $1.86 each!

- Crafted by hand, these ornaments can be used as a tree ornament, a brooch, or hung from a rear-view mirror.
- Made of clear and silver beads and presented in a white colored organza bag tied with a white satin ribbon.
- Perfect for a winter wedding!
December 5th, 2008
November 28th, 2008
November 21st, 2008
November 14th, 2008

Wine has a rich tradition in almost all cultures.  In the ancient world, many people looked at wine as a symbol the signified that end a barbarianism and the indoctrination of class in society.  In Medieval Europe, many people tied wine consumption to the Church and thought of wine as a sacred object that connected them to a higher purpose.  In the Islamic world, wine was thought of as a way to treat health problems.  Many herbs, spices, minerals, and even gemstones would be introduced to the wine to treat ailments.  It’s easy to see why wine is still held in high regards even today.
Wine, with its robust history, is the perfect dinner complement to a wedding ceremony.  But with the many varieties and classifications, you have to ask yourself, “which wine best suits my wedding?”
There are many factors that go into wine selection and you must take into account everything from the menu, the atmosphere, and the season in order to choose the right wine.

• Dinner – When choosing a wine for your guests, you should stick to the traditional way of pairing wine with what type of dinner that’s being served.  If your serving red meat, darker wines with a more full body are a good pairing to bring out the taste of the meat, rather than cover it up with a sweeter taste.  The same could be said for poultry or pork being paired with a mid-rage wine and fish being paired with a white wine.  But be careful, sometimes there are exceptions to the rules, like your guests personal tastes or the way the dinner is prepared.  So do your research by taking into account your guests tastes and refer to this nifty Wine Pairing Chart that helps select the best wine to accompany your dinner choice(s).

• The Toast – In every wedding there is a toast to the happy couple’s future.  There isn’t a better way to do that than with Champagne served in a flute glasses.  This is a classy way for your dinner party to tell funny stories about the happy couple and wish them the best of luck in their future.

And at the end of the wedding, be sure to send your guests off with a Wine Wedding Favors that will remind them of the delicious wine you selected for the occasion.