www.ChristyWaltersEventPlanning.com

Professional wedding advice for all walks of life. Feel free to ask anything and everything, no topic is off limits!

3/15/10

St. Patrick's Day Themes for Parties











































































I graduated from the beautiful Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Many people think Miami in Florida is the Miami University in our country, but nope, the Redhawks, (previously the Redskins), of Oxford are a very proud bunch. Very proud of many things... Ben Roethlisberger played, (while my husband was also on Miami's football team!), for our school before going to the Pittsburgh Steelers... we are known for a lot besides Big Ben, but one tradition that comes to mind this time of year is Green Beer Day. Oh, the glorious Thursday before Spring Break when the bars open at 4am sharp to serve green beer and indulge partying students. (Many professors and coaches plan exams or important practices for this day).

If you're like me and enjoyed college but enjoy real life even more, here are some great ideas for an adult St. Patrick's Day party! Huge green four leaf clovers are always cute, but try decorating the tables and party area with green plants or integrate green candles. Instead of green food coloring in your beers, try cocktails with mint leaves.

Here are some fun appetizer and dessert options for keeping the green theme going that I found on thenest.com.

- toasted sesame asparagus in a balsamic glaze on asparagus
- spicy chicken lettuce wraps
- canapes colored with avocados and sweet green peas
- crostinis with avocado and green pea hummus
- grasshoper brownies


Crostini Ingredients:
-1 Ripe Avacado
-2 tablespoons lime juice
-1/2 clove garlic, minced
-2 4.9 oz. sweet green peas drained
-1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
-30 small pumpernickel rounds
-or 8 regular pumpernickel slices each cut into 4 little squares

Directions:
-Spoon out the avacado flesh & put in a food processor, add lime juice and garlic
-add the drained peas and salt, then process until you have puree
-spread the pumpernickel rounds with avocado and pea mixture
-arrange on platter for serving

Green Grasshopper Brownies: Bottom Layer: 1/2 cup hard margarine (or butter), softened 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cocoa, sifted if lumpy 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon salt Middle Layer: 2/3 cup hard margarine (or butter), softened 2 cups icing (confectioner's) sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon peppermint flavouring 5-6 drops of green food colouring Top Layer: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 3 tablespoons hard margarine (or butter)

DIRECTIONS: Bottom Layer: Cream margarine and brown sugar together in medium bowl. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Mix. Add next 4 ingredients. Beat until moistened. Turn into greased 9 x 9 inch pan. Bake in 350°F oven for 15 minutes. Do not overcook. Cool thoroughly. Middle Layer: Beat all 5 ingredients together in separate medium bowl. Spread over bottom layer. Top Layer: Heat and stir chocolate chips and margarine in small heavy saucepan on low until melted and smooth. Spread over mint layer. Chill overnight until set. Cuts into 36 squares. Ingredients and Directions from Home for the Holidays © Company's Coming Publishing Limited. www.companyscoming.com

Now that the food is taken care of, check out these websites for the decor photos pictured above:

Candle lantern, $9, LunaBazaar.com

Hurricane vases, $3.50 and $4.50 (on clearance),Pier1.com

Kate Spade Sag Harbor Green Plates, $15- $60. At Macy’s, Colonie Center, Colonie, 459 – 1950

Green Everyware dinner plates $10

Green Platter: http://www.homedecorbylulu.com/home

3/11/10

DIY Ceremony programs, place cards, favors


Everyone loves a quick, fun project, especially one that embodies personalization... Well, here is one inexpensive and easy way to put all of those adjective into your Ceremony programs, (or place cards, or favors, etc)! First, go to www.Moo.com Click on the, "Mini Cards" option and start uploading your own photos which you would like on the cards. They cost $20 for a pack of 100 and the website offers bulk discounts, as well.

The fun part is that you can use these cards however you want. They can be your program which lays out whose who in your Ceremony, as well as showing love and appreciation for any Grandparents who have passed away and most importantly states the order of events so the guests know what is going on throughout the Ceremony. One bride I know wishes she would have used programs in her Ceremony because she had her step-brother walk her down the aisle. Many people on the Groom's side did not know who he was or why her father wasn't doing the honors. A Ceremony program could have quickly explained all of this.

On one card you could list the order of events, on another card you could have lyrics to a special song, and on the other cards you could have photos of you and your groom plus things that are important to you. A photo of the puppy he got you last Christmas, a photo of your Nana who passed away, etc... Your wedding guests love to feel apart of your life, especially on this special day!

You can order x-amount of each photo or text card, enough for your guests and then some cushion for unexpected needs. Once they arrive, you can separate the cards into piles, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so forth. Then take one of each pile and start assembling your programs. Once they are stacked together and everything is in order, take a hole punch to the bottom of each stack. Through that little hole you can lace a pretty ribbon & waa-lah, you've constructed some very fun Ceremony programs, (that can double as fans in case the Church is stuffy!)

If you wanted to double these programs as place card holders, you could make the first mini card say the guests names and table number. Have them all sitting on a table in alphabetical order outside the Church. Your guests can find their name, know where they're sitting at the Reception, know what is going on during the Ceremony, and have a fun little photo book memento to take home with them after the wedding... Best of all worlds!

3/2/10

"A Dream is a Wish your Heart makes"

I stumbled across this amazing organization today while updating my twitter page... "Wish Upon a Wedding"... and I just HAVE to share their amazing goals and activities with you!


WISH UPON A WEDDING

· Was founded in San Francisco, CA, in January of 2010,

by a group of wedding and business entrepreneurs.

· Is America’s FIRST nonprofit wedding wish granting organization,

producing weddings and civil union ceremonies at destinations across the United States

for individuals facing terminal illness, regardless of sexual orientation.

· Boasts twenty chapters nationwide,

headed by some of the industry’s most renowned leaders.

· Presidents:

· Sasha Souza, National

· Kevin Covey, LA/Orange County

· Stella Inserra, New York

· Ivy Robinson, The Carolinas

· Eliana Baucicault, Atlanta

· Mary Alice Sublett, Tennessee

· Heather Hamilton Sims, Houston

· Shelby Tuck Horton, DC

· Elisa Delgardio, Orlando

· Ali Phillips, Chicago

· Daniela Fageʹ́t, Seattle

· Other chapters opening soon: Colorado, Arizona,

Portland, Miami, St. Louis, Ohio and Nevada.

· To qualify for Wishes, applicants must be unmarried

legal citizens of the United States,

over the age of 18,

who have been diagnosed with less than three years to live.

· Simply apply online to request one of three wedding types:

URGENT (Up to 10 guests, in hospital or at bedside);

BOUTIQUE (up to 25 guests, in home town of applicant);

ROMANTIC (Up to 50 guests, at any WUW destination)

· Wish Granters needed in all locations.

Please apply online today to start helping us make Wedding Wishes come true.



Here is a sweet couple who has already enjoyed the fruits of Wish Upon a Wedding's hard work: http://wishuponawedding.org/florence-michael-wedding-wish/

http://wishuponawedding.org/the-story-behind-florence/