Entertaining for the Holidays!

This is one of my favorite times of the year.....everything is geared around the holidays. It's now that folks start thinking about seeing family and friends they haven't seen much during the year. One way of getting everyone together is to host a Holiday Party at home.

Now you can just grab some appetizers from your local supermarket and have everyone bring a dish and gather around the TV.....or you can really jazz it up and show off your decorating and entertaining skills. What's that you say? You have no skills?  Nonsense! It's not as hard as you think. Here are some ideas I've found useful over the years. Real easy stuff that will have your guests thinking you've been working on this party for 6 months - ha!

Food
During these cold months, folks love hearty comfort food and most times they don't have the opportunity to make it themselves because their daily lives are so busy. So here's your chance to feed your guests well without spending 2 days in the kitchen. Figure out your menu: check out www.allrecipes.com for really easy recipes that are fun and tasty!

Decor
Think beautiful linens, i.e.napkins, napkin holders, tablecloths. This is the time to pull out your favorite stemware and flatware. Don't worry about not having enough pieces for all your guests if it's not a sit-down dinner. However, you can always rent these items from upscale places like www.classicpartyrental.com or partyrentalltd.com. Believe it or not, they're quite affordable.

Don't forget your centerpiece. Purchase one already put together at your craft store or even Target has great ones for the holidays. Or if you're feeling crafty, create your own. You can get a beautiful vase and fill it with beautiful ornaments in your color theme. Oh and as for colors, step outside of the red and green realm. Incorporate blues or purples with accents of silver...which are the hot colors of the season this year.

Happy Holidays!

Andrea

Great Article from Get Married: 2010 Wedding Trends!

Get Married Unveils 

The New Top 10 Bridal Trends For 2010

Every wedding element is an opportunity for brides to personalize and express their unique style

ATLANTA, December 7, 2009 –
The holiday season—between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day—is the most popular time of year for engagements with approximately 35-40 percent (550,000-650,000) couples getting engaged to be married over the next 12 to 18 months, according to The Wedding Report*.

With an estimated 2.2 million weddings projected in 2010*, more than 1.1 million brides will discover their unique bridal style as they plan every moment of their celebration. Get Married offers these brides a sneak peek of the top 10 bridal trends for 2010. From runway fashions and edible passions to techie automations and color saturations, the new bridal trends are all about personalization and expressing your unique bridal style.

“Bringing your unique wedding inspirations to life is as exciting as it is essential when creating the ‘wow’-factor,” said Stacie Francombe, founder and CEO of Get Married, a tri-media wedding  lifestyle platform for passionate brides. “We encourage brides to be bold and adventurous, infusing the elements and styles that excite them in life in this momentous lifecycle occasion.”

Following is a look at the top 10 bridal trends for 2010 as determined by Get Married’s editorial and production teams as well as leading industry experts:

1. 1. Non-linear aisle: Brides are personalizing the procession by altering the traditional aisle with a circle or a triangular double aisle, enabling the couple to enter from multiple spots with a central meeting point. Stephanie Davis, Get Married magazine editor-in-chief and new bride, wedded lake-side on a circular dock from which she and her groom entered. “Our family no longer has two sides, so everyone sat together and, as an added bonus, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house!”
2. 2. Comfort foods with a kick: Chef Wolfgang Puck believes that comfort foods have become more popular in the current economy. Think burgers, pizza, ribs, pot pie, and risotto—but comfort does not have to mean pedestrian. “Upgrade ingredients and prepare them with great expertise. Serve hors d’oeuvres like Kobe burgers, wild mushroom risotto, smoked salmon pizzas, slow-braised short ribs or a simple chicken pot pie with lobster,” advises Puck.
3. 3. Gifting techie gadgetry: Registries and wedding gifts  have increasingly become more high tech. Brides want electronic recipe finders, books and charging plates, and matching his-and-hers PDA cases—all examples of great gadgets for the couple as well as thank-you gifts for parents and the wedding party.
4. 4. Texture-inspired invitations: Top bridal designer Monique Lhuillier shares inspirations and details from her various collections: “A lot of fabric details from the dresses translate into the invitations. We use techniques of embossing to mimic textures and incorporate the same colors from the gowns into the invitations.” Look for details you would see on the runway on your wedding invitations. .
5. 5. Old, new, borrowed and cobalt blue: From hints of blue in bridal fashion  to saturated color throughout the wedding décor, “blues will be the most requested color in 2010,” according to Shane Murray of The Wedding Report. Bright cobalt blue is a hot hue for 2010, offering fresh, bold and atmospheric twist on the bluesy tradition.
6. 6. Wear-again bridesmaid dresses: The urban legend of wearing a bridesmaids dress  by choice after the wedding is a reality with the new silhouettes that mirror what is happening on the runway. Gorgeous and glamorous dresses with drop waists, bubble skirts and ruffles add an additional sense of style for bridesmaids to wear—and wear again.
7. 7. Three-dimensional save-the-dates: Inform your friends and family of your wedding day with a twist. Three-dimensional elements on the save-the-dates, like a paper umbrella (signifying a destination wedding), adds character, humor and relevance.
8. 8. Old Hollywood glam, for men!: A return to Cary Grant’s sense of style is making a comeback this year for grooms, looking charming and dapper in a white tuxedo with black-rimmed lapels. This cool old-school look brings back the sharp-looking vest and nostalgic pocket watch.
9. 9. Blogger brides abound: Now more than ever, Get Married is seeing brides enjoy sharing snippets of surprises, ideas and images throughout their wedding planning experience. Personal blogs offer a space for brides to share, gather inspirations and explore. Check out Get Married’s robust and newly-skinned wedding blog.
10. 10 Personalized plus: From the décor designs and inspirational invites to a great gifts and super-fab favors, Get Married is observing brides’ aspiration for distinctly personalized wedding details. Designing invitations, save-the-dates and thank-you cards and adding monograms to guest books, aisle runners and gifts (like cosmetic and travel bags) offers a hint of personal bridal style. An assortment of personalized décor, invitations, gifts and favors are available at www.shop.getmarried.com.

Stunning Bridesmaids Dresses!!!

Hi All!

Every now and then I stumble upon something that is just too wonderful to keep to myself for even a moment.

The other night I was watching "My Fair Wedding" and as usual, David Tutera was performing true miracles for yet another bride. One of the main reasons I watch this show, is to see which amazing vendors David pulls out of his bag of tricks each week. This time, it was Two Birds Bridesmaids Collection in NYC. I was blown away! This collection of dresses provides a perfect option for any bridesmaid, with any body frame, in any size. There's a wonderful selection of styles and colors. When you check the website you'll see that each girl from size 0 to size 24, looked fabulous, sexy, and elegant in these dresses.

How many times have you attended a wedding where the skinny girls in the bridal party looked FABULOUS and the plus-sized girls looked unflattering - or the plus-sized girls dresses fit well, but the same dress looked like an oversized sack on the slim girls. The reason being that one dress design was chosen to fit all body sizes - it NEVER works!

The designer at Two Birds have found the secret to having anyone in your bridal party look like a million dollars.

And, another plus... these dresses are pretty, yet practical enough to be worn again!  Oh yes - and guess what??? Totally affordable!  And if you're worried that you won't be able to match your groomsmens ties/pocket squares perfectly to your bridesmaids....well, they've got that covered too! You can't get much better than that.  Visit the website now! You'll be amazed!!http://www.twobirdsbridesmaid.com/main.html

Thank you David, for sharing another wonderful treasure!

Cheers,
Andrea

Are Fall Weddings Becoming More Popular?? Share your thoughts....

 

 

 

 

October Weddings Become More Popular- an article written by WedAlert

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov 16, 2009 – HACKENSACK, NJ-WedAlert.com, one of the most popular and fastest growing interactive online wedding planning directories on the Internet, today announced the results of two polls on the months WedAlert users were planning to get married. The choices and results were as follows*:

The first poll asked Which Month Are you Getting Married In? Results were as follows:

January - February - 5%
March - April - 12%
May - June - 19%
July - August - 20%
September - October - 32%
November - December - 12%

WedAlert then followed up with the following poll:

Based on our last poll these are the top six months to get married. If you are getting married in one of these months please let us know, in order to determine which is the most popular month to get married.

The results of that poll were as follows:

May - 18%
Jun - 19%
July - 12%
August - 10%
September - 15%
October - 27%

"The results of these polls show that October has become a very popular month for weddings" said Kristin Ciccolella, a wedding expert and co- founder of WedAlert.com. "These results also show that the new trend is for planning fall weddings. That  32% of our users are planning a wedding in either September or October, reveals that the trends are changing from Spring/Summer weddings towards Autumn weddings."

*Poll Disclaimer: WedAlert.com polls reflect the views of those who choose to respond and are not scientifically valid surveys. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Internet users in general, nor the public as a whole. WedAlert.com is not responsible for the content or opinions expressed in the polls.

About WedAlert.com
Established in 1995, with headquarters in Hackensack, NJ, WedAlert.com is one of the most popular and fastest growing interactive online wedding planning directories on the Internet whose mission is to match the local bride and groom with wedding professionals in their geographic area, taking them from the engagement all the way through to the “I do” straight through to the honeymoon. By offering free access to the largest wedding song library on the Internet and other multimedia tools, such as virtual tours and streaming video, WedAlert.com saves couples both valuable time and money involved in planning their wedding. For more information, please visit www.WedAlert.com.

# # #

WedAlert.com’s mission is to match the local bride and groom with wedding professionals in their area. By using WedAlert.com, brides and grooms will save both valuable time and money involved in planning their wedding.

posted by WedAlert at 12:42 AM

News from David Tutera!

Brides - please take a look at this great offer from David Tutera and the WE cable network. It's your chance to win a free wedding gown!

Starting today, Nov. 18, WE TV will be giving away one wedding dress from the David Tutera for Faviana collection to a lucky fan on Twitter.

David Tutera showcased his 20-piece collection of luxury gowns for Faviana at the My Fair Wedding launch party this fall. Here's a great clip from the show, with backstage footage and an interview with David - http://www.wetv.com/video/42468923001/davids-fashion-show.

Fans can follow WE tv's Twitter feed (@WEtv) for instructions on how to enter. Here are the official rules for the contest in case you can share the info: http://bit.ly/QmEAq, no purchase necessary.

Cheers!

Andrea

Our Newest Ad!

Here at ACL we are kicking it up in high gear with marketing initiatives for 2010 and beyond....what does this mean? Well, for starters, we have placed a brand new ad (please see below)!

And, I'm really excited about my photo shoot tomorrow. Since we are being approached for magazine article content and other exciting things....it's time to get some really great professional shots done. I'd like to thank Tanaisha @ TBE Artistry for coming in to get me camera-ready - her work is phenomenal! and of course, I'd like to also thank Michael @ Michael Derek Photography for coming in to do the shoot. Michael is a great photographer whose work is incredible. I feel fortunate to have him on my side:)


I'll share the photos with you upon completion.

Until then....

Cheers!

Andrea

Fundraiser at The Palace at Somerset Park

Hi Gang!

Well we just finished up our fundraising gala at The Palace at Somerset Park. The proceeds from this fundraiser went to the new treatment room in the Princeton ER.

180 well-to-do guests, including Princeton's finest gathered at The Palace for cocktails, dinner, and dancing to the FuzzPops Band. The theme for the night was "A November Night in the French Quarter". Fueling this theme was a full casino in the green room, roaming can-can girls, as well as a live and silent auction, complete with raffle prizes.

The decor included lots of masks, feathers, and beads. Centerpieces and decor were provided by Rose Petals and Lace of East Brunswick, NJ. I've attached some pics here for you to see. Everyone had a grand time bidding on auction items and gambling the night away.

A big thank you to all The Palace staff and all the vendors that helped make this night a huge success!

Cheers,

Andrea