The Princess Project

We had the distinct honor of working on the Princess Project dinner this past summer up in Payson. The Princess Project is for teenage girls in foster care here in Arizona. They are treated to a day of pampering and formal evening to celebrate the beautiful young ladies God created them to be. Each girl was given the opportunity to choose a formal dress, shoes, and jewelry to keep. They were also treated to beautiful hairstyles and make-up by the Dolce team who came up for the day. Each girl was given a corsage, escorted down the red carpet into the formal dining room and treated to an elegant dinner followed by dance lessons by a professional dance instructor. It was a splendid evening.

If you are interested in donating new or like new, current style evening wear or sponsoring a girl so she can attend the Princess Project Ball (cost of $150) please contact Rachel at http://www.absolutelyyouevents.com/.

Kate & Joe's Cake Rental

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with a really cool couple, Kate and Joe. It was a fabulous wedding with unique twists including a kilt-wearing DJ, an Internet ordained minister Chelsea,who rocked by the way, and a rented cake. Originally the cake was to be made by an aunt, but when that fell through a few weeks before the wedding Kate learned of cake rental and had their designer cake shipped in from Michigan. It costs from $100-$150 for the cake design of your choice and up to $100 to ship it. You can then buy your favorite flavors of cake "sheet" style like a birthday cake and serve a large number of guests for a much more affordable price than traditional large wedding cakes. The cake is made of styrofoam with one section left open for you to stuff Twinkies or a slice of cake inside. You can cut the cake and serve the cake to each other as brides and grooms usually do. The cake rental was featured on ABC 15's Smart Shopper earlier this month. Check it out!

California... Always Romantic

With all the devastation this week and smoke spanning from San Diego to L.A. California still lived up to it's romantic beach image. I sat rooftop Tuesday night at a beach side restaurant in Hermosa Beach and took in the beautiful sunset. There was an amazing beach front resort right next door. This would be a great location for you and guests to celebrate your upcoming union or vow-renewal. You don't even have to put shoes on when you leave the room. Beach weddings this time of year are very reasonably priced. This is actually their low season, although the weather is lovely and much better suited for weddings. The rates go up May-September so you and your guests can enjoy a beach wedding, practically to yourself, without breaking the bank. Call us today for more information.

California Fires

I flew to California again this week and was amazed with the smoke and devastation. Here are pictures of the fires on day one vs. day 4. Amazing. Please pray for the people in Southern California. If you wish to help out please contribute to sound organizations such as the Red Cross. There are several scams that have already popped up.

Day 1 on the top right

Day 4 on the lower right

Not a mountaintop in sight.

http://www.redcross.org/

A Southern Gem

I love small towns, especially small Southern towns. I love them so much that I chose to get married at my parents home in Arkansas instead of Arizona. They live on 5 beautiful green acres. Nature isn't the only draw for me. It's the food too. I just visited one of my favorite eateries a few weeks ago, Cotham's Mercantile. They are home to the famous "Hub Cap" hamburger. Why is it called "Hub Cap" you may ask. These hamburgers really are as big as an old hubcap from an automobile. Sound like this may push your diet overboard? Split one with a friend, but don't forget the fried green tomatos and sweet tea. They're a must! This restaurant is minutes from the Little Rock airport. Fly in for a day or weekend getaway. For more information on what to do in Arkansas just e-mail us.

Cotham's Mercantile

"Where the Elite Meet to Eat"

Open Mon-Thurs 11am-2pm

Friday-Sat 11am-8pm

Most expensive entree's:

Five piece fried catfish dinner $11.99

Hub Cap Jalapeno cheesburger 8.99

Daily Specials:

Fried Pork Chops, Homemade Chicken & Dumplings, Homemade Meatloaf and Southern Fried Chicken

Extras:

Fried Green Tomatos $3.49

Large Onion Rings $3.89

Hushpuppies $1.49

Cornbread $.49

Sweet Find!

While in northern Texas this week I came across a sweet find, Margie's Sweet Shop and Deli. I was driving by and noticed a beautiful wedding dress and the mention of wedding cakes and simply had to pop in and check out two of my favorite things, weddings and sweets! I walked into a bakery with shelves of tempting delights staring right back at me along with smiling faces to greet me. I felt the calories soaking into my body just by the aroma of cakes, breads and other fine treats. The trend for wedding cakes in this neck of the country tends to be polka dots. How much fun! Next time your near Wichita Falls stop in to Margie's Sweet Shop and try the cream cheese brownie or heck, order these as your guest favors. You'll be glad you did.

http://www.absolutelyyouevents.com/

Margie's Sweet Shop & Deli

4029 Callfield Road

Wichita Falls, Tx

940.692.2591

Do It Yourself Wedding Favors

Whew! My feet are killing me. I just returned from this morning's wedding, the wedding of John and Jing. (I will have pictures for you in the near future) It was such a beautiful day that I would actually call it a perfect wedding day. It was cool but sunny with a light breeze. After summer weddings with melting make-up, cakes, favors and wilting flowers to contend with I couldn't be happier with today's outcome. I love seeing couples add personal touches to their wedding. John & Jing are of Chinese decent and they did a lovely job mixing Western tradition with their Chinese heritage. When guests signed in they had a beautiful red and gold box with favors. Each favor was determined by the birth year of each guest. My symbol was a snake. I opened my package and was told that I "am wise and intense with a tendency toward physical beauty, yet also vain and high tempered and that the Rooster and Ox are my best signs. Lucky for me my husband is an Ox :) Who knew! I loved this special touch and so did the guests. I was also inspired by the Today Show's wedding, this past Friday, featuring Arizona's own Jessica and Codey. Jessica loves saltwater taffy so the guests had Tiffany green salt water taffy simply packaged in parchment paper with a personalized seal. How easy is that?!! Now that the weather is cooler try to make homemade chocolates for your guest favors. You can buy molds at Michael's or Wal-Mart. Get your bridal party together and make your own chocolate favors and treat yourselves by licking the spoons! Enjoy every moment of the process.

Oceanside Wedding

I wanted to share some shots from my trip to Laguna Beach this weekend where I met with some fabulous resorts, salons, stylists, photographers and florists. Although we're based in Arizona, a destination hot spot, we travel all over. The florist stated they get all of these lovely assortments FRESH every day. They can even get fresh tulips year round! Whatever your design desire we can make it happen.

www.AbsolutelyYouEvents.com