Wedding Photographer Spotlight

Next week's blog posts will be featuring photographers from Texas. You know what they say, everything IS bigger and better in Texas. While I think wedding planners are the most important wedding vendor, I know photographers truly own the top slot. In the end, down the line, your photographs are your keepsakes, memories, a window into the moment that was your magical wedding day.

Keep an eye out for our next feature of Jeremy Gilliam based out Dallas serving Texas brides. Simply said, he is awesome. If you have a photographer or other vendor you want to learn about, drop us a line.

True Blood Inspired Wedding - Red Cocktails

A True Blood wedding reception requires skills from an experienced caterer. A quick shout out to my favorite caterer in San Antonio: Anne Marie's Catering. I would trust them with any event, including one with vampire nuptials. Today's post delves into cocktails. First off, let's focus on the living guests. For starters, I would serve a red cocktail, like a cosmo in a blood rimmed martini glass. Isn't this just the best idea? I will have to use this for a Halloween party.

source: Hostess with the Mostess

The blood rim is made from the same kind of mixture as you use to make hard candy. It’s actually pretty easy, but you will need a candy thermometer (which you can find at most grocery stores).

Ingredients:
1 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1/2 c. Water
Red Food Coloring
Cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage – which is 300 degrees F. Add food coloring. (Optional: Cinnamon may be added for flavor.)

Turn off heat. While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim. If you need to do several glasses, keep the mixture hot so it lasts longer (instead of turning heat off, just reduce slightly).You can go anywhere from just along the very tip of the rim to part way down the glass – whichever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool. The thick consistency of the mixture will cause “drips” as it hardens on the glass!

You can serve red champagne for the toast. There are few choices for red sparkling wine. The are few available, but lucky you Central Market carries a popular Australian wine: Black Chook. It averages around $15 per bottle. Some domestic choices: Schug Rouge de Noirs (around $24), a pinot noir from the Carneros region of Napa.

source: Austin360.com

And of course, for the vampire guests, a must have is True Blood. O positive is widely popular, but I highly recommend having other blood types available, less the vamps turn to humans for their refreshments. Make sure the caterer has a microwave on site, vampires like their True Blood warm, like real human blood.

True Blood Wedding - the Red reception

I had no idea there would be a wedding (albeit a crazy maenad - devil in the form of a steer wedding) in the season finale of True Blood. I just chuckle at our timing of our True Blood inspired wedding posts. Be sure to check out my colleagues blogs (links below) for their inspiring weddings.

Today's True Blood wedding post is all about the RED eye candy. Remember this location from yesterday's post? Here are those beautiful doors, with a lighting pattern on them and the ceiling. Red lighting bathing the entire area. The balls are made with carnations. I, like Carrie, from Sex and the City love carnations especially for weddings. I love them when they are just carnations and one color otherwise it looks like it costs: inexpensive. The below these large floral balls made up of red carnations look luscious. On the sides of the stairs are red glass altar candles in pairs of two.


Here is a close up of those rose covered doors. LOVE IT! with vine lighting pattern.


Imagine Sookie Stackhouse wearing the black Sheri Hill gown from yesterday's post mingling among her guest in this southern style opulent venue. Tables swathed in a red crinkle linen with red beaded and embroidered over lay. Adding in clusters of red votives, beautiful glassware with hints of red finished off round centerpiece comprised of red roses, with a little bling. Black chiavari chairs, white chair pads and red feathered boas capping off the chairs.


For any event, lighting is the best investment. This venue was swathed in red lighting with a vine pattern. Look for a post soon on lighting and how it makes your event from a nice event to an awesome event.

Wednesday's post: Food and the True Blood wedding cake

Be sure to visit my other True Blood colleagues:
Sasha Souza
Bella Signature Design
Masterpiece Weddings
It's a Jamie Thing

True Blood Inspired wedding

photo credit: http://belladonnabelle.livejournal.com/
Welcome to a wedding inspired by True Blood. Tonight's finale on HBO will be watched by many and as planners, we take inspiration from many things, including TV. True Blood is no exception. There have been so many story lines and next year will be no different. I admit to not having read the books yet, but I can see the writing on the wall. Sookie will eventually fall in love with Eric. So my TrueBlood inspired wedding is for Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northam (I know! no hate mail please)

I have the good fortune of using pieces from a previous wedding in my theme. Of course, the main color: RED.

First up: What will Sookie wear. I say a bride can wear whatever she wants. While Sookie is a country girl at heart, perhaps the relationship with Eric will make her a little more modern. Let's give her two options:
Or for her southern belle heritage with a twist, a red ball gown:

Or you think there is too much red, how hot would Sookie be in a black version:


I don't envision a church wedding for these two, so my venue is a lavish venue right here in Texas. How about the Corinthian in Houston, Texas. With red as our main color, we use inexpensive red carnations to make several balls to decorate the entrance. Take a close look at the doors. Yup, those doors are covered in roses.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some great design and decor tomorrow. You will see a tablescape, lighting and a close up of those beautiful doors. Also please visit my wedding professional friends also posting all week True Blood inspired wedding ideas all week long on their blog.

Sasha Souza
Bella Signature Design
Masterpiece Weddings
It's a Jamie Thing

JW Marriot San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa

As the general manager, Arthur Coulombe describes on the JW Marriot San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa construction blog: "We are building something amazing on the hillsides of north San Antonio and want you to be a part of it." Amazing doesn't begin to describe just how fabulous this new resort property will be.

Here you can read the latest newsletter from JW Marriot. In the September issue you can see details of the suites, designing of the hotel and a sneak peak of the High Velocity Sports Bar. The sports bar looks like it will be AWESOME. I personaly can't wait to book a suite. They are named after rivers in Texas. Here is pic of a suite. This photo was taken August 12th.

Aside from the luxury of the suites,and the overall beauty of the hotel, it's the meeting space that has us all a twitter. There will be over 140,000 square feet of meeting space. Plucked from the JW Marriot San Antonio website:

• 3 dedicated levels of space
  
• 2 ballrooms (40k sq ft & 21k sq ft)
• 40k sq ft exhibition hall
• 20,000 sq ft for 18 breakout rooms
• and, wait for it: 3 outdoor venues

Nothing says beautiful Hill Country wedding like an gorgeous outdoor venue back with superior service pair with exquisite food. I can't wait to book an event at what will be the premier Hill Country event venue. No, really, I can't wait. I have a new million dollar wedding for 1000 persons looking for a venue and she doesn't want downtown. She's lucky, her date is next fall.

Here is another great thing about the JW Marriott San Antonio: they twitter! Check out the twitpics below from the general manager. I love reading his tweets and keeping up with updates.

The pic below is from a tweet on August 21st

And this twitpic is from a August 28th tweet (one the bar)


When you visit the website, you can see renderings of the hotel. The High Velocity Sports Bar looks amazing and I can't wait to visit there too. Other things equally important is the Golf, while understated for the purposes of events, it is the main staple because it is a golf resort. You know, the TPC San Antonio, what else can we say? Ahhh, there is a spa too. I could go on and on. Check out the website and check out their social media use. We love JW Marriot San Antonio is using social media. You can become their fan on facebook here.

Bottom line, eventuers we have a new option with the beauty of the hill country as a back drop.

photo credit: www.jwsanantonio.com and www.twitter.com/jwsanantonio

Wedding Placecards with a fruity twist

I hear it all the time. I want MY wedding to be different. I try and try to be as creative as possible. So this afternoon when discussing an October wedding here in beautiful San Antonio, we finalized the colors: orange/corals + green, I came up with this delish little place card idea: use fresh fruit.

Just like fashion everything old can be new again. Let's not get hung up on it's been done before. Honey, It's ALL been done before. And you know what, it is going to be just fine. We came up with our idea organically and if you google hard enough, you will find any and everything. This great couple focuses on the marriage and consider the wedding as the vehicle to get there. So I just love Scott and Amy even more. Their wedding will be beautiful and unique and I can't wait to see these place cards in the lush River Garden of the Southwest School of Art and Craft