Fall recipes, crafts and ideas coming soon

Coming soon, fall recipes, craft ideas (including wreaths), and additional ideas.  The fall has been quite busy and I promise to get this blog updated soon!

Wedding Wednesday: Booking your Honeymoon

Hello blogosphere!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable end to their summer!  I apologize for the lack of posts in August.  Work and personal life and enjoying the last bits of my favorite season got in the way of blogging. :)

Getting back into the swing of things, I wanted to post a Wedding Wednesday that I think many other bridal blogs don’t necessarily touch on: The Honeymoon!

Yes, technically it is after you have already been married, but it can be a detail that brides and grooms struggle with.  You only have ONE honeymoon, so there can be a lot of pressure to make the right decisions.

I recommend investigating and thinking about your honeymoon early in the process.  It will help you budget and plan accordingly.  You want to make sure you will leave yourself with enough time to take the vacation, as well as enough funds to afford to go on the vacation.

Mr. Bear and I started by making a list of the types of things we wanted to be able to do on our honeymoon.  We determined we wanted to go to a beach, but we also wanted to be active and adventurous and wanted to go for about 10 days.

After making this list, we began investigating destinations that would fit our requirements.  I found one of the most helpful places to be Community Wedding Message Boards (i.e. weddingwire, theknot, weddingbee) in addition to my go-to of TripAdvisor.

We then made a short list of countries we would want to visit that fit into those requirements and began investigating hotels (TripAdvisor is my favorite for this) and types of activities/excursions.

After finding a lot of hotels and activities that met our desires in Costa Rica, we made the decision to focus our honeymoon hunting there.  Taking into account our budget, I narrowed it down to a few hotels/resorts.  There were two areas in Costa Rica we wanted to hit: Arenal (a volcano area in the rainforest), and Guanacaste (the resort focused area near the beach).  Costa Rica ended up being the perfect decision.  We went ziplining, waterfall rappelling, swimming in hot springs and hiking to a volcano.  In the second part of our trip we enjoyed a relaxing time at the beach.

I am always the one to book and plan all aspects of a trip, but it became relatively overwhelming trying to figure out flights, transportation, hotel check-in, etc.  This is where we employed the help from some family friends who are travel agents.  

They were very helpful in helping us book flights (since we would be flying in and out of different airports), AND they booked our transportation to and between the two hotels through a shuttle company.  It would have been much more expensive and a larger headache had we booked the transportation ourselves.  Additionally, since they made all of our reservations through their systems, they were able to let all the companies know we were on our honeymoon and we got many upgrades.  Finally, since we booked through them, we were able to pay for the trip in its entirety before we went, only leaving incidentals and food, so we didn’t have to worry about maxing out our credit card in a foreign country right after paying for our wedding.

If you are doing a multi-destination honeymoon, or haven’t travelled out of the country much, I highly recommend going through a travel agent.  It will be one less thing you have to worry about.  Travel agents are very helpful in recommending places that meet your desired experience if you don’t know where to begin.

Obviously every honeymoon doesn’t have to be an international or beachy affair!  There are tons of great options in the States and in locations that fit all types of vacationers.

Some great options for those who want to get away but may not have a ton of time they are able to take:

-Rent a nice cabin for a few nights in a romantic location.  The Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee regions have tons of options

-On the West Coast, do a few nights in Wine Country OR travel up to San Juan Island in Washington

-My best friend and her new husband went to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

-New Englanders could also take advantage of the scenery in Maine

-If you are looking for a big city feel, there is always New York City.

-Internationally, think of places that might be outside the typical honeymooner’s thoughts.  Friends of our went to Iceland for their honeymoon!  They have amazing pictures of swimming in hot natural springs surrounded by snow!

There really is a honeymoon for every budget and style.  A little work in the beginning of your engagement will lead to an excellent and exciting honeymoon. 

Just remember that flights fluctuate in cost.  Buying super early or relatively close to the date usually results in the best prices, so why not book early and not have to worry about it later when your wedding planning is in full swing!?

Keep in mind that you will want to have a concrete date for your wedding before making any travel arrangements.  Refunds or changing dates can result in fees, etc. with the airline companies.

One last thing to think about; travel insurance. We didn’t purchase this, but I highly recommend if you are planning to travel somewhere during the winter months when snow or bad weather could impact your travel.  Look into it and see what it covers.  Ultimately it will be up to you whether it seems like something that could be valuable to you and your soon-to-be spouse.

-Danielle

Blog Update!

I promise, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth.  I have a few recipes and some Wedding Wednesday posts in my head, I just have to find the time to write them out.  The end of summer has been super busy, and the new puppy is keeping Mr. Bear and I quite busy.

I wanted to give a quick shout out and say THANK YOU to everyone who reads!  I reached 3,000 page views last night!  For a little blog that just started in April, I'd say that's pretty good!  I hope you all find the posts helpful.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

-Danielle

Wedding Wednesday: (Guest Post) Bridesmaid Asks

Happy Wednesday!  This week I was fortunate enough to have Steph, from Will Work for Shoes and Vodka, share an item from her current wedding planning; Bridesmaid Asks.  These are a popular and cute way to ask your great friends to be in your wedding party!

I hope you enjoy!

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Hello Bear Necessities followers!  I’m so excited Danielle asked me to be a part of Wedding Wednesday this week!   Danielle is a wonderful friend and I’m so happy we can share our blogging hobby!

Today I’m going to show you some ideas for asking your bridal party.  First things first, In order to ask them you have to pick them!  Over the years I’ve seen and heard of all kinds of compilations of bridal parties. Whether its one person or twenty people, keep in mind it’s just as much an experience for them to be a part of your special day as it is for you! 

My fiancé, Chris, and I had some initial struggles picking our party as we have siblings we wanted to be a part of it as well as friends.  We have such a close group of college friends it was hard to pick and choose while keeping within our initial vision of a small/medium sized group.  We finally came up with the right combination for us: our siblings (his younger brother and sister and my younger brother), our best friends since forever (aka his best friend since birth, my two best friends from high school), some of our college besties (one of his roommates over the four years, one of his freshman dorm friends and one of my gal pals) and one of our close friends from Columbus (she happens to be an identical version of me, such fate!).  In case you lost track of numbers that adds up to five on each side, ten total.  We felt this was a good variation of friends and family that represented the different parts of our lives. 

Once we had our group picked out we got to do the fun part: asking!  With the explosion of Pinterest it seems the simple “Will you be in our wedding?” question isn’t quite as simple anymore!  Plus like I said before, this is as much of an experience for them as it is for you so I wanted our asks to be special. 

In my lifetime I've been asked to be in family and friends’ weddings a number of different ways.  The majority of them were in person.  Funny anecdote: Danielle asked me and another friend to be in her wedding one night when we were sharing cocktails and discussing the wedding, then she said casually “Oh so speaking of the wedding, wanna be my bridesmaids?”  Such panache D, such panache!  I did have one invite slide in via text but I chalked that up to an impatient/excited bride.  Of course if your party is very geographically spread out in person may not be feasible.  Thankfully everyone we were asking lived relatively close and those who didn't we had visits planned. 

In typical guy fashion Chris didn't want much fuss around it so there was no gift giving or special surprise it was just when the time came, he asked.  He tried for moments when he was just one on one with the person to make it more personal.  I on the other hand wanted something with a little more pizzazz and more suited to my personality. 

So I set out to find something not too over the top (live butterflies and a music box? No thanks) as well as cost effective (sorry no Tiff & Co. ladies!).  I also didn’t want to overshadow what I would eventually do for bridesmaid gifts so I tried to keep it small.  If you couldn’t tell from my blog title I’m a big fan of cocktails so after some researching I landed on champs (it actually ended up being prosecco but minor detail) with personalized labels.

I had found this little poem on Pinterest so I made print outs of that then set out to design the bottle label. 

I work in Marketing and have access to Photoshop so I stayed late a few days at work to put the original design together.  I tried tying in our wedding colors: black and white with red accents.  I’m a shutterbug/obsessed with Instagram and pictures so I wanted to include a photo of each girl and myself.  Plus I obviously had to ask the big question! 

I printed these on full sheet label paper, cut them and stuck them to the bottles.

I think the trickiest part was finding suitable pictures for each.  For example, a lot of my pictures with just Chris’ sister and I were kind of old since we typically take pictures with the whole family.  For my maids of honor it was hard to find pictures that all three of us weren’t in or that it didn’t look obvious that I’d cut the third out!

I made a tag with the poem to place around the top of the bottle.  I used ribbon to loop around the top then glued the tag to it.

I wrapped it in a fun bottle bag with polka dotted tissue paper in our colors.  I got the prosecco at Kroger, the label paper from Office Max, the bottle bags from World Market and the tissue from Hobby Lobby.  For the tags attached with ribbon I had scrapbook paper for matting already on hand as well as the red ribbon.

Then it was off to ask each girl!  This was the really fun part, they were all a little confused as to why I was randomly giving them a gift then they read the poem and their reactions were priceless!  Chris’ sister told me “Nope, sorry I’m busy that day” (kidding of course), some cried, some laughed but overall it was a happy “yes” answer. 

There are all kinds of ideas out there, some include:

-          treat them to lunch, drinks or dinner

-          mail them a special package with photos of you over the years, etc.

-          send them a cute note

-          a piece of jewelry

For guys you can do booze, beer or cigars with a nice note or poem attached.  That is of course if you can get your groom to agree to it.  Chris was not into the ideas I showed him, especially the notes and poems! 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bridal party ask ideas.  Just choose something that fits your personality and your budget and you’ll be all set!

Thanks again for clicking in to Wedding Wednesday, it was such a pleasure sharing this fun wedding related post!

Cheers!

Steph

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Thanks again to Steph for sharing!  I look forward to collaborating with her on future guest posts!

-Danielle

Wedding Friday: Preserving the top of your cake

I'm a few days late on this post, so today we have "Wedding Friday".  "Wedding Wednesday" has a much better ring to it, but just go with it for this week. :)

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Mr. Bear and I recently celebrated our 1st anniversary as husband and wife!  In keeping with tradition, we saved the top tier of our wedding cake to eat on our anniversary.

After defrosting, it actually still tasted pretty good!  I had been nervous because most other married couples said theirs tasted horrible.  I wanted to share how our cake was preserved in the hopes that others may have a similar experience (good cake).

First and foremost, you have to start with a delicious cake. Ours was super moist at our wedding, and it had about 1/2" of buttercream frosting on the outside that locked in the flavor.

Second, make sure whoever is baking the cake knows you want to keep the top tier of the cake.  Our bakery left the caterer a small box for the top tier.  This made it easier to take home.  You will also want to make sure that your venue/caterer/whoever is cutting up the cake to serve knows that you want to keep the top tier of the cake so they don't cut it up and serve it.  Additionally if you are saving the cake and it has a filling that needs to be refrigerated, make sure to tell your venue/caterer so they can keep it in the fridge for you until the end of the night (or the following day if you are collecting all of your items in the morning).

After you take your cake top, you will want to take the box and put the entire box into a plastic bag.  We used tall kitchen trash bags for this and tied them off in the middle of the bag to create a tighter seal.

We then wrapped the cake in one more kitchen bag before placing in my parents' ice chest.  We let the cake freeze, untouched for several weeks until we came home from our honeymoon and were able to pick it up.

The cake then was transferred into our freezer and remained there until our first anniversary.

A few days before our anniversary, I took the cake out of the freezer(still in the plastic) and placed in the fridge to defrost.  After 2 days, we then cut into and ate the cake.  It wasn't as moist as the original servings, but it was still pretty tasty!

Here is a look at our cake after we cut into it:

-Danielle

Easy and Tangy Mac & Cheese

After a short hiatus, I'm back!  July has been quite eventful.  Since I last posted, we've celebrated our Independence Day, we've gone to a wedding, Mr. Bear and I celebrated our 1st anniversary, a new addition has been added to the family (in the form of a cute little maltese puppy named Genie), we hosted 20 people at my parents' lake house, AND I'm another year older.  Whew! I'm exhausted!

While I'm getting caught up on everything, I wanted to share one of the many recipes I made for the large group at the lake.  When hosting that many people, I usually look for recipes I can prep ahead of time, that are easy to make, can feed a lot, and taste yummy.  For lunch, I made a super easy and tangy Mac & Cheese.

Mr. Bear and I love homemade mac & cheese.  I've made it several ways, my favorite being a Vermont white cheddar version with pumpernickel croutons on top, however, that version takes FOREVER to make.  You have to grate a block of cheese without nicking your fingers, you have to make a roux and then a bechamel sauce, you have to cut up nice pumpernickel and create garlic croutons.  It is a process and is reserved for fewer than 4 people.  I'll post that one this winter.

A big pan of mac and cheese really does go a long way though so I've been making the recipe below for years when we want a quick mac and cheese fix.  It is a conglomeration of a recipe found here, one from Heinen's grocery stores, and my own tweaks.  I love this recipe because I can prep the ingredients, stick them in a freezer bag and when I'm ready to serve just bake the mac in a 13x9 pan.

Easy and Tangy Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1 lb (16 oz) elbow macaroni, cooked as directed and drained

2 cups (16 oz) grated SHARP cheddar cheese + additional for topping (optional)

1 package (24 oz) of fat free small curd cottage cheese

1 package (16 oz) light or fat free sour cream (I like Daisy Brand)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (can be grated or shredded)
Seasoned Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Take cooked pasta and set aside to cool

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine cheddar, cottage cheese, sour cream and parmesan cheese. Mix well

4. Add pasta into mix and thoroughly combine, ensuring all pieces of pasta are coated

5. Sprinkle a light layer of seasoned salt, a layer of garlic powder, a layer of onion powder, and about 4-5 cranks of the pepper mill onto the cheese and pasta mix.  Mix well and taste a small portion.

6. Repeat step 5 until you can distinctly taste the seasoning without over salting.  This varies each time I make it, depending on the cheese brands used.  Just be sure to take a small taste of the pasta mixture before adding additional seasonings.  I'm heavy handed on the garlic, onion and pepper.  I try to only use as much seasoned salt as necessary to slightly taste it.  Salt can always be added by each person after the fact.

7. Pour pasta mixture into a greased 13x 9 pan, distributing evenly

8. (Optional) if desired, sprinkle some additional cheddar on top of the dish.  This will create a nice bubbly crust.

9. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the topping is bubbly.

Tips:

1. Make sure to use sharp cheddar.  Cheddar cheese mellows out as you cook it.  You will lose the flavor if you use mild cheddar in this recipe.

2. Although I try to use light or fat free ingredients in this recipe to cut down calories, don't try to make this with the fat free cheddar.  It will not melt and you will be stuck with something not delicious.

3. If you are feeling adventurous, add a few splashes of hot sauce (I like Frank's Red Hot) to your pasta mixture.  Cheddar cheese and hot sauce go really nicely together.

4. Instead of topping with cheddar, you could also replace with a Cheeze-It crumb topping (mix melted butter and Cheeze-It crumbs).  Not low cal, but really delicious.

5. Tweak the recipe as necessary for your taste.  This is a great starting recipe, but you can do so much to it.  Broccoli would be delicious in the dish, or change up your seasonings. If you don't have enough cheddar, mix in other cheeses.  Mozzarella makes the cheese really melty.  This recipe is really flexible.

-Danielle

Recipe: Easy Baked Empanadas

As promised, here is an easy recipe for baked empanadas!

What is an empanada you ask?  Per Merriam-Webster, an empanada is a turnover with a sweet or savory filling.  It is typically fried, but I prefer to bake mine.

These empanadas are a great way to use leftover taco meat.  Since there are only two of us, if I make a full pound of taco meat, we typically have a decent amount leftover.  This is a great way to use up that meat without having tacos, again.

Fair warning, these are not the healthiest things in the world, even though they are baked.  I use pie crust to create the turnover, so I wouldn't recommend having this in your weekly repertoire, but it is a good treat every once in a while.

Easy Baked Empanadas

Ingredients:

approx 1/2 lb seasoned taco meat, chilled 

I use 94% lean ground turkey and taco seasoning for mine.  Once the seasoning is on the turkey, it tastes exactly like beef, but with less fat an cholesterol.  It is important to have the meat chilled in the fridge and not right out of a hot pan.  You will destroy your pie crust if you put a hot filling in it and then try to fold it over.  I recommend mixing veggies and beans into your meat for added flavor, however it is completely optional.  Corn and black beans are great!

1/4 cup shredded cheese

I usually use a low fat mexican cheese blend, or if I'm shredding the cheese myself I'll use a sharp cheddar

2 9in. pie crusts

I typically use a premade pie crust (found in the freezer section of the store), but if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll make a pie crust from scratch.  If you are going to make a pie crust from scratch, make a few and freeze the leftovers.  This will allow you to have easy access to a much better crust.  In a pinch, the freezer crust works well.

1/4 cup egg substitute, or 1 egg

I use egg beaters or egg whites.  This will only be used as an egg wash on the empanadas to give them a shiny and flaky outside.  It will also be used to help bind the two sides of the empanada together before you crimp.  The egg beaters and egg whites cuts down the calories a little bit more.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with foil.  Lightly spray the foil with oil (if you have something like the Misto) or nonstick cooking spray.

2. Roll out your pie crusts to 1/8".  Using a 3"-4" round cookie cutter, cut your dough into as many circles as possible.  Remove the scrap pieces of crust and re-roll the scraps to cut additional circles (depending on the size of your cutter, I usually end up with 6-10 empanadas).

3. In your first circle, place a small pinch of shredded cheese into the middle of the circle.  On top of the cheese, place about 1 tbsp of taco filling.  Be sure to leave about 1/2" all around the circle clear of any filling.  Repeat steps for the remaining circles.  Take your egg wash and brush around the perimeter of all of your circles.  Fold one side of your circle over to the other to create a half moon shape.

4. Using a fork, crimp the outside edge of the empanada to seal, carefully avoiding punctures to the filled portion of the pastry.  Repeat steps for remaining circles.  Place empanadas on cookie sheets.

5. Take the remaining egg wash and lightly brush onto the outsides of your empanada.

6. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips:

1. Don't forget to lightly flour the surface you are rolling your pie crust onto.  Additionally you will need to lightly flour your cookie cutter

2. If you don't have a larger side round cookie cutter, never fear!  There are tons of great alternatives in your kitchen!  I typically use the lid to the oatmeal tub or a tupperware lid.  Get creative!

3. If you don't have a pastry brush for the egg wash, use your fingers to brush on the egg wash.

4. Make sure there are no tears in your empanadas.  They will ooze once you start baking.

5. If you don't have enough taco filling left to fill all of the circles, feel free to try dessert fillings!

-Danielle

Wedding Wednesday: What the heck is a "King's Table"?

Happy Wednesday everybody!  I promise I will get some recipes and home improvement posts up here soon, the summer has just been very busy.  In the meantime, I will continue to regale you with tales from the crypt  of marriage ;).

First and foremost, I want to give an early "Happy 1st Anniversary" shout out to my wonderful husband, whom I love very much!  I don't know that I will have a Wednesday post next week due to the holiday, and I can't believe it has been almost a year since our wedding!

So where was I?  Oh yes, what the heck is a "King's Table"?

When it comes to your wedding, you will have many table arrangement options, particularly for the wedding party.  Today we will be discussing the pros and cons of each (for wedding party and guests).  This is not an exclusive list, I'm sure there are other options, these are just the most common I've seen.  Advanced warning that I am quite biased as to which is the best, we decided to go with the King's Table.

Wedding Party Seating Options:

Option #1: Standard head table seating

Description: Typically a banquet style table or 2 with bride, groom and wedding party sitting on one side, facing out into the room, sometimes placed on risers to make the party stand out even more or to provide a tiered effect if 2 tables are used.

Pro 1: You and your wedding party will be on display for everyone to watch.
Con 1: You and your wedding party will be on display for everyone to watch.

This one can be a pro or con, depending on how much you like to be in the spotlight.

Pro 2: All of your wedding party can fit at a single table or at maximum 2 tables.  You will be surrounded by all of the people in your party.
Con 2: There often isn't room for the wedding party's dates.  The dates are frequently seated at a nearby table.  This may not seem like a big deal to you, but someone's date likely doesn't know anyone else and is quite uncomfortable without their other half.  If you do choose to go with this option, try to leave room for your party's dates.

Pro 3: By having so many people around you, you will limit the number of people that come up to you to talk during dinner.  You will, hopefully, have a chance to eat some dinner.
Con 3: If you want people to visit your table, it may be intimidating to guests to approach.

Again, this can go either way depending on how you want dinner to run.

Option#2 Sweetheart Table

Description: A table for 2, just you and your sweetheart, usually flanked by round tables for people in the wedding party and their dates.

Pro 1: You will get to spend some much needed time taking in your reception with your new spouse.  The wedding and reception can go by quickly.  This provides you a way to get a few minutes alone to talk about how cool it is that everyone you love is in one room.
Con 1: Because you are alone, people can feel disconnected to you.

Pro 2: You will be able to set up the table anywhere in the room.  It is much easier to place a table of two somewhere in the room than a large banquet table.  This can allow more unique room configurations
Con 2: If you place the sweetheart table too far from guests, you could feel disconnected from your guests.

Pro 3: You will be served first and you can make requests that food be left on your table instead of cleared like everyone else's place settings.
Con 3: You won't have your bridal party there to help you out.  My MOH helped me get in and out of my chair with my dress while my husband pulled out the chair, as well as helped me change my shoes under the table.

Pro 4: Because it is just the two of you at your table, people will want to come up and talk to you.
Con 4: Because it is just the two of you at your table, people will want to come up and talk to you.

Again, depends on your perspective on this one.

Option #3 King's Table
Description: Rectangular table with wedding party (and dates) OR bride and groom's family sitting all around the table.  We chose this option and to allow for easier toasting, we didn't place anyone opposite us on the table.

Pro 1: It is kind of a combination of a standard head table and a sweetheart table in that you can be surrounded by your wedding party but it provides seating for all the wedding party's dates without having to have a gigantic head table.
Con 1: It doesn't provide the intimate feel that a sweetheart table does.  You can obviously talk to your new spouse, but the table is most conducive to many conversations, and you may want to get involved in the conversations others are having.

Pro 2: If you don't like the limelight, having people on both sides of the table provides a bit more of a shield from everyone staring at you while you eat.
Con 2:  If you like the limelight, you may not be as much on display as a standard head table, and you likely will not be able to use risers.

Pro 3: When you and your new spouse get up to "work the room" and greet your guests, everyone else at the table can still have normal conversations since people are sitting on both sides of the table.
Con 3: If you want people to visit your table, it may be intimidating to guests to approach.

Pro 4: Since it is just a longer rectangular table, it can still be placed in several locations in the room (usually).  It typically is not nearly as long as a standard head table because you can wrap and have people sitting on all sides of the table.
Con 4: I'm out of cons :)

I liked the King's table because it felt much more intimate than a standard head table, but it also provided a more connected experience than a sweetheart table.  Mr. Bear and I are close friends with all of our wedding party's dates so it was also nice to get to sit with them and catch up after the ceremony (many came in from out of town and we don't get to see them often).

Guest Seating:

There are two main types of tables that I've seen used during weddings.  The most common is the round table, usually consisting of 8-12 people per round (depending on the size).

At more recent weddings, I've also seen long rectangular tables, banquet-style, or a combination of round and rectangular.

Round Tables:
Pros: 

• More conducive to conversations among guests.  Guests are not just limited to talking to people directly on either side of them.
• Only one centerpiece needed for each table
• The center of the table is out of the way of anyone's reach.  (They will not even be able to reach across to pass the salt and pepper, so there is no way they are going to accidentally ruin your centerpiece by passing things during dinner)

Cons:

• If in a smaller space, you will be limited to the number of people you can seat in the room.
• Not as trendy.  Banquet tables are very trendy right now.
• If the round is too large, it can be hard to have a conversation with the people directly across the table from your guests.

Rectangular Tables:
Pros:

• Many more guests can fit at each table and in smaller spaces
• Guests will be closer to the people directly across from them, providing easier conversation with those guests

Cons:

• Less ability for guests to talk to people not in their direct vicinity
• Multiple centerpieces will be needed for each table
• Rectangular tables are usually narrower than rounds.  It is very possible that the centerpiece could get knocked over when someone is passing the salt to the person across from them
• Less elbow room.  Rounds inherently provide more arm room for guests because they essentially have a pie-shaped slice of the space around the table (wider on the outside and narrower as you go in).  When you sit directly around a table, you have to make sure to leave enough arm room for each guest.

Whatever arrangement you end up providing, please just keep your guests' comfort and your wedding party's (and their dates') comfort in mind.  Weddings are a social event, people want to be able to talk and catch up with friends and family they don't see very often.  Make sure that whatever you end up doing it is what works for you as a couple but also allows your guests to enjoy themselves.

-Danielle

Wedding Wednesday: Let them eat cake!

Yummy, yummy, yummy!  Who wants cake!?!

Today's Wedding Wednesday post is about the ever important star of the dessert world...wedding cake!

Truth be told, I'm not a HUGE fan of cake, however,  I love red velvet with cream cheese frosting!  Because of this, I couldn't justify the huge amount of money it would have cost to have a tiered cake large enough to feed all of our guests.



Let me introduce you to this wonderful thing called the sheet cake!

Almost all of the bakeries I looked at for our wedding made sheet cakes at a fraction of the cost of a tiered cake.  We ended up with a three tier cake plus two sheet cakes (one in red velvet and one in black forest chocolate)  I had budgeted $700 for our cake.  The tiered cake came out to about $300 (way below budget) with the two 1/2 sheet cakes totaling around $100.  Since we had a couple hundred dollars to spare, we ended up purchasing a few more desserts for guests like me, who don't love cake.  In total, we got a three tier cake, two sheet cakes, 4 cheesecakes, a cannoli tray, chocolate covered strawberries, and a cookie tray for well below my budgeted cost.

Things to note if you are going for a sheet cake:

1. My bakery offered single or double sheet cakes.  We went with the double sheet cake that has a filling so that guests wouldn't feel like they were getting slighted if they got a piece cut from the sheet cake.  Make sure you ask your baker about this option if it is important to you

2. Many bakeries do full or half sheets.  Note that if you are doing sheet cakes, you can only have one flavor of cake with filling and frosting per pan.  We did one 1/2 sheet cake as chocolate and one as red velvet.

Of course if you really dislike cake, there are tons of other options: Cookies, pies, brownies, doughnuts, cream puffs, etc.

The nice thing about the wedding cake is that you can really customize it any way you like!

Other tips for finding your cake:

1. Make sure you have a tasting.  Many of the bakeries around here have begun charging for tastings, however, the fee is waived if you purchase a cake from them.

We only did a tasting at one bakery and decided it was too delicious and cost effective not to go with them.
Make sure you find out if the tasting has a fee.  I will give a shameless plug for the amazing cakes they do at Michael Angelo's Bakery!

2. Go in with an idea of how you want it decorated, but don't be afraid to tweak after talking to the bakery.
 I had a general idea of what we wanted for the cake decoration, but the bakery had a ton of photos of cakes past that I ended up borrowing from to create ours.  The nicest part was they the bakery could reference those cakes and they were able to point us to designs that were similar but more cost effective.

3. Know where you will have the cake on display at your venue, it may impact your decision on frosting vs. fondant.

I don't like the taste of fondant, however, it usually holds up better in the heat.  I knew we were getting married in July and it would likely be hot in any of the outdoors spaces.  I did, however, know that where the cake was going to be was air conditioned so I felt comfortable purchasing buttercream.

We still had a little sliding by the time we got to the cake, but it would have completely melted if it was outdoors.

(notice how the top tier is not level...we had a bit of a melting situation on our hands)

4.  Figure out if you want to keep the top tier of your cake for your anniversary.  This will alter the amount of cake you will need to order.

5.   Make sure you get a piece of cake (besides just the small piece you cut during the cake cutting).  We didn't have that much foresight into the fact that we likely wouldn't get a piece.  Fortunately our coordinaters set aside a piece of each for us for after the wedding.

-Danielle

Wedding Wednesday: "Every Girl Crazy 'bout a Sharp Dressed Man"

ZZ Top was right, “Every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man”.  

You want your groom and groomsmen to look like sharp dudes!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about finding your wedding dress, but we don’t want to leave the fellas out!  What they wear on your wedding day is a big decision as well!  Since I knew NOTHING about men’s formal wear, I figured there are probably other readers just as lost as I was.

To start, figure out the formality of your wedding.  Is it a casual, laid back vibe on a beach, a black-tie affair, or somewhere in between?

Things to note when determining formality:

1.       You will want to make the formality match the location of your wedding.  If you are getting married in the sand on the beach, you probably don’t want to have your groom and groomsmen in a top hat and tails

2.       If you decide to go toward black-tie or white-tie, please note that there are a few things etiquette-wise that you must adhere to in order for it to be classified as black-tie.

a.       It must be an evening affair

b.      Open bar with top shelf liquor, a band, and plated meal with passed hors d’ouevres are desired.

Essentially, it should be a top-of-of-the-line event if you are going to make your guests rent tuxedos and wear formal gowns.

3.       The largest number of weddings I have been to have been semi-formal or cocktail attire, but the invitation style should indicate the formality here.

a.       This usually means nice suits or tuxedos for the men, cocktail dresses and/or longer for the bridesmaids.  Most guests typically wear a nice suit and/or cocktail dress

We’re about to pick out the groom’s attire.  What are all these styles?

Jackets

You will make the largest decisions surrounding the jacket (and in turn the matching pants) for your groom’s attire.  Here is a list of the types of jackets, descriptions, and suggestions as to when to wear each.

Suit

For casual elegance, the suit is your best bet.  These are often used to make the event semi-formal.  These are also great for the summer and/or during the day when a tuxedo likely wouldn’t fit the style of the wedding.

You will need to have the men buy the suit, or find a tuxedo rental location that ALSO rents suits if you are looking to go this route.  (See Tuxedo for lapels and breast)

Tuxedo
This jacket is very common among weddings and can go from semi-formal to formal.  You will have to make a number of choices once you have settled on the Tuxedo (See Lapels).  Tuxedos, like most suits have various options when it comes to how it is “breasted” (aka how many and the configuration of buttons on the jacket. 

Options include: Single-breasted (with a one- to four-button front)

Double-breasted (with a two- to six-button front).

You will also likely need to determine the venting on the jacket.  The vents are the slits in the back of the jacket that allow for additional air flow under the hot wool.  Vents usually come in the following configurations: no vents, single vent, double vent.  Ask to see all types at the shop.  You will likely want to see all types on your groom as the vents do impact how the jacket fits

Tuxedos are good for evening weddings.  Technically you are supposed to wear a morning coat if you are doing a more formal daytime wedding, however, many modern weddings also have tuxedos at semi-formal-formal daytime weddings too.

Tailcoat
Think “penguin”.  The tailcoat is cropped in front, with two tails in the back and a two- to six-button front. These are generally worn at VERY formal evening weddings.

Mandarin, a.k.a. Nehru jacket, Mao jacket
This jacket features a vertical collar with no lapel (Think The Beatles in Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band)  The collared shirt that is worn with this jacket often comes to a closure with a button.

Again, this can be worn in place of a suit or tuxedo, I have never actually seen this worn at a wedding.

Morning coat
For formal daytime weddings, the groom wears the cutaway coat -- short in the front, long in the back, and tapering from the front waist button to a wide back tail. Cutaway jackets are either black or gray and are worn with matching striped trousers.

(Think formal English day wedding)

Lapels

Notched lapel
Notched lapels have a triangular indention where the lapel joins the collar. This is considered the least formal lapel style.

Shawl collar
A shawl collar provides a smooth lapel, without notches.  (See Hugh Hefner’s smoking jacket).  These can often be in a different fabric than the jacket (i.e. satin).  This can be formal, but is less popular.

Peaked lapel
Peaked lapels are named such for the V-shape the lapel makes as it points up and out below the collar line.  This is very common for tuxedos, tailcoats and morning coats. This broad, V-shaped lapel points up and out just below the collar line.

Shirt Collars

Wing collar
Wing collar shirts are very formal.  They are mostly reserved for those opting for bow ties and have a collar that stands vertical except at the points.  The collar points are folded slightly downward.  Standard ties don’t look great with this type of collar because the collar does not fold down around the rest of the tie.

Mandarin collar, a.k.a. band collar
This collar stands vertical around the neck and is frequently worn with a Mandarin Jacket.  It is the most contemporary-style shirt..

Spread collar
Spread collars are very common.  This type of shirt resembles a standard button-front shirt but features a wide division between points in front. The wider collar looks great with a Euro tie or a standard necktie tied in a Windsor knot.

Neckwear

There are many types of neckwear, but I’m only going to cover the two main ties.

Bow tie
Bow ties scream “Classic Tuxedo”.  You can get bow ties in many colors besides basic black, however white is only reserved for super-formal events.  Colored bow ties can be worn at any occasion

Necktie
For  a more casual, but still elegant, look at a standard necktie. I’ve seen these at many weddings.

Mr. Bear, groomsmen and the fathers wore these at our wedding.  Mr. Bear had ivory tie, the groomsmen had plum and the fathers had black.  It was a nice way to provide distinction between each, while still creating a cohesive look.

    (notched tuxedo with vest and necktie)

Accessories

Vests, a.k.a. waistcoats

Vests can go from ultra-formal to semi-formal.  Pair it with a Tailcoat for a very formal look.  You can also pair with a standard tuxedo in various colors to match the tie.  This is a very common look.

We went with the necktie and vest for our wedding.

Cummerbunds
Cummerbunds are worn around the  waist in lieu of a vest. They are usually basic black and paired with a bow tie, however,  you can choose a colored cummerbund to match the bridesmaid dresses or the wedding colors.  These were very popular in the 80’s and 90’s.  I haven’t really seen them lately

Whew!  And you thought wedding dresses had a lot of options!  Above all, make sure your groom wears what he is comfortable wearing.  He should have a large amount of input since it is what he will be wearing for the day of your wedding.  We decided that Mr. Bear would select the actual tuxedo style for the wedding and I would help with colors for the vests/neckties.  It worked out well.  He got to try on a lot of different styles before making a decision, determining which style fit his body-type.

-Danielle