The summer has been filled with weddings here on the Emerald Coast and while we have been BLESSED with nary a drop of oil on any Mix Mingle Glow weddings (nor any other that I personally know of), we have certainly been kept on our toes nonetheless.  This will be the summer I will never forget due to some crazy, unpredictable weather.  I’ll fill you in on the drama in the weeks to come (and why it is IMPERATIVE that you have a good, solid “Plan B”) but let’s start with the beautiful wedding of Brittany and Tyler.

One of the lovely things about getting married in or around Destin, FL is that we have the benefit of both gorgeous snow white beaches and tranquil, dolphin filled bays.  Brittany and Tyler were married overlooking the Choctawhatchee Bay (don’t worry if you can’t pronounce it; even the locals call it the “Choctaw Bay”!).

Brittany was the first Bride I ever worked with who didn’t come to me with an accordian file of magazine clippings and photos.  She knew exactly what her style was, and it was so easy to figure out exactly what she wanted her wedding to look like.  She was open to suggestions, listened to advice and was gracious in every way a Bride should be.

Tyler is a Guy’s Guy; football coach, sports enthusiast, all around great guy.   He’s also just a little bit sweet on his Bride. I just had to share this photo with you that Amanda Suanne caught of Tyler as we watched Brittany walk down the aisle (seriously, what Bride doesn’t want THIS reaction?)

Here are a few other shots of some details we had fun planning:

After the very emotional, spiritual ceremony, a sudden summer storm churned up over the water (really out of nowhere, as is known to happen in Florida) and with it, we watched as a waterspout approached and landed right onto the area where Brittany and Tyler had been reciting their vows just minutes before.  It was completely unexpected but we were able to rush everyone inside just in time.  It was a bit like watching that famous scene from The Wizard of Oz, as the chairs became airborne and the flowers were blown over and away.  Thankfully everyone was fine and all the guests were excited about experiencing such a unique Florida weather event (all while snapping photos of the moment!).

Within minutes, the excitement was over as fast as it began and the rest of the evening was wonderful.  I can NOT express how important it is to have a strong team of vendors for a wedding. Staying calm, cool and collected is our M.O. and I only work with those who strictly abide by the same motto!

Check out this beautiful slideshow Amanda Suanne created of the wedding and congratulations again to Brittany and Tyler.  Blessings for a long life together, you two!

The past couple of months have been crazy.  CRAZY I tell ya!  Weddings every weekend, lots of weather (and other wedding related) drama (just wait…I’ll fill you in after I stop twitching), Oil in the Gulf, the kids out for summer vacation…

There is nothing that I love or appreciate more when life just gets way too serious than a good laugh.  I love this series of videos (you may recall when I have featured them on the blog in the past) and thought I’d share one with you.

So funny.

Enjoy.

Remember when a guy would wait for that one quiet moment, sometime during an intimate dinner or while watching the sunset, to ask his girl to marry him?  That minute, frozen in time, a memory only reserved for those two people?

Yeah, well, welcome to 2010.

Flash mobs, props, public spaces and cameras are all  the rage in the “Will You Marry Me?” market today.

While public displays and viral videos might not be for everyone, you gotta hand it to some of these guys.  They are really getting creative.  Take, for example, Woodrow, a recent circus school graduate who got some of his buddies in the filmmaking biz to set up a faux documentary being filmed in the middle of Madison Square Park in NYC.  Someone approaches Woodrow as he strolls through the park with his beloved, Claudine, and asks him for a quick interview for his documentary (all of which is entirely believable on any given day in any given locale in the Big Apple).  After some convincing, the filmmaker tells Claudine to have a seat for a minute while he takes Woodrow a few feet away to ask him a few questions. Next thing you know, music starts playing and …well, the rest is soon to be viral video history.

The video is clever, funny, goofy and endearing to say the least.  Take a look for yourself and tell me, what do you think?  Would you like a proposal like this or are you more of a private moment kind of person?

Save the Dates are still a relatively new concept in weddings (they’ve really gained popularity over the last 10 years).  It is nice to give your guests a heads-up well in advance of when they’ll actually receive their invitations so that they can plan accordingly, especially if they are coming in from out of town and travel arrangements will need to be made.

Of course there are so many cute ideas for Save the Dates, but if you think the basic paper and ink routine is really soooo 2008, then don’t be discouraged.  Clever couples are doing everything from handstamping vintage hankies   (LOVE!) to having some serious photobooth fun.

Of course you can buy things like magnets (except not everyone’s fridge is magnetic anymore) and calendar stickers as well.  These pens are a clever idea too!

My personal favorite way to announce the Big News and ask family and friends to Save the Date is with a video.  You don’t have to be super fly with the camera or know how to do a bunch of special effects to make your video special (let’s face it….most of us are not like Dana and Hunter!).  A video is fun and sweet and you can email it to all your friends, post it on Facebook and Twitter and everyone will LOVE it!

Take a look at this adorable Save The Date I just received.  (The fact that I taught the Bride when she was in Kindergarten Sunday School is really not the point here…although I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how she went from being an adorable toothless five year old to this beautiful college graduate!).

Hope you had a lovely Mother’s Day.  I certainly did.  I just had to share with you the cutest thing my family did for me yesterday.  Now, I normally don’t feature anything about a holiday that has already passed…no need to torture you with what you COULD have done!  However, this is so cute and honestly could be used for anytime Mom deserves a special celebration (and let’s face it…when don’t we?).

Linnette is offering an entire Mother’s Day party printable download for FREE on her adorable website called Paper Glitter!  She is so talented (toy designer extraordinaire by day, graphic designer by night!) and generous…check out all the other freebies she offers on her site.  Linnette also has an Etsy shop where she offers loads more cute printable goods perfect for your next party or just to make any ordinary occasion special.

My husband printed out the items and my 3 daughters told me how much fun they had cutting and gluing all the pieces and setting the table especially for me!  With everyone wearing party hats that all say “Mommy” and cupcake flags that declare “Let’s Celebrate Our Mommy“, it was by far the sweetest Mother’s Day I’ve ever had!

Pssst….hey you…yeah YOU!  I got some scoop for ya today.  Normally you know I just give unconditionally around here.

Well, it’s a new day people.

Before I spill today’s post, you gotta make me a deal.  I’ll lay it on ya, and in return you promise to include ME in the order you will undoubtedly place immediately following the reading of this blog.

Deal?  DEAL!

I have stumbled upon what may be the most genius concept in the world.  A German chocolatier called Chocrí opened less than 2 years ago and launched it’s AMAZING website in January of this year.  What sets Chocri apart from, well, everyone, is that YOU design the kind of chocolate you want, selecting from 3 different chocolate bases (milk, white or dark) and up to five of over 100 mix-ins.  That’s over 100 billion possible combinations of chocolatey goodness.

HELLO??!  So fun.

The website lets you peruse the ingredients based on category:

FRUIT ~ from cranberries, raisins and dates to banana chips, figs and goji berries

SPICES ~ interesting selections range from the benign (cinnamon, sea salt, bourbon vanilla) to the surprising (chives, jalepeño, rosemary)

NUTS ~ all the expected varieties (peanuts, almonds, macadamias) plus oddities like cashews with cheese-curry coating and spicy volcano nuts

CONFECTIONS ~ mini cookies, caramel drops, toffee and PopRocks, to name just a few

DECOR ~marzipan creations, real gold flakes, sprinkles and even a written message!

GRAINS ~cereals, candied dried flowers, bacon, pretzels and more

Feeling overwhelmed by the possibilities?  Take a deep breath and let Chocrí help you by checking out the Creations page and order from 24 tried-and-true combinations.  You can see what other people have recently ordered and the most popular creations for further inspiration. (click to enlarge)

Now, I know what you’re thinking…GERMANY?  The shipping must be ridiculous, right?  Think again, my chocolate loving friends.   Flat fee of $6 to fly that yummy goodness over the Atlantic to your doorstep.

And just in case you need one more reason to love Chocrí, they donate a portion of every sale to DIV Kinder, an organization that supports children at the Ivory Coast, an area that is directly impacted by the cacao industry.  They even give you an opportunity to add a personal donation to every order.  To date Chocrí has donated $42,562.66 to DIV Kinder.  

Not only is this just a perfectly perfect idea for Mother’s Day, but you can also buy discounted in bulk, which makes this an awesome idea for weddings and parties!

OK, so now go have fun creating deliciousness on the Chocrí website and don’t forget our deal.

I don’t care for nuts in my chocolate.

I’m just sayin’.

Every Tuesday the super cool group of people who are fans of Mix Mingle Glow on Facebook get a little treat delivered right to them called Tuesday’s Tips.  It’s just a handy little tidbit of helpful info geared toward making your life a little easier.   Sometimes it’s something directly related to entertaining (an unbelievably easy recipe, a helpful website, tips on everything from cleaning to setting the table).  Sometimes it’s something so helpful in general that I want to share it to help you simplify your To Do List so you can have more time to enjoy the company of others.

Today’s Tip is this:  Get all the juice you can out of your lemons and limes! Microwave them for about 5 seconds and then roll them on the counter while firmly pushing down for about 10 seconds. Cut and squeeze and all you’ll leave behind is the rind…good to the last drop!!

To get your Tuesday’s Tips every week, come on over and join us!

photo source