Thanksgiving Cake Wrecks

Having been there myself, I found this site pretty amusing.  I have definitely made some 'special' cakes in my time :)   The turkey cakes made me laugh out loud - http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

A little bit about the site: 


A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

Movie Night at Royal Oaks & OPL Game Show

Last week we had two events that were really great!  The first was a movie night at Royal Oaks with my good friend, Mary.  She is always looking for something to keep the residents at her apartment property happy!  So she decided to take advantage of this lovely fall weather and have a movie night out on the tennis courts.  She teamed up with Feel the Beat to have an outdoor screening of Twilight.  It was such a great event!  They blacked out the fencing around the tennis court to block out lights and distractions, and also some wind, which I thought was such a cool idea.  Then there was pizza, hot chocolate, popcorn, & cookies for everyone to snack on.  There was even a raffle for a free month's rent!  The turn-out was great and I think everyone had so much fun snuggling up in their chairs and blankets, munching on snacks, and enjoying a movie right in their own backyard!  Big thanks to Mary & Regina at Royal Oaks for putting everything together!

The other event that night was an over-the-top fun game night for Optical Prescription Lab!  These guys know how to throw a party!  Even their meetings incorporated the game show fun.  They had name tags just like the ones on Price is Right and they gave away prizes all night!

Who wouldn't want to attend that event?!  Feel the Beat provided classic game show set pieces and also a huge set for our own game show!  There was Wheel of Fortune, Price is Right, $20,000 Pyramid, Family Feud, and Hollywood Squares.  Then we played Family Feud and Jeopardy games with the whole group after dinner.  This group was such a blast!  They have some genuinely fun-loving people that they work with and it made it a lot of fun.

Get with the Program!

If you are looking for an easy way to add some creativity into your wedding ceremony, there are tons of ways to play up your program!   The program is a great guide for guests to know what to expect during the ceremony, but it can also convey theme, formality, and a little bit of personality!

I loved these 'ribbon' folded programs pictured to the left!  How clever to just use the way the program is folded to make a statement!  The color is gorgeous and I can imagine it makes a stunning presentation to have them all stacked at the entrance to your venue.

Are you serving a delicious dish at the reception?  Include the recipe in the program, and your guests leave with more than just a favor.  If it's a family recipe be sure to give credit!  Personalize it even more by including a short explanation of why you and your fiancee love the dish or how it came to be a family favorite!

Fright Night Expo- Mad Hatter Party

Last Thursday the Birmingham Convention and Visitor's Bureau teamed up with Go Pro to host the annual Fright Night Expo.  There was a Mad Hatter theme and Birmingham's top hotels showed up with their brightest and best!

We were excited to join the Tutwiler Hotel in their booth with our Cool Shots Photo Lounge.  For their booth, they went with a tea party - Mad Hatter style!  There were giant teacups and tiny cupcakes, bright pinks and oranges accented with teal,  and the cake by Culinard which was absolutely a masterpiece!

We wanted the Cool Shots Photo Lounge to match with the rest of the theme, so I went to work creating a psychedelic beaded curtain and some tea party necessities!  Here are some pics of the process with a few notes of how everything came together.

First,  I started with two different sizes of styrofoam balls for the beaded curtain and painted them in the bright colors of the booth.  With styrofoam, you have to be careful with your paint choice because some paints and glues will actually eat away the styrofoam.  I went with a basic acrylic craft paint, which also worked well on my teacups and saucers.  I just grabbed these at the local thrift store (REUSE!)  I also added a light coat of Mod Podge to seal in the paint and add a nice gloss.

I layed out the pieces of the curtain first to make sure that everything would work and added in some flower heads to add a little garden appeal to the tea party theme.  The flowers were a little droopy, so I also Mod Podged them to keep the petals nice and straight.   A little fishing line and some beads were used to create each string and space apart the items.  I used the remaining flowers in a silver teapot (also a thrift store find),  a cool glass bottle with 'Drink Me' tag, and some other items I found in the bright colors as the finishing touches.  

The Tutwiler created a cool framed 'looking glass' that the guests stepped through to enter the Photo Lounge.  It was such a great element to tie everything together!  I was really happy with how everything turned out and so was the rest of the crowd - The Tutwiler Hotel's booth was voted #1 for the event!  We couldn't have asked for it to turn out any better!

Thanks so much to the Tutwiler team for having us!

Sweet like Honey

Looking for a sweet favor for your guests?  Try local honey!

This sweet treat has been used for centuries, not only for its sugary flavor, but for its healing power.  Honey has a long and interesting history from being the most popular medicine in Ancient Egypt to being used to treat wounds in the first World War.  Wrap up a little bit of local honey for your guests and you will send them home with a unique treat that helps them build immunity to the allergens in your area!

Dress up the jars by matching the theme and colors of your wedding day.  Small squares of fabric tied with twine lend a rustic feel to the honey jars pictured above.   Adding a little label with your monogram and the date of the wedding, personalizes them, and easy enough to do yourself!

Featured Couple: Emily & Jason Eversull

Emily and Jason are one of the nicest couples I have met and are such a great match!  They met here in Birmingham through work and continued their relationship while they were both in school at Auburn.  The day before Emily's birthday, Jason took her for a stroll on the beautiful Auburn plains before dinner.  They ran into photographers in front of Samford, but Emily didn't think much of it.  When they asked to take their picture to make sure the "lighting" was correct,  she was still thinking more about food than photos. But when she turned around to find Jason on one knee,  it all made sense!  He even had their families waiting at the restaurant, so they all could celebrate the occassion!

They were married on August 8th and Feel the Beat helped them celebrate afterwards at the Vestavia Country Club.  It was a gorgeous set up with lilac and pinks everywhere!  Gene's Flowers sprinkled their beautiful touch throughout the room including a cascading curtain of live orchids and other single-stemmed florals. This couple's laidback and friendly personalities shows through in the work of Arden Photography, as well as videographer, Mitch Joynt, who were there to capture all of the beauty of the day.  And leave it to Louise's Cakes and Things to make an absolutely beautiful and delicious cake for the occasion!  Afterwards, Emily & Jason made their getaway in one of Rocky Ridge's very own firetrucks!  Best wishes to both of them!

Bless the Broken Road

I found a wedding idea today that I just love! It was featured on Laura Hooper Calligraphy, a green invitation company located in LA (no not Lower Alabama!). She creates Emotional Maps for couples that show the journey of their lives, when they met, and dates that have been important in the relationship. What a wonderful way to share some of the more personal highlights of you and your fiancee's courtship with all of your friends and family!  You could also use this idea to map out the locations of all the events that are taking place on your wedding weekend.  Check out the website for more ideas for using the map for save-the-dates, programs, or just on display at the reception!