Wedding by Numbers

Greetings from St. Louis!!

As I'm sitting in the beauty salon with Megan and her sister I decided to flip through an issue of Elegant Bride from Fall 2009 and came across "Wedding by Numbers". Here's some of the bridal statistics for your wedding planning.

- 4 to 6 months prior to a destination wedding to send save-the-dates

- 3 to 4 stores to visit when shopping for a Wedding gown

- 2 minutes for the IDEAL toast

- 50 guests per usher at the ceremony

- 10 guests can sit at a 60-inch round table

- 2.5 to 3 square feet per guest for the dance floor

- 50 guests per bathroom at the wedding venue

- 30 to 40 guests per waiter at the reception

- 30 to 45 minutes to exercise, three to four times a week, for peak pre-wedding fitness

Take these tips with you as you plan your special day!

Blissfully,
Crystal

The Legend of the Nuernberg Bridal Cup

This goes with the entry from Friday, February 13th...

The Legend of the Nuernberg Bridal Cup

Centuries ago, in old Nuernberg, the nobel mistress Kunigunde fell in love with a young and ambitious goldsmith. Although Kunigunde's wealthy father (a powerful nobleman) did not approve of this pair, it was clear that she only wanted the goldsmith to be her husband as she refused many titled and rich suitors who asked for her hand in marriage.

Her father became so enraged that he had the young goldsmith thrown into the darkest dungeon. Not even his daughter's bitter tears would change her father's mind.

To her father's dismay, imprisoning the young man did not end his daughter's love for the goldsmith. Instead, he could only watch as his daughter grew paler and paler as a result of the separation from her true love.

The wealthy nobleman reluctantly made the following proposal: He told his daughter, "If your goldsmith can make a chalice from which two people can drink at the same time without spilling one single drop, I will free him and you shall become his bride".

Of course he was certain nobody could perform such a task...

Inspired by love and with skillful hands, the young goldsmith created a masterpiece. He sculpted a girl with a smile as beautiful as his own true love's. Her skirt was hollowed to serve as a cup. Her raised arms held a bucket that swivels so that it could be filled and then swung towards a second drinker.

The challenge was met. The goldsmith and the nobleman's daughter joined hands in marriage and with the bridal cup set forth a romantic and memorable tradition as charming today as it was originally hundreds of years ago.

To this day and to many couples the chalice remains a symbol. Love, faithfulness and good luck await the couple who drink from this cup.

The German Wedding Toast

Toasting with the bridal cup is a great way to add some fun to your wedding ceremony toast.

The best man starts the toast. Many people choose to read the story of the bridal cup to their guests as it is an inspiring story of love. Others prefer to use their own toasts and if you want to add some extra fun to your toast you can do the "Who Rules the Nest" toast explained below.

Traditionally, the wedding toast is initiated by the best man and performed during the reception dinner.

When toasting, the best man should stand up with his glass raised as he speaks. If you are offering champagne at your wedding, this would be done after eveyone's glass was filled.

Next, he would let everyone know that he has a special toast for the bride and groom. If you are of German heritage, you can mention that it is a German tradition that stemmed from centuries ago in Germany.

Hold the bridal cup upside down to fill. The bride and groom then stand up and the best man or groom himself holds the bridal cup upside down so that the large skirt becomes a cup. Pour champage or beverage of your choice into the hollow skirt end.

If you are going to read the story of the bridal cup to your guests, then you should have someone else fill the cup as you read.

After the large skirt end of the bridal cup is filled, the smaller swiveling cup needs to be filled. Because the smaller top cup swivels, it will already be upright. Carefully fill the small cup. Now that you have both cups filled, you are ready to perform the bridal cup toast!

The bride and groom must stand closely together facing each other with just enough space for the cup between them. The bride takes the smaller cup in hand while the groom holds onto the larger cup.

At the same time and together, the wedding couple raises the cup up and to their lips to drink. You must be careful here to not spill a drop because if you can drink without spilling a drop, love, faithfulness and good luck will be yours forever!

If you want to really add some fun to your special wedding cup toast you can do a fun German toast called "Who Rules the Nest". It's a toast enjoyed by most women and you will see why!

"Who Rules the Nest" is a popular wedding toast performed with the bridal cup and it's the perfect opportunity for the maid of honor to step up!

Just before the bride and groom drink from the wedding cup the maid of honor stands and announces that whomever finishes first without spilling a drop will rule the nest!

Of course, we all know since the bride has the smaller cup, she will be the winner!

As an added bonus, performing this toast will present a perfect opportunity to grab some entertaining pictures of the groom...

Thank you to German Toasting Glasses for the info


What a cool tradition


Blissfully yours,

Crystal

Friday the 13th Wedding: Feb. 13, 2009

I had the wonderful pleasure of assisting with the wedding reception of Nick and Danielle on Friday, February 13th. They were such a sweet couple. The colors were black and white and it was simple and beautiful. The reception was at the Majestic Metro in downtown Houston.

They had their pictures placed in the movie poster frames outside and were the stars of the show!

And of course... the marquee sign!!

They took care of so many details on their own and it made everything very personal because everyone could see the love they put into their day. Here are some of the details from there day and then I'll tell you about their AWESOME toasting flute.

Centerpieces: Stems by Holly

Ring The Bell (Bells were ringing all night long!!)

The Bride's Beautiful Cake: Alphorn Bakery

The Groom's Herby Cake: Alphorn Bakery

Escort Cards...simple and very helpful at any wedding

Gift Card Box...very simple idea and you can make them as creative as you like

This was such a cute idea...bride and groom cutouts and then disposable cameras were left for all the guest to take pictures for the bride and groom!

Now let's talk about Candy Bars. No, I'm not talking about the wonderful chocolate bar that you pick up at the counter I'm talking about a Candy Buffet. This is a wonderful way to bring some life to the party. Use whatever candies you like and make it your own. Everyone wants to feel like a kid in a candy store!

AND NOW FOR THE COOLEST PART OF THE WEDDING!!! THE "Toasting Flutes"? When I first saw this and was told that it was toasting flute (German Wedding Cup) I couldn't even figure out how two people were supposed to drink from this thing...

We asked the bride how two people were supposed to drink from this and she flipped it over and we saw this.... still unsure how two people were supposed to drink from both the top and bottom and why anyone would create such a thing.

The Best Man read the story of the German Wedding Cup (Nuernberg Bridal Cup) I'll post another entry with just the story....all in all this was a wonderful day with lots of cool surprises along the way!!

This was the picture for their Thank You cards!!

Stay tuned for more!

Blissfully Yours,
Crystal

Popping the Question: Feb. 12, 2009

Today was a very special day at Paraiso Maravilla, the wedding venue in Houston, TX where I service as venue manager (note: no longer working there but learned a lot). A gentleman came in last week to look at the venue and decided that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend at Paraiso. Of course I was happy to help so we spoke through out the week and finally put everything together. He came by late Wednesday afternoon before we closed up for the day and dropped of his props.

• His laptop
• A projector
• A CD of their songs

He had pictures of the two of them together on his laptop and we displayed them onto the wall using the projector. We set up a table for wine glasses, some bubbly, and his special messages to her. It was so sweet.

He showed up this morning with his girlfriend and I took them on a tour of the building because they were looking for a spot for a friend's wedding reception. (Perfect set up) I disappeared to the office for a minute and told them to continue looking around and I'd catch up. They walked up stairs and I hit play on the CD player; as soon as she heard their song she knew something was up and froze on the balcony. I could hear him telling her "Come on, come on"...it was so cute. He walked her to the back room where we had everything set up and 45 mins. later they came from the back with celebratory smiles on their faces. Her ring was beautiful and she had tears in her eyes. They both gave me a huge hug and thanked me for all the help. I felt like I had earned my angel wings for the day. We took a picture together and as soon as I get it I'll post it for you.(note: never did get those pics) Just thought I'd that story with you.

I have a wedding on Friday so I'll have more for you soon.

Blissfully yours,
Crystal

I'm back

Hello My Lovelies,

As some of you might have read I deleted my blog by accident earlier this month! I thought I was gonna cry. Thank god I was able to find a solution to at least get my text back so that I could recreate the blog. Somethings won't go back into this blog but you'll see the good stuff.

Thanks in advance for sticking with me while I put my blog back together.

Blissfully Yours,
Crystal

P.S. Just in case you missed my entry on how to recover your text should you delete your blog, here it is again:

Hey Everyone,

This has nothing to do with Professional Socialites but I felt it was something everyone one here would love to know. I deleted my personal blog today by accident and totally lost my mind trying to figure out how to contact someone that could help. I came across a blog that SAVED MY LIFE so I wanted to share it with you. This is what I posted on a couple of other sites to get the word out so feel free to copy paste and pass along!

Post this everywhere:

Recovered my blogger using this! Recovered deleted blog!

I deleted my google account as well as my blog today and thought my life was over. I searched and searched and found an answer that everyone needs. Follow these links and it will save you life too. The first is a blog explaining it and the steps. The second is info on tool. The third is the tool to use.

http://kim2thekiko.com/2008/01/how-do...

http://undeletemyblog.blogspot.com/ (background info on tool)

http://undelete.blog.googlepages.com/... (the tool)

Hope this helps lots of people in the future and look for a new Blissful Tales of Professional Socialites Blog in the near future!

Happy Blogging,
Crystal