Memorable Milestones: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A Charm City Wedding

A couple weeks ago I had the honor of serving as a bridesmaid in a dear friends wedding. Novlette and Kevin met in school and their love story developed in Baltimore, Maryland, also known as Charm City, as they went through Medical School together. I thought I'd share some pictures of their special day.

Personal Photo

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Orange Pineapple Cream Cupcakes

You might remember my little Red Velvet mishap at the beginning of the month. Well this post is a tribute to back-up plans. Thank goodness for box cake mix and Google With a little quick thinking and determination I was able to whip up a Orange Pineapple version of this Pineapple Cream Cupcake recipe, and I must say it was rather delicious!

Personal Photo

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Bridal Gowns - Necklines

It's been a while since I've done a post about wedding gowns aside from my own dress shopping experience Lately I've been a little obsessed with some of these gorgeous neckline designers are coming up with. Take a look at a few that caught my eye!

Cristiano Lucci -12801 Nicole from Brides

Marchesa from Brides

Monique Lhullier from Brides

Jasmine Couture - t152003 from Brides

Enzoni from Brides

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Asparagus Bundles

To go with last week's Chicken Marsala, we also had a side of Asparagus Bundles from Trisha Yearwood's cooking show. If you haven't Trisha's Southern Kitchen, you should try and catch it one Saturday morning, it will be love at first sight!

Personal Photo

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

OUR WEDDING: Checklist Update - 4 Months

We just had a super fun engagement shoot with Alexa's Photography this past Saturday, can't wait to share pictures. The photo session made realize it's crunch time! With 4 months (to the day) to go, we still have quite a few little projects to complete.

Photo from Bella the Magazine

So far this month we have:

-Booked rehearsal dinner
-Created rehearsal dinner invitations
-Planned rehearsal dinner(Toasts, Gifts, etc.)
-Booked {mini}moon
-Groomsmen fitting
-Bought wedding party gifts
-Booked transportation
-Finalized ceremony selections & program with officiant
-Looked into premarital counceling
-Finalized musical selections
-Took engagement pictures
-Received all the components for our invitations
-Set hair appointment for wedding day

Next month we will:
-Hammer out details with all vendors
-Order welcome bag components
-Order veil & shoes
-Confirm bridesmaids dresses arrival
-Finalize transportation
-Begin working on invitation assembly
-Organize DIY projects

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Chicken Marsala

Looking for a simple yet fancy meal to spice up your menu this month? This Chicken Marsala is absolutely to die for. I made it for dinner on Sunday and it was simple and easy to put together courtesy of our new Cuisinart cook book.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup dry Marsala wine

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup flour

1 cup fresh mushrooms (optional)

In a skillet melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Coat chicken lightly with flour and add to skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes each side. Transfer chicken to small baking dish. Add rest of butter and mushrooms to skillet and cook until tender. Stir in Marsala wine, broth, salt and pepper to skillet. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Pour over chicken.

Personal Photo

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

COLOR INSPIRATION: Orange & Pink

I'm back with some color inspiration to get you in the Spring mood! Orange & Pink is always such a fun, energetic and fresh pallet to work with. I hope this inspiration gives you a little spring cheer, check out some more orange here!

Invitation from A La Carte Studio

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Monday was our 2 year blog anniversary and I have to say it's been a world wind of fun sharing my thoughts and idea's with you!

In honor (read coincidentally) of this milestone, I have a wonderful baking experience to share that is part of the reason I started this blog, to share my trials and tribulations of all things dealing with hosting and entertaining.

We all know I have an aversion to baking, but I still try to master the skill. For Easter all I wanted to do was bake the most perfect Red Velvet cake. I found this awesome recipe for a Heritage Red Velvet Cake that I knew would be moist, light and fluffy and perfect for an Easter dessert. The cake was just that, light and fluffy, somewhere between the baking and cooling my perfect cake turned into a crumbly disaster.

Personal Photo

In an effort to salvage the delicious cake, I thought I'd turn the crumbs into cake balls. Thank goodness for this recipe from Bakerella!

Personal Photo

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

OUR WEDDING: Vendors

My how time fly's when you're having fun! Almost four months away and growing more excited by the day. I wanted to take a moment to introduce our stellar wedding vendors. Working in the wedding industry in the triad for the past five years has afforded me the opportunity to work with some pretty awesome wedding professionals. When it came to selecting our vendors, it was a no brainier for me and luckily my sweet fiance just went with the flow! Here are the amazing people that will be bringing our wedding to life.