Hot Chocolate in the City!

Now that cold weather is around the corner, doesn't a big mug of hot chocolate sound good?

Which, of course, got me to thinking about winter weddings. Wouldn't it be fun to include a drink sharing ritual in your winter wedding? 

And if this concept appeals to you, you need to check out some of my favorite businesses who create a divine cup of cocoa. They are TipsyCake and Katherine Anne Confections, both of which are a part of the Chicago Hot Chocolate Tour. 

A cup of deliciousness from Katherine Anne Confections

They were recently featured on WGN News. Check it out here: Chicago Hot Chocolate Tour: Sample some of the city's finest drinking cocoa

Poetry for Sci-Fi Lovers

I love this poem for a wedding ceremony! 


Scientific Romance Redux by science fiction writer Tim Pratt. He wrote it for his wife.

Zombie Love - me & my hubby on Halloween

An excerpt:


"If we were the sole survivors
of a zombie apocalypse
and you were bitten and transformed
into a walking corpse
I wouldn’t even pick up my
assault shotgun,
I’d just let you take a bite
out of me, because I’d rather be
undead forever
with you
than alive alone
without you."


It also mentions time travel, alien invaders and virtual fajitas. What's not to love?!


Thank you to my colleague, Dr. Robera Koepfer for suggesting it to our Life-Cycle Celebrant group!

DIY Pumpkins!

Now that the weather has cooled down a bit (for now, anyways), my mind has been wandering to thoughts of fall....

Halloween costumes. Baking bread. Picking apples. Carving pumpkins. Making applesauce. Oooh, I can't wait for all that fun stuff!

In the meantime, I offer you this sweet, simple project for making your own little fabric pumpkins.

These darlings would be the perfect table decorations for a fall wedding! They can also double as wedding favors.

The pumpkins are super easy to make - you just have to be able to cut a circle (or an approximation of one), sew a few stitches (they don't have to be even), and glue on a stem. Easy!! Click here to see the step-by-step directions on Craftster.

Have fun! Just don't get made at me when you can't stop making them!

Halloween Wedding Cakes!

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I'd share some cool wedding cakes I found.

Just as a side note, I wanted to add that I appreciate the fact that these cakes have a minimum of black frosting. No one wants to eat black frosting when they're all gussied up. Trust me, I speak from experience.

The Corpse Bride Cake is courtesy of Pink Cake Box.

The cake with the dancing skeletons is from Cake Central.

The Nightmare Before Christmas cake was found at Halloween Wedding. Not only do I love this cake - based on one of my all-time favorite movies! - I love that there is a website dedicated to Halloween weddings!

Trick or treat!!

4th of July Wedding - Cowgirl Style!

I just saw these pictures at So You're Engayged and had to share.

The photos are from the 4th of July wedding of Monica and Tory. I just loved the little touches of country flavor. And check out those boots! Fabulous!

See more pictures and read about the wedding here.

Holly & Henry's 4th of July Backyard Ceremony

About two weeks ago, I was contacted by a bride who was looking for an officiant for the first weekend in July. I talked to her on the phone for a bit and she explained that her fiancee was graduating from Great Lakes Navy Boot Camp on July 2nd. She would be in town for his graduation and would be doing some apartment hunting for a few days.

The couple, Holly and Henry, were hoping to get married that weekend, since she would be in town. It would only be the two of them - no guests. They were looking for an intimate ceremony to begin their life together.

We talked for a bit and I liked Holly immediately - I knew I wanted to marry this couple!

Holly mentioned that they had a few obstacles. They didn't have a specific date because they had to work around Henry's schedule. She knew that he would have watch duty after his graduation, but didn't know when. They actual date would have to be set on relatively short notice. Their other obstacle was that they didn't have a venue yet. Not being from the area, Holly was at a bit of a loss in terms of scouting out locations, but was considering a park for an outside ceremony.

Well, after we talked, I got to thinking. Every year we host a breakfast in our yard for friends and then we all walk down our block to watch the 4th of July parade. Wouldn't a wedding ceremony (especially for a serviceman!) be a great addition to our 4th of July celebration? We could have the ceremony out on the deck, right before our brunch. Then we could all head over to the parade.

I tracked down my husband, to share my brainstorm. He was supportive of my idea and started getting excited about the planning. Yes, he really is wonderful. I am one lucky gal.

I called Holly back to tell her my idea, a little worried that she might think I was some weirdo. But, she was enthusiastic and the wheels were set in motion.

So, on the 4th, we festooned our deck in red, white, and blue decorations. My good friend even brought over several bouquets of white flowers from her yard to adorn the tables. It looked pretty good!

Henry & Holly came over and, after we chatted a bit, we began their ceremony outside. They had opted to write their own vows, which were so lovely. The way they looked into one another's eyes during the ceremony really touched my heart.

When they exchanged rings and had the "official" kiss, we congratulated them with bubbles -and their favorite Coldplay song.

We all gobbled up the breakfast - veggie and sausage egg bakes, fruit salad & other goodies. And, since you can't have a wedding without wedding cake (well, you can - but you really shouldn't), we had banana cake with strawberries. (Okay, I really can't take much credit. My son picked it out.) I didn't bake it, but I put the flowers on it. Sorry, Martha Stewart - don't be too jealous!

What a great 4th of July! This was really a wonderful experience for me. I was fortunate to meet such a sweet couple and share in their special day.

They are so obviously devoted to one another and I know they'll have a happy life together.

Congratulations Holly & Henry! I wish you all the very best!

Christmas Eve Beach Wedding

This past Saturday I returned to Chicago after spending Christmas with my in-laws in Florida. It was a rude awakening, coming back to snow and cold after being at the the beach!

Besides having a great time visiting family, I had the unexpected pleasure of happening upon a wedding on the beach!

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, we decided to head for the beach. As I was taking pictures of the kids, I noticed that there was something going on at the pier. So, I wandered over, and sure enough - it was a wedding!





When we were leaving the beach a while later, my husband noticed
the bride and groom walking past. He encouraged me (badgered me!) into talking to them. So, I introduced myself and chatted with them for a bit. The bride said that it was her father who married them. Isn't that cool?

They were definitely a lovely couple - and very sweet. I wish them all the best - and a lifetime of happiness!

Halloween Wedding pictures!

I couldn't wait a second longer! I have pictures from my friend Veronica's Halloween wedding!! Yahooo! These are the pix taken with our own camera, so they aren't the greatest. I hope to have some of the professional ones done by Larry from George Street Photo and Video to post. The official Wedding Profile will follow soon!

In the meantime, I have the happy couple, Veronica & Joe, with me talking to the guests - and Veronica's sister Gretchen observing. Isn't the black & orange theme great?!

Next, is a shot of Veronica and Joe sharing a chocolate, which was part of a food sharing ritual. In this ritual they shared chocolate and apple cider, perfect for the season.

After the ceremony, I dashed off to change into my Bride of Frankenstein costume. Below, I am with Veronica and then with my family. My daughter was the "flower witch" in the wedding and she seems to have perfected her scary face. My husband dresses as Dog the Bounty Hunter and my son was the elusive ninja.

Finally, I have a shot of the lovely ladies from my book club. Just like during our book discussions, hardly anyone is paying attention. And if I'm not mistaken, our group was infiltrated by a little witch.... and one of us came dressed as a bride! Weird.