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Well, it sure has been a booze-centric week on WedShare Daily, and I wouldn’t want to break the run, so here’s a little something tasty to end the week with. If you’re looking for the perfect signature drink for your big day, or happen to find yourself at a Halloween party this weekend where you’d like to try something new, give this iPhone app a test drive.
Drinks Free is a totally free app, and it contains recipes for more than 5,800 different drinks, all categorized and searchable wherever you happen to be. Save your favorites so that the recipes are always just a tap away. Another cool feature is the random drink button, which will give you a random drink recipe every time you push it; you’re sure to find some drinks you’ve never even heard of, and–who knows–one of them may just be that perfect signature drink you’re looking for!
Have a great Halloween weekend, everyone!
Photo Credit: Screenshot from Webworks and Applications, Inc.
To continue with the theme on Halloween wine and spirits for an October 31 wedding, I’ve searched for my favorite Halloween-themed martini recipes. Choose one or two as your signature drink for a fabulous and fun Halloween wedding. These all sounds so yummy, I’m going to have to try one of these for our Halloween party!
Cocktail
½ oz. HPNOTIQ
1 oz. super premium vodka
2 oz. lychee juice
Eyeball
1 canned grade AA lychee in syrup, drained
1/4 teaspoon cherry, strawberry or raspberry preserves
1 blueberry
Preparation
The Martini
Shake Hpnotiq, vodka, and lychee juice with ice, strain into a martini glass.
Lychee Eyeball
Dry the lychee and fill with preserves. Place blueberry, blossomed end facing out, into cavity and skewer.
Dra-Kahlúa {Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Kahlúa TheNibble.com}
Ingredients
1-1/2 part Kahlúa
1/2 part cognac
1/2 part triple sec
3/4 part fresh lemon juice
1/2 part simple syrup
Blood orange wedge for garnish (blood oranges have a dramatic red interior)
Preparation
Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled, half sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a blood orange wedge.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
1/4 oz. Half-and-Half
1/4 oz. Simple Syrup
1/4 oz. Shavings of White Chocolate
Preparation
Fill shaker with ice. Add Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, half-and-half, and simple syrup. Shake. Strain into chilled martini glass rimmed with white chocolate. Garnish with white chocolate shavings.
Blood Orange Lychee Martini {Photo & Recipe via Glam.com}
Ingredients
Stirrings Blood Orange Martini Rimmer
1 part Stirrings Blood Orange Martini Mixer
1 part vodka
Splash of lychee juice
1 lychee
1 large date
Blood orange wedge or plastic spider (optional)
Preparation
Rim a martini glass with Stirrings Blood Orange Martini Rimmer (optional). Combine the mixer, vodka, and lychee juice in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake and strain into the martini glass. To make the eyeball, stuff the lychee with the date and drop it into bottom of glass. Garnish with a fresh blood orange wedge and plastic spider.
Kahlúa Cryptini {Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Kahlúa via TheNibble.com}
Ingredients
1 part Kahlúa
2-1/2 parts vanilla vodka
1/4 part sambuca
Espresso beans for garnish
Chocolate “shoelace licorice†for garnish (optional)
Drink rimmer for garnish—or try pulverized espresso beans mixed with party sugar (optional)
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with three espresso beans.
Vampire Kiss Martini {Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Finlandia Vodka via Cocktails.About.com}
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz Finlandia Vodka
1 1/2 oz Korbel Champagne
3/4 oz Chambord
Red sugar for rimming
Preparation
Rim the glass with red sugar (use food coloring) or drop in a set of wax vampire teeth for a real surprise. Pour vodka and half of the Chambord in a martini glass. Top with Champagne. Pour the remaining Chambord over the back of a spoon to make it float.
Ingredients
1 part coconut cream
1 part tangerine flavored mixer (suggested, Stirrings Tangerini)
1 part banana liqueur
Splash of white rum
Preparation
Chill ingredients in fridge or freezer. Once cooled, pour the first three ingredients, in the order listed above, slowly over the back side of a spoon into a martini glass. Top with a splash of white rum.
Kahlúa Black Cat {Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Kahlúa via DrinkOfTheWeek.com}
Ingredients
1 oz. Kahlúa
2 1/2 oz. vanilla vodka
1/4 oz. sambuca
Espresso beans for garnish
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with three espresso beans.
Ghostly-Skyy {Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Skyy Infusions Vodka via DrinkOfTheWeek.com}
Ingredients
2 oz. SKYY Vodka
1 tbsp. light cream
½ oz. amaretto
Preparation
Combine all ingredients and shake with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. SKYY Infusions Raspberry
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
2 oz. Pomegranate Juice
Squeeze of Fresh Lemon Juice
Raspberry Syrup
Preparation
Draw a spider web on the inside of a chilled martini glass with raspberry syrup. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with plastic spider.
Jager After Dark {Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Jägermeister via Blisstree.com}
Ingredients
2 parts Tommy Bahama Golden Sunâ„¢ Rum
1 part premium orange liqueur
1 part espresso
1/2 part simple syrup
1 pinch grated nutmeg
Cocoa powder for garnish
Preparation
Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top.
Ingredients
2 oz VeeV Acai Spirit
1 oz acai juice
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
Top with fresh champagne
Lime wedge for garnish
Preparation
Combine VeeV, Acai juice and fresh lime with fresh ice in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass and top with champagne. Serve with a fresh lime wedge.
ReaperAle Brewing Company offers some wickedly tasty selections
Crystal posted some Halloween-themed wines yesterday…so I thought I’d add some balance to things with a beer version. I’ve mentioned before that if you’re providing beer at your wedding and want to really treat your guests–especially the beer enthusiasts among them–toss in craft or microbrew selections. There are plenty of options out there, and some delightfully dark ones for weddings or pre-wedding parties that happen to fall around this holiday.
The selections I’ve chosen for today’s post not only fit the season with their themed labels, but are–more importantly–quality beers and nice examples of their respective styles. You should be able to find most or all at a local specialty beverage retailer like Beverages and More.
So have your guests relax. Sit a spell. And enjoy some brew!
If you’re having a Halloween-themed wedding, check out these wicked inspired wine bottles, perfect for your reception tables. I love these wine labels; there are many to choose from, but these are my favorites! Cost Plus World Market, BevMo, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market are some of the best places to find these specialty wine bottles. These are also perfect for a Halloween party or your pre-wedding parties if they happen to fall around this time of the year. Have fun with these; I’m sure your guests will enjoy having a sip!
{Photo Credits: Skeleton Hands Toasting by ElkCreekVineyards.com, Armida Winery Poizin Zinfandel by Armida.com, R Wines Evil Cabernet Sauvignon via BevMo.com, Bogle Winery Phantom by BogleWinery.com, Vampire Vineyards Paso Robles, California - Dracula Syrah, Vampire Merlot and TrueBlood Syrah via WickedWinesOnline.com, Elk Creek Vineyards Ghostly White - Sweet Mellow White, Bone Dry Red Cabernet and Ghostly White Chardonnay by ElkCreekVineyards.com, Ghost Pines Wine by GhostPines.com, M.D. Phillips Seven Deadly Zins via BevMo.com, Romania Werewolf Pinot Grigio via HopsAndGrapesOnline.com, Cabernet Sauvignon Casillero del Diablo via WorldMarket.com, 2008 Eye of the Toad Rosé by ToadHollow.com, Skeleton Cellars Decorative Skull Wine Bottle via ZGallerie.com}
I’ve probably mentioned before how much I love the iPhone; it’s a great mobile platform and is especially handy where wedding planning tools are concerned. iPhone apps make managing and organizing your information as easy as a few taps of the fingertip, and–here’s the key–it’s with you wherever you go, right on your phone! How many times have you been out browsing bridal mags and see a great tip that you’d like to jot down? Or have an epiphany while standing in line at Starbucks? Or see something amazing at a show or while shopping and would love to take a photo to file away with the rest of your planning notes?
Collect and manage all your planning notes right on your iPhone with Evernote
Ideas, reminders, and notes-to-self that get jotted down on the back of receipts or on random envelopes tend to get lost to the black hole of “where the heck did I put that,” at least for me, and trying to consolidate and organize everything later takes more time that could be better spent on another aspect of your planning. Lugging around a planning binder or even a simple notebook can be a drag, and more often than not you’ll have forgotten it when you need it most.
A better on-demand, on-the-go note taking and organization system is needed, and you need look no further than Evernote for your iPhone or iPod touch. Jot down notes, take photos, and record voice memos anytime…then access everything later all in one place! You can even tweet notes to your Evernote notebook from Twitter.
Take photos of information like whiteboards, business cards, or product labels and Evernote will recognize the text in the images for you. Got an email or online quote from a vendor? File it! Find an awesome website for discount wedding favors? File it! File everything together in your digital notebook so you’ll never lose another shred of precious spur-of-the-moment information again!
My inspiration today comes from Goth Guru Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. I love the movie and the color scheme of blues, purples and grays. I’ve seen a couple of brides going for this theme so I wanted to give you my ideas for a fab Corpse Bride Halloween wedding!
The king & queen of hearts, my favorite from the USPS
When it comes to postage for your wedding, there can be a lot of stamps to buy. You’ll need ‘em for save-the-dates, invitations, thank-you cards, return RSVP cards, and…well, everything else related to your big day that goes out to friends and family via snail-mail. You could take a trip to the post office–and every so often, they even have a cool-looking love stamp or two–or, you can hop online and find a stamp design that’s tailored to your wedding season, theme, or flowers. It could even be something that you create yourself! Your own custom stamps can add that extra bit of personalization to all your mailed wedding correspondence.
Three online companies that specialize in custom/photo stamps are Zazzle (zazzle.com), Stamps.com, and PictureItPostage (pictureitpostage.com). Associated with Zazzle is weddingstamps.us, which is tailored specifically for weddings. They provide a menu that allows you to enter in your weddings season, main flower type, theme, and so forth to receive a selection from Zazzle’s library of 75,000+ custom wedding stamps that fit your specifications best. Zazzle also has the most size options: 6 different stamp sizes, while the other services have just 1 or 2.
Customization menu from WeddingStamps.us, and a Zazzle save-the-date stamp
PictureItPostage and Stamps.com are both geared more towards you creating your own stamp(s) from your favorite photos (you can also design your own stamps with Zazzle). Just upload your photo with their online interface and you’re good to go! PictureItPostage also has free downloadable stamp design software for Mac and Windows if you’d prefer to do some photo tweaking. Stamps.com has an iPhoto utility for the Mac. Check them all out and see which one meets your needs best.
PictureItPostage lets you upload photos to stamps right online, or you can download their stamp designer tool, which lets you customize your photos even more. Available for Windows and Mac.
Stamps.com also lets you upload photos for your stamps online. They also provide a Mac iPhoto tool
In keeping with the season’s Halloween theme, I wanted to do an inspiration board for a fun, girly, and stylish masquerade bridal shower. Add a darker tone to your theme to keep with the mystery. If you’re having your bridal shower in October, a masquerade party would be perfect for all the ladies to get dressed up with their fancy masks! I love the idea of modern tutu dresses in pinks and blacks all glittered up, with tons of feathers, lace and tulle for a magical and gothic bridal shower. Get inspired and happy haunting!
A friend sent this over to us today on Twitter and I just couldn’t help myself. Maybe it’s just the dark side of me coming out as we get closer to ye olde All Hallow’s Eve, but I think it’s great. Whether you love it or hate it, this couple is definitely creative and throwing all that hoity-toity wedding formality stuff to the October winds. And that’s what Halloween should be all about, right? Buck the norm and make your wedding your own, especially if it falls on or around this deliciously creepy time of year. And even if you’d like to keep more of a semblance of sanity for your own wedding cake but still remain Halloween-playful, something like this could be an awesome gory groom’s cake.
Wedding cake featuring him and her and....zombies??
The cake was ordered by the undead-loving couple from Mike’s Amazing Cakes in Seattle, and it was red velvet; so you can just imagine how that added another wonderfully gory dimension!
As I’m planning our annual Halloween party at home, I’ve been so inspired to make Halloween wedding boards these days. This time around I wanted to do something that reflected the dark of night and the golden flickering candle lights with shadows all around! I love the combination of black and gold for a Halloween wedding. Black is already very elegant and by adding the golden details, the mood set can be of a very luxurious evening affair. Transform these classic colors into a creepy night of celebration!
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