Honeymoons are a great way to unwind and enjoy the beauty a future together holds. Now, it is easier than ever to celebrate your love on a green honeymoon! Eco-tourism companies, green hotels, green cruises, and local retreats have all made sustainable travel easier and more obtainable for couples everywhere. Everyone can help maintain popular travel destinations by remembering these minimal impact guidelines for reefs, trekking, and wildlife safaris.
Reefs: Keep the coral healthy
Touching the coral or stirring up the surrounding sand can permanently damage and even kill coral. The best way to avoid unintended contact is to stay in deep enough water where waves won’t make you accidentally bump the fragile coral. Avoid lathering up in sunscreen before snorkeling:
National Geographic News reports that sunscreen contributes to coral bleaching.
Leave your fish food and plastic at home
While feeding fish may create great photo opportunities, it could…
These playful candy bags make great favors for a wedding, shower or party!
Total cost for each is around .50.
Supplies:
Colored mini paper bags (ours are from Michael’s)
White Pen
String
Scissors
Candy
Steps:
1. Write names (with table numbers if needed) on each bag.
2. Cut the sides of the bag about an inch at the top.
3. Fill with candy.
4. Fluff the top, gather, and tie with string.
Tips: Fluff out the top of the bag to make it look festive and keep the strings long.
No time? Buy it: Martha Stewart Candy Bags from Michael’s
Oh, how we love Frolic! Chelsea’s daily inspiration blog is always chock-full of pretty ideas that feel effortless and chic. So, we’re so happy that she’ll be posting DIY projects that easy to do while packing a big punch.
If you read a lot of blogs, chances are you have developed a few geeky blog crushes. Joy the Baker is totally mine. If we were in high school, I would vote her homecoming queen. So, when she graciously agreed to guest blog for us, I could barely contain my excitement (wait…is this starting to sound creepy?) and may have let out a giggle. Check out this great post and then scoot on over to her blog so that you can have a crush, too (I will not confirm or deny that I have pre-ordered her cookbook). Enjoy, friends!
No one can say no to brunch. There’s something about the enticing smell of potatoes roasted with onions and butter that absolutely no one can deny. Pair those roasted potatoes with fluffy eggs and homemade Bloody Marys and you’ve got the makings of one fine (and totally inexpensive) engagement brunch…
When I was a kid, we had some close family friends, the Manfredas. Mr. & Mrs. Manfreda had come from Italy and settled in San Francisco, finding a home in the North Beach neighborhood and raising their three children. This was a family that was serious about their food. In fact, they converted the entire lower level of their home (which would have ordinarily functioned as their garage) into one giant kitchen and dining room with a massive table where friends and family would gather together for any reason to celebrate over a big meal.
During many a get together, out of this basement kitchen would roll enormous piping hot platters of homemade pastas: spaghetti with fresh marinara sauce, baked ziti, when we were lucky, pasta alla carbonara , and on, and on. Every dish was always delicious, made with love, and with every bite you knew that life, friends,…
Christmas this year reminded me of planning a wedding. See, my family puts a lot of time, energy and preparation into Christmas. We plan and we prep and we build on traditions that we’ve already spent years creating…and then Christmas arrives and, in a whirlwind of wrapping paper and Harry Connick, Jr. and pie, is gone.
Just like a wedding. Although in a wedding, the pie is most often replaced by cake and the Harry Connick, Jr. by Louis Armstrong (or the Electric Slide). The wrapping paper remains, but has fewer angels covering its foil.
But that doesn’t mean that all the planning and the preparation isn’t worth it. No matter how much time we put into the days we make important, if we’re willing to sit back and enjoy how they unfold once they finally do arrive, all of the work is worth it.
It’s worth it to…
I’m not going to lie to you, I love myself a girly ruffle. And it seems to me that there is no better time for pulling out the pretty than right around your wedding. Whether you’re adding a ruffled necklace to your shower outfit, decking your bridesmaids out in these killer peony dresses from Quail Bridal or adding a ruffle-y heel to your wedding dress, it’s a feminine way to let the world know here comes the bride.
Peony bridesmaid dress: Quail Bridal
Ruffle necklace (with DIY instructions!): Ruffles and Stuff
Cake stand: Vessels and Wares
Unicorn heel shoes: ModCloth
Ruffle purse: Piper Lime
Heels with ruffle ankle strap: Coclico
Ruffle bra: Anthropologie
If the bride-to-be is addicted to the Food Network and has a pile of Gourmet magazines sitting by the door, a kitchen-themed bridal shower might be right up her alley.
Some ideas to get you going:
The invitations:
Use a cooking themed invitation or modify recipe cards with the time, address, and instructions. See below for gift theme suggestions you can include with the invitations.
The gifts:
How about giving your guests a theme for their gifts? Ask groups of guests to bring either a favorite kitchen gadget, cookbook or gourmet ingredients. Or have every guest bring their favorite recipe and create a collection of them for the bride. Just make sure that if you are asking for themed gifts, you make it clear on the invitations.
The food:
In keeping with the theme, I think that providing appetizers and desserts that require a bit of interaction are interesting (and…
5 Things You Should Do First
1. Share
You’re engaged! Congratulations!
Share the news with the most important people in your lives, right away, in the most personal form of communication that the circumstances allow. For great ideas on telling your loved ones, read more from the Green Bride Guide’s Experts blog or check out mywedding’s Etiquette and Planning Guide.
2. Talk
Schedule some time with your parents, and/or anyone else who might be involved in the planning, budgeting or decision-making for your wedding. You don’t have to hammer out too many specifics, but this is your time to get a sense for who wants to be involved in your wedding planning. These important conversations will help you determine what kind of wedding you can have, especially if budget and family contributions to the budget are a consideration.
This is also an especially important time…
Whenever I begin planning a party, the first thing I do after brainstorming a theme is take an inventory of my house. What serveware and utensils are a good fit for this theme and color scheme? What decorative items can I repurpose for my table? What pieces can I paint or cover to give them the look I want? You’d be surprised where you find things if you just look—baskets tucked away in cupboards can hold favors, pretty storage boxes can be stacked to make pedestals, that mirror in the hall might look great behind your party’s buffet table. If you shop in your own home first, you’ll not only save a mint, you’ll get a look that’s more unique than picking up a matching set of party supplies at a store.
That’s why I love the key theme of today’s party shoot: books. I have loads of books…
Last week, my husband (by the way, yes, I still end up grinning like an idiot when I get to say the word husband) and I got back from the adventure of our honeymoon and started settling into the early mornings and grocery lists of real life. It’s actually fun, in a different sort of way, because we’re learning what real life means with each other in a completely different way from what it meant while we were dating. And that’s an adventure all by itself. However, real life is not exactly what I’m here to talk about today. Next week, maybe. But today, I’m all about the honeymoon.
Ahh, the honeymoon. The sand, the sun, the drink with the little umbrella…and the crash course in traveling and living together. For a lot of couples, it’s a completely unprecedented experience. For others, it’s new in different ways. I’m going…
A San Francisco Day After Shoot from Emily Takes Photos
Inspiration Board: Kitchen Themed Bridal Shower
Inspiration Board: Tangerine and Fuchsia
Stop the Presses! Some Serious Fun Just Crossed My Inbox
Outfit Ideas for Your Upcoming Engagement Parties
Inspiration Board: What to Wear to a Luncheon Shower
Sponsored post: Maggiano’s Little Italy
A Fantastic At-Home Engagement Brunch from Joy the Baker
The Perfect Wedding or Anniversary Gift from Mr. Jones
Handmade Undies With a Kick from Mahoohoo
An Inspiration Board That’s All About the Ruffle
Lovely Inspiration for a Rainy Thursday Afternoon
Crepe Cakes are Making It Impossible for Me to Focus
Erica and Getting Engaged Your Way
Register for Wedding Wishes with Upon Our Star
Alternatives for Engagement Rings When Popping the Question
An Indian-Themed Rehearsal Dinner Idea from Maharani Weddings
Budget-Friendly, Alternative Engagement Rings from Satomi Kawakita 
A Very Glamorous Engagement Session from forget.me.knot.weddings
Cheap Flight Deals and Packages for Your Guests
Engagement Party Inspiration: A Break Out The Bubbly Shoot from Host-it Notes
Crave versus Save: A Bachelorette Party Purse
Easy Candy Favor Bags from Chelsea at Frolic
Inspiration Board: 50s Sleepover Style Shower from the City Sage
Violins and Vows DIY Rehearsal Dinner Theme from Host-It Notes
