One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.

I’ve heard it many times.  Horror stories from my clients, and from event planners, talking about another vendor that spent a good portion of the evening at the bar, drinking, ending up making a complete fool of themselves, and in some way, ruining the evening.

I personally have never been able to understand the thinking process behind this.  As a vendor, I am hired to come out to your event, act in a professional, engaging manner, do my best to keep things on track, communicate with other vendors, and above all else, keep you, my client, happy.

I believe part of the issue is vendors who believe they are guests at your reception.  The behavior is not limited to the bar.  I’ve often seen a fellow vendor “snacking” on the antipasto bar before guests have even been allowed into the room, or be first to the late night buffet line.  Right down to grabbing one of the bonbonnieres on their way into the room.

In many ways, I treat DJing a function the same way I would any other professional job.  I make sure I’m on time (generally actually ready to go at least a half hour early).  I answer every question I can, rather than deflecting to somebody else.  I dress neatly, and appropriate to the event (more on this below), and for heaven’s sake, I don’t go on a Jägermeister shot run while I’m on the job! I actually do not drink at all while working, with exception of a glass of wine to toast the Bride & Groom at a wedding.

A conflict can sometimes arise when people hire their friends or family to act as a vendor.  In fact, they may not even be hired, but helping out as a favour, or as their gift to a couple.  What is their role?  Are they a guest, a vendor, both, neither….personally, my thought is if they are extending their services to the couple, then above all else, they are a professional vendor, and should act accordingly.

I mentioned dressing neatly above – can we PLEASE get away from photographers and videographers thinking that black jeans and a black t-shirt is acceptable attire?  You are not a professional road crew working on a big concert.  You are generally working at an event with formal attire.  If you can’t manage a suit, wear slacks, a black dress shirt, and a light sport jacket.  If you’re outside in the sun and it gets hot, take the jacket off.  But despite the fact that you are not planning to be in any of the pictures, every single person at the event is going to see you, wouldn’t it be nice if you took a moment to clean yourself up?

Dan Jacobs

Double DJ Services

www.doubledj.com

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It is “Talk Tuesday” With guest blogger Karey Large owner of Kake Kreations! (Our Vendor of the Month!)

As a cake designer, the question I get asked most is “how much for a cake for my wedding?” Unfortunately, that question can not be answered simply.  There are so many factors that go into providing a quote for a custom wedding cake that I would like to share with you what information is valuable to provide an accurate quote.

Your wedding cake, much like your wedding gown, is unique to you, therefore as much information that can be provided the better.  When contacting a cake designer here are some points to include in your initial contact.

1.  Date, location and guest count of your special day. – this is important as most cake designers will only take a limited number of orders for wedding cakes. And location because it will be a factor for delivey purposes and charges.  Guest count is important so we know how large of a cake we need to make.

2.  Is the cake dessert? – Will you be serving your wedding cake as the actual dessert after the meal or will it be served late night as part of a sweet table?  This is important because as the actual dessert there will need to be a piece of cake for each guest, if the cake is being served late night then a cake to serve about 60% of the guest count will be ample.

3.  Budget for your cake. –it helps to know what your budget is because as designers, we want to work with your budget and give you a beautiful yet affordale cake for your special day.  We don’t want to design a cake thats so elaborate and is totally out of your budget.

These 3 points are a great start when contacting designers about your custom cake.  With this information the cake designer can then tell you if he or she is available for your date and whether they can provide you with a cake that meets your budget.

If all goes well then the next step would be to schedule a consultation and tasting with a few designers to see how you fit with them.  You want to make sure that you get along well with your designer.  Each designer has a certain personality that comes through in their cakes and you want to make  sure you click with your chosen designer.

At your consultation you will want to bring your designer anything and everything to do with your wedding.  Colour swatches, flower choices, cakes you have seen that you like and dislike, ribbon colours, dress details and anything else you have collected in your wedding planner.  All this helps us design a cake that is unique to you.

At your consultation you will get to enjoy a few different flavours of cake and your designer will make a cake sketch or two for you to view incorporating what you most like to see in your cake and what will fit within your budget. Remember that the final price of your cake will be determined by the final design that you and your designer agree upon, as well as the flavours chosen.  Once you have decided on a cake designer that you are happy with, a deposit will be required to secure your date.  The amount of deposit will vary by designer so make sure you ask what their policy is.  Balances are usually due 2 week prior to the wedding date.

So as you can see there are so many factors that detemine the final price of a wedding cake that its hard to quote accurately in the first intial contact.

Now, enjoy that cake and celebrate!  You just got married and its your day !!!!!!

……til we cake again!!!

Karey, Kake Kreations

Don’t forget to go visit Karey Kake Kreations Cafe at 103 Mary Street West Whitby

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Mixology Monday! Valentine’s addition!!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day...

Happy Valentine's Day... (Photo credit: Јerry)

If you are just joining the blog or you have been following along you are all in for a real treat! You have just found a new place to find the Signature Drink for your special day!!!  We will have a new list every Monday!!!  If you have certain requests you can email them to info@mysweetwedding.com and I will try very hard to fit all requests  into the schedule!!  Perhaps you don’t really have a certain idea in mind?  Check back every Monday as there will be new ideas posted then!! :)   If you would like any of the recipes for these awesome cocktails just click on the names.

As the season of love and romance is upon us let’s continue our signature drink series with this awesome line-up!

Today I have 11 Valentine signature drink ideas courtesy of associatedcontent.com in the spirit of it being Valentine’s Day tomorrow!  I hope you all have a Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Enjoy!

1.  LOVER’S MOON This drink is especially appropriate for Valentine’s!!!  Ingredients include lemon lime soda, Grenadine, lemon juice and rye/whiskey.

2.  LOVE POTION #9 Perhaps your guests could capture that wonderful feeling your love has brought to you drinking your signature “love potion” Ingredients include strawberry,vanilla or clear vodka, white creme de cacao, fresh or frozen strawberries, and vanilla ice cream.

3.  PASSIONPOLITAN This sounds like it would be a fantastic signature drink! :)   Ingredients include Passion Fruit Rum, triple sec, cranberry juice, lime juice and a lime wedge for garnish.

4.  STRAWBERRY KISS What better way to symbolize romance than with strawberries and chocolate?!  Ingredients include Strawberry tequila, light rum, chocolate liqueur and half and half.

5.  THE SWEETEST THING This cocktail would definitely speak volumes to your guests!  Your love is the sweetest thing indeed!  Ingredients include Bourbon, creme de framboise, champagne and raspberries for garnish.

6.  APHRODITE’S LOVE POTION Aphrodite Goddess of love couldn’t have mixed this one better if she tried! Ingredients include Brandy, pineapple juice, maraschino cherry and an orange slice for garnish.

7.  CHOCOLATE VALENTINE What more can I say? Ingredients include club soda, cream, brown creme de cacao, vanilla vodka and cherry juice.

8.  FLIRTINI Maybe this is how you landed your partner?  Being flirty!  How appropriate then for your signature drink!  Ingredients include Cointreau, vodka, fresh pineapple, pineapple juice, champagne and a maraschino cherry for garnish.

9.  KISSABLE Perhaps you want your drink to reflect the two of you!  Ingredients include orange vodka, white creme de cacao, and milk.

10.  LOVE BIRDS This would go with an entire scheme of Love bird products we carry here at My Sweet Wedding Co.!  Ingredients include Grenadine, dark rum, sweet and sour mix, and vodka.

*BONUS DRINK!*

VALENTINE’S DAY RUM CREAM Ingredients include rum, sweetened condensed milk, an egg and vanilla.

If anyone has any other red drink ideas!  please feel free to join our Facebook group and post your ideas there! :)

Posted in Business, Caterer, Mixology Monday, Romance, Signature Cocktails, Valentine, Weddings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

*MIXOLOGY MONDAY* Winter themed Signature Cocktails Series Continued!

Birthday drinks at the St. Francis

Image by razzumitos via Flickr

Welcome back to Mixology Mondays giving you  winter signature cocktail ideas for you whimsical winter wedding!

Just in case you didn’t get to read last Mondays post every Monday you will get 5 new winter drink recipes.  Although there will be a few special articles along the way to keep in  the spirit of certain holidays! So here is another list of 5 cocktail recipes to continue our winter series!

1.  IRISH WINTER – Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

This is a fancy coffee beverage!  It is a subtle twist to the classic irish coffee.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

  • Combine ingredients in a mug or irish coffee glass
  • Stir to combine
  • Top with whipped cream

2.  MIDNIGHT SNOWSTORM – Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

This drink has a very smooth minty, chocolate flavour.

Ingredients:

  • 2oz white creme de menthe
  • hot chocolate
  • 1/2oz green creme de menthe
  • whipped cream

Preparation:

  • Pour white creme de menthe and hot chocolate into an irish coffee glass
  • Top with whipped cream
  • Drizzle the green creme de menthe on top

3.  MILK AND HONEY – Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

Can be served hot or cold depending on your mood!

Ingredients:

  • 50ml Benedictine
  • milk

Preparation:

Cold:

  • Pour Benedictine into a mug, add ice, and top up with cold milk.
  • Garnish with a slice of orange and cinnamon

Hot:

  • Top Benedictine off with hot milk in a mug

4.  NORTHERN LIGHTS – Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

This delightful drink has a warming sensation which is perfect for the Winter season!

Ingredients:

Preparation:

  • Pour the Yukon Jack and peach schanpps into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice
  • Fill with equal parts orange juice and cranberry juice
  • Stir

5.  PAMA PINE -Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

Be able to imagine laying on the beach on a chilly day.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

  • Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
  • Shake well
  • Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Hope these cocktails keep you going until next Monday ;)

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Wedding Poll Wednesday is back! :)

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Incorporating Wine Into Your Wedding

Hi everyone.  Let me take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is Patricia and from a very early age my Granddad starting teaching me all he knew about the world of wine and our wine industry here in Ontario.  Tam will be the first one to tell you this – I have a real passion for the wines we make in this province.  I could easily go on for hours on the subject and not run out of things to say.  I believe that strongly in what our wineries are capable of and the potential our industry has yet to achieve.  I am also newly engaged and, to repay Tam’s kindness with all the help she has been giving us, I wanted to help her out with her Talk Tuesday blogs on her website.

Wines at a wedding can take many roles – it can be as simple as what you and your fiancé enjoy in the limo once you are married or it can play a part in every aspect of your wedding day.  The standard option to be included in your limousine after the ceremony and as you are heading to the reception is to have a bottle of bubbly.  Although it is possible to upgrade to a premium bottle like Champagne (which is sparkling wine that is made solely in the Champagne region of France), it is likely to be a bottle of domestic sparkling wine. Thankfully, in Ontario, our wineries make rather nice bottles of bubbly so, if the limousine company lets you choose, there are some really great ones to choose from.

If you are looking for wine to play a slightly larger role in your wedding, the easiest way to incorporate it in to your planning would be to have wines match the different courses you will be serving at your reception.  For the most part, reception venues can pick and choose which wines they have available for an event as their needs change.  If you are looking for something in particular to be served at your wedding then it is certainly acceptable to ask the coordinator at your reception venue what flexibility they can offer you in your wine selection.  If your budget allows it, you can even go so far as to have specific wines selected for each course.  If you and your guests are really into wine pairings or going to wine tastings, this can make the reception a gastronomic experience unto itself and one that will be talked about for years to come.  Do not feel shy about asking to change wines, especially if there is a medical reason behind it.  It is up to you whether you make this a concern when planning your menu but, ladies, if it is your groom, you want him to enjoy the night rather than reacting to the drink he had with his meal.

Now, for the ultimate in incorporating wine into your wedding…how about having your wedding at a winery?  Even here in Durham region there are a couple of options available or you can put a new spin on the destination wedding idea by having your wedding in Niagara, the wineries surrounding Windsor or venturing out to Prince Edward County.  If you want to look into this option but keep it slightly local, take a look at Ocala Winery north of Whitby or venture up to Stouffville where you find Willow Springs Winery.  Niagara is home to hundreds of wineries more than willing to help you throw a lavish, wine themed wedding but two that do it particularly well are Chateau des Charmes in Niagara on the Lake or Vineland Estates Winery in Vineland.  Out near Windsor – take a look at Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery or check out the new banquet facilities at Pelee Island Winery.  Prince Edward County has a variety of options available for weddings.  Karlo Estates, with their unique wines and a beautiful stone bridge, has become a great spot for both ceremony and reception.  Casa Dea Winery and Waupoos Estate Winery both have magnificent locations at either end of Prince Edward County to capture a perfect wedding day for you and your fiancé.

Planning your wedding is such a wonderful time in your life.  I know, I’m going through the process right now having gotten engaged on Christmas Day.  Something that my fiancé and I agreed upon is that it should be a reflection of who we are – both separately and together.  If wine is a part of your life already, maybe some of my suggestions here tonight are things you can incorporate into your big day.  If you are looking for wine suggestions for your meal or are trying to incorporate wine related elements into your ceremony or reception, please feel free to get in touch with me through my website (http://www.patriciadinsmore.ca).  Happy planning every one – whatever form your big day takes, if you make it about you and your fiancé it will be a magical day.  Cheers,

Posted in Business, Caterer, Romance, Signature Cocktails, Talk Tuesday, Uncategorized, Weddings | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

*MIXOLOGY MONDAY* Winter themed Signature Cocktails Series

the perfect martini (citrus, gin, martini, Tan...

Image via Wikipedia

Welcome to Mixology Mondays giving you  winter signature cocktail ideas for your whimsical winter wedding!

Every Monday you will get 5 new winter drink recipes.  Although there will be a few special articles along the way to keep with the spirit of certain holidays! So without further a due here are your 5 cocktail recipes!

1.  FROSTBITE - Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

This cocktail has a creamy blue consistency! :)

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 oz tequila
  • 1/2 oz white creme de cocao
  • 1/2 oz blue curacao
  • 1/2 oz cream
  • maraschino cherry for garnish

Preparation:

2. FROSTINI – Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

This cocktail has a smooth and creamy consistency :)

Ingredients:

  • 1 part Starbucks Cream Liqueur
  • 1 part Starbucks Coffee Liqueur
  • 1/4 part Peppermint Schnapps
  • fresh mint sprig for garnish

Preparation:

  • Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice
  • Shake well
  • Strain into a frozen cocktail glass
  • Garnish with a sprig of mint

3.  GINGERBREAD MANTINI - Courtesy of cocktail.about.com

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 oz citrus vodka
  • 1 1/2 oz gingerbread liqueur
  • 1/2 oz dry vermouth
  • 1/4 oz simple syrup
  • lime wedge for garnish

Preparation:

  • Rub the lime wedge on the rim of a frozen cocktail glass and leave the lime there for garnish
  • Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
  • Shake well
  • Strain into the glass

4.  GINGERSNAP MARTINI – Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

Ingredients:

  • 1 part vodka
  • 1/2 part amaretto
  • 1/2 part simple syrup
  • 1/2 part molasses
  • 2 1/4 part thick slices of fresh ginger
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • pinch of clove
  • pinch of allspice
  • crystalized ginger for garnish

Preparation:

  • In the bottom of a cocktail shaker place the ginger, molasses, simple syrup and spices muddle well
  • Add ice and the rest of the ingredients
  • Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted and beaded with sweat
  • Strain into prepared cocktail glass
  • Garnish with ginger

5.  ICEBERG - Courtesy of cocktails.about.com

Ingredients:

  • 2oz of vodka
  • 1tsp peppermint schnapps

Preparation:

  • Pour ingredients  into a cocktail shaker with ice
  • Shake well
  • Strain into a chilled cocktail glasses

I hope you enjoy these cocktails but remember drink responsibly have a DD!

Posted in Caterer, Mixology Monday, Romance, Signature Cocktails, Weddings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments