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Instead of offering an open bar at your reception (which can get really expensive), just serve one or two signature cocktails along with a selection of non-alcoholic beverages.

Choosing a Signature Cocktail

• Choose a drink that coordinates with your wedding theme or color scheme… it’s a lot of fun and will look great in pictures.

• Think about the time of year you are getting married and choose your cocktail(s) accordingly… cold and frothy for warmer weather, warm and spicy for cooler weather.

• One fun idea is to pick one signature drink for the bride and one for the groom. Don’t forget to give them fun and creative names that personalize them for your wedding.

• Try to choose cocktails that will appeal to a wide audience and are not too strong.

Drink Recipe Ideas

Keep the ingredients simple. Recipes that require only one alcoholic ingredient will save the most money.

Blushing Bride

• 3 oz. Pineapple Rum
• 3 oz. Cranberry Juice
• 3 oz. Orange juice

Shake ingredients together, chill, and serve straight up or over ice in a glass.

The Nervous Groom

• 1.5 oz. Whisky
• 5 oz. Sour Mix
• Splash of Grenadine

Shake ingredients together, chill, and serve straight up or over ice in a glass.

Wedding favors have become so blase. Favors are to be a gift to your guests for joining you on your special night, so why not take some time (during you busy wedding week, lol) to give your favors a personal touch! Get your bridal party together and have a blast making these (with a nice glass of wine, of course!) Check this out from Clever Parties Blog

DIY Instructions

Make delicious baked mini doughnuts by following the recipe below or buy Sof’ella’s Donut Mix or Stonewall Kitchen’s Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Mix.
Use mini doughnut pans made by Wilton or Norpro to create a uniform shape and size.
Dip in white icing and chocolate glaze to symbolize your wedding rings.
Embellish with pearlized sprinkles, crystalized sugar and chocolate jimmies. Wrap two doughnuts in a clear food safe bag or cello paper. Tie with matching wedding colored ribbon and a monogramed label.
Place the wedding favor at each place setting or elegantly display next to seating table cards.

Baked Doughnuts Recipe (makes about 90 mini doughnuts)

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a doughnut baking pan.
In a medium bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour. Mix buttermilk, eggs, honey and butter in a separate medium bowl, and stir into the dry ingredients. Spoon the mixture half way into each cavity of the prepared pan. Bake 3-4 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

White Icing Recipe

2 cups powered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 to 6 Tbsp. hot water

Stir powered sugar, Vanilla and water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

Chocolate Glaze Recipe

2 cups powered sugar

4 to 6 Tbsp. hot water

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Stir powered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder and water 1 Tbsp. at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

More Tips

• Personalize Your Packaging
• Plan favors that coordinate with your wedding day colors and your wedding day motif.
• Give Yourself Plenty of Time
• Assemble your favors a week in advanced.
• Enlist Friends to Help
• Gather your bridesmaids or family for a favor-making get-together or two.

My inspiration for the day! I have been a HUGE fan of Macarons but honestly, they can be a bit pricey! SOOOOOO, second option? Chocolate covered Oreos, yup OREOS!!!!

Then I started searching for other wedding (and party) ideas and thought about the DIY bride! Cost effective and handmade with love for your guests!

DON’T GET SCARED!!!! This is SO doable and how much fun to make with friends and family…….. a real bridal party fun night. If you haven’t worked with chocolate, I suggest a trial run so you know the consistency and how to use the tools. Like I said, not hard but you still might want to try a few before diving in.

To create a cookie couple you’ll need:

• Oreos
• Brown chocolate
• White chocolate
• Colored dyes
• Piping bag
• Containers/bags
  

The less the cookie is handled the better. Psst-Pre-dipped chocolate Oreo’s are available in certain areas. Check your grocer to see if they carry them. If not you can always dip your own.

• To do so melt quality chocolate (if you buy the kind from a craft store, such as Michael’s, read the instructions on melting! Nothing sadder than an overheated bowl of chocolate.)
  
• Spoon over the cookie, allow chocolate to set.
  
• Prepare the Royal Icing as needed, it should be runny enough to flow, but not so much so it runs over the sides of the cookie. Royal icing hardens, so don’t think it is too “flowing” as it will dry wherever you put it.
  
• To create a blushing bride, flood the surface of the cookie with flesh colored icing, allow to set. Next, use the offset spatula to apply the white icing, creating the shape of the letter M, imagine what the top of strapless gown would resemble. Use pastry bag or bamboo skewer to add necklace details.
• STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS BELOW
  

To make 3 cups of Royal Icing, you’ll need:

• With a mixer, beat all ingredients at low speed until icing forms peaks, 7- 10 minutes.
  
• To prepare the individual colors, divide the icing, one cup each into separate bowls and add a few drops of selected color gels, stir to blend, continue to add color until desired effect is achieved.
  

TIPS:

• If you’ve not used cake decorating tools before, take time to practice piping and using Royal Icing. It will make the decorating process much easier.
  
• If you’re adept at using a pastry bag for decorating, do so to flood and pipe icing for the necklace, button and bow tie. If however, cake decorating isn’t your bag, the offset spatula and bamboo skewer is sufficient.
  
• To avoid mixing colors, allow each application of icing to set up before adding the next color.
  

Instructions

1. 
   

   
   

   To do so melt quality chocolate and spoon over the cookie, allow chocolate to set.
   

2. 
   To create the groom, create a V shape with white icing, use the offset spatula to flood the whole surface of the cookie with the icing and allow to set.
   Next, flood the remaining surface of the cookie with black icing, again allow to set. Using a spatula or a piping bag (you can also use a strong Ziploc back and cut of one of the corners.
   
3. 
   Now use a pastry bag to add buttons and a bowtie. Allow to set.
   
4. 
   To create a blushing bride, flood the surface of the cookie with flesh colored icing, allow to set.
   
5. 
   Next, use the offset spatula to apply the white icing, creating the shape of the letter M, imagine what the top of strapless gown would resemble.
   
6. 
   Use pastry bag or bamboo skewer to add the necklace details.
   

• Now that you are done decorating, you have a few options:
  
• Cello bags with matching ribbons and a sweet note attached (tags, stickers, etc)- you can find them online or at your local craft store
  
• Boxes –Here is a good source for online ordering
  
• Lollipops!!!! YUMMMMM (of course you can use any decorating technique but you can also decorate using the above- you just need to insert the stick BEFORE decorating!!!)
  

Not into decorating? How about wrapping them in foil, using matching colors as found here-

So you have two options – Buy them or make them. The sky is the limit on these special cookies…………

Are you brave enough to go this far?!?!?!