Many of my wonderful couples have been living together for a while before getting married and they always ask me the same questions: “Can you give us some advice about gift registries?”; “Is there a way to avoid the traditional registry and ask for something different from fine china?” They usually have everything they need for their home and they don’t want to receive another toaster…

Thankfully, today there are great options such as CashWeddingGift, the fastest, easiest and safest way to send or receive an online cash wedding gift.  Your guests will experience a new way of shopping for wedding gifts, and you can use the cash you receive to help pay off your credit cards, pay for your honeymoon,  or save for a new house or retirement.

CashWeddingGift.com founder David Brownlee realized there was a need for cash gift registries when he got married in Amalfi, Italy in 2007. “My wife and I already had all the household items we could use. We didn’t want to lug presents home. What we really wanted were cash presents, and a safe, convenient way to receive them.”

Brownlee started working on the idea that would become CashWeddingGift.com after his honeymoon and is confident that he has now found a way to help other brides and grooms who would also prefer cash over china. “Our mission is to help wedding couples realize their financial hopes and dreams,” he says.

How does it work? Watch the video for a quick tour, and contact David today to set up your CashWeddingGift.com account today!

Who created my new logo? Savoir Faire Media, a marketing and media company specialized in graphic design, web design, e-mail management and social media management. The amazing girls at Savoir Faire Media focus on the empowerment of small business to reach the next level of success through a professional web presence, corporate identity and marketing solutions. Browse their portfolio to see how creative they are and give them a call for your new “you”!

With a new logo comes a new website! Go take a look at the re-designed www.LaDolceIdea.us and tell me what you think!

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. Something Dolce blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see my blog’s complete report.

ROSE WATER INFUSED GLITTER CAKE
Makes one 9-inch cake

Ingredients for the cake:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) good quality unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• 3 tablespoon rose water, divided (you can substitute this for an orange oil or any other flavored oils of your choice)
• approx. 1cup simple syrup

Ingredients for the basic buttercream frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 7 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Ingredients for the garnish:

• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• lots of gold luster dust

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes.
4. With the motor running add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
5. Add the dry mixture and milk to the butter mixture, alternating in thirds, until all of the dry ingredients and milk have been incorporated. Stir in 1 tablespoon of rose water.
6. Divide the batter between two greased and parchment lined 9 inch cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of each round.
7. While the cakes bake, make the frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter. With the motor running, add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time until all of the sugar has been incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla into the mixture and beat until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
8. Allow the cakes to cool completely, about 45 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.
9. Once the cakes have chilled, slice each in half so there are a total of four cake layers.
10. In a small bowl stir the remaining rose water into the simple syrup.
11. To assemble: Place a single cake round onto a cake turner (or clean surface) and brush the top with some of the rose water syrup. Add a thin layer of frosting over the syrup and top with another layer of cake.
12. Repeat step 11 until all of the layers have been used. Coat the cake in a thin layer of frosting to create a crumb coat and allow the cake to chill for 30 minutes.
13. Decorate cake with the remaining frosting and begin to dust cake with gold luster dust. (I find the easiest way to completely coat the cake in luster dust is to dab some onto a pastry brush, pull the bristles back with my fingers and flick it towards the cake)
14. Roll raspberries in luster dust until well coated and arrange on top of the cake. Serve.

Make sure that you subscribe to Spoon Fork Bacon and 2012 will smile at you! Happy New Year!

Laura with Sweet Ribbon Events provided gorgeous textured linens, created the floral arrangement and personally made the wood charger plates that I used to display the different items.

Stunning metal panels by Valerie at Enticing Tables and a cute metallic bronze banner completed the look.

Location: Lomas Santa Fe

Linens, Florals: Sweet Ribbon Events

Metal panels: Enticing Tables

Paper products, Banner: La Dolce Idea

Photography: The uber talented Bryan Koci of Red Tie Photography

Let LA DOLCE IDEA custom design a dessert table or candy station for your wedding or special celebration. Your guests will love it!

Our best wishes for a wonderful 2012!!!

Estancia La Jolla is one of my favorite locations for memorable weddings. Phoebe and Chris chose the gorgeous resort for their reception last June, with the ceremony at the Chinese Community Church in Tierrasanta.

Phoebe’s color palette was a chic lavender and silver with orchids and roses. Look at her stunning bouquet!

She made the ceremony programs and the escort cards, all matching her favorite colors.

The ballroom looked wonderful with tall, romantic centerpieces.

Phoebe and Chris’ first dance was a surprising tango that wowed all of their guests. And that purple dress was to die for!

I was honored to be part of their wedding celebration and I wish them a lifetime filled with LOVE!

Thanks to the uber-talented David Champagne for the images!

You can see more pictures from the wedding on my website and read Phoebe’s thank-you note.

Pantone released the Color of the Year for 2012: Tangerine Tango, a vibrant, cheerful and warm reddish orange that will brighten every event. Thank you Pantone!

From men’s and women’s fashion to home accessories to beauty products (Sephora partnered with Pantone to create an exclusive collection), this sophisticated and seductive orange can be used in multiple ways and combined with many other colors. I’m very excited to incorporate Tangerine Tango into some of my future client’s wedding, and I can’t wait to work on an inspiration board and see the vision come to life!

Read more about Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2012.

This looks like a great wall painting, but look closely and you will see…

A myriad of tiny and colorful objects that make it a stunning piece of art! So easy to do!

A bookshelf tree. This would be the ideal solution if you just moved in and you didn’t unpack your boxes filled with books yet.

Musical Christmas Tree – Music enthusiasts out there, I bet you love this one!

Printout for walls – An ideal project if you have children, and they can paint colorful ornaments for fun. They will be so proud of their tree!

Read the entire post and see more pictures on Apartment Therapy’s blog.

Happy Holidays!

I’m proud to be a wedding professional and to work with amazing people, and I’m even more proud to be Italian when I see the work of my friend Mauro Pozzer, a wonderful photographer from Vicenza who travels all over the world to capture the most memorable moments for his couples. Mauro is a member of Best of Wedding Photography, the premier invitation-only association for the world’s top wedding photographers.

Let me show you some of his work and you will understand why I’m such a big fan of Mauro’s – being Italian like me is one of the reasons! April and Sam decided to celebrate their love with three small weddings in their favorite locations (Bali, Venice and San Francisco), and they hired Mauro as their exclusive photographer.

Fall in love with this couple at their wedding in Venice last September and be enchanted by their San Francisco celebration that took place a few weeks ago, followed by a “trash the dress” session. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Thank you Mauro for these incredible images!

Want more? Visit Mauro Pozzer’s website, and start dreaming!