Lima Wedding

DD, FI and I are scheduled to meet next week with the chef at our venue for a food tasting...we are supposed to suggest an option for our vegetarian guests...I admit I'm clueless...what would you love to see on a wedding menu as your "Vegetarian" option? TIA! 

Age:

Bed:

Chore you hate:

Dogs:

Essential start of your day:

Favorite Color:

Gold or silver:

Height:

Instruments you play (or have played):

Job Title:

Kids:

Live:

Mom's name:

Nickname:

Overnight hospital stays:

Pet peeve:

Quote from a movie:

Righty or a lefty:

Siblings:

Time you wake up:

Umbrella:

Vegetables you dislike:

What makes you smile:

X-rays you've had done:

Yummy food you make:

Zoo animal:

What do you think of this for an outdoor backyard summer BBQ? Oh - Jes & I are not huge meat eaters and there will be a few vegetarians at the wedding. 

After a few tweeks, here is where we are:

Butler Style for Cocktail Hour:

• BBQ Pork Sliders
• Hummus, cucumber wedges and grape tomatoes with pita wedges

Dinner Menu:

• Gardener’s Green Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette or buttermilk ranch dressing
• Seasonal Fresh Fruit Salad
• Bowtie Pasta Salad
• Lemony Zucchini, Chickpea and Lima Bean Salad
• Grilled Sweet Potato Wedges
• Charbroiled Marinated Chicken Breast w/ a Corn Relish

What do you think?

I have to email my carter - I feel like I am forgetting to ask her something b/c not sure what... :(

Michaela McAreavey was only going to be gone for a minute.

But when the 27-year-old Irish newlywed opened the door to her luxury hotel room on the island of Mauritius, police say she interrupted a robbery by three hotel workers who panicked and strangled her.

The slaying of McAreavey -- a former beauty queen who was on her honeymoon with new husband John, a well-known Gaelic football player -- has shocked Ireland and the United Kingdom. And it has led safety experts to remind travelers to use extra caution in hotel rooms.

John and Michaela McAreavey

John and Michaela McAreavey are shown on their wedding day, Dec. 30. Michaela was strangled in the couple's hotel room during their honeymoon on Mauritius.

"Hotels, unfortunately, happen to be a haven for criminals," Robert Siciliano, a security consultant for ADT.com, told AOL News by phone. "There's no security in a hotel room."

McAreavey's isn't the first high-profile hotel slaying. From the May killing of Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian woman who was found dead in the Lima hotel room of Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, to the bludgeoning death this month of a Portuguese journalist in a New York hotel room, experts say there's good cause for travelers to be especially careful in hotels.

Siciliano has a few tips to keep your stay as safe as possible:

1. Don't walk into your hotel room alone. "Enlist someone from the hotel to walk you to your room to make sure everything checks out OK," Siciliano suggested. "You don't want to enter your room alone, especially for the first time. When I say that, people say, 'I don't want to be paranoid.' But that's not paranoid, that's taking care of your own security."

2. Look before you enter. "Put the lights on," he said. "And before you close the door behind you, look in the room. There very well could be someone in there already."

3. Think about carrying a ballpoint pen. Yes, really. Siciliano says the tip of a ballpoint pen can be turned into a useful weapon, if necessary. "It can be very effective for poking and gouging, if it comes to that," he said.

But Siciliano said the most important thing is for travelers to simply be aware of their surroundings, no matter where their journeys take them.

"You should be just as aware in Iowa as you are in Iraq," he said.

Source

What foods do you find absolutely repulsive?

This is just for fun! Let's see how well we know the celebrities out there!

Here's the deal: I'll start by posting a celebrity's body part. If you guess correctly, it's your turn to post a body part of any celebrity you want. I find that Google searches are the best resource (http://images.google.com/) but you can search anywhere you'd like!

*Make sure you check back after posting a celebrity to tell everyone if they guessed correctly or not!

Ok, here we go! I'll start off easy. ;)

Which celebrity's lips are these??

I am a wedding and art photographer based in New York City. My style is a mixture of photojournalism spiced with art photography, to capture both the events of the day as well as the beauty and emotion behind them. I love photographing weddings and I put a lot of care into capturing beautiful images of your special day.

You can see some sample pictures and comments from previous brides on my website and my blog. 

http://www.anandalima.com
http://www.anandalimaphotography.com


If my style suits what you envision for your wedding day, I would love to hear from you!

It was intimidation at first site as we always tell people. Robert and I
met thought a mutual friend. Our friend had just planned on introducing us,
and he never thought in a million years that we would get married! Rob
intimidated me the moment I met him, he made me so nervous that I couldn't
even look him in the eyes when we spoke. Every time I knew that there was
a chance that we could run into one another I would make sure there was no
lipstick on my teeth, breath was fresh, and that my hair was perfect! The
one night that we finally ran into one another he pulled me over to the
side and asked me why when he talked to me I was unable to look him in the
eyes. That is when I blurted out to in a hurry to him that I thought he
was attractive and that was why he made me nervous. A few days later, the
friend that introduced us told me to give Rob a call whenever I was ready
to go out. After much thought and consideration I decided to lead by
example for my fellow females and called him!
We went out on a date, and the rest is history.


Our Wedding:

Having knows that Robert's Uncle was a deacon we asked him right away if he
could marry us, and without hesitation he joyfully agreed. St. Rose of
Lima in Short Hills, NJ was a magnificent church with a spectacular altar,
and high ceilings which were truly breathtaking.

Having a beautiful classy wedding was our wish from the get go. We looked
long and hard for the perfect venue that would have it all. After being
disappointed looking at a bunch of places we were starting to give up, that
is when we came across the Crystal Plaza in Livingston NJ. The minute we
pulled up to this historic mansion we knew it was for us. The Crystal
Plaza was more then we could have ever dreamed of for our wedding. The
food was exceptional, the decor was pure simple elegance, the staff was
next to amazing, and most importantly the round dance floor and chandeliers
which blew us away.

The evening began with a cocktail hour held in the library where fireplaces
and live music set the tone for our winter wonderland wedding. Our guests
enjoyed over 16 stations of food selection during the cocktail hour which
included items such as lobster tails, hand rolled sushi, fresh cheeses, and
lamb chops to name a few. Not to mention the vodka and martini bars which
were completely made out of ice! Our favorite was the giant ice sculpture
which was turned into a self serve Apple martini.

After cocktail hour, our guests were ushered into the ballroom where they
were greeted by the music of an 11 piece band and sat at tables which were
adorned with high flower center pieces placed atop candle operas. Floor
length table cloths added to the winter elegance theme and chairs were
covered and tied with an ivory sash to complete the look. In order to add
a simple but an elegant touch to the wedding I had custom toasting discs
made for the champagne glasses. In lieu of a traditional wedding favor,
donation booklets were designed and printed with information of our
donation to St. Jude Children’ research. This booklet was wrapped with a
gold satin bow and laid upon the napkin of each guest.

For Dinner, a custom menu was given to each guest which listed 8 selections
for dinner. Guest got to choose from mustard encrusted salmon to
Chateaubriand served butternut squash placed in a hollowed apple. The
Viennese hour was equally amazing as the food from the cocktail hour and
the dinner. Stations of ice cream, fondue, and zeppelins really wowed
everyone. After the night was over and guests were leaving they were
greeted with a Nuts 4 Nuts cart from New York City which served steaming
assorted nuts to departing guests. The hot nut cart was not only great way
to end the night in style, but was a nod to Colleen since she was
originally from New York.

The entire day went without a hitch, and to this day guests are raving
about our wedding.

We had a beautiful wedding on June 28th, 2008 in Campbell at St. Lucy's Church.  Our reception was at David's Restaurant in Santa Clara.  We honeymooned in Savannah, and we have a part two honeymoon in Lima Peru for Christmas!

Sincerely,
Ed and Kathy

The Beginning...

Luis and I met on his birthday when I was invited by a friend to join them all for his birthday lunch celebration. I ended up sitting next to him but there were no sparks. Actually, by day's end, he was certain that I was proud and snobby....why? Well, he asked somewhere during lunch if I knew Chinese and I said I didn't, but the only thing I could do was write my name. He asked me to demonstrate. I did, on the paper napkin. He told me he was going to keep it and I was uneasy about that as I had never met him before and did not feel comfortable having him keep something of mine that was personal. So I said no but he insisted and I had to take away the piece of paper from him and with a charming smile, tore it up. He vowed in his mind at that time that he was going to marry me as a form of vengeance...we hung out with our group of friends, but there was never anything between us as he was scarred from my ripping up that piece of paper. Then, at another friend's birthday dinner about 3 months down the road we ended up sitting across from each other at the table. During the night, we took turns counselling and listening to a mutual friend and by night's end, I was curious about him and the ministry he did with theatre. I am involved in ministry as well, working with drug addicted youth on the streets of Lima, Peru and as a missionary, I am always interested in other people's ministries. I asked him over facebook if I could go see one of his works one day but when he told me the date and time, I had to decline due to another commitment. However, we ended up chatting on facebook till midnight that night. And again the following night and the night after and eventually we graduated to Skype with webcam. Within 2 weeks, he was sure how he felt about me and told me so with a poem he had written. And that was how it began.....

The Engagement...

Luis was due to be commissioned by our church for completing 4 years of study and church service on May 28th, 2011 and as part of the ceremony, he would receive a sword with his name engraved on it to signify that he is a keeper of the Word (of God) which is also called the Sword as it says in the bible that the Word is sharper than any double edged sword.. as well as being sent out as a "knight". I had bugged him that I would steal his sword from him and he had said that he would lend me it for a short period of time. That night, his family, our friends and my friends were there to celebrate with him. We all went out for dinner after the commissioning. And when all were gathered, he rose to make a speech before dinner was served. As he rose, I suddenly knew what he was going to do and I began to feel really nervous. 

Luis told everyone how special I am to him and how to him, I am God's blessing in his life. Then he said that he didn't have a ring but that he had one thing that he had worked for and cherished having and that was the sword he held in his hand and that he was asking me if I would do him the honour of keeping the sword and be his wife. On one hand I was mortified as he was doing this in front of everyone and I am a private person who would really have preferred that he did it in private and yet on the other hand, I couldn't wait to say yes. So by night's end, I got a sword and received a marriage proposal and now, I'm planning my wedding!!!!