DIY Wedding Video? I DO!

 

In the “olden days,” like five years ago, not everyone and their 80 year-old grandmother had a smartphone. Oh, how times have changed! You can now unlock your car, pay for dinner, find directions, figure out your heart rate, listen to Katy Perry and break up with a boyfriend all with one little accessory. America! What a country! If the smartphone came equipped with breath spray and built-in sunglasses, we wouldn’t even need the latest Michael Kors bag anymore. Which would make life easier, but much less attractive.

Wedit is the latest accessory for the soon-to-be-married crowd. This genius idea, (started in the olden days of 2008), allows wedding guests to record even the smallest moments of the big day, ship the footage to the folks at Wedit, and either have a video edited by the Wedit pros or receive the tools necessary to edit the footage themselves. At approximately $500, the Wedit video is  significantly less expensive than hiring a crew; with the average cost of a wedding videographer hitting the $2200 mark, the savings is a gift in itself.

So – how, exactly, does Wedit work? The Tuesday before the wedding, the bride and groom receive five high-definition iPod touch cameras and designate their most kind, trustworthy, sober friends to record any and all parts of their wedding celebration (except maybe that nasty exchange with a little sister and the inter-workings of a spray tan). The iPod Touch allows for both video with sound and photography, a great option for those couples who are on a tight budget and want to use Wedit for both their video and photo needs.

Once everything has been recorded, the couple sends the cameras back to Wedit (by the Tuesday following their event) and the pros upload all of the footage. Then the couple can either edit the videos themselves or pay an additional fee for Wedit to do it for them.

Wedit then hosts the videos on their site for a year, allowing couples the chance to force friends and family to watch their wedding video an obscene amount of times which is all fair in love and weddings. After a year, Wedit takes the video off of their site, but the couple will have a copy for keeps. One-stop shopping for that once-in-a-lifetime day is fantastic. And the five hundred bucks is just icing on the wedding cake.

Should You Say “I Do” To Wedding Insurance?

 

There is no insurance policy when it comes to love. But The Associated Press recently ran an article about how too many brides and grooms are insuring their weddings as a way to protect against disaster including acts of God – and deals with the devil.

With the cost of the average US wedding on the rise “insurers have been selling a growing number of policies to protect against losses from extreme weather, illness and in one firm’s case, even a sudden change of heart.” Ouch. But the pain of the missing groom would have been worse without the promise of recouping some of the expense, yes?

When Cheryl Winter’s daughter was getting married in New Orleans the risk of bad weather motivated her to take out a $500 policy to protect her $50K investment. Thankfully the New Orleans skies cooperated, but the limo driver did not. The bride jumped in a taxi while Winter managed to get her deposit back from the driver with cold feet.

While there is no hard and fast data on how many couples are adding insurance to their pre-nuptial task lists, Hartford-based Travelers insurance company says issues with vendors, specifically photographers and videographers, account for most claims.

Whether you choose to purchase insurance or not, working with tried and true vendors is a must. Epicurean has been planning and catering weddings for so long, we remember when mauve was the hot color. Having a vendor with a long-standing reputation, a load of experience and a dedication and determination to make your wedding both memorable and personal is key. Martha Stewart’s site offers some general tips on finding the perfect partner – outside of the one you are choosing to spend your life with – to make your wedding worry-free.

At Epicurean, we have a well-honed list of the most trusted vendors in the area – everything from bands to limos to bakers to candle-stick makers. For real – we KNOW a candle-stick maker.

The best way to find your ideal wedding vendors is to ask someone who has planned thousands of weddings (us) to help you plan the only one that matters (yours). Plus, we keep champagne in the office at all times; our version of insurance.

The Perfect Pear

As that famous girl with the ruby slippers once said, “There’s no place like home.” Sometimes the prettiest and simplest and sweetest ideas are found right in your own backyard. Literally.

I was recently asked to help a friend plan a wedding shower and was doing some creative thinking while trimming some trees and shrubs in my yard. Then the idea hit me. In the face, actually. The pear blossoms I was wrestling with led me to the Perfect Pair theme, which led me inside to start planning, which left the gardening undone-but all’s fair in love and parties.

When it comes to themes, I say go nuts and then “pear” down. Oh…it’s just so hard to stop with the play on words once you start, don’t you think? Here we go:

Invite:

If you have the time and energy, hand deliver a fresh pear to your guests and attach a small card about the event details:

Will and Kate are the perfect pair!

Join us for dinner

Sunday, June 24, 6PM

Décor:

Decorate the buffet and create place cards with pears by simply printing out necessary information and inserting into a fresh pear with a bamboo skewer or small silver pick.

Fresh pear blossoms in your yard? Cut them and place them in galvanized buckets throughout the space for a rustic but elegant look. If you don’t have blossoms available, buy loads of greenery from your local florist for an inexpensive look that fits the color scheme of the event.

Menu:

Include menu items that incorporate pears, such as pear-infused sparkling water; a salad with spinach, pear, and gorgonzola; or Chef Ted’s Seared Duck with Caramelized Pear and Maple Sauce. I know, I know, it sounds tricky but it’s completely doable. Even I pulled it off-and it was easier than the gardening.

Seared Duck Breast with Caramelized Pear and Maple Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 oz duck breast, scored
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 3 pears
• 1 peeled shallot, minced
• 2 TBSP orange juice
• 1/4 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 3 TBSP high-end maple syrup

Directions

• Score and season the duck with salt and pepper, sear and cook to medium rare
• Peel, core, and chop pears into bite-sized chunks
• Heat a saute pan on medium heat
• Add oil, when hot saute pears for two minutes or until they start to brown
• Add shallots and finish caramelizing pears
• Deglaze the pan with orange juice and reduce the orange juice by half
• Add nutmeg and thyme
• Turn off heat and stir in maple syrup
• Pour over duck and serve

Cheers!