my new favorite

Ken and I are planning our wedding, and as with any event there are a ton of decisions to make.  Although sometimes there is tension, in general, we have our true values in common.

One thing we have in common — is a love of technology.  There are a ton of sites & vendor to choose from, including paid and free options.   As a social media & events consultant I was excited to use all of these resources to celebrate my own event on and offline. Here are social media tools we are using for our wedding:

Building a Wedding Website.

Tool: Google Sites.

Why?

Well, luckily I’m tech savvy, but even more important — my fiance is a web designer.  We wanted an easy site structure that we could just add content too.  So there are lots of great wedding site vendors to use if your not in love with someone who knows html.

Extra hint: Treat yourself to a custom domain name. We’ll use it for our wedding blog and then continue to update it as our personal blog site.

Buy a domain at: Dotster or Go Daddy

Social Group for your wedding party or intimate family

Tool: Facebook Group

Why?

Our Facebook group is private and includes just our parents, and my bridal party.  This is a group that will allow me to deal with more specific details of planning, and to get advice from a small group to help me make a decisions.

Also, I’m planning a wedding in upstate NY when I live in Seattle, so social media is a great way to involve several people in conversations.

Couple’s Twitter Feed

Tool: Twitter

Why?

We’ve had a twitter handle for quite a while, but this will be a great way to ping our guests with last minute details & instructions.

Dance Mixes - First Dance.  Dinner Music.  Reception.

Tool: Spotify

Why?

There are a great number of sites (like here & here) to get lists of wedding songs for every moment of your special day.  Spotify is a great way to find all of the songs, create playlists, and choose your favorites.  Give it a try.

We will give you a sneak peak of all our sites once they are completed.  Stay tuned.

Last week I went over to a friend’s place for dinner and wanted to bring a fun fall hostess gift.  I found this recipe in Woman’s Day Magazine.  It takes about 10 minutes to make, 2 hours to cool in the fridge, and is the easiest homemade gift I’ve been able to give in a long time. I wrapped the clusters in a simple paper bag wrapped with twine. 

It was a hit!

Almond Chocolate Clusters with Sea Salt

Chocolate Almond Clusters with Sea Salt.

8 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
2 cups raw, whole unsalted almonds
sea salt

• Melt the chopped chocolate. These are several methods of melting chocolate: in the microwave (make sure you microwave it in 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted and smooth); 
• As soon as the chocolate is melted and smooth, add the almonds and stir well to completely coat all almonds with the chocolate
• Using a tablespoon, drop chocolate almond mixture onto a sheet of wax paper or into small cups to cool.
• While the chocolate is still warm and has not set yet, sprinkle each cluster with a pinch of sea salt.
• Let the clusters cool completely until chocolate is firm (I put them into the freezer to speed the cooling process). Store in sealed container away from heat or direct sunlight.

For more recipe info — learn more at here.