Just In Time for Valentine’s Day – Our Own Top 20 Romantic Comedies List

Looking for a romantic movie to watch on Valentine’s Day that maybe you haven’t seen before? Our very own movie expert has put together his eclectic list of the Top 20 Romantic Comedies and Light Romance Movies of All Time. Take your pick and enjoy!

1.  Some Like It Hot (1959)
2. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
3. Annie Hall (1977)
4. Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
5. It Happened One Night (1934)
6. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
7. The Lady Eve (1941)
8. High Fidelity (2000)
9. The Princess Bride (1987)
10. Enchanted (2007)
11. Top Hat (1935) / Swing Time (1936) — Tie
12. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) (India)
13. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008)
14. Il Postino: The Postman (1994) (Italy)
15. (500) Days Of Summer (2009)
16. The Awful Truth (1937)
17. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
18. Lars And The Real Girl (2007)
19. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
20. Secretary (2002)

And 5 more for good measure
Manhattan (1979)
Sideways (2004)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
Sleepless In Seattle (1973)
The Wedding Singer (1998)

You can find more info about any of these films, including the cast and a brief plot blurb at the Internet Movie Data Base: imdb.com.

Prize Winners from The Bridal Panel

All the brides-to-be who attended The Bridal Panel event at Engaged Wedding Library on Saturday were winners: they each received a gift certificate for $30 off a Hornblower brunch or dinner cruise, and they all got the great wedding planning tips offered by the wonderful panel of newlyweds. But the lucky brides of the day were…

Katie Brower-Cummins, who won the grand prize of $600 in wedding flowers from Relles Florist.

Juliet Williams and Judy Lin, who each won an engagement portrait from Christopher Kight Photographers.

Plus some romantic gifts from Engaged, just in time for Valentine’s Day, went to Laura, Sandi, Juliet, Page, and Katie!

Congratulations to all of our winners! More big prizes still to give away in 2011!

Mark Your Calendar for a One-Day Event to Find Great Deals on Wedding Attire and Accessories

Looking to get a great deal on wedding attire, accessories, and more? At the My Bridal Sale Event, you’ll find everything you need for a Wedding, Prom, Quinceanera, or other Special Event at unbeatable prices. The event is on Saturday, February 12, 11am – 5pm, at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Northeast.

The My Bridal Sale Event will feature a department store layout, showcasing high quality, new or gently used attire, accessories, and ceremony and reception items provided by Consignors (sellers). The My Bridal Sale Event will also feature a Wedding and Vendor Faire.

The event is Free to attend but you must register. All registered guests that attend the My Bridal Sale Event are entered into the drawings for over $750 of Prize Giveaways, plus they will receive priority entrance, and priority access to the dressing rooms.

For more information and to register to attend, visit mybridalsale.com.

Free Bridal Event this Saturday, February 5, at Engaged!

Attention Brides-to-Be! Don’t miss this unique opportunity

This Saturday, February 5, a panel of local newlywed brides will dish the real scoop on the best and worst planning ideas. Now you won’t have to say “I wish I’d known that!” you can learn from their experience to help make your own wedding planning go smoothly.

Also at this event:
Your chance to WIN $600 in Wedding Flowers! Plus other fun prizes!
Select Vendor Showcase: meet with wedding vendors in a relaxed, intimate setting, with time to ask questions of some of the area’s best wedding professionals.
Plus, every bride will receive $30 off a Hornblower Brunch or Dinner Cruise for Two!

This is a free event, but you must pre-register on the Events page at EngagedSacramento.com.

The Bridal Panel
Saturday, February 5, 10am- 12pm
at Engaged Wedding Library
5530 Douglas Blvd., Granite Bay
EngagedSacramento.com, 916-783-1100

History of the Wedding Cake

At Engaged Wedding Library, we have literally thousands of cake photos to look at in many different wedding cake magazines and books; and the most recent issue of Modern Wedding Cakes has a very thorough history of the Wedding Cake in addition to the many, many beautiful cake photos. The one shown here caught our eye in this issue that was full of very complex, dramatic cakes; yet this one stood out as an example of how a simple, all white cake with some nice details can still be a winner. It’s different height tiers is also very popular now. Of course every bride has a different dream of how her wedding cake should look, but everyone will find inspiration in all the creative cake designs on the shelves at Engaged. And if you’re looking for a bakery to make you a most delicious cake, be sure to visit Cake & Candy Specialties in Citrus Heights!

The History of the Wedding Cake
from Modern Wedding Cakes magazine

The traditional wedding cake as we know it has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Although many variations on the theme have sprung up since it first became popular; the tiered, white-iced, fruit and rum flavored classic has stood the taste test of time. But how did it all start?

Use Your Loaf!
In Antiquity, the very first cakes appeared. They were nothing but thin loaves made of wheat or barley – more like bread. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians would bake a bread cake in the shape of  a bird or grain, and break it over the bride’s head as a symbol of her fertility, fruitfulness and good fortune. Guests then scrambled for the pieces of cake hoping to secure good luck for themselves.

Oh Sugar!
In Anglo Saxon times, sugar made its appearance in the original wedding loaf, turning it into more of a sweetened bun. It became the tradition for guests to bring these little cakes to the wedding and pile them up one on top of the other as high as they could. The bride and groom would attempt to kiss one another over the tower without knocking it down. If they were successful, it meant a lifetime of  prosperity.

Something’s Up
From there, the birth of the tiered wedding cake as we know it is somehow uncertain. The story goes that in the 1660s, during the reign of King Charles II, a French chef was visiting London and observed the cake piling ceremony. Appalled at the haphazard manner in which the British stacked baked goods, often to have them tumble, he conceived the idea of transforming the mountain of bland biscuits into an iced, multi-tiered cake sensation. British papers of the day are supposed to have deplored the French excess, but before the close of the century, British bakers were offering the very same magnificent creations.

The Icing on the Cake
On we go through the Renaissance, as edible centerpieces (known as sublities) became popular. These centerpieces grew to enormous heights amid the general extravagance of the age. It became customary to build the wedding cake as a palace, iced with white sugar to symbolize purity, replete with figures of the new  “Lord and Lady of the Manor”, miniature gardens, and horses.

Whiter Than White
Purity was not the only reason white icing was all the rage; it was also a sure way to tell everybody you had more than a few pennies. White icing had to be made using only the most refined sugar – a very expensive ingredient at the time; so the whiter the cake, the wealthier the bride’s family had to be.

Sweet Dreams
As the modern age dawned with the 1700s, it became tradition to box up small pieces of cake for the maids and bachelors to take home and put under their own pillows. Before going to sleep, a prayer was said, which, with the aid of God, the saints, angels or Venus, would allow the sleeping person to dream of their future marriage partner. Being by then a “civilized” Christian culture, no one openly called it a spell, but now we can safely say that’s exactly what it was!

Wedding Cake Prayer
But Madam, as a present take
This little paper of bride-cake;
Fast any Friday in the year,
When Venus mounts the starry sphere,
Thrust this at night in pillowbeer;
in morning slumber you will seem
T’ enjoy your lover in a dream.

Sports Inspires “Outside the Box” Wedding Gowns

If you’re wondering how far “outside the box” you can go for the design of your wedding, just take a look at what’s being offered for wedding gowns in Chicago!

From the Huffington Post:

Complete Bridal Salon owner David Gaffke found one very interesting way to capitalize on Sunday’s historic face-off at Soldier Field, because nothing says “super fan” like a Chicago Bears-inspired wedding gown.

The dress costs $1500 and can be ordered at Complete Bridal Salon in suburban East Dundee. With Sunday’s big Bears-Packers game getting national attention, the gowns have been in serious demand.

“The first Bears gown we made has been on more airplanes to go to more news, sporting events and newspaper shoots than any other single gown in the world, other than Princess Diana’s,” Salon owner David Gaffke said.

These dresses aren’t just for show – some women are purchasing them for their special day. “We’ve had two brides order the Bears dress and one girl order it for prom,” Gaffke said, adding that he can make any sports team gown as long as the customer provides him the team’s patch.

Our First Big Winner of 2011… More Chances to Win Coming Up!

We love giving away big prizes at Perfect Wedding Guide and Engaged Wedding Library, and our first winner of 2011 is bride-to-be Kristina Rau. Kristina won a $400 gift certificate for wedding hair and makeup from Jennifer Gilchrist, one of our fabulous PWG vendors! Plus a bag of bridal goodies from Engaged! Congratulations Kristina!

How did she win such an incredible prize? Just by registering at the Perfect Wedding Guide booth at a recent bridal show, but there are more chances to win great prizes at these upcoming bridal events at Engaged Wedding Library:

Win $600 in Wedding Flowers!
at the Bridal Panel on Saturday, February 5, 10am – 12pm
This is a FREE event!

Win these prizes at The Ultimate Wedding Planning Seminar
on Sunday, March 6, 10am – 3pm
$800 Carriage Rental from Vintage Carriage
$500 Photo Booth Rental from Rocketbooths
$250 of wine from Pink Girl Wine

For more information and to register, see the Event pages at EngagedSacramento.com.

Wedding Planning Seminars and Vendor Videos on Engaged TV

Visit the Engaged TV page at EngagedSacramento.com, and you’ll be able to sit back, relax, and learn wedding planning tips from some of Sacramento’s top wedding professionals! Full length videos of previous wedding planning seminars at Engaged Wedding Library are offered on the site, with topics like Wedding Planning from A to Z (with Linda Boyko of White Orchid Events), Photography Know-How (with Christopher Kight of Christopher Kight Photographers), and lots more.

You’ll also find videos from local wedding vendors about their services, as well as other fun stuff, like a look back at the outrageous, gigantic cake dive from The Engagement Party at Engaged Wedding Library, where over $10,000 in prizes were won by lots of happy brides.

Be sure to check out the Event Info page too – two brand new events are scheduled for early 2011 that you won’t want to miss! As always, some big prizes will be given away at each event!

Types of Veils

If you’d like to be able to refer to types of veils by their official names, here are the different styles, and even a  suggestion of what types of gowns they look best with, as seen in Brides magazine.

1. BLUSHER
This below-chin-length look, often attached to a longer veil, is worn over the face during the processional. Traditionally, dad flips it back once you reach the groom. Wear it with: a sheath, slipdress, or supersize ballgown.

2. CATHEDRAL
You’ll need an ultraformal setting (big church, grand ballroom) to pull off this regal style, which cascades at least 10 feet from the headpiece. Wear it with: a major ballgown or princess frock.

3. BIRDCAGE
If you want to go retro, choose this fishnet look that covers some or all of the face. A fave of 40′s starlets, birdcage veils often have a flower or feather detailed comb or are attached to a hat. Wear it with: a slinky bias cut gown or skirt suit that recalls old Hollywood glam.

4. FLYAWAY
Short and sweet, this multilayered veil brushes the shoulders. Wear it with: any dress that’s flirty, fun, and a little 50′s – think a fitted off-the-shoulder bodice and ballerina pouf skirt.

5. MANTILLA
Say “si” to this Spanish style made from ornate lace. It can be short or long. Wear it with: a minimally embellished A-line gown that won’t compete with the veil’s elaborate design.

6. WATERFALL
Rippling edges are the distinctive detail on this veil, which is short in front and gets longer as it spills down your back. Wear it with: a structured strapless style, which will be softened by the fluid folds of the veil.

A Creative, Affordable Guestbook Idea

The GuestbookStore.com provides a fun, creative, and affordable way for you to allow your guests to create individual guestbook pages that you can turn into a true keepsake. Their web page explains it best:

Rather than a book of autographs likely to be stored away, these non-traditional guestbooks personalize your event and capture guests’ memories and heartfelt wishes of your special day.

Each guest at your event will receive their very own guestbook page to fill out and share special messages at their leisure. After your event, simply place the completed pages in one of our many guestbook album designs and enjoy!

You’ll smile each time you read your guestbook! It will be a cherished keepsake to share with family and friends for years to come!

This great concept was created by a bride for her own wedding, and so many people wanted her to make similar pages for their weddings that she and her husband turned it into a business!  There are many choices of book cover designs to choose from, and you can also add photos to the pages. Pages are also available for Bridal Showers and other special events.