Black Tie Home Run!

Carrying this monogram Swavorski crystal evening bag will make you feel fabulous everywhere you go!





If you have some special events coming up this fall and holiday season, you need to treat yourself to this very special accessory. From Palm Beach to Manhattan, our customers have been thrilled with their evening bags.

• Both styles come with a chain to carry the bag over the shoulder. As you can see, there are two monogram styles to choose from and believe it or not, over 30 colors.


• Shown at the top, the CBF is the block style monogram, clear crystals with a jet monogram. We like this combination because it looks great with everything and can be carried all year round.


• The GHL is a script style monogram in black jet crystals with aurora borealis crystal monogram. This beauty has a stunning sparkle.


• Don't forget...the initial impression lasts forever!
  

These bags are created just for you. Please allow approximately 6 weeks for production. Wouldn't this make a great wedding gift for a bride from her bridal party? She would never forget it! $725. Learn more here. http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/item.php?item_id=1022&category_id=154

Gifts for Summer Travels

Do your summer plans call for visiting family and friends? If so, you are in need of a gift for your hosts! We all know its customary to show up with something special for our gracious beach or mountain house owning loved ones, yet finding the right gift can prove to be a challenge. Here are a few ideas intended to inspire:



Hand-painted and personalized key fobs $21.95. These adorable wood ball key fobs come in a wide variety of styles for the beach, the mountains and everywhere in between. An especially great choice for the preppy-at-heart, these key rings make it almost impossible to lose your keys. Find one for everyone on your list here http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/category.php?category_id=115

Personalized pottery with a family name and their favorite destination makes a wonderful gift. These pieces are available in beach, lake and mountain house themes in a variety of sizes. The oval platter shown here is $120. You can order this one or find other styles here http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/item.php?item_id=1273&category_id=140

Last but certainly not least! For your more traditional hostess, a guest book would be unique yet practical. These lovely artisan quality books are made in Dallas. This particular style comes in a lake house or beach house version, but you can personalize it to your hearts desire. Find out more here. http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/category.php?category_id=129

Toast the Happy Couple with a Classic Keg Party: Hostessing an engagement party in red-letter style!

THE KEG!

When the groom-to-be requested a keg for this summer party, it set the tone for the entire evening! How do two traditional-type hostesses honor a Manhattan bride and her fun-loving fiance?

We started with a pony which needed a little fixing up. The Bud Lite was perfectly chilled thanks to our keg king, Chris, who fought the summer heat and iced it for over 6 hours by the time the party started. The keg, however, left much to be desired in the looks department. Our solution? Add a monogram bar towel! As you can see from the before and after photos, the towel was the perfect accent and a useful one too!

With the keg as inspiration, I think I've come up with a great engagement gift idea for this couple....personalized, collegiate Tervis Tumblers...perfect for keeping beer cold in the summer heat. By sharing this with you, I'm blowing the surprise ... L & D, I hope you don't already have these!

The set of 4 Ohio State 16 oz tumblers personalized with the bride & groom's initials or last name can be found here http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/item.php?item_id=784

For those of you who are wondering where the party went after the monogrammed keg, here are a few highlights....the theme of the evening was 'Toledo meets Manhattan' to include the hometowns of the bride and groom as well as honoring the city where they met. We had sort of fancy hors d'oeuvres, a comfort food Midwestern dinner, and a dessert to cover both...buckeyes and cheesecake. We decorated with Ohio State and I Love NY and used black, white and red to tie it all together. Some of the recipes were requested by the party guests so they are included here as well.

Barefoot Contessa Virginia Ham http://www.barefootcontessa.com/recipes/1.html (We used 2 cloves of garlic instead of 6; after all, this party was celebrating romance!)

Buckeye Candy http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,197,159178-224192,00.html ( We did not use nuts but we cheated and used the chocolate dipping shell)

A good time was had by all and the party went well into the a.m. Some highlights I will share that made our evening extra special.... an iPod loaded with great tunes brought by a thoughtful groomsman; a volunteer bartender; and a happy couple we all were thrilled to celebrate!

A few suggestions for all those late-night hostesses out there...if someone happens to bring you a bottle of your favorite wine, there is no reason you need to share it -- its perfectly polite to drink it all yourself! For entertainment, make sure you have some fun DVDs or something which appeals to a crowd on your DVR (thankfully I still had the Concert for Diana from Summer 2007 which led to an Elton John sing along at 2:45 a.m.). My usual program line-up of Oprah, General Hospital and the like drew ridicule from my late night cohorts! For your perhaps unexpected but most welcome overnight guests, clean sheets in the guest room, water glasses and a few new toothbrushes.

With several of us sleep deprived on Sunday, we came up with a new motto "We sure aren't as young as we used to be, but we are just as fun!" I think I will order some cocktail napkins printed with that saying for hostess and holiday gifts!