Enter to Win!

It all started last July when Reed Palmer, the owner and designer of Soleil Shoe Company , attended a wedding. He saw the bride and bridesmaid had kicked off their heels and were all dancing barefoot at the reception. Dancing barefoot in dresses that cost hundreds of dollars! He thought to himself “there has to be a more practical and fashionable solution.” He designed a ballet flat that can roll or fold to fit into your clutch or purse for those all too common occasions when your feet have just had enough of those painful heels. Each pair of shoes comes in a designer gift box with a tote for your heels - how perfect is that! Comfortable, fashionable flats for you and your bridesmaids. These awesome flats make great bridal gifts!

Bridal Fantasy Sweepstakes has teamed up with Soleil Shoe Company to offer 3 prize packages to our lucky brides-to-be. Package one is a set of four (4) Soleil Shoes - one for the bride and up to three bridesmaids. Each of the girls will receive their very own pair. Two more brides-to-be will each receive their own pair of these fashionable flats. Head over to the sweepstakes page at BridalFantasy.com to enter now for your chance to win!

We’ve all been there, sitting at a beautiful wedding ceremony when the music stops and there is “dead air”. The CD or MP3 recording has stopped and the bridesmaid is not quite down the aisle. Instantly, the romantic atmosphere of the entire ceremony is in jeopardy. Live musicians ensure that this won’t happen to you. Your music will be seamless, uninterrupted and totally unique to you on your dream day. Live musicians can also enhance your cocktail hour by entertaining your guests with some of your favourite tunes.

Think about the ways that you can personalize your wedding with live music. You can choose music unique to your style and have it played in a manner that suits the atmosphere of your wedding day. Musical selections can be tailored in length and tempo for the various components of your wedding. There will be no awkward silences or stunted endings. You can choose the instrument or ensemble that best reflects your personality. A hot trend for weddings this summer will be elegant piano music that will up the romantic ambience of your day.

Wishing you a wedding with unforgettable music and moments,

Laurie & Barb, Occasional Notes, www.occasionalnotes.net

With just one day until Valentine’s Day, one question is on all of our minds: what to get that special someone? Chocolate just doesn’t seem to be enough, and jewellery can be pricy. Flowers are a perennial favourite that suit every taste, budget, and occasion.

Giving flowers to a loved one is a tradition that is revered around the world, and of course one of the most common reasons to give flowers is to express feelings of romantic love. No special event, whether it is a wedding, prom, or Valentine’s Day, would be complete without them.

Roses are a romantic classic, and are available in different colors throughout the year, but there are many other kinds of flowers that be combined to create a unique and heartfelt message from you to your loved one. Elegant lilies, an eternal symbol of beauty, can be presented in a bouquet, or alone for a more simple approach that is no less romantic. Irises, orchids and painted tulips can bring a burst of color to snowy February, and their elegant shape will be a highlight in any home. For those with simpler tastes, carnations and daisies are perfectly charming and are available all year round.

The colour of the flowers that you choose is just as important as the type of flowers, as each colour has its own special meaning. White flowers are a unique choice for Valentine’s day. They symbolize purity, innocence, and hope, and a perfect for a new relationship. Red flowers, particularly roses, are a Valentine’s classic, as they represent love, passion, and desire. Pink is playful and romantic, ideal for the young couple as well as the young-at-heart. Sunny yellow is for friendship and joy, more suitable for friends and family than for lovers, and for those wanting to turn that friendly relationship into something more, yellow flowers with red tips are the perfect gift. Purple or lavender flowers are a sign of devotion and enchantment, and are usually associated with long-lasting romance. Blue flowers are a unique choice, and are a symbol of trust and stability. However, they can difficult to find, especially in the winter.

Hand-selected combinations of these are a wonderful choice, creating something beautiful and unique that suits your beloved’s taste as well as your own budget. Another option is to select a single bloom tied with a ribbon, or floating in a decorative glass bowl with colored stones at the bottom.

For the expert opinion, consult your florist about what arrangements suit your taste and budget. Edmonton is home to many great florists including Heathers Grower Direct, La Piazza Dasee Flower Market, Heather de Kok Floral Design, Kuhlmann’s Floral Boutique, and The Wild Orchid. Flower Fusion of Calgary is another great choice for affordable flowers. Or for one-stop Valentine’s gift shopping, Opal’s Flowers and Balloons designs custom arrangements and gifts to fit every price point.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so why not pick up something for your sweetheart that’s sure to make them melt? Chocolate is always a classic when it comes to gift-giving, appealing to the sweet-tooth of men and women the world over.

Though originally bitter in taste, chocolate can be tempered and mixed with a variety of flavours to create a soft, melt-in-your-mouth treat that is enjoyable to every palate, as well as shaped and decorated to create something that is aesthetically pleasing as well as delicious.

Calgary’s Manon’s and Leonidas Belgian chocolates are a great choice for the chocolate connoisseur in us all, and one can never go wrong with The Newget Kompany of Edmonton’s organic chocolate treats. For those who are looking for something a little more elaborate, Edmonton’s The Art of Cake creates custom cakes embellished with fun and elegant pieces made entirely of chocolate. For a truly unique dining experience, try The Melting Pot, an intimate and interactive restaurant that offers a memorable four-course fondue dining experience — the dessert portion of which is, of course, mouth-watering chocolate fondue — opening in Edmonton in March of 2010.

Aside from its rumoured properties, chocolate has many other uses that one would never expect. In the eighteenth century, it was believed that chocolate could be used to prevent or cure stomach aches. Also, it has been proven that cocoa butter contains antioxidants, making it very good for the complexion, and for those who complain about sweets being bad for your teeth, studies have shown that chocolates is better even than fluoride for preventing cavities.

As it is available for all budgets, chocolate is considered one of the simplest of gifts. However, that was not always so. It was once reserved only for royalty and for religious events, remaining a high-status delicacy until the nineteenth century. Now it is associated with romance and sensuality, and it is said that the famed lover Casanova preferred chocolate over champagne as an aphrodisiac, though studies on whether chocolate truly possesses such qualities were never conclusive.

Romance is about creating a special feeling with your surroundings. It is about love and intimacy and bringing pleasure to your partner in a way that does not have to be sexual in nature. A sweet kiss as a greeting, or a gently hug from behind, a little bit goes a long way. Chocolate is a food that is perfect for creating romance. Its soft, sensual texture melts on the tongue, and it provides the perfect opportunity for the intimacy of sharing this treat with your partner by hand.

So this Valentine’s Day, get some chocolate, arrange for some time alone and give you and your partner a treat for all the senses.

As Valentine’s draws near, it’s time to start thinking about what you want to do this year to make your special someone feel, well, special. A tasty homemade meal is a tried and true way to get to anyone’s heart.

The Wisewoman’s Cookery: Food, Sex, Magic & Merriment, by  Shannon Loeber and Mary Elise Edwards, has an abundance of great tasting recipes, including “Amorous PIzza.” Plus much more. Wisewoman’s Cookery shows you how to conjure intimate loving through food and manifest magic in the kitchen to increase fulfillment of life and sex — real sex, not just romantic dinners.

Amorous Pizza

Add 1 clove of chopped garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano into 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Let marinate while you prepare the pizza.

For a quick and easy solution to the pizza crust, buy premade frozen bread dough; we find it’s quick and affordable and has that homemade taste that makes this pizza special. Let the bread thaw out on a plate. One loaf makes one 12 inch pizza. Sprinkle flour onto a clean, dry counter. Roll the bread dough onto the flour, completely covering it. Place the dough into an ungreased baking pan (either a pizza pan or a cookie sheet). Knead (punch, to get the air out) and stretch the dough into a flat pizza crust.

Now paint the crust with a thin coat of the marinated oil. Cover with 2 cups of thinly sliced mozzarella cheese. Add sweet onion, garlic, potato, sweet potato, salt and black pepper. Bake at 400 degrees until the crust is golden brown.

Visit http://www.wisewomanscookery.com/ for more inspiration.