I attended a meeting last night for the National Association of Catering Executives. It is really a great group because each of the catering venues tries to show us something new and interesting in the realm of food and entertaining. Last night was no exception.

The evening was centered around herbs. During the cocktail hour we wandered through an herb garden created with pots inside the hotel. We were encouraged to enjoy the fragrances of each of the herbs to take the experience beyond tasting food and drinking wonderful wine to engaging our sense of smell as well. It was great.

Dinner also centered around herbs. The centerpieces were large pots of various herbs and spices. Then they served us champagne. The servers came around with herbs like pineapple sage, lemon verbena and rose petals. We were encouraged to crush the herb and put it in our champagne. I chose lemon verbena. It was wonderful!

Dinner was spectacular. They served a lobster wrapped in prosciutto for the salad, lamb chops with fall vegetables and a fantastic cheese course. Each course was complimented with flavorful herbs.

With the popularity of eco-friendly weddings and events, using herbs as decor is a great way to save the environment while making an interesting table treatment. Herbs are also a great way to change the flavors of some of our favorite foods. Consider discussing options with your catering manager to see how you can put a new twist on an old dish!

I went on yet another fitting with a bride this weekend. She too had lost a bunch of weight — twenty-five pounds… what an amazing feat! The seamstress pinned her (we needed to take the dress in about an inch and a half), but she stopped short of finalizing all of the alterations. The bride had purchased a bra to wear underneath the gown, but it just didn’t fit her properly.

I am used to bridal salons sewing cups directly into the gown for the best fit, but I learned this weekend that it doesn’t work for anyone larger than a “C” cup. The seamstress then told us that the proper undergarment can make the difference between looking very nice in a wedding gown, or spectacular.

She said that it is very important to go to someone who really knows how to measure for the proper fit. Most women do not have the correct size bra and that can make one’s figure look droopy.

Well my bride was off to the lingerie shop after our fitting. I will keep you posted on how that went.

Today I went with one of my wonderful brides to try on her wedding gown. Her wedding is in December, but last week at a meeting, she mentioned to me that she had lost about twenty pounds and that she was worried about what her gown would look like. I was VERY worried too.

Her main concern was that if the gown was altered to fit her new size, the shape and look of the original gown might be lost. That was my worry too. We would have no choice but to alter it, as the gown she purchased was a stunning and very, very, very expensive Vera Wang. This wasn’t a gown we could just hang in the closet and get another one.

Well, we went to the salon today and she tried on the gown. She needed clips so that the gown wouldn’t slide off of her. We chucked about it, somewhat nervously. Fortunately, the alterations lady was there and assured us that this particular style could be altered (down two sizes) with ease. It is mostly lace so there is no beading to worry about.

We were both quite relieved, however, the lesson I would like to impart on everyone is that you should be very cautious about the size of the gown you order and you should try to maintain your weight once you do. If you intend to loose weight prior to the wedding, wait as long as possible before ordering your gown. NEVER under any circumstances order a gown that is smaller than your actual size. The pressure will be too great to loose weight, and if you don’t, it is very difficult to make a gown larger.