Monthly Archives: September 2010

Real Honeymoons | Cancun, Mexico

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

All-inclusive. Check! Adults Only. Check! Sun, sand and relaxation. Yup that too! Secrets Silversands in Puerto Morelos (just up the road from Cancun) is the perfect honeymoon destination. You are treated like royalty from the moment you step foot on the property, and if you are celebrating a honeymoon they take extra special care of you. Rose petals on your bed, an anniversary banner on your door, couples massages, and a romantic dinner on the beach are all included in the honeymoon package. Adults-only assures no crying babies or children splashing you as you try to extend that wedding tan for just a couple more weeks. Poolside drink service all day and as much food as you could possibly want are also honeymooner-approved! You don’t starve six months before your wedding for nothing. Enjoy eating whenever, and I mean when.ever, you want. For the more adventurous types, kayaking and hobby-cats are offered for free at the beach conveniently at the resort. You can also book excursions for the ruins, para-sailing, or paragliding right in the lobby.

If you’re not really all that interested in exploring your honeymoon geography and just want to veg like a potato latke, then an all-inclusive type of resort is exactly what the honeymoon doctor ordered. If you are a mover and a shaker, you should probably consider a more adventurous locale with lots of surrounding activities.

Secrets Silversands is a completely wonderful and romantic honeymoon location! Take it from Yenta Nicky and her husband Eric: they honeymooned at a Secrets resort and revisited another property for their anniversary. Honeymooning never gets old, that’s for sure.

cancun-mexico-secrets-silversands

Winners Announced!

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites

We promised you six winners and we have six winners!

We’re getting ready to ship out a handful-and-one High Heel Servers that we gushed about in the most recent Friday Favorites sweepstakes. Thanks to Kuhn Rikon, maker of the highest quality cook’s tools, for sponsoring this adorable giveaway!

Will the following ladies please bake or buy something sweet so they have something to serve with their new fashionable dessert accessory?

Big mazels go out to Jessica B, Ilene, Jes E, Debbie N, Debbie T, and Kim! You make up our six winners drawn at random, and we so appreciate your support and enthusiasm of The Wedding Yentas and promotional partners!

Gigantic Internet hugs of thanks go out to everyone who participated in this installment of Friday Favorites. We are so happy to have you in the Yentas family of readers! Please keep visiting for more opportunities to win stuff. You know how we love to spoil you rotten!

We also want to slice up a big shout out to our friends at JDate® who have once again published us in their online lifestyle magazine, JMag. If you are a Match Made in JDate®, you should submit your story and brag, brag, brag!

Happy Honeymoon Week! Check out what the Yentas & Friends have to say about honeymooning all this week! Ooo la la!

Friday Favorites | Pump Up Your Desserts

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites

We love dessert. No really, we looooooove dessert. When it comes to sweets, you can never go wrong. But what if your desserts could look as great as they taste? Problem solved! We are loving the High Heel Server from Kuhn Rikon!!

Kuhn Rikon is an over 90-year-old Swiss family business from Rikon, Switzerland. Kuhn Rikon is famous for making the best pressure cookers in the world and have developed a very extensive line of cooks’ tools and knives. Kuhn Rikon does business in many countries around the world and in the U.S., and can be located at stores like Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, QVC, and over 1,000 specialty stores.

And they’re linked to goodness and peace: In the 1960s, when Tibetans were being persecuted in Tibet, the Kuhn family gave them land and helped build a Tibetan monastery in Rikon, Switzerland. Even today, 50 years later, the largest population of Tibetans are located in Rikon where the Dalai Lama regularly visits.

Not only is Kuhn Rikon associated with history and peace, but we think they are perfect matches for delicious foods and stylish dining experiences!

These limited edition servers are exclusive designs by Kuhn Rikon, and you cannot buy them. You can only win them, and that’s what we’re here to help you do today! These clever little servers are similar to the company’s Triangle Serving Knife and Paring Knife. The High Heel Servers are like a knife with attractively colored non-stick coating, which makes food come off the server much easier. And the little kitten heel on the bottom gives fashion sense to any dessert that needs a makeover and only enhances the most Martha-like sweets.

The High Heel Servers makes a great gift for a shower hostess, mother, friend, or yourself! They are high quality pieces that a special woman in your life deserves. We’ve seen other versions of the High Heel Server, but either the “shoe” rusted or the “heel” didn’t have much magnetic power. These servers by Kuhn Rikon are durable and the heel has quite the grip, assuring you that your fist won’t end up in a mess of cake as you attempt to slice.

Think beyond desserts! As adorable as these servers would be next to a blueberry pie or red velvet cake, they would totally wake up anyone who’s sleeping through brunch! Gotta slice that frittata? The High Heel Server is pumped to help you out. Made a lasagna and need to get through the layers of carbtastic goodness? The High Heel Server is a shoe-in for portioning.

Both of us Yentas, Nicky and Alison, tried our very own Kuhn Rikon High Heel Servers and other various products, and we can assure you this is #1 in quality and cuteness. Please! We know what matters to you in the kitchen! And, we enjoyed slicing up a serving (or two or three…) of cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes, the delicious bakery that offers, well, nothing but bundt cakes.

We are giving away six — yes! s-i-x! — of these servers and we hope you’ll enjoy one to add to your culinary collection. Enter for your chance to win the server! Tell us your favorite slice-worthy food make us drool! Enter to win by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and the winners (all six of you!) will be announced on Monday. You do not need to be a bride or be Jewish to win. Bundt cake not included.

Real Weddings | Tampa, FL

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

Some people are thankful for their jobs. Others say it’s their friends they’re thankful for. For Sabrina, her thankfulness sparkled and sat right on her finger. You see, just two days before her birthday, Sabrina and Nick went to John Chestnut Park and enjoyed coffee on the cool, brisk day. They walked around the park for a while and then sat on a bench and talked. This was just another day in their great romance but a few sips into the coffee later, Nick began “the spiel.” The one that goes like “you’re important to me…. I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you…” And then the knee happened. You know which one. The one that goes down on the ground and the other one that becomes perpendicular to the ground. This position led to a display of the most gorgeous ring Sabrina had ever seen! With tears in her eyes, she said yes (duh! Or we wouldn’t be showing their Real Wedding today!) After a whirlwind exchange of kisses and smiles, Sabrina basked in the new engagement glow as she celebrated both her birthday and Thanksgiving that week with friends and family. Turkey, mashed potatoes, and new fiance bling: Thankful, indeed.

Mazel tov, Sabrina and Nick!

Venue – Hilton Tampa Westshore
Photographer – Aaron Lockwood
Rabbi – Rabbi Gary Klein from Temple Ahavat Shalom
Florist – The Bride’s Bouquet
Entertainment – Shaw Sound Productions
Invitations – Americanwedding.com
Bakery – Publix
Bridal Dress – Alfred Angelo
Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Athena’s Bridal
Tuxes – Men’s Wearhouse
Ketubah – Ketubahsandmore.com
Yarmulkes – Yarmulkes.com
Party Favors (picture frames) – Nuptialknickknacks.com

tampa-florida-real-jewish-wedding

Don’t Rush The Rosh

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Alison in Jewish Traditions

Tonight at sundown marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year of 5771. Throughout the calendar year we use daily in the United States, we may find a stack of appointments and calls and meetings that dictate our lives each and every day. Between business requirements and personal necessities, we are a busy people. And that’s okay.

But it is now, during these 10 days of thought and repentance, we take a little time to ourselves to discover what’s important, what goals we set for ourselves, and how we can become better people. We’re willing to bet that in recent days, wedding planning has taken up a lot of mind-and-soul real estate. We are not pooh-poohing that! Are you kidding? We love weddings. It’s our life and it’s in our name.

However, this is the time to think bigger. And, no, we don’t mean recarpeting your reception room to match your table linens. We mean Mission: Think Beyond Wedding Day. Think about your married life. What must you accomplish to be the best life partner you can be? How will you see your new family? What traditions are important to you that you’d like to incorporate in your married home? How can you carry on a legacy for your future that’s built upon the dreams and values belonging to you and your spouse? How will you become a better Jew as you embark in the holiest covenant of marriage?

With every dip of apple into honey, remember the sweetness of life and all that it offers. Make the best of it. Because, in the grand scheme of things, when you really think about it: shofar, so good.

And, because no post reaches maximum fun-ness without an audio-visual: This was produced by Birthright for last year’s Rosh Hashanah, but it’s too good/funny/clever not to pass on to a new set of viewers. L’shana tova from The Wedding Yentas!