how we chose our cocktails

The unusual suspects.

Hello, loyal readers!

Sorry for the bit of radio silence. The last few weeks of wedding planning, as I have recently discovered, are a sprint at the end of an ultra, super, marathon. Even this bride-to-be, who has arguably enjoyed every single minute of planning and -- so far -- has been relatively unscathed by BSD (bridal stress disorder, natch), is about ready to throw in the towel.

(Did she really just say that?!)

Here's why: As you will know if you've been an avid reader of this blog, we started planning incredibly early, which was spectacular and I recommend long engagements to everyone. I won't go into my whole spiel again, but please reference the archives if you're in the mood for a longer diatribe.

As much as I tried to micromanage the bridal process, there are certain elements you can't plan months in advance. Our final meeting with our officiant (a post about that soon) didn't happen until a few weeks ago, so we couldn't print our programs until the run of ceremony was finished. You can't stuff welcome gift bags and have them hanging around the apartment for weeks on end. Well, at least not in New York, land of miniscule apartments. Also, I would have eaten everything in them. And even more important, your last dress fitting? Yeah, wedding diets necessitate that the final appointment be as close as possible to your actual nuptials. You get the idea.

While none of these tasks is daunting on its own and some are enlightening and fun as well, they all snowball together to create quite a bit of work in the last few days pre-wedding. And, in my case, this dovetailed nicely with an uptick of assignments at the office, so my head is spinning just a bit. But not like Linda Blair spinning, more like Dead or Alive.

Frosty and necessary.

Anyway, as much as I am loathe to admit it, I did have a birthday earlier this week. I'll give you a whole rundown of the day soon enough, but one highlight was traipsing over to The Plaza to try our speciality cocktails. For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, oftentimes the bride and groom each pick a drink made out of their favorite elements. We had told Grandmaster Planner Emily that we were thinking one champagne drink (my pick) and one bourbon (Mike's) and let their capable mixology team take over from there. If it were left entirely in my hands, everyone would be drinking peach juice with sparkling water and essence of champagne, so I do believe this was a good decision.

We're still working on the names, but the cocktails came out deliciously perfect. The champagne is spiked with Aperol and elderflower liqueur while the bourbon is a take on a mint julep, but with ginger beer for punch. They're both super summery and light and will probably have everyone on their asses by 10 PM. Excellent.