Spanish Cocktail White Wine Sangria with Mango

We are often asked for cocktail suggestions for our weddings with a Spanish twist, something a bit different to the popular red sangria, cava and mojitos

 This particular sangria blanca recipe, we found on The Kitchn, is a twist on the southern Spanish classic, Zurra, a white wine based sangria mixed with peaches or nectarines and looks perfect for a hot summers day drink and so pretty.

I cannot wait to try it out but Spain is very seasonal so there are no peaches or nectarines yet here in the shops, therefore we are going to have to be patient and put this on our summer cocktail testing list!

Here is the cocktail recipe for anyone who wishes to try this out!

6 ounces crisp, dry white wine

2 ounces fresh peaches or nectarines, chopped (approximately 1 peach or nectarine)

2 ounces fresh mango, chopped (approximately 1/2 mango)

1 ounce ginger liqueur

1 ounce elderflower liqueur

2 cups ice, preferably crushed

Fresh basil and sliced peaches or nectarines, for garnish

In a blender, combine the white wine, peaches or nectarines, mango, ginger liqueur, and elderflower liqueur. 

Add ice and blend, starting on the lowest setting and increasing to the highest setting. Add more ice if you desire a thicker consistency.

 Pour the cocktail into chilled flutes and garnish with sliced stone fruit and sprigs of fresh basil.

If you can, use crushed ice. Your cocktail will blend easier and make a smoother drink. If you can't find crushed ice, make your own by wrapping ice cubes in a kitchen towel and smashing them with a meat tenderizer or mallet.

Take the time to pre-chill your wine and spirits so the ice remains cold and doesn't quickly dilute the drink when you mix it.

Prefer a less boozy version? Simply add a touch more ice or a handful more fruit.

Best Tapas Party Food

Today I read a lovely article about Easy Spanish Recipes for a Tapas party via Costa Women so I thought it would be a nice idea to create our own blog post and share some of the most popular Spanish tapas dishes often served at our events and weddings as ideas ready for the festive season.

Many of us are hosting parties, small get togethers with family and friends and nothing is easier than serving small dishes of tasty treats of which many can easily be prepared in advance.

Salted almonds and marinated olives are always a good starter, washed down with a glass of dry sherry or cava.

Gazpacho and white almond and garlic soup are always really pretty served in shot glasses and garnished with cherry tomatoes and some crispy fried pancetta.

Croquetas are a firm favourite, jamon, chicken or cheese are always popular choices and the kids always love them.

Slices of manchego cheese topped with membrillo are delicious or be more adventurous and top a crostini with manchego cheese and some slices of apple or figs.

A must have for all Spanish tapas parties is the famous Spanish tortilla, a thick omelette of potato, no Spanish party is complete without this!  Why not top each cube with a pimiento piquillo to add a bit of colour and sweetness of the red pepper.

Pimientos del Padron are small sweet green peppers often fried and then sprinkled with sea salt, again a popular Spanish tapas dish.

The famous Spanish chorizo is a must have, just sliced and fried is truly delicious and if you are feeling slightly more ambitious prawns always work really well with slices of the fried chorizo skewered onto cocktail sticks.

Gambas pil pil, prawns fried with garlic and chilli in olive oil, is also a popular choice, serve in small terracotta dishes and make sure there is some freshly baked sliced bread to soak up the oil.

Figs play a huge role in the Spanish kitchen as they literally fall off trees here so grab some fresh figs, split them open and fill with goats cheese, pop under the grill and you have a delicious tapas that not only will look fabulous but tastes divine.

Albondigas are a cute small, usually pork, meatballs cooked in tomato and olive oil, again a lovely idea for tapas and easily served with cocktail sticks.

Mojama is a Spanish delight, a salt cured tuna which is served thinly sliced and delicious on a crostini topped with a tomato and onion homemade salsa.

Melon con jamon is a refreshing and light snack, chop up cubes of melon and present them on cocktail sticks with slices of Spanish serrano ham on top and patatas bravas are always popular with the hungrier guests, cubed roasted potatoes topped with a spicy tomato sauce.

Pinchitos are the Spanish kebabs, usually either chicken or pork on skewers and seasoned with garlic, cumin, thyme and olive oil and grilled or placed on the BBQ.

Finally for some sweet ideas, the classic flan, creme caramel, is always a tradition here in Spain along of course with our famous churros and chocolate, never fails to please!  Turron is a classic Spanish sweet and comes in many different varieties and is delightful served up at a tapas party

A Spanish tapas party is so easy to prepare as most of it can be done in advance and of course copious amounts of sangria will always get your guests into a party mood!

Geometric Trend for Weddings

We love watching trends and noticed this year Geometrics have not just taken the interior world by storm but are also now being incorporated into weddings.  There are some fabulous light fittings and the new Edison style lightbulbs are to die for but that is another story!

Origami shapes, triangles and angular designs are everywhere now on Pinterest so having dug out my favourites, my top inspiration so far has to be these gorgeous images and ideas from Bloved.  I love this fresh colour scheme and the designs for the cakes are perfect along with the cute arrow details.

Do head over to Bloved to see the entire post for some lovely inspiration.

Nailed It, be warned!

Here goes, probably sticking my neck out but really cannot warn our couples enough about wedding cakes and this is an actual from one of the weddings here this year, 

a classic nailed it.

So advice, warning, whatever should I call it?!

I was involved in this wedding as the stylist and designer and worked with the bride on many elements of her wedding day.

There was a lot of attention to details, colours and design from the stunning outfits to the florals.  We created beautiful paddle fans and a lovely Hand of Fatima table seating plan, had all the accessories to style up the cake table including stands and blush sequin table cover.

But, and a big but. I was not involved in the cake making decision.

On the day the planner was having kittens and whipped me down to the kitchens to show me the cake which had been dutifully copied by the catering company from the bride's photo sent to them.

  

There were no words to be honest with what was presented to me, it was a huge slimey pulsating mess of almost quite neon colours and was so huge it would not fit on the pretty pink cake stand we had bought to present it.  There was no way it was going to blend nicely with the blush sequin table cover our bride had hired, all I could do was pop in her cake topper and wonder what the outcome was going to be.

So my advice, if you want a beautiful wedding cake book a professional cake designer and don't rely on the catering company to create the cake of your dreams, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise.

We all know it often comes down to budgets and if you think the catering company is capable of creating a masterpiece then of course this will save you a cost of approx 500 euros which a professional cake maker would charge to create something as beautiful as the above photo.

I would certainly recommend asking to see photos of previous cakes the caterers have made and perhaps photos of what was actually requested and the outcome before you commit to letting anyone other than a reputable and professional cake maker make your dream cake.

I am not going to name or shame just warn potential couples, check out the cakes!

 

A Charming Autumn Wedding in Carmona, Spain

This beautiful wedding of Adeline and Philippe from Paris was set in one of my favourite places in Spain, the charming historical town of Carmona, situated just outside Seville.

I fell in love with Carmona two years ago and seize every opportunity to visit this town.

We are going there in January to celebrate my father´s 80th as he has listened to my stories about this wonderful place and decided this is where he wishes to host his birthday celebrations! :)

I am not sure what is special about Carmona or what I can put a finger on, but it oozes Andalucian charm and history with every other building in the town being a historical church, it has a pretty town square and is also the home to a very impressive Parador and equally impressive tapas bars!  The people are friendly and the food is amazing.

White beans with squid are to die for and lamb cutlets served with tiny roast potatoes, 

 I have not had such a nice meal for a long time in Spain.

You can imagine my delight when Adeline and Phillipe contacted us to help them organise their wedding at the Casa de Carmona, a historical XVI building converted into a boutique hotel by Felipe Guardiola.

The ceremony was hosted in the beautiful inner courtyard at the Casa de Carmona and then our wedding party were taken to the stunning Parador in Carmona for the cocktails, sherry and jamon tasting and an icecream cart :)

The guests were transported back to the Casa de Carmona on Sevillian horses with carts for a wonderful meal followed by dancing in the Loggia room by the pool.

The setting and town for me was perfect and so far away from the tourist Spain, it was a beautiful wedding for a charming couple and we are delighted we were part of their day.  Our entire team went up to oversee the wedding and had a wonderful time as we were hosted by a very friendly town and the charming locals who were very interested in what we were doing there!

Carla did an amazing job with the planning, Loraine and Maureen transformed the Casa de Carmona with their floristry skills and I oversaw the design and styling of the whole event from the little details to pashminas tied with ribbons to the placecards set out on an antique table and the gorgeous Order of Service booklets.

A fantastic team, a beautiful wedding and very happy clients.

Our thanks to all the wonderful suppliers we worked with and to Joseba Sandoval from Romance Weddings for these fabulous photos we are sharing with you.