"BGM?" airs this Thursday at 10pm/9c!

Bethenny Frankel, star of Bravo's hit reality show "The Real Housewives of New York City" has her own show "Bethenny Getting Married?" and top wedding planner Shawn Rabideau, of New York City based Shawn Rabideau Event & Design, is pleased to announce that he planned and designed her wedding!

Over the course of 10 years Shawn has had his share of wedding challenges, but did he bite off more than he can chew when he agreed to plan Bethenny's wedding in 3 short weeks? Can he help Bethenny find a venue, a band, a dress, and a wedding cake? Will she be able to have her cake and eat it too?  Or will Shawn have a meltdown like butter cream frosting in July?

Tune in for the season premiere of "Bethenny Getting Married?" on Thursday, June 10th at 10pm / 9 Central on Bravo to catch all the ups and downs that occurred while planning her wedding.

Be sure to watch, because this is a side of Shawn Rabideau you've never seen before…

World Cup Entertaining Ideas

Summertime is all about entertaining. With a successful Memorial Day Bash already under your belt, why wait until the Fourth of July to continue your summer of celebrations? The World Cup is just around the corner, and it only happens every four years, so why not gather around the boys, (and possibly some girls too), to watch this monumental event!

Because there are so many teams, and an entire month of soccer (excuse me, “football”) to watch, there are many ideas that you can come up with for your World Cup viewing party. Everyone has their favorite team, but popular team matchups include England vs. The United States, Portugal vs. Brazil, and Mexico vs. South Africa (and that’s just in round one!) If you decide to have all of the guys over for England vs. The United States, decorations and food won’t be too difficult since you can reuse some of the red, white, and blue party ideas from Memorial Day, or take your Fourth of July party ideas out for a test run. But, since that’s old news, why don’t we plan your World Cup party for Mexico vs. South Africa.

Mexico takes on South Africa in just four days, so if you aren’t ready to entertain by then, don’t worry, you can still use all of these ideas for when Mexico takes on France on June 17^th. My tips for World Cup entertaining are simple and relatively quick to organize, so it would be great to get everything ready to launch this year’s big opening game. I hear it’s supposed to be a real kicker.

For parties where the crowd will mostly be centered on the television, I recommend serving fun finger foods that your guests can easily grab with one hand, while still holding onto a beer in the other. But be creative! Wings, thighs, and drumsticks are SO Super Bowl. Since you are watching Mexico take on South Africa, why not prepare some mini beef tacos, corn on the cob, and a seven-layer dip served with your favorite tortilla chips. I have a great recipe for a seven-layer dip that takes only about 15 minutes to make, so just follow these instructions below!

Ingredients you will need:

·      ½ cup chopped green onions

·      ½ cup chopped tomatoes

·      1 can of black olives

·      1 can of refried beans

·      Picante sauce

·      1 cup of your favorite salsa (mild, medium, or spicy!) or pico de gallo

·      1 cup of guacamole (home made or store bought)

·      1 container of sour cream

·      1.5 pounds of lean ground beef

·      2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese

·      2 cups of Jack cheese

Three Easy Steps to follow:

·      In a large skillet, cook the ground beef until it is brown. Add in some Mexican taco seasoning if you would like a little extra flavor!

·      Spread the refried beans and Picante sauce on the bottom of your serving dish and sprinkle 1 cup of cheddar and 1 cup of jack cheese on top of the beans. Sprinkle the beef on top of the cheese. Then add a layer of sour cream, a layer of guacamole, a layer of salsa, and the remaining cheddar and jack cheese. Finally, sprinkle your olives, tomatoes, and green onions on top!

·      Your seven layer dip is ready to serve! It’s easy enough huh? Or, if you like to prepare things ahead of time, which I do, place the dip in the refrigerator over night and serve cold or at room temperature when your guests arrive!

Instead of serving in one large dish that everyone has to fight over, use this recipe and serve in individual jars like show below! If your guests don’t finish their dip, they can take it home to enjoy later!

Picture from (http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/02/seven-layer-dip-recipe/)

All of these items can be prepared in advance, which is important so you won’t be cooped up in the kitchen and miss all of the action. There are endless ideas for Mexican “tapas” that you can serve, so have fun with it and ask your guests beforehand what some of their favorite Mexican dishes are so you can serve them!

Speaking of beer, instead of serving traditional Budweiser or Coors Light, try serving some unique microbrews or beers from the country you are rooting for. To take the pressure off of you, the host, ask your guests to bring their favorite microbrew. You will be surprised how many different beers from around the world you will be trying! For this party in particular, Mexico has some great beers such as Pacifico, Dos XX Amber, Dos XX Lager, Tecate, and Corona….so I am sure you will have a wide variety of beers for your guests to enjoy! In addition to beer, make sure to have plenty of waters and sodas on hand for those guests who prefer not to drink.

It wouldn’t be a sports viewing party without a little bit of harmless gambling. Set up a friendly bet, and whoever wins, gets to sport a pair of these great limited edition Havaiana’s World Cup Sandals. Nothing says bragging rights better then some stylish footwear. But hurry! These sandals are going fast and only available at Barney’s NY. Stop in a store or grab them here at this link http://www.barneys.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-BNY-Site/default/Search-Show?q=Havaianas.

Overall don’t forget to have fun with this! Watching the World Cup with your buddies should be fun, casual, and relaxed. No matter what your budget is or how many people you plan on having over, don’t miss out on all of the excitement by slaving away in the kitchen all day!  After all, you are part of the party as well!

The first round of games starts June 10th! So get to planning!

For more information on game times and team matchups, visit the Official World Cup Website at http://www.fifa.com/

"Wednesday's Wedding" - Andrew and Rob

I have a FABULOUS wedding to showcase this week! This past Memorial Day weekend, I designed and planned my second gay wedding for a fantastic couple, Andrew and Rob, and their 75 guests from all around the world, at The Mandarin Oriental here in New York City! Guests came from far off international locations such as London, Italy, Germany, and domestic locations as well such as California, Florida, and Virginia, all to honor the union of this great couple. We began the planning process for Andrew and Rob last August and after a lot of detail and hard work in the making, I can finally show you the finished product!

Festivities started with a family dinner on Friday night at Porterhouse in the Time Warner Building and a welcome reception at the Library Lounge at the Hudson Hotel, with Jeff Grow, an amazing illusionist! Saturday was the big day, and while we were setting up the two grooms were being pampered getting manicures, pedicures, facials, and massages at the spa inside the Mandarin Oriental. Now, that’s my idea of getting ready for your wedding! The event filled weekend concluded with a Sunday goodbye brunch at MObar, a chic and trendy bar, also in the Mandarin Oriental.

As you may gather this was not your typical wedding. We started with doing the ceremony on the dance floor! Very nontraditional and unique! Reverend Alma Daniel officiated the ceremony, combining the two religions of the couples, using a unity candle with the moms for the Protestant side, and breaking of glasses for the Jewish side. Immediately after the ceremony concluded, the couple went into their first dance, followed by a dance with the mothers and their sons, and then into a full dance set with music provided by a DJ from Total Entertainment! An easy transition into the reception portion of the evening!

A bunch of different elements went into creating this wedding for Andrew and Rob, including all of the décor details. We branded the night with the couple’s first initials in the form of an AR logo, very American bandstand-esque. Well at least we tried to! The liquid dance floor and ice luge were decorated with the AR logo, which became a main focal point of the room. We were also supposed to have custom napkins with the logo, but darn UPS messed things up! Oh well, as they say in showbiz, “the show must go on!” and this party definitely went on beautifully without the personalized napkins! Can’t sweat the small stuff!

Another element of the party was the custom linens and lighting design. The linens were specially made for Andrew and Rob in their color scheme of platinum, blue and brown. Adding specialty linens provides a personal touch to your reception, and something that guests will be sure to notice! In addition to the linens, Andrew and Rob decided on having all brown leather chairs, instead of your typical chivari chair that you see at most weddings. This special detail added an extra touch of character with a masculine touch to the already fabulous space.

One of the best décor elements was the hotels sweeping views of Central Park from the 36^th floor ballroom; but we kicked things up a notch with lighting designed by Robert Stark Lighting. When it comes to event design I am a HUGE fan of lighting to help create the ambiance within the room. The lighting was all done in shades of blue to highlight all aspects of the room, while the drapery and columns were lit in red to provide a stark contrast to the blues in the room. We also pin-spotted all of the tables in order to make a nightclub feel. Lighting like this adds different depths and textures to the room creating that lounge club feel we were looking for.

Now onto the flowers, one of my personal favorites of any wedding! For the floral centerpieces we used a variety of khaki’s and blues to stay consistent with Andrew and Rob’s color scheme. We created the beautiful tall arrangements that included roses, soft blue hydrangea, calla lilies, and orchids. The vases were a lot of fun, not typical, standard cylinder vases that you see at most weddings. As you may have noticed we left the tables looking empty due in part to the fact that there was open seating which allowed for people to roam and graze the party. This only works when you have food stations for guests to mix and mingle. This combined with the numerous lounge areas created height and depth within the room.

As you all know, no party, at least no party of mine, is complete without a specialty cocktail. For Andrew and Rob, their specialty cocktail of choice was a Manhattan. Very appropriate for the location! Wine was also served at the reception from all of Andrew and Rob’s favorite California wineries right from their own personal wine library.

A favorite of both the guests and myself was the amazing cake designed by Charm City Cakes, you know, that awesome group of cake designers like Duff who are featured on The Food Network’s "Ace of Cakes"! As you can see, the cake symbolized all of the places that Andrew and Rob have traveled to around the world. Some of the locations included Russia, London, Paris, Rome, Greece, India, and finally Andrew and Rob in New York City standing in front of the Empire State Building about to board a jet plane! Below the globe was an exact replica of the couple’s TUMI Luggage. This work of delicious chocolate art was extremely detailed down to the patches on Andrew’s sports coat. A fun element that all the guests enjoyed!

And now for the greatest surprise of the evening was the performance by the Screaming Queens. Maurice, the magnificent main performer, came out with his back up dancers and performed Cabaret to entertain the crowd! The Screaming Queens then went on to perform some of Rob’s favorite songs, like London Town! Later on in the evening “Lady Gaga” made a special appearance surprising all of the guests! After the performances guests continued to dance the night away with their brown and blue boas.

A lot of elements went into planning Rob and Andrew’s wedding extravaganza, but we had a blast and really enjoyed it as a team. I even learned a creative wedding tip from the client which was to ask the venue to have rolled up wet towels that are freezer cold so when the party gets hot you can cool down!

A special thanks to 5th Avenue Digital for all of the photographs!

Shawn's Suggestions

Have you all set your DVR's yet????? If not, I highly suggest that you put in "Bethenny Getting Married?" which is airing on Bravo ONE WEEK from today, Thursday, June 10th at 10:00/9:00c.!!!! I was so fortunate to be her wedding planner, so stay tuned to see all the fun and excitement we had planning her wedding!

Don't forget!

Cheers!

Memorial Day Entertaining

Summer is just around the corner, the weather is finally warming, and yes, I know we are all thinking it, we can finally wear white without anyone shooting you a judgmental look along with the snide remark of “don’t they know that you aren’t supposed to wear white after Labor Day.” So yes, now is the perfect time to put on your favorite white outfit and throw an all white Memorial Day Bash celebrating the start of summer! Whether big or small, in your lavish backyard or on the terrace of your city apartment, I have some great ideas that will make your party a hit!

Let’s start off talking about décor. Shouldn’t be too difficult since everything should be white! Remember the one thing I always stress is to start off by “shopping at home.” Try and use items that you already have in the house, this will keep costs down. You will be surprised to find items in your home that you can use that you would have never even thought of! For example, if you have any left over white candles from a New Year’s Eve party they will work great as an addition to your centerpiece! But, just in the case you do not have everything you need for your all white Memorial Day Bash, don’t stress. White tablecloths and napkins are easy to find all year long and can be used over and over again. If you plan on doing a lot of entertaining this summer, I am positive you will get your money’s worth out of purchasing these items. Also, keep in mind that the Fourth of July is just around the corner! Many of the things you use for this entertaining extravaganza can be reused for a Fourth of July BBQ!

Speaking of centerpieces, don’t forget about flowers! Flowers don’t have to be expensive nor intimidating. Go to your local flower market, grocery store or florist and purchase a bunch of white carnations. What?! Did I just hear a gasp? carnations?! Yes, you heard me right, I did say carnations! Carnations have a bad rap for being a cheap and ugly flower or filler in overpriced under designed arrangements. But I beg to differ. Carnations are a great flower to use in tight clusters and to tell you the truth; no one will even notice they are carnations. However, if you are unwilling to give the carnations a chance you can stick with white spider mums, they are a beautiful flower, relatively inexpensive and they offer texture with fullness and modern elegance.

When I think of fun summer décor I think of pinwheels. Style Me Pretty has wonderful tips for DIY (do-it-yourself) pinwheels that you can create in any color (perhaps red, white, and blue or yellow to honor our troops). Let’s not forget what Memorial Day is really all about. This is a weekend to honor our troops who have fought and are currently fighting for our freedom. Therefore, adding a splash of yellow in your decorations will serve as a reminder to your guests to that we are all thinking about our troops.

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/12/22/diy-pinwheels/

These pinwheels do not only serve as a great decoration, but they can also be used as guest favors and/or place cards. These pinwheels will be sure to add a smile to your guests’ faces and will be a little reminder of days gone by; all the while keeping the kids entertained!

Now onto the good stuff, the food! Since this is your first party of the summer, why don’t we keep it simple! Everyone loves burgers, so bring out the grill and serve up some tasty Blue Cheese Burgers. Adding Blue Cheese to your classic burger will step it up a notch and take them to the next level. The ingredients are simple! Go to your local grocery store and buy ground chuck and ground sirloin, brioche buns, red leaf lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and Danish Blue Cheese. I personally recommend combining the ground chuck and ground sirloin in order to make the meat extra juicy and delicious. That’s all you need to fire these burgers onto the grill and your guests’ mouths will be watering in no time!

As a compliment to the burger, why don’t you serve tasty white corn on the cob? This can be served plain, or my personal favorite what I like to call, “Wally’s White Corn.” It’s simple! All you do is grill the corn on the barbeque, roll it in mayonnaise, and then roll it in Parmesan cheese. You are done in less than five minutes for this scrumptious side dish!

For a fun dessert idea, I LOVE these festive cookies from Eleni’s New York! You can choose a patriotic look or go for the “cookie cookout” which goes great with your Memorial Day Bash! Visit http://elenis.com/ to find out more about her company and ordering information. Her cookies and cupcakes are great for any occasion!

http://elenis.com/

Another fantastic idea for dessert is to do a “create your own ice cream sundae” station. This is easy and inexpensive! Just go to the store and buy your favorite Vanilla ice cream as well as a variety of fresh, festive berries such as strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Don’t forget whipped cream, cherries, and sprinkles! Guests will be able to make their own version of a red, white, and blue sundae exactly to their liking!

No party is complete without a festive cocktail, especially when you are kicking off the summer season! (at least no party that I am hosting!) A signature drink such as a White Sangria will be sure to keep the conversation flowing! Real Simple has a great and “simple” White Sangria recipe that serves 6! The ingredients you need are 6 cups of Chardonnay, ¼ cup superfine sugar, 1 cup white grape juice, 1 ripe nectarine that has been pitted and cut into thin wedges, 1 tangerine that has been thinly sliced, 1 cup of halved seedless white grapes, and 1 cup of club soda.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/white-sangria-10000000633427/index.html

In a large pitcher, combine the wine and sugar until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the remaining ingredients except for the club soda. Place the pitcher into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, which will allow for the sangria to sweeten. When you are just about ready to serve, pour in the club soda, ice cubes, and enjoy! For the kids attending the event, you can come up with a non-alcoholic specialty cocktail or serve sparkling apple cider, which is always a hit!

Now you have all of the steps you need to throw a fantastic Memorial Day Bash! The possibilities are endless, so use your imagination and go for it! Until next time, enjoy your bash!

Cheers!

"Wednesday's Wedding" - Reed Wedding

Welcome to my first “Wednesday’s Wedding” blog post! Each Wednesday I hope to showcase a wedding that I have designed for all of you to enjoy! This week I am featuring a fantastic wedding that I designed recently for a beautiful couple and their 120 guests at the W Hotel in Union Square. The bride came to me ONE week before because her florist backed out last minute because they couldn’t do the design she wanted! How rude is that?! Talk about a time crunch, but their loss was my gain and it became my goal to help out this bride and make her dreams come true for her big day. I designed a very elegant, yet affordable design that included roses, calla lilies, purple grapes, seeded eucalyptus, rice flower, and dusty miller.

The bride’s bouquet was designed with white and pink roses, dusty miller, cymbidium orchids, and mini white calla lilies as well as crystallized stephanotis. The handle was then tied with a cream ribbon that received an overlay of lace from her mother’s wedding dress, which became her “something borrowed”! I love adding a personal touch to the bride’s bouquet because it gives the flowers an extra special meaning while the bride makes her way down the aisle. We even added another extra touch for good luck by creating a horseshoe design on the handle made from Swarovski Crystals to finish the look.

The Groom’s boutonnière is designed with mini white calla lilies, dusty miller, stephanotis, and a dendrobium orchid. The stem was tied with a coordinating cream ribbon accented with a single knot and crystals.

For the bridesmaid’s bouquets, I designed a simple, fresh, yet elegant look with white spray roses, mini calla lilies, dusty miller, and loops of bear grass. Bear grass is an unexpected element that I often like to use to add a bit of drama and texture to bouquets and arrangements.

I had such a wonderful time designing the personal flowers that the inspiration for the table arrangements came easy! She wanted elegant arrangements that evoked a feeling of a fresh, traditional feel. I used bronze urns and silver candelabras, which created a fun juxtaposition (something I like to do as a designer). I then tied the two together with flowers that were designed in a traditional manner. The low arrangements were designed in a bronze urn with white and pink roses, purple grapes, seeded eucalyptus, and dusty miller. To give the arrangement body I added two satellite arrangements that were designed with all pink flowers and accents of seeded eucalyptus.

Often designers feel the need to create "high" arrangements on top of candelabras - this is something that I feel is dated and not always warranted in all spaces. The W Union Square has a stunning ballroom that shouldn’t necessarily receive high arrangements - I personally feel it should be celebrated and shown off rather than try to bring height into that room. Therefore, I designed the high arrangements with the concentration of flowers on the bottom where the guests could enjoy them - I then added a garland of seeded eucalyptus and grapes to wrap its self down and around the candelabra into a bed of coordinating flowers of pink and white roses, calla lilies, seeded eucalyptus, dusty miller and grapes. Numerous votive candles were then added to all the tables to create a warm romantic glow.

In the end, the event was a success, the flowers turned out stunning and the couple couldn’t have been more pleased. I feel so fortunate to be able to do what I love all while making my client’s vision’s come true!

Until next time,

Cheers!

All photos above courtesy of Lindsay Flanagan Photography

Shawn's Suggestions

Happy Tuesday everyone! I know it has been a while since I last wrote a blog post, but I wanted to let you all know that things are going to change! I am hoping to write weekly blogs and also keep you updated with all the exciting things that are going on with Shawn Rabideau Events and Design via Twitter and my Facebook Fan Page! If you are not yet a follower, please follow me on Twitter @SRabideauEvents and the link to my Facebook Fan Page is below! Oh, and don't forget to set your DVR's! I will be featured on the upcoming Bravo Series, "Bethenny Getting Married?" airing Thursday, June 10th at 10:00/9:00c.

Until next time, Cheers!

Shawn