Like the Bow on a Gift Box

I love the statement a cake can make.

It's like the bow on a gift box...

A Cup of Glee - Weekly Newsletter

Welcome to the Blog for Fancy That! We proudly call our blog “A Cup of Glee.”

Thank you for stopping by for this week’s posting. If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We love hearing your feedback, questions, comments. Enjoy the Post!

The Flying Saucer
What’s new at Fancy That!

This week marks the beginning of our weekly “newsletter” which will be available each Monday for your reading enjoyment. In addition to our weekly postings, we’ll also provide little tidbits throughout the week: Sarah E, your Personal Shopper, will offer party planning tips and show you where to find the most incredible, edible, or just irresistible items for your next party, shower, wedding or “you name it” get together! Enjoy this week’s post and remember, we love your feedback, so do keep in touch!


The Table Setting
Manners and table tips and talk
“The Fork in the Road”

Ever sit down before a fancy table setting and quietly wonder which fork to use? It’s actually easy to remember: with each course, just work your way from the outside, inward (farthest from the plate, moving inward, towards the plate). Sometimes a dessert fork or spoon is placed above the dinner plate (in the 12 O’clock position) running perpendicular to the plate, but Emily Post reminds us that the proper host or hostess will bring dessert and its utensils only when it is time to serve it.

Enjoy your dining experience. Now you can navigate the “fork in the road” or on the table, with ease and renewed confidence!


The Butler
Host and Hostess tips and helpful hints for planning your event
“How busy are YOU?”

You are asking yourself….”why should I send a ‘save the date’ card?” The answer is perfectly simple – so your prospective guests get the hint that you are having a soiree, and so they can pencil you in, alongside the soccer match, the ballet lessons, the yoga classes, and, well, you get the hint.

These handy reminders are a great way to set the tone for your event weeks or months in advance of your event. There are countless ways to announce your event from refrigerator magnets to beautifully produced cards such as those from Wedding Papers Divas. Be creative! Search around until you find something that resonates with you.

Check out these awesome Autumn Save the Date Stamps Originally uploaded by Ever After Postage

Your can view etiquette as outlined by The Knott for some inspiration and answers to your frequently asked questions.

“Save the date” cards, or, now widely accepted as the norm – save the date email, are a way of announcing your intentions to celebrate, to entertain, to be the host or hostess. You are asking your prospective guests to keep you in their mind, and to arrange their busy schedule to accommodate your fantastic dessert party or garden party. For a large party, twelve weeks is not too far out to send a save-the-date. For a small intimate evening meal, six weeks may suffice. If you are sending a “Save the Date” card for your wedding, 6 months is common and 8 months is recommended if your wedding will be in a remote location or, if you are asking your guests to travel. You may send a note card. You may send an email. You may do both. Keep it fun but informative.

Here's an example of a unique save the date that I found in Martha Stewart Weddings. Click on the picture to read the how-to instructions.

When sending out a mail piece such as a save-the-date or an invitation, I often like to mail one to myself, as well. This gives me an idea of how long the piece took to be delivered to my guests, as well as an indication of how well the envelope “held up” in the mail.










Wedding Bells
Planning your wedding tips and traps
“Save that Date”

When planning a wedding, you first have to pick a date! Here are some factors to consider:

The weather. (You’d be surprised how often the weather is ignored as a factor in planning (until the day of the event, that is!) What will the weather be like on your special day? A great link to start your investigation could be here at weather dot com. And, there is a great article about dates to avoid here for your review. After all, picking a date is personal. But you may just as well be informed.

Holiday Travel? If you are going to ask your wedding party or guests to travel to your wedding, be sure to keep the calendar in mind. You don’t want your wedding party to be cutting a bee-line through Grand Central Station on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving! Keep the travel conditions in mind when planning your date.

Best Room Rate. There are “off seasons” which means there are rooms available (and sometimes in blocks of rooms if you ask). Think about the travel and rooms.

Now get planning, and good luck! Until my next post, please remember:

Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

Flowers Redux

In keeping with the wonderful theme of using flowers, I would like to take a moment to tell you about The ParTea Planner. Risa has a wonderful site with lots of eye candy and catchy phrases like "Always stylish. never Stuffy" and "We bring the Tea Room to you" which is her registered trademark.

Browse Risa's Site at The ParTeaPlanner and you cannot help but gravitate to the floral design section of her web site.

Risa provides floral arrangements for party or social events. This is one of my fave pics! Using not only a beautiful summer bouquet, but adding a teacup and saucer to the mix surely defines the use of the subject of this post: flowers redux.

Flowers are a good choice all year long, in all uses. Don't forget to think "outside the tea cup" for your next wonderful arrangement :)


Thanks for stopping by. Until my next post, please remember:

Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

Etiquette for Flowers

I recently procured a charming antique book by Annie Randall White called Twentieth Century Etiquette - A ready manual for all occasions, published in 1900. She called it an "up-to-date book for polite society". Its a joy to read. I like to let the book open to a random page and discover its contents. Today, I opened to page 182 - Floral Decorations. Here, I quote: "Flowers are a great addition to the beauty of a table, and where they can be had, are as suitable for the family table as the more formal one. In the latter, they are indispensable."

The little vase pictured is a cute way to display a nosegay and at the same time, announce to your guests where they should be seated. I used a real leaf for the place card (but they do tend to dry out after a couple of hours) and I wrote on it with a foil marker. An artificial leaf could also be used. Also, I tinted the water with food coloring to match the color scheme of the dinner party!

OMG - Red Velvet Galore

OMG: Red Velvet Tea-Cup-Cakes! LOVE the presentation! I once visited a tea room that served dessert in a teacup. What a clever idea, no? When planning your special event, consider how you might use an item in an unexpected way: for example, I've used teacups to serve fruit salad. A customer of mine is going to have several teacups filled with fresh flowers on her guest tables (I hope she sends pictures!). Anyhoo, the gal who made these tea-cup-cakes is no longer updating her food blog (Ooh you tasty little things), but you can still get the recipe and read her older posts (click on the pic). Also, she makes great jewelry, so do check out her current blog Faeried Treasures. But wait, there's more! (warned you that I am obsessed with RV, right?) Check out these red velvet cake balls! This picture below is from Blogger: Bakerella (click on pic below to go to the recipe). But I must ask, why bake when you can buy them already made? (for those of you who don't know me, you'll soon learn that one of my fave pass-times is ordering on-line :o) You can order red velvet cake balls from Must Love Desserts.

Yummy? Hardly the word for such a decadent treat! I often picture myself sitting on a plush sofa eating bon-bons, but now?! That vision has changed: I am eating chocolate covered red velvet bon-bons. :)

Thanks for stopping by. Until my next post, please remember:

Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

Divine and Scrumptious Red Velvet

One of the best parts of my job, is shopping for new and exciting items. You simply have to admit…there are so many great products out there. The use of the Internet has put the world at our fingertips. (But, it has put the WHOLE WORLD at our finger tips, which can be overwhelming!) To help make your life a little easier, I have taken on the task being your Personal Shopper. :) I will be posting my latest fave items and products here. I hope you enjoy and stop back often to see the latest and greatest.

Recently, I stumbled on theses most incredible Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches. Now, I have to admit – I love EVERYTHING Red Velvet, so maybe I am a tad biased about these sandwich cookies, but don't they look amazing? The Cookie Sandwich Company, who says their cookies are “made of butter and love” offer these fine, “divine and scrumptious” cookies with white chocolate morsels and vanilla cream cheese spread. Take a bite of one! Oh, the cream cheese is so wonderfully smooth and the Red Velvet ….smooth as the name implies.

These cookies (offered in other awesome flavors, too) are available by the dozen and can be purchased from The Cookie Sandwich Company. Now there's nothing stopping you from throwing the most amazing dessert party! Make a few calls, get six dozen of these cookie sandwiches, and enjoy! (don’t forget to let us know how your dessert party turns out!)

Stop back soon for more from me, Sarah E; acupofglee.blogspot.com

Welcome to A Cup of Glee - Fancy That's weekly Blog

Welcome to the Blog for Fancy That! We happily call our blog “A Cup of Glee.” Starting Monday, August 25, we will be posting weekly, including the following sections:

The Flying Saucer: What’s new at Fancy That! and other news.

Table Talk: Manners and tabletop tips.

The Butler: Host and Hostess tips and helpful hints for planning your event.

Wedding Bells: Planning your wedding; tips and traps.

Stop back weekly, link to us with our RSS feed, and tell your friends. While you are thinking about it, stop by Fancy That! web site and enjoy!