NYC Rooftop Venues

With warm weather slowly rolling in, we New Yorkers are looking for any excuse to embrace the warmth and prepare for summer. There’s no better way to enjoy summer in the city than to visit one of New York’s many rooftop bars. Rooftop lounges offer beautiful views and a wonderful relaxed ambience for you and your friends and family. Imagine your wedding, engagement party or rehearsal dinner with the skyline as your backdrop! Here are a few of our favorites:

Tribeca Rooftop

Plunge Bar at the Hotel Gansevoort 

Press Lounge at Ink 48 Kimpton Hotel 

Mad 46 at The Roosevelt Hotel 

The Hudson Hotel Sky Terrace 

Salon de Ning at The Peninsula 

230 Fifth Rooftop Garden  

Cantor Rooftop Garden at the MET  

Rise at the Ritz Carlton-Battery Park 

The Penthouse at The Park 

Rare View 

Jimmy at the James Hotel 

The Empire Hotel Rooftop 

Honeymoon Funds

Planning your dream honeymoon can be wonderful, but after all of the wedding expenses the idea of paying for the trip may seem daunting. Creating a honeymoon fund is a great way for your guests to contribute directly to your trip! You may love the idea, but sometimes finding the right wording to tell your guests can be difficult. Here are some ideas for a polite way to ask for contributions:

As we start our lives together, we’re thankful for all of you who have inspired us and supported our commitment. To celebrate our marriage, we’re planning an amazing trip to _____- the first experience in a lifetime of shared memories. If you feel inclined to contribute, we would be most appreciative. Of course, when all’s said and done, the best part is having you in our lives. We can’t wait to share the memories with you when we return!

Your presence at our wedding is the greatest gift we could ask for. The time, effort, and expense of traveling to be with us is something we deeply appreciate in our hearts, and we are so thrilled that we will be able to celebrate this happy occasion with you. Because we have been blessed to have a lot of the "essential home items" for a newly hitched couple, we hope you find this fund as a way to help us make our perfect honeymoon come true! While _____ and I have taken many exciting trips together, we are very much looking forward to our first real adventure as husband and wife!

The biggest gift to us is your attendance and celebration of our marriage. To celebrate our wedding we're going on a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon which will give us memories we will always remember, so if you do wish to give us a gift, we have a honeymoon fund at __________.

Indian Inspired Signature Cocktail

A signature cocktail can add a personal touch to the most delicious part of a guest’s night! An Indian inspired cocktail can be created using different liquors and flavors such as Chai and Mango. Here are some of our favorite recipes:

CHAI MARTINI
4 masala chai tea bags (can use vanilla chai or mocha chai tea for variety)
1 cup of boiling water
1 ounce of vodka (can use the flavored vodkas)
1 ounce of your favorite liqueurs
crushed ice
freshly ground nutmeg for garnish

In a large cup, carefully pour the boiling water over the tea bags. Let steep for 5 minutes and remove the tea bags, squeeze out any excess tea and discard. Refrigerate the tea for at least 30 minutes to cool. 

In a martini shaker, add half a cup of the chilled tea, vodka and the liqueur of your choice (almond, hazelnut, orange or coconut flavored work well). Add the crushed ice and shake well. Strain the liquid into a chilled martini glass. The slightest hint of freshly grated nutmeg makes a perfect garnish.

MANGO SANGRIA
1 ounce mango infused rum
1 ounce white wine (fruity tasting variety)
½ ounce mango juice
½ ounce pineapple juice
½ ounce orange juice
½ ounce peach juice
ice cubes
orange slices, pineapple wedges for garnish

In a large drink glass, mix together the rum, white wine and juices. Stir well and add ice cubes and garnish with orange slices and pineapple. You could also make a large pitcher of this wonderfully delicious sangria, add lots of fresh orange, pineapple, peaches and mango slices for authentic sangria, done Indian style.

MANGO MOJITO
2 ounces of mango infused rum
½ ounce of club soda
½ ounce mango juice fresh mint leaves
1 lime, cut into small wedges
ice cubes

In a drink glass, muddle a few mint leaves with a couple of lime wedges. Add the mango rum, club soda, mango juice and ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and a few mint leaves.

Waiter - Where's my napkin?

Whether it's on the walls of a cozy coffee shop or the sidewalks of a busy city - Those simple posters with their one liners always bring a subconscious smile to someone's face.

Add a similar pop of wit to your cocktail hour with these funny napkin quotations. These napkins lighten the mood of your event, are great conversation starters and are the latest rage!

Fancy Appetizers

Throw those mini egg rolls and pigs in a blanket out the window!! Shake up your event with elegant and interesting bites of flavor such as Sugarcane-Skewered Shrimp with a Chile-Cilantro Rub or an Indian Inspired Eggplant Puff. Some other crowd pleasers include Indian Butter Chicken Sliders and Paneer (Cheese) and Asparagus Lollipops. These yummy treats will be gone in instants!

Wedding Programs

There are so many creative ways to do a wedding program. We often get asked, are they really needed? The answer is yes, and here are some reasons why:

• They allow your guests to participate in the ceremony.
• They give order to the ceremony.  
• They recognize your family and bridal party via the program. 
• Programs, also, shed some light on the customs of your ceremony. 
• Finally, they also are a great keepsake. Ten years down the road, this piece of parchment is a great memory of exactly how your wedding day proceeded. 

Take a look at these programs:

How Sweet It Is!

The end of your wedding night can be bittersweet, but you can add to the sweetness by giving your dessert table some extra charm. Adorn your desserts with flags with sweet sayings such as:

Love is Sweet
Eat, Drink, & Be Married
Love, Sweet Love
Bite Me
You’re so Sweet
Sending you S’more Love

You can buy premade dessert flags here.

Or you can buy blank flags or customize your own here.

Creative Dinner Plates

When presentation is everything, you want to make sure that every detail of your wedding contributes to its elegance and beauty. Renting creative dinner plates is a great way to add to your décor and make your food look even more delectable! You can find some unique plates for rent here:

Looking for some Shade

As summer and hot weather approaches, we encourage our brides to think about adding shade for their guests. It is very uncomfortable for guests to just be sitting in the sun especially when it is a hot and humid day. We found these great photos of ways to keep guests under the shade.

Transform a Ballroom

Decor can transform any room from a simple space to an over- the -top world of enchantment. What we are seeing are brides using pipe and drape to cover the walls of their ballroom. The space looks very modern and gives the room and decor a clean finish. Some brides are re-carpeting the floor of the ballroom. Again, the finishing is spectacular and elegant. These are elements you will not see everyday and will surely leaves your guests absolutely speechless. Just look at the photos!