I love this idea from Martha Stewart! Simply write your guests names on doilies and place a clear plate over them.  Clever! If you’ve got a thing for doilies, don’t forget to check out the doiley cupcake wrappers and doiley envelopes.

Photo: Martha Stewart via Emmaline Bride

There is a reason that this recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins is the #1 recipe on Allrecipes.com. There is a reason that out of more than 5,000 reviews, it has five stars.

One word: divine.

I have made these muffins MANY times! They are pure buttery, sugary, bananafanafofana bliss – especially with a cup of tea. My girls and my husband LOVE them too.

They’re so good, I think I will immortalize the recipe as an illustration for They Draw and Cook once order in my recently flooded art room is restored. (Thankfully our insurance is covering the new floor!)

What does this have to do with weddings? Nothing. It’s all about sharing a damn good recipe with my readers. And you scoring some MAJOR brownie points with your man.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 bananas mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter (at room temp.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly grease ten muffin cups, or use cupcake liners.

In a large bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together banana, sugar, egg and melted butter.

Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. (I got the vintage muffin tins at Value Village. No Teflon for this chick!)

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles course cornmeal.

Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake for 18-20 mins. Pour a cup of tea and bliss out!

Dangling flowers are one of the latest trends in wedding decor. I have no idea how well they stand up to the heat in a summer wedding, but what a great look! Here are some of my favorite images of dangling flowers.

Photo 1 collage: Olivia Leigh Photography; Photo 2: Geoff White; Photo 3: Heide Museum of Modern Art; Photo 4: Pretty Chicky; Photo 5: Sweet Paul; Photo 6: Intimate Weddings; Photo 7: Intimate Weddings; Photo 8: Givers Log

Kaitlin, 27 & Chris, 26

Demorest, GA

Wedding Date: April 24, 2010.

Number of Guests: 50

Wedding Ceremony Location: Our living room! It poured rain on and off all day, we had planned on having the ceremony in the front yard but changed it at the last minute to bring all of our friends and family into our little living room. It was the most amazing feeling having everyone in one room while we read our vows and the story of our heart.

Wedding Reception Location:The tent in our backyard

This is one of the poems we chose for our wedding.

By Kathleen Raine

Yours is the face that the earth turns to me,
Continuous beyond its human features lie
The mountain forms that rest against the sky.
With your eyes, the reflecting rainbow, the sun’s light
Sees me; forest and flower, bird and beast
Know and hold me forever in the world’s thought,
Creation’s deep untroubled retrospect.

When your hand touches mine it is the earth
That takes me–the green grass,
And rocks and rivers; the green graves,
And children still unborn, and ancestors,
In love passed down from hand to hand from God.
Your love comes from the creation of the world,
From those paternal fingers, streaming through the clouds
That break with light the surface of the sea.

Here, where I trace your body with my hand,
Love’s presence has no end;
For these, your arms that hold me, are the world’s.
In us, the continents, clouds and oceans meet
Our arbitrary selves, extensive with the night,
Lost, in the heart’s worship, and the body’s sleep.