Are you ready for some football (and basketball)?
If you don’t have a viewing party planned out, now is the time to start thinking through the details. After all, you don’t want any surprises or distractions once the game starts!
Whether you’re making the food yourself or hiring a catering service, planning your party early ensures that you have enough time to get everything in order.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is considered to be one of Judaism’s holiest days. The Jewish New Year traditionally kicks off in late Summer or early Fall. Since it doesn’t follow a secular calendar but is instead based on the lunar cycle (with years in correspondence to the solar cycle), Rosh Hashanah usually takes place between the months of September and October.
For 2018, the Rosh Hashanah holiday begins the evening of Sunday, September 9 and ends the evening of Tuesday, September 11.
The name Rosh Hashanah is translated from Hebrew to English to mean “Head of the New Year”. This holiday marks the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve.
Rosh Hashanah comprises the first two days of a 10 day period known as the “Ten Days of Repentance”. This time period is based on the idea of original sin and involves prayer, repentance, and charity. At the end of this 10 day period, Yom Kipper is celebrated — the Day of Atonement.
Traditional customs help to define the celebration of this event: many incorporating food as symbolism. For example, celebrants eat apples dipped in honey to bring about a “sweet” New Year. Consuming pomegranates supports a year of good deeds. Eating challah symbolizes the circle of life.
Families and friends exchange the words “Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim”, which translates to “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” Since this event is so important for those that practice Judaism, preparations for what is also known as the High Holidays begin a full lunar month ahead of the beginning of the 10 days, in Elul.
Catering by Michaels’ special Rosh Hashanah menu includes all of the traditional menu items you’d expect, as well as more modern twists on traditional favorites.
Love is in the air from Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day! Did you know that December is the most popular month to get engaged? It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise: the glamour of the holidays and coziness of the impending cold weather inevitably bring people together. Getting engaged in December means that you can start your new year off in engagement bliss and focus your New Year’s resolutions on wedding planning!
According to WeddingWire, 6 of the 10 most popular dates to get engaged occur in December. This has a lot to do with extensive time off for the holidays. The most popular engagement dates include: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years’ Day, and Valentine’s Day.
During the holidays, you want to make full use of your holiday time off to enjoy. Most couples that get engaged in December use the time to celebrate the big news with their families. Those that can’t wait might use these extra days off as an opportunity to get ahead of the planning process and all it entails: finding a wedding planner, scouting out venues, and starting to think about the all-important food that will be served on the big day.
The average couple hires about a dozen different vendors to help with their wedding day: the cake, photographer, flowers, and so on. With so many options and limited time to kick it all off without a hitch, many default to vendors who are upfront with need-to-know information and who are great with communication.
Here are the top 5 biggest planning challenges:
At Catering by Michaels, we pride ourselves on our ability to bring together many different aspects of the wedding planning process. Working as your caterer, we connect with many other wedding vendors to create a beautiful event: your photographer, the venue, designers, and so on.
In the case of Chris and Daniella, it was their professional involvements that brought them together. After quitting her job at a rival company, Daniella became a client of Chris’, and a networking event turned into love at first sight. From there, they became coworkers, friends, and the rest is history.
Since both Chris and Daniella have connections in the hospitality industry, they were extremely easy to work with, and had an intimate knowledge of the wedding planning process. This helped make the process so much more fun! We worked closely to find the perfect venue to fit the romantic, city vibe they were looking for, and eventually settled on Harold Washington Library.
To complement the urban feel of their wedding, they wanted to serve a menu that was delicious, fun, and a bit different than what guests might expect. Since the couple love Gene & Jude’s hotdogs, we brought them in for a surprise late night snack, which was a huge hit! And if one Chicago favorite wasn’t enough, Chris & Daniella followed the theme of their wedding through to the guest favors and included Garrett’s popcorn (yum!). Needless to say, the wedding was a Chicago foodie’s dream and we had a blast putting it all together!
Photographer Jill Tiongco matched the vibe of the wedding seamlessly and captured these magical images of the day:
Are you newly engaged and don’t know how or where to start planning your wedding? We understand that the process can certainly be overwhelming, so it’s a good idea to start small and remember that you have plenty of time to get all the details just right. Though it can be tempting to get stressed just remember, this should be a joyful time.
Here are 10 things to do after you’ve said “Yes” (and called your mom and took a deep breath!):
Everyone (yes, everyone) will want to see your new bling! But also, a manicure is simply a great excuse to relax and enjoy some me-time before wedding planning takes over. Go treat yourself!
