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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A Perfect Wedding Proposal in Marbella




Romance is in the air and we love a Love Story!

With Christmas approaching it is such a festive and magical time of year so it is no surprise that December is the most popular month to get engaged, the perfect proposal season.

We recently organised a rather sunnier beach proposal as our clients flew in from London to the warm blue skies of Marbella for the weekend.

Top secret planning was required as we worked with our rather romantic client and his assistant, to organise the perfect setting, music and a photographer to capture this wonderfully romantic proposal.

Our clients had lovely memories of a particular restaurant they had previously visited when they first started dating so this was set as the location.

We helped with a plan a and plan b in case of not such good weather making sure everything was perfect and ready for them when they arrived.  Denis sent over his proposal suit beforehand so no suspicion was aroused and we organised a guitarist and photographer to serenade and capture the moment.

She said yes, but with a man this romantic how could she be otherwise :)!

We wish our clients a very Happy Engagement and of course no doubt a wedding is imminent and to all the other happy couples who will be celebrating their engagements this coming Christmas.


Our thanks to Gary Tapp for taking some great shots and putting together a fabulous short video below and to Raul for his brilliant guitar serenading.



Surprise Wedding Proposal - Denis & Natalja from Gary Tapp on Vimeo.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Best Tapas Party Food



Today I read a lovely article about Easy Spanish Recipes for a Tapas party via Costa Women so I thought it would be a nice idea to create our own blog post and share some of the most popular Spanish tapas dishes often served at our events and weddings as ideas ready for the festive season.
Many of us are hosting parties, small get togethers with family and friends and nothing is easier than serving small dishes of tasty treats of which many can easily be prepared in advance.
Salted almonds and marinated olives are always a good starter, washed down with a glass of dry sherry or cava.
Gazpacho and white almond and garlic soup are always really pretty served in shot glasses and garnished with cherry tomatoes and some crispy fried pancetta.
Croquetas are a firm favourite, jamon, chicken or cheese are always popular choices and the kids always love them.
Slices of manchego cheese topped with membrillo are delicious or be more adventurous and top a crostini with manchego cheese and some slices of apple or figs.
A must have for all Spanish tapas parties is the famous Spanish tortilla, a thick omelette of potato, no Spanish party is complete without this!  Why not top each cube with a pimiento piquillo to add a bit of colour and sweetness of the red pepper.
Pimientos del Padron are small sweet green peppers often fried and then sprinkled with sea salt, again a popular Spanish tapas dish.
The famous Spanish chorizo is a must have, just sliced and fried is truly delicious and if you are feeling slightly more ambitious prawns always work really well with slices of the fried chorizo skewered onto cocktail sticks.
Gambas pil pil, prawns fried with garlic and chilli in olive oil, is also a popular choice, serve in small terracotta dishes and make sure there is some freshly baked sliced bread to soak up the oil.
Figs play a huge role in the Spanish kitchen as they literally fall off trees here so grab some fresh figs, split them open and fill with goats cheese, pop under the grill and you have a delicious tapas that not only will look fabulous but tastes divine.
Albondigas are a cute small, usually pork, meatballs cooked in tomato and olive oil, again a lovely idea for tapas and easily served with cocktail sticks.
Mojama is a Spanish delight, a salt cured tuna which is served thinly sliced and delicious on a crostini topped with a tomato and onion homemade salsa.
Melon con jamon is a refreshing and light snack, chop up cubes of melon and present them on cocktail sticks with slices of Spanish serrano ham on top and patatas bravas are always popular with the hungrier guests, cubed roasted potatoes topped with a spicy tomato sauce.
Pinchitos are the Spanish kebabs, usually either chicken or pork on skewers and seasoned with garlic, cumin, thyme and olive oil and grilled or placed on the BBQ.
Finally for some sweet ideas, the classic flan, creme caramel, is always a tradition here in Spain along of course with our famous churros and chocolate, never fails to please!  Turron is a classic Spanish sweet and comes in many different varieties and is delightful served up at a tapas party
A Spanish tapas party is so easy to prepare as most of it can be done in advance and of course copious amounts of sangria will always get your guests into a party mood!


Thursday, December 10, 2015

A Hip Hacienda Wedding in Seville




Here in Spain on a pretty gloomy cloudy day we love nothing more than receiving photos of our fabulous, glorious hot summer weddings!  

This day was certainly no exception, in the heat of Seville at the end of July at one of my favourite venues, the gorgeous Hacienda San Rafael were hosting the wedding of Nicole and Andrew and the Reviva team rocked up to put many finishing touches to their day.

We had been working the day before in Malaga in a very hot venue which was hitting 56 degrees by the afternoon so I have to admit I was rather dreading heading up to Seville the next day but was pleasantly surprised to find it was only in the early 40's with a slight breeze and luckily, Nicole and Andrew being sensible people had decided not to start their wedding until 8pm!  

We can never stress to our clients how hot it does get here and to plan accordingly.

Nicole had contacted us to help her with her styling and some aspects of her planning to make sure her day went as smoothly as possible and she knew we worked at this beautiful venue a lot.

We created personalised signs, dressed the chairs with Spanish lace, and created the magical twinkly setting in the dining area dressing the trees with lanterns, crystal fairy lights and chandeliers.  We ordered her wedding flowers from a florist we know and work with in Seville and made sure everything went smoothly.

Whilst Nicole had planned most of her wedding herself, we assisted Nicole with various suppliers, plenty of wedding advice and jumped in to help her when her make up artist had double booked and she had to fly over to Spain to find a new one.

I do giggle when I arrive the next day to find our couples have lost their voices and are trying their best to entertain their guests and this was no exception but it was a delight to see how thrilled they were and what a fabulous evening they had enjoyed with their close family and friends.

Our congratulations to Nicole and Andrew and thank you to Richard at Elan Images for such fabulous photos.