The weather teases us. Sunshine and splendor one day, and back to chilly grayness and wicked winds the next. It’s a sure sign that spring is here, and with that touch of spring fever, my thirst for warm-weather wines is growing.

Get a load of you! You’ve found the perfect dress, veil and shoes. But there is one more accessory you need to choose: a magnificent bridal bouquet.

Spring is coming, a perfect time for a party to celebrate a holiday, special occasion or simply the arrival of warmer weather! These local party planners share ideas and tips for the perfect spring soiree.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and what better way to revel in the holiday that celebrates love than with the ultimate romantic food and wine pairing: wine and chocolate?

Trieste Lynn Signorino and Patrick Adams Bowe met in high school; and even then, Trieste knew she had found the one she would spend her life with. “I realized he would support me in following my dreams, even if it meant being apart while we both went to college,” she explained. Patrick popped the question over a simple dinner at Trieste’s apartment, not realizing it was April Fool’s Day when he proposed. Luckily for both, it was not a prank.

Timing was just right for Lauren Paige Macheca and Michael Anthony Ambersley when they met at Bar Louie in Kirkwood through a mutual friend. They discovered that their paths had intertwined for years, but it wasn’t until that January night that they officially had their first conversation – which was the beginning of a whirlwind long-distance relationship as Mike began his professional soccer career in upstate New York.

Some details have changed through the years, including the attire—yesteryear’s conservative gowns with lengthy trains to today’s strapless, dresses with shorter trains—but the Veiled Prophet Ball still is a longstanding tradition for prominent local families. 

We love giving gifts of plant products to friends near and far. One of my favorite treasures to send is maple syrup from our relative’s farm in New Hampshire. It takes 100 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, but don’t look for the romantic image of draft horses hauling a sleigh of sap. Today, sap is extracted from trees with a web of plastic tubing and a giant vacuum cleaner. You can find the result in gift-sized cans or bottles at many local retailers.

We have lots of options to help you get on your boss’s good side this holiday season! 

What conjures up when one thinks of port? Try a cold winter’s night sipping by the fire top off a joyful evening.

How many times has this happened to you? You're in a restaurant and can't decide what to order. You glance at a nearby table as food is being served and say, “That looks great, I’ll have what that gentleman’s having.”

THEIR STORY... Nina Schmid and Alex Engelsmann met through mutual friends in 2007. Fueled by their appreciation of the other’s sense of humor, a romance blossomed. “I knew pretty quickly Alex was ‘the one.’ We have a similar sense of humor and we just get the biggest kick out of each other,” says Nina. Alex echoes her sentiment, “She makes me laugh more than anyone; and she thinks I’m funny, which is a plus. We also share a lot of the same values.”

Fall wedding season is quickly approaching, so we asked some local florists to create stunning bouquets and offer flower tips and trends for the autumn brides-to-be.

Erica and David met through JDate. They embarked on their first date in January of 2009 at a speakeasy in Manhattan. There, they sipped on cocktails served in tea cups while getting to know each other.

Tammie and Keith O’Leary of St. Louis are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Lauren O’Leary, to Andrew Finefield, son of Nancy and Hal Finefield, also of St. Louis.

We’ve all seen pictures of royal weddings where a princess or duchess will have an entire wedding party of children. Yes, it’s adorable, but if I needed a headache that badly, I would hit myself in the head with a hammer. I know how hard it is to wrangle adult bridesmaids and groomsmen. Could you possibly imagine the job of getting a dozen or so children to go down the aisle?

A great way to add a really personal touch to a bridal bouquet is to add beautiful jewelry pieces, like broaches from a mother or grandmother.

With technology today, think of the options available for asking a potential date to the prom: There’s texting, Facebook, tweeting…and Ladue News classifieds.