AisleDash

The wine-kind, not the kitchen appliance.

One of the traditional duties of the male contingent, toasting can be done either by a specially-appointed (or even hired) MC, but most often it's done by the best man.

Anywhere you look, you can find a list of who toasts whom, in what order, and with what. Thing is, all the lists are different. Who toasts whom, in what order? Who knows?

This can be a good thing. With so many possibilities, you can do it any way you like! Another piece of even better news:

The theme at AisleDash this week is hosting a wedding with a Renaissance flare -- the cultural movement that swept through Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. Although that's quite the timespan to draw from, it's also an incredible period of history to be inspired by, from the dress to the food to the shoes to the decorations.

If you've decided upon a Renaissance wedding, you're sure to have a beautiful day and every detail can come back to your theme. One such detail are your toasting flutes -- those fun glasses you get to sip bubbly from as husband and wife for the first time. And, if you feel nostalgic in the years to come, you can pull them out on each anniversary and sip champagne from them.

This lovely set of toasting flutes at Daisy-Days.com has a Renaissance feel with ornate silver accents. They'd be the perfect addition to a Renaissance wedding.

(You can purchase these flutes at Daisy-Days.com for $44.95 each.)

Once you've picked the best champagne to serve at your Paris-themed wedding, it's time to shift your focus to the glasses you'll use to toast it with. Many venues offer flutes for your guests to use during the first toasts, but it's sometimes nice to hand-pick the flutes you and yours will use for your first sip of champagne as husband and wife. You can pick a personalized set or funkier glasses to match your colors or even Parisian flutes to accent your Paris-perfect wedding.

The benefit of purchasing your own toasting flutes (with your own tastes in mind) is you are able to take the glasses home with you and toast your marriage as often as possible, especially on each and every wedding anniversary.

Check out the gallery for even more styles of fun, funky and classic champagne flutes to fill up with the perfect bottle of champagne.

We would be remiss to host Paris week at AisleDash and not mention one of the best French exports since torn baguettes -- champagne! As you may know, champagne is actually sparkling wine that stems from the champagne valley of France and come in many varieties -- brut, extra dry, demi-sec, etc.

If your dream wedding theme consists of all things Parisian, you can't keep a bottle of proper bubbly away from your guests. But how do you decide on what, exactly, to serve? Here are a handful of bottles of champagne that you can't go wrong with, and you can also purchase any of these in many other places beside France's champagne region.

Luxury is in the details, and what is more luxurious than a perfect flower submerged in champagne?

Wild Hibiscus flowers in syrup are grown and hand-made in Australia, and will add a glamorous touch to the champagne toast. Each flower is hand-selected and preserved in sugar in preparation for the eventual champagne bath. The flower arrives closed, and when dropped in the bottom of a champagne flute slowly "blooms" as the bubbles gently free the petals from their sugar coating. The flowers are fully edible, and taste of raspberry and rhubarb for a tasty finish.

They're a decadent feast for the eyes and palate - and surefire conversation starters.

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Bridalwave gives us the scoop on the $10,000 proposal.

Polka Dot Bride has us drooling over the idea of customizing our own bubbly. Cheers to that!

We love the Capiz Party Garlands at Hostess with the Mostess. But who needs a party? We want to decorate our house with them!

Wedding Bee's Miss Toucan discusses her hesitation toward registering for big ticket items. If you don't register for them, you have no chance of getting them, but you don't want your guests to think you're greedy ... what do you think?

Stop thinking of champagne flutes as just one more thing you need for your wedding. While you certainly can go out and spend a pretty penny on them, you can also find something completely appropriate well within your budget. And, whether you decide to toast with Waterford or Wal-mart brand, rest assured that your champagne flutes can be another example of your personal style.

Think about it -- why buy boring glasses that will just get shoved to the back of your cupboard? Pick something you love, something you will want to use long after the wedding -- believe us, if you have gorgeous glasses and a bottle of champagne around, you'll find a reason to celebrate!

Not sure what we mean by "fun" glasses? Look for unique colors and designs, maybe hand-blown or etched. When you see it, you'll know. To get some ideas, check out the gallery!

One of the best perks in planning any type of theme wedding is selecting the perfect wedding cocktail to complement the entire affair. If you've chosen a pink-and-brown theme, you've really lucked out -- some of the tastiest (and prettiest!) cocktails you will come across come in varying shades of pink. Try the Pink Lemonade Cocktail which mixes together beer, vodka and pink lemonade for a unique and tasty reception drink. Or, how about the Pink Sunrise Cocktail, a signature drink that capitalizes on the fizz and fun of champagne.

A few more you may want to whip up and consider for your pink-and-brown reception: The Pink Creole, The Raspberry Truffle, The Pink Cotton Candy Cocktail or The Rose Petal Martini.

And for that little extra touch in presenting your signature cocktail to your wedding guests, check out the gallery for the perfect cocktail glasses for your pink-and-brown wedding!

Most venues offer a set of champagne flutes for you to use for your first toast and there are plenty
of Web sites that offer engraved and personalized flutes you can purchase and, therefore,
keep for years to come. But there is also a store -- with a location in your home city, most likely -- where you can go and pick up classy and inexpensive toasting flutes. Crate and Barrel is one of my favorite go-to places for kitchen must-haves, and my shelves are stocked with C&B barware (including my own toasting flutes) that I snatched up on sale or at incredibly great prices.

I bought red champagne flutes from Crate & Barrel for $2.95 a glass last summer, and my best friend borrowed them for her upcoming May nuptials. She has lovely flutes to use and she was able to check off "something borrowed" as well.

If you're not crazy about re-using the venues flutes or if you don't want to spend a crazy amount of money finding glasses that are perfect for you, try crateandbarrel.com or stop in your local store. And, just to be safe, buy one or two extra so if one is dropped or cracked, your champagne sipping won't suffer.

If you're supplying your own wine for your wedding reception, there's a sale going on right now that could save you a lot of money. Beverages & More, aka BevMo!, is currently running a five cent wine sale, where you can buy one wine bottle at regular price and get a second for only five cents.

You can order online and BevMo! will ship to you. This sale won't last, but if you're ready to buy your wine now, you should probably take a look at the BevMo! website to see if they have what you want in their five cent sale.

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think I missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Eco-chic Weddings reminds us that March is Indie-Weddings Month; plus, they are holding a fabulous art contest -- check it out!

Wedding Bee gives a recipe for a fabulously fragrant lavender champagne that you just might want to consider as a signature cocktail -- I think it would be a great addition to a bridal shower, too. Seriously -- it gets you tipsy and it smells good!

Hostess (with the Mostess) wraps up our gift wrapping issues with the cutest wrapping paper ever.

This Next has a most fantastic bed for you to consummate your love in. Yeah, baby.

Interesting fact -- I just did a Google search on "champagne toast," and you know what I came up with? Lots of tips for people making a toast, a bunch of images, and listings for Champagne Toast Entertainment.

Does anyone else think it's weird that one of the main ingredients seems to be missing? You know, the champagne?

There might be good reason for this. Many people don't like champagne, and even those who do might not serve it at their weddings due to the fact that, well, lots of their guests might not like champagne. As much as it breaks my bubbly little heart to say it, I didn't even serve champagne to all my guests at my wedding (and let me tell you, I really like champagne). I believe we had it as an option at the bar along with beer, wine, and a few other items, but a glass wasn't poured for each guest.

I'm the first to admit -- I'm not really a champagne snob. I haven't tried Cristal, and I tend to go more by budget when purchasing a bottle than by the latest issue of Wine Spectator. That being said, I do love the bubbly, and truly believe that keeping a bottle in the fridge encourages celebration (My new shoes only gave me two blisters! Cheers!).

I'm well aware that not everyone likes champagne, but I was recently fortunate enough to take a wine tasting trip to Temecula in Southern California, and I discovered that there just might be a bubbly for everyone. Don't believe me? Just check out the different varieties I got to experience:

There are a lot of ways to implement holiday themes into your fall or winter wedding. For one thing, you can use existing holiday decorations to beautify your ceremony and reception. You might consider choosing seasonal colors or flowers for your bridesmaids' dresses, or go with silvers and whites to play up the wintery feel.

Holiday cocktails are a great way to bring some holiday spirit into your wedding -- deep red wines and cranberry infused beverages will incorporate the theme in a great way, but you don't have to stop there. Your champagne toast can be indicative of the time of year as well.