Need a fantastic recipe for Sangria

[So_happy]

Okay, so we met with our ceremony guitarist yesterday. He''s a starting out, SUPER talented, guy who was completely affordable ($70!!!) so I grabbed him up. I didn''t even care that he didn''t know too much wedding-y music because FI and I just love accoustic guitar and think it''ll be beautiful no matter what.Turns out he only plays original music and he plays "on the fly" which means he can play what''s in his head and heart at that very moment. And the best part is he spent a lot of time in Madrid and has alot of Spanish influcence in his music. He can even do Flamenco!! He actually didn''t send us a sample that included much of that influence so this was a surprise.......and a TOTALLY welcome one. FI and I were both Spanish majors and I''ve studied abroad in Spain and very often talk about going back one day as I absolutely LOVE Spain.

Anyway, I feel as if I now have this urge to tweak things into a more Spanish influenced wedding. Keeping in mind that my ceremony is in a flowery park during the end of august.....I can do this by having fans for the BMs (I already have them actually from way back), changing my pasta station to a Paella station, of course his guitar at the ceremony, AND having Sangria at our bar.............

To make a long story end.............anyone have any knock-your-socks off recipes for Sangria? Easy is good but fantastic is a must I supppose it''d need to be something a bartender can "whip up"??? Maybe they''ll allow me to bring a batch? Oh, and any comments about having this kind of more theme-y wedding are welcome. I didn''t have a "theme" before......and this won''t be totally theme-y I guess, but...well........any comments, suggestions, advice if I go forth?

 

[princesss]

Ok, here''s my party sangria recipe. It''s not 100% genuine, but it''s mostly copied off the recipe the sangria bar I went to in Spain used. It''s very inexact, but delicious!

Red wine. Good red wine. As many bottles as you need
Oranges, lemons, limes, and strawberries, sliced (2-3 each of the citrus, and lots of strawberries)
Orange juice
Gin (I use Tanqueray or however you spell it)
Vodka (Grey Goose is my favourite, but Absolut works, too)
Light rum (Bacardi)
Sugar
Ginger ale

The night before: Pour wine into a pot or something big enough to hold your sangria. Add half of your sliced fruit, the liquor, and sugar. Stir, and let sit in the fridge.

Next day: Remove the wine-soaked fruit and eat the orange slices (probably the best part of the recipe!). Add orange juice, the rest of the fruit, and more sugar. Stir. Add ginger ale right before serving so it doesn''t go flat. (Ginger ale and strawberries are the only changes I made to the bar''s recipe, but they make it light and fun. It can be fairly lethal, so make sure to serve it in small glasses!)

My boyfriend''s family has a similar recipe, but they use equal parts red and white wines from the same year and the same vineyard. Both are delicious!

 

[princesss]

I forgot to add that it can be done the day of, and you can skip the overnight part, that's more a personal taste thing. I think it tastes better if the sugar has time to absorb and the flavours can mingle more. Plus you get delicious snacks the next day!

ETA: Where in Spain did you study?

 

[ljmorgan]

This is the recipe that I use:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sangria-Sangria/Detail.aspx

It''s one of the highest rated Sangria recipes on AllRecipes. You can see what others have said about it, their reviews and suggestions. This makes a great Sangria.

 

[So_happy]

Thank you for the recipes! I will have to give them a try this weekend.

Also, does anyone know of a recipe that tastes great even if you can''t marinate it the night before?

 

[princesss]

The one I suggested can be. If you''re doing a trial this weekend and letting it sit overnight, when you make it at night pour some into a glass with orange juice and ginger ale to see if you like it. If you do, the whole thing takes about 5 minutes since it''s all done to taste.

Good luck!

 

[So_happy]

Date: 7/4/2007 3:23:46 PM
Author: princesss
The one I suggested can be. If you''re doing a trial this weekend and letting it sit overnight, when you make it at night pour some into a glass with orange juice and ginger ale to see if you like it. If you do, the whole thing takes about 5 minutes since it''s all done to taste.

Good luck!

Thanx again, princess

And I studied in both Madrid and Barcelona.......I am still trying to get back one day............(sigh).............it was absoulutley the most beautiful country I''ve been to and I feel so fortunate to have lived there for a summer (with a spanish family at that).

(goes to dig up those pictures again lol)

 

[Jas12]

I love ''subtle'' theme--defines your event and creates unity. I had a very, very subtle ''canada day'' theme (wedding fell on that day... my welcome baskets included regional goodies, my cocktails were red with local berries and canadian quotes on the fruit skewers...my table names were canadian places that meant a lot to me. The food was all fresh, local stuff and the beer were all canadian selections from near-by breweries and lastly the decor/floral arrangements reflected what was grown in the region. Not sure if most people noticed, but i liked incorporating it all.

 

[princesss]

You got to study in Barcelona? Lucky! I loved Barcelona. I studied up north in Bilbao, and the two times we went to Barcelona I made my boyfriend promise that if we could ever live there, we would. I''m head over heels for that city!

 

[Mandarine]

yayyy!!! That's my theme!

So I obviously LOVE the idea!!!!

I'm having a Sangria station, I still don't have a recipe but one of the girls at my job makes fantastic Sangria, so I will ask her!.

FI and I are both Spanish (him on his mom side, from Madrid...and me from all sides! Zaragoza and San Sebastian!).

Anyway, once I get the recipe I will let you know. You should consider having "tapas" during the cocktail hour (spanish omelete, jamon serrano, empanada, garlicky shrimp, etc). This is what we're doing, along with a cheese/olive/cold cuts table

We're having Red and white Sangria and I'm working on a sign for the table...I'm so excited about the whole idea!!!. I'm also thinking of incorporating this into the favors somehow, I still don't know how though...

How exciting!

M~

ETA: We are also having a chef cook the Paella live...I'm going to meet a new chef tomorrow, so far he's been great...he's SO FUNNY and definitely a character! and he's vasc (my dad's side is vasc so I'm excited!).

 

[So_happy]

Mandarine~ I can''t wait to hear your friend''s recipe!!!!! Definitely share if you remember to About my "theme"....I didn''t even plan it.......it sort of found ME and said "uh.......how can you NOT incorporate me??!!!!" lol. When that guitarist happend to mention that he also picked up some flamenco when in Andalucia, I just wanted to hug him!!! He''s going to learn the Bridal March for me (he''s not typically a wedding musician but hopes to get into the biz) which is simple enough and I asked him to embellish it with his own style so I''m actually going to have a Bridal March with a Spanish twist!!! I. Can. Not. Wait.!!!

And we''re going to have to change our pasta station now to a Paella station........although I''m super PICKY about my Paella so I''m almost positive it can''t possibly be any good. My FI tells me I shouldn''t even bother tasting it because it''s just not going to compare and it''s the "idea" of it that counts anyway. I don''t know tho.........I''d rather have a good alfredo sauce over penne (boring) than tastless, muted paella (a crime). Maybe my guests won''t even notice anyway.

Jas~ I agree about the subtle theme point. I actually don''t have the power to go back and make all of it Spanish "themed" like the invitations, perhaps even honeymoon (sighs again) etc, which is a good thing in a way, but we can definitely change a few things now that will make FI and I so happy!!

 

[akw94]

Congrats about finding a great guitarist! Sounds like so much fun! I think you should go for the theme. You sound excited about it so that''s what counts! And I think it sounds fun and that you''d be able to incorporate it easily.
Sorry, no Sangria recipe

 

[So_happy]

Awww...thanx Dixie!!! It does mean alot to us to have some of this in our wedding. It makes it so much fun and meaningful!

 

[Mandarine]

I''ve emailed my friend asking for her recipe! (hopefully she doesn''t mind sharing!!). I''ll keep you posted!!!.

We actually weren''t doing a "theme" either....but I fell in love with the Spanish Monastery (where the reception will be) and we kept saying how maybe we should have the wedding in madrid (so he''s grandpa would come)...between one thing and the other, the theme just evolved and I couldn''t be more excited!. We''ve kept it a secret to most so it''s going to be a surprise for most guests.

It will be a way for us to pay respect to our families too, so it''s going to be a bit sentimental. Here are more ideas that may help you:

For the daughter/father and son/mother dance we are doing the traditional "Paso Doble"....which is what I''ve always dreamt as a little girl to dance with my dad on that day!.

The tradtional favors in Spain are pins (for the women) and cigars for the guys. I''m not crazy about the pins, so I may do traditional Spanish fans and cigars for the guys. The other idea is a little oilve oil hand painted plate with a tiny bottle of olive oil. Or a small bottle of wine with the Sangria recipe attached to it.

Here is our other idea....we are using names of some of our favorites places throughout Spain as our table names. Places that mean a lot to us (where he''s dad proposed to his mom, were my grandma grew up, where my dad was borned, where his grandpa and my sister live now, etc). We are finding pictures of these places and printed them in a Sepia color and framing them.

I could talk about my ideas forever...hehe...I just love the idea of incorporating our traditions on our wedding day!.

Anyway, I''ll keep you posted on the recipes

M~

 

[So_happy]

Thank you very much for the ideas and the pending recipe!! Ask her about paella, too heehee. My FI is Puertoriccan and makes THE best arroz con pollo EVER so I bet I could give him the recipe and we''d be able to have Paella some of the time, too (it takes some SKILZ to do rice right, I always say, and he''s got that!)

I actually have fans for the bms already.........but I''ve also ordered bouquets........so I''m indecisive there. The fans aren''t particularly Spanish but it''ll still look pretty. I''m just hesitant now to break from the bouquet mold I guess

. I don''t know about that one. I wish I could SEE which would look better in my specific setting but I just can''t and i have a horrible time visualizing things like that

I think your wedding sounds so beautiful and will be very sentimental.......especiially when you are doing the Paso Doble w your dad.

(goes to check flights to spain again and hopes they are only $400 like they were 6 years ago...........sigh lol..............)

 

[Mandarine]

You can find fantastic deals if you join the Iberia newsletter, not long ago I pais like $500 to Madrid! (last year actually).

I can make Paella!!!! It''s actually delicious

(or so my FI says!). I can send you that recipe (when I get home...I''m at FI''s home now). Here is the story of my first paella! https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-do-i-not-think-about-it.53088/page-2

The first tasting I did for the paella for the wedding was not good at all! I was so dissapointed!. In Florida, many chefs make Paella with a Cuban flare (drier, more tomato-ish)...and I don''t really like that at all. The one we''re trying tonight is from a Spanish chef, so I''m keeping my fingers crossed. I hope I love it!

I don''t know about fans instead of bouquets...I actually never thought of that, but that is a cute idea!.

Here is a cute website for Spanish favors (including fans) http://articulosderegalo.tiendas.centrored.com/frame.php?id=905

If I could find something like this at a reasonable price, I would love to do give these as favors: http://www.atouchofspainllc.com/default.aspx

And I would love to have Flamenco dancers during the cokctail hour (I dance Flamenco), but FI hates the idea!....so oh well, just te music, no dancers! hehe

M~

 

[goldenstar]

Ooooh! Mandarine, I would like the paella recipe too please!

I was thinking of making it for my engagement party. My grandma is known for her paella, but she had knee surgery a few months ago and I don''t want her slaving over a hot stove for me. I can''t ask her for a recipe because she doesn''t have any! She cooks intuitively and it doesn''t translate into normal measurements. Which is really cool but no one can ever recreate her dishes.