Ideas For Your Destination Weddings

If you're getting married, or know someone who is, weddings can be quite complicated and expensive. Even if it's a common wedding held in a church followed by a reception and honeymoon, there is a lot of planning and cost involved. Couples can cut those costs in half and save on all the time and frustration of planning a wedding by seeking out a travel agent to plan a dream destination wedding.

Weddings that are held in a vacation location, typically away from the betrothed couple's home town, are called destination weddings. In the recent years, these destination weddings have been rapidly increasing in popularity. Some destination weddings involve couples eloping to an adventurous and exciting location, while others choose to invite a few close family and friends to celebrate with them. Many couples even find themselves saving money by planning a destination wedding.

There are so many beautiful locations in different parts of the world with great accommodations and beautiful sightseeing adventures. Narrowing all of these locations down to five dream destination wedding locations was a difficult but necessary task. Creating the perfect wedding is not easy; the hardest part of getting married is choosing the location. Listed below are the five most popular major locations for dream destination weddings:

1. Mexico. Two of the most beautiful locations to hold a destination wedding reside in Mexico. Cancun is paradise for the romantics and the white powdery beaches and blue water make for a perfect setting for wedding on the beach. The Cancun Hotel Zone and the Bahia de Mujeres is known for the best swimming areas. Cozumel is just off of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has some of the world's best diving. Cozumel has attractive resorts that contrast with the empty stretch of beaches with a tropical atmosphere. Mexico is great for those betrothed couples who enjoy water sports and sun washed beaches.

2. Hawaii. As the fun in the sun capital of the Hawaiian Islands, Oahu is such a rich and rewarding experience far beyond the pristine turquoise water, the long sandy beaches and the harsh mountains. Here lies a legacy of royalty, luxury and relaxation. Maui is the perfect place to create memories to last a lifetime. Get married and enjoy your honeymoon in Maui and embrace what the entire Hawaiian Islands have to offer. The perfect weather all year round, uncrowded beaches and wonderful accommodations, Maui is the perfect place to tie the knot and embark on new adventures with your loved one.

3. Jamaica. Come to Jamaica to be embraced in the rich culture, the tropical climate and easy lifestyle. Enjoy a beautiful wedding surrounded by an island of natural beauty. Waterfalls, jungle mountain tops and pristine white sand beaches like the Negril, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios are waiting for you to indulge yourself in

their beauty. Don't forget the fine cuisine and local entertainment to complete the Jamaican experience. What's more beautiful than a Jamaican wedding on a white sand beach or near a majestic waterfall in the perfect climate?

4. Bermuda. An island paradise and considered one of the worlds most beautiful islands, Bermuda is embellished with lush gardens, attractive pink sand beaches, coral reefs and a strong tradition of hospitality towards the islands guests. The island offers wonderful hotels, resorts and other accommodations that is sure to make your stay as wonderful as it can possibly be. Bermuda is an island you will want to come back to, again and again.

5. Las Vegas. The marriage capital of the world with well over 100,000 couples obtaining marriage licenses every year and the only place you can get legally married by a rhinestone studded Elvis impersonator. As one of the hottest wedding and honeymoon destinations, Las Vegas, is the place to go to elope or for a planned dream destination wedding. No matter how many times you have been to Las Vegas, there is always something new to experience every time you return. Despite its reputation, there is more than just gambling in this city. A new trend of ultra hip nightclubs and resorts are developing to join the already established nightclubs like the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, Baby's Nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel, Coyote Ugly at New York New-York and Studio 54 at MGM Grand.

Beauty Tips For Your Wedding Day

Work out a time schedule and stick to it. Plotting out your beauty details months before your wedding will help you remain calm and collected so that your big day goes off without a hitch.

Two Months Before

A good skin care regimen is important to get ready for your big day but don't do anything too extreme. To bump up your normal routine, try a microdermabrasion system.

Moisture is so important for healthy glowing skin. Apply an oil-free moisturizer each morning before your makeup and after you take if off each night. I suggest an oil free moisturizer for your face and throat.

Four to Six Weeks Before

Make your appointment now to have your hair and makeup done. Schedule a consultation and try several different styles with and without your veil and experiment with more dramatic makeup. Remember the waterproof mascara.

Two Weeks Before

Time for a trim and to touch up your hair color or highlights. Keep hair healthy with a deep conditioner twice a week. Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque is made to repair any damage and make your hair super shiny.

One Week Before

Schedule a pedicure but keep feet fabulous until the big day with some extra pampering. The Soothing Lavender Foot Soak can be handy if you plan on dancing the night away at your reception.

Don't leave any waxing until the last minute. You could end up with shiny, red skin and that isn't what you want for your wedding photos.

Day Before

Slip an eye mask in the freezer for a few minutes and use it to minimize puffy eyes.

For an always-classic look, try a subtle color for fingernails and a fun red for toenails. Use small-size bottles, they are excellent to have on hand for touch-ups and the polish dries quickly.

Wedding Day

Help the day go smoothly by keeping a small bag with beauty basics such as clear fingernail polish to stop a run, bob pins to help hold an unruly curl and toupee tape for a fallen hem.

Beautiful Wedding on a Budget

Few people realize that having a beautiful wedding does not require spending their entire savings.

If you're planning a wedding, learning where to cut costs and how to budget will leave you with money to spare.

"There are many ways to have the wedding of your dreams without the nightmare of huge bills," said Anna Griffin, wedding industry expert and designer of the Wedding Studio line of wedding products. "You just have to be resourceful."

Here are some tips from Griffin on how to create a designer wedding on a budget.

* For something old, wear a vintage wedding dress. You can save hundreds on a wedding gown by shopping in consignment or vintage shops, in newspaper classifieds and on the Internet. You also can update your mother's, grandmother's or aunt's wedding dress with a new neckline or hemline, beading or lace.

* Print your own invitations. There are many wedding accessories that can be made instead of bought - the veil, the centerpieces and even the invitations. Do-it-yourself kits are available to help you create designer looks without the designer price tags.

* Use an antique or classic car instead of a limousine. Contact a local antique or classic car club to rent a luxury vehicle, such as a 1939 Rolls-Royce or a 1952 Cadillac DeVille. Most of the owners will be thrilled to loan out their cars and you'll have more than enough room for the married couple at a much lower price. And, whereas a limousine is rented for a couple of hours, you have the benefit of keeping the antique vehicle for 24 hours or longer.

* Keep the flowers simple. Instead of hiring a florist, contact a floral-design school and hire students to provide you with flower arrangements. You also can create your own flower arrangements. Buy one color of flower in bulk. It creates a visual impact while saving money. Contact a wholesale florist; many will sell flowers directly to the consumer.

Beach Wedding Party Favors For Summer Bridal Weddings

Beaches can be one of the most romantic settings for a wedding. Many girls (and boys) dream of a wedding at an exotic location such as a beach or a mountaintop. And what better season than the summer to hold your wedding outdoors in such exotic locations. Beach wedding parties could be among the most enjoyable and memorable. Imagine the cool moist breeze blowing across your face and caressing your hair, the roar of the waves, the splashing water droplets and the sand castles and dunes, and you have an idea of how exciting and memorable it could be.

A beach themed wedding requires its own planning to make it really good. Among the things that you will need to bestow a lot of attention are your party favors. You should select your party favors to suit the theme of the beach wedding.

Party favors as a custom date back several centuries. In our present society, these have blossomed into a beautiful expression of appreciation for the presence of our guests. People select wedding favors that reflect their culture. Wedding party favors also make a personal style statement. To make the entire event harmonious it is important that the favors are in sync with the theme that you have chosen. It should also be something that can be preserved over the years and related to with pride and joy. The selection of party favors is thus a very important part of your planning for the wedding.

What are the possibilities for beach wedding party favors that will incorporate all the above considerations?

One of the first things that come to mind when we talk of beaches is a seashell. Objects made of seashells are among the obvious choices. A seashell bookmark is something that your book loving guests are sure to appreciate and keep with them for a long time. You could attach these to the placeholders or keep them in a tray for the guests to pick up.  Seashell wine bottle stoppers form another good item that is

made of seashells, blend with the theme and will be useful to your guests.

Talking of seashells, you could also consider them, in their own right, as party favors. You could select attractively colored and shaped seashells and pack a few of them in small bags, making each of them a gift by itself. There are stores that can give you attractively packed seashells that you can use right away.

Starfish tea light candles can make for an attractive decoration that fits into your theme as well as form a unique gift item. You could combine these two ideas, and decorate the tables with these and also give them away as gifts, so that your guests get what they see!

Another thing that you could consider is a bag of artificial sea creatures. It could be a charming gift that would add to the fun, accentuate your beach theme and is sure to be maintained as a memento. Crafted pieces that contain other sea creatures, and are utilitarian, can also be considered. For example, a dolphin wine stopper would provide good utility value and be an attractive sea based theme for the gift, involving one
of the most loved and talked about sea creatures. .

Cookies and mint tins that blend with the beach theme are other things that can be considered. For example, a carefully designed tin that has beach scenery, or pictures of items found along beaches, could make for a very useful and artistic item.

There are many other themes and items that you can consider. You can use your imagination and come up with something unique yourself. We hope that the few examples that we have given above will give you a lot more fresh ideas to help you in this.

Beach Wedding Invitations - 5 Musts for Wording

Destination weddings to Hawaii, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Maui, Jamaica and more are becoming more and more popular as destination wedding planning online has become easier and easier. The beach is the most popular destination wedding theme these days and many brides want to start their wedding theme off right with a beautiful beach theme wedding invitation.

Many beach wedding invitation sites exist to offer hundreds of beach wedding invitations, but beach brides aren't worried about finding the right beach invitation as much as they are worried about their beach wedding invitation wording.

Every bride wants her wedding to be unique and her wedding invitation is no different. Finding the perfect beach wedding invitation wording is as important as finding the perfect beach wedding invitation itself, so here are 5 beach wedding invitation wording tips.

1. Know yourself and your spouse to be - Your beach invitation wording should reflect you and your future spouses personalities, love and quirkiness ... yes, quirkiness. Wedding invitations have been done for millions of years, if you want to be original, you are going to have to capture what makes you and your  beach love different than other couples.

2. There is no wrong wording - Certain wedding invitation wording ethics exist, but most people don't know them and wouldn't notice if you went according to the rules or not. Besides, more and more brides and grooms are throwing the rules to the wind these days and just writing what they want. Don't worry about trying to follow all the rules. The reason you're probably having a beach wedding is because you didn't want the traditional wedding ceremony anyway, so have your beach wedding invitation reflect the same free flowing spirit that the beach has.

3. Know your audience - Even though we just mentioned that your beach wedding invitation wording should be about you and your future beach spouse by placing your quirkiness in your beach invitation wording, remember who your audience is. If you are sending this invitation to an 80-year-old grandma, you probably don't want to use profanity or other inappropriate language.

4. Beach phrases - Find a single beach phrase that fits you and your spouse but also suits the beach setting you will be married in. "Once upon a time on a beach ..." or "What happens on the beach ... stays in our hearts," are just some examples. More examples can be found at BeachWedlockInvitations.com.

5. Match your wording to your invitation - Simple beach weddings with simple beach themes should have simple beach wedding invitation themes as well. A beach wedding with 10 - 50 people is an intimate setting and the invitations should reflect that. Don't bog down the wording with a 20 line poem to begin the invitation. A beach wedding with over 500 people can be reason for the 20 line poem.

Good luck with your beach weddings, your beach wedding invitations, and your beach wedding invitation wording. To see the most beach wedding invitations in the world on one Web site go to: BeachWedlockInvitations.com.

Beach Wedding Dresses

Wedding is the most auspicious occasion. Instead of the normal wedding party, some of you might prefer your wedding at an exotic location with an ocean view. Organizing wedding on a beach would convey your message to your beloved how romantic and thoughtful you are. Although it may sound a very unique concept but many beaches around the world are witnessing the vows of two hearts. Now days it has become very common for a couple to fly down to tropical island and take their vows on the surface of beach and sand. The wedding at beach doesn't let you wear long flowing gowns. The wedding is very informal which makes it important to wear something comfortable and casual. Keeping this in mind, varied ranges of beach wedding dress are available which provides refined and classy look. Some of the wedding dress that could be worn is strapless dress, halter, one-shoulder dress and ones with sleeves as well. Avoid wearing headpieces and full formal skirts as this would look out of place.

With this wedding trend becoming more popular, the designers are coming up with innovative and unique ideas perfect for the occasion. For the beach wedding, its utmost vital to consider the quality of fabric as you might have to travel a lot and also the fabric should not be out of place in high humidity. The destination brides should spend some time in market research for their wedding dress so that they can look trendier yet they should feel like a bride and not like a guest in a party. The beach wedding dress should be a perfect merge of elegance and simplicity. The beach wedding can let you enjoy the sun tan in your comfortable wedding outfit. The wedding becomes more personalized with only few of your close friends and relatives attending the ceremony. This involves more frolic and enjoyment. After the small celebration, the newly wed couple skips off to honeymoon in their pre-arranged accommodation.

Even though the beach wedding is very informal, make sure to pick the right accessories with your wedding dress. The bride will look magnificent by plugging some fresh flowers in her hair. It will not only make you look fresh but also will complement the wedding theme. Try not to tie up your hair completely, instead allow it to flow naturally. Proper care should be taken to cover up your lovely feet. Go for flip-flops or sandals instead of shoes, which will go right with an informal beach wedding dress. This would be the most appropriate decision yet it will come in your budget as well. Also, inform your guest well in advance that it would be an informal party otherwise they will end up in formal outfit. To make the wedding livelier, the invitation card should also relate to the theme of the party. It should be vary casual and to provide a more personalized touch give a hand made invitation card. Also plan what you are going to give to your guest as favors. A pair of flip-flops or sandal to ladies would be a great as well as an inexpensive idea.

One of the unique selling points of a beach wedding is that you don't have to much thoughtful about your wedding attire. In fact, the wedding dress could be picked off the rack for the couple with short engagement. You might even be lucky to get a perfect fitting beach wedding dress without any need for alterations. Even if alterations are required it would be normally minimal and wouldn't take much of your time. One important factor to consider is the weather. Even if you have planned your wedding in a beautiful day, the breezes at the ocean might blow off some loosely fitted part of the dress. Look for some better options to avoid such inconvenience. Make sure to pin your hat properly, if you consider wearing one. Besides, opt for the dress as per the season as well. If you are uncomfortable to carry a floral bouquet with your wedding informal frock, take few long stemmed lilies or white roses beautifully laced with a ribbon. A small basket filled with roses, lilies or daisies look good too. In fact, flowers perfectly complement your beach wedding.

While giving the order for your beach wedding dress make sure to ask about the expected delivery time. Make sure that your wedding attire is handover to you few days well in advance. This will give you enough time for trial and making some alterations if required. If possible ask them to give in writing about the arrival time of your dress. Most important thing is that it's the most important day of your life so try to make it as special as you can. The perfect location, perfect man and your perfect dress, there could be nothing more that you could have desired for.

Be Prepared For Wedding Emergencies

Having a little bag that you can carry (or have someone in the bridal party carry) with you throughout the wedding day can keep you from worrying about things that may happen, and dealing with them when they do.

Medicine

Although everyone is feeling wonderful on the wedding day, it's amazing what a few nerves can do to the body. Headaches, upset stomachs, and dizziness can all rear their ugly heads right when you are feeling the most pressure.

And that's not just the couple.

You may want to keep on hand a few things to keep everyone feeling good, or at least keep them upright
throughout the ceremony. A chewable or liquid antacid is a great way to calm any nervous stomachs. Crackers and ginger ale are good though too. For headaches, you can keep some acetaminophen on hand. This is usually gentler on the stomach than ibuprofen, and can be taken without food.

If the bride or bridesmaids should feel dizzy, then have them immediately sit down. Dizziness can be caused by a lot of things low blood sugar, nerves, and more serious conditions. If the bride or groom should faint, smelling salts can help to revive them.

Bandaids are good too for sore feet in too tight of shoes.
Beauty fixes

For the women, you may want to have a few beauty tools to keep everyone looking their best. Spare lip gloss and balm are good to keep the lips looking good. A translucent face powder will keep the nose and forehead from shining. Always keep a small bottle of clear nail polish as well. This is good for fixing rhinestones that have fallen off dresses to sealing tears in stockings.

A small brush and mirror can also help, while hair spray and extra deodorant are also nice to have on hand. Bobby pins can help most hair crises, but a curling iron can be an asset too.

Miscellaneous

It's amazing what you may need and never think of. For example, did you think to bring extra straight pins for the corsages or in case the bouquets fell apart? A small sewing kit is good to in order to fix up any small emergencies.

Stain remover and chalk are also good to have on hand. If there should be any stains that need removing, the stain remover is there. If there's something on the bride's dress, then you can lightly cover it with the chalk it works great and won't hurt the dress.

Avoid Wedding Rip-Offs

Planning a wedding can be a stressful event. The last thing you need is to be ripped-off by an unscrupulous wedding vendor or planner. Here are a few tips to help avoid this problem.

Make Your Wedding Arrangements and Bookings As Far In Advance As Possible

Most facilities, vendors, and planners can be booked more than a year in advance. If possible, take advantage of this window of opportunity. Should something go wrong, it will provide you with more time to make alternate arrangements. Also, be aware that some vendors will actually charge you more if you order or book things at the last minute.

Shop Around and Deal With Trustworthy People

Before booking anything you should shop around and get an idea of current prices for each category of your wedding. Don't just hire the first caterer you meet with. Ask around with family, friends, co-workers, etc. and get their recommendations about services they may have used. If you want to be extra safe in this regard, you could also call your local Better Business Bureau. They can provide you with any problem information they may have received regarding a particular company. 

Get Everything in Writing

It would seem obvious to do this, but a lot of couples tend to go on "faith" of what a vendor says, then are shocked with the vendor doesn't follow through. Get everything, down to the smallest detail, in writing and be sure both you and the vendor agree on all points before signing any contract. Include exact descriptions, such as if you are ordering flowers: how may bouquets, the exact type and color of the flowers, etc.

Be Aware of The Fine Print

Read any contracts over very carefully. Pay particular attention to their cancellation policy. You want to make sure it includes a provision for a refund of the deposit if you cancel or change your wedding date by a certain time period before your wedding. Of course, reasonably, you would not get a deposit back if you cancelled two days before the wedding. Be sure to also include a written statement on the contract that you will not pay for services and will expect a complete refund on any deposits if the company does not deliver exactly as specified in the contract. A reputable company will respect this clause.

Regarding Photographers and DJ's

When booking these services with a company, often you may wish to have a particular photographer/videographer and DJ for your wedding because you have seen their work or heard their play style and really like it. Make sure this is detailed on the contract with the person's name. Again, also include the clause that if that particular person is substituted, you will not pay for the service and will receive a refund on all deposits. 

This happened at our wedding with the DJ. The one we were told was coming and who knew how our

ceremony music was laid out did not show up, and the substitute DJ that showed had no idea how the wedding service was to proceed with the music. There was a mess up with some songs during the ceremony and we had no recourse, as we didn't include that provision in the contract. So be aware of this. Don't pay for a last minute substitute (unless you were thoroughly happy with their service).

Avoid Wedding Nerves Weight Gain

If a bride tells you that she's not worried about fitting into her wedding dress, then she is probably lying. While the stress of planning a wedding can cause a lot of women to forget about eating, others find comfort in nibbling a little more or can't find time to exercise.

The result is a wedding dress that needs to be taken out, rather than in at the final fitting. And every bride fears this.

Keeping your dress

When it comes to staying in shape, you need to think of a few things before weighing yourself constantly. First of all, your health is number one at this time. You are under a lot of pressure, so you need to make sure that your body is able to handle it well.

To do this, you will want to find some way to incorporate exercise into your life. Of course, you might laugh and wonder where you'll ever find the time, but know that you should. Even if it's just fifteen minutes a day, you need to walk, run, bike, whatever.

Exercise creates stress resistance. You've heard the expression of blowing off steam by going out for a run, well it works. Not only are you creating a great distraction for your body and mind, but you're also strengthening your body for any added pressure.

Of course, burning calories is always nice.

Watching the nibbles

Mindlessly nibbling is the quickest way to gain weight. And even though you don't have the time to prepare the healthiest of meals, you may want to consider healthier choices. Finding salads with low-fat dressing is good, but overall, they're not very filling. You can actually go to the drive-thru and get a burger; it just shouldn't be the biggest one on the menu. Choose the plain hamburger and a salad it's a quick and filling meal.

You will want to watch the sweets for a while. These can cause you to want to eat more and that's the last thing that you want.

When you're having your fittings for your wedding dress, you will want to be honest about what you can wear. Just because you want to wear a size six dress doesn't mean that your size ten body is going to magically shrink to accommodate you. Be realistic about what you're going to be able to wear and tell the person who is altering the dress if something is too tight.

You don't want to be an uncomfortable bride now, do you?

Avoid Wedding Drama: Special Situations And Invitation Wording

There are some families that may have different members in them, some that wedding books and etiquette guides are struggling to keep up with. How can you include everyone in such a way that all are equally important?

Well, to a certain extent, you can not. There's only so much room on an invitation to include everyone in your life, but for those that you must, there are ways to handle the step and passed on parents in an invitation.

A step up

When it comes to step parents, most couples feel as though they are no different from their biological parents. So, they want to incorporate them into the invitation as well. And while traditionally, the parents are included, how do you put in everyone's name?

Many invitations start off with "Mr. and Mrs. So and So would like to announce the marriage of their daughter Blah Blah to John Doe, son of Mr. and Mrs. Smith." In order to include both sets of parents, you can just add them in at the beginning and end, denoting it with son of Mrs. Smith and her husband Bill and of Mr. Whatever and his wife Something.

It may sound awkward, but it can be done. Other couples have chosen to just include the names of their biological parents, referencing their present last names. That works just as well.

If there is a parent that has been absent for the child's life, then they do not have to be put into the invitation.

When someone has passed on

If one of the couple members would like to include their parent that has passed on, they can say something to the effect of 'son of Mr. Smith and the late Mrs. Smith.' That works just fine. If both parents are deceased, you may want to note that as 'son of the late Mr. and Mrs.'

If someone has recently passed away, then you may want to include that as a separate note as a way to let your guests know and avoid any awkward moments. This is especially true if it was a recent event.

When in doubt about a tricky situation, do what feels right for you. A lot of the time, you can write and rewrite the wording to include everyone and still satisfy you. Read your words aloud a lot of times you can see what something sounds like to a reader, and then judge your choice from there.

At-A-Glance Wedding Planner Checklist

So you two are getting married? Why not do everything you can to make it a wedding to remember? Here are the items you will want to consider carefully while formulating your wedding plans:

Secular or Non-secular?

Decide whether you want a simple civil ceremony or a church-affiliated wedding.

This should be a straightforward decision, but if you run into a snag on this point, don't worry; you can work it out. It'll just be the first of many compromises!

If you want a church wedding, make an appointment to talk to the church representative that handles such things and go from there.

Money

Weddings cost money. It's one of a handful of life-changing events, and an investment to make it everything you ever wanted it to be is appropriate.

Talk it over. Come up with a dollar figure and start gathering estimates. Once you two have decided how much you want to spend, however, don't go over that amount. This is the first big investment you'll make, and you want it to be a pleasant one.

Get Informed

Make your list of "must-haves," such as wedding gown, invitations, flowers, rings and reception. Then call for estimates on each of those items.

If your estimates total less than your wedding budget, you can go on to items on your second-tier list, your "wanna-haves." This list would include such items as a hairdresser, a photographer, a stag night, a hen party and professional music, both for the wedding ceremony and the reception.

The Moment You've Waited For

Did you forget the honeymoon? Not likely!

You may look at the costs you've racked up on paper so far and despair, thinking you'll only have money left over for a night at the bowling alley! If that's the case, go back over all your lists and prune. Or give yourselves more time to save the money you'll need to create your perfect experience. The honeymoon, after all, is the consummation of the marriage. Make it a time to remember forever.

Bon voyage!