Choosing a honeymoon destination can often be cause for concern. Some couples are fortunate enough to receive a honeymoon trip as their wedding present; others can flat out pay for their dream honeymoon. However, the reality is that many brides cannot afford to splurge too much on the honeymoon—especially during an economic downturn. The good news is that there are tons of options for the couple on a budget to have a fulfilling and romantic honeymoon. Here we provide tips to help you on your way to romantic bliss…
1. The first tip is to make the honeymoon a part of your wedding budget. This way it doesn’t seem like an addendum to the wedding, but rather a part of the celebration.
2. Have you ever wanted to take a cross country road trip stopping at all of the landmarks that our great country is known for? Well here is your chance! You can take a trip seeing everything this country has to offer from Lady Liberty to the Grand Canyon. Did we mention the 48 National Parks in the U.S.? This is a great option for the nature lovers out there. Check them out at www.nps.gov. If nature is not your thing, there are still many wonderful honeymoon locations stateside. Have your travel agent come with a few ideas.
3. Would you like to avoid receiving 20 toaster ovens? Register for your honeymoon! While it is a HUGE wedding faux pas to include any type of registry in your invitation, you can spread the word through your family, friends, and bridal party. There are all sorts of online options for this like honeymoonwishes.com or the honeymoon.com. Beware that these sites have to make their money some kind of way so they take a percentage of the donations you receive.
4. If you absolutely must go out of the country sign up for airfare alerts from various travel engines like Priceline or Hotwire. These sites will send you an email or text message when airfares are within your price range or if they drop in general. Also, to save on airfare, you could ask around to see if family or friends would like to “donate” some of their frequent flier miles. Check to make sure that particular airline will allow for such transfers.
5. If you are a timeshare owner or know someone who is, ask if they would like to let you use it as a gift or even at a discounted rate. Chances are you won’t be paying them as much as you would if you got a hotel on your own. If you are a timeshare owner, see what they have to offer. With Wyndham, for instance, you can deposit your points with RCI and pay just a $199 exchange fee for a week anywhere outside of the U.S.
6. A young couple just returned from their honeymoon in St. Maarten. The bride noted that simply because they mentioned that they were on their honeymoon other vacationers showered them with dinners and shows. If you mention that you are honeymooning service providers will often go the extra mile at no charge to you. Depending on the hotel you can receive anything from an upgraded room to a bottle of champagne and strawberries. What could it hurt to mention it? You’ll want to shout it to the world anyway!
Happy honeymoon hunting!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Bouquet Toss or Fumble
If you’re anything like our clients, you probably are not thrilled about the whole bouquet and garter toss traditions. Single women sometimes find the playful display degrading while others take it in fun.
The bouquet toss started in France during the 14th century. Believing that brides held some special luck on their wedding day, guests would try to tear a piece from the bride’s dress after the ceremony ended. To ward off the luck-seeking mob, brides would throw their stockings or garter into the crowd. The practice later evolved to tossing the bouquet.
The bouquet/garter toss ranges from hysterical fun when you see your favorite cousin diving under a table to catch it to extreme embarrassment when the groom decides to get frisky while collecting the garter from his bride’s thigh. A few notes of caution on this:
Consider making the tradition adults only. Why, you might ask? The bouquet recipient usually has the garter slid onto her leg by the garter recipient. So if the bouquet catcher is a 12 year old girl and the garter catcher is a 35 year old man…you get where we’re going with this one.
If you’re easily embarrassed and would prefer a little discretion, slide the garter down closer to your knee before the groom publicly removes it.
Make sure you know what song the DJ will play while the garter is being removed. We’ve seen brides turn flush red when the DJ played strip tease style tunes with Grandpa sitting a few feet away.
There are also some alternatives to how the bouquet is awarded. Here are a few ideas:
Present the bouquet to your best friend or some other female you’d like to honor. It’s a great opportunity to say a few words about her significance in your life.
The bouquet could be a gift to the couple who has been married the longest.
Have your florist design a bouquet that separates into several pieces. You could then present sections of the bouquet to each of your bridesmaids, sisters or aunts.
Whatever you chose, make sure it’s something that’s special to you.
Happy Planning!
P.S. Here's a great read for customizing other wedding traditions: The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions: Readings, Rituals, Music, Dances, and Toasts
The bouquet toss started in France during the 14th century. Believing that brides held some special luck on their wedding day, guests would try to tear a piece from the bride’s dress after the ceremony ended. To ward off the luck-seeking mob, brides would throw their stockings or garter into the crowd. The practice later evolved to tossing the bouquet.
The bouquet/garter toss ranges from hysterical fun when you see your favorite cousin diving under a table to catch it to extreme embarrassment when the groom decides to get frisky while collecting the garter from his bride’s thigh. A few notes of caution on this:
Consider making the tradition adults only. Why, you might ask? The bouquet recipient usually has the garter slid onto her leg by the garter recipient. So if the bouquet catcher is a 12 year old girl and the garter catcher is a 35 year old man…you get where we’re going with this one.
If you’re easily embarrassed and would prefer a little discretion, slide the garter down closer to your knee before the groom publicly removes it.
Make sure you know what song the DJ will play while the garter is being removed. We’ve seen brides turn flush red when the DJ played strip tease style tunes with Grandpa sitting a few feet away.
There are also some alternatives to how the bouquet is awarded. Here are a few ideas:
Present the bouquet to your best friend or some other female you’d like to honor. It’s a great opportunity to say a few words about her significance in your life.
The bouquet could be a gift to the couple who has been married the longest.
Have your florist design a bouquet that separates into several pieces. You could then present sections of the bouquet to each of your bridesmaids, sisters or aunts.
Whatever you chose, make sure it’s something that’s special to you.
Happy Planning!
P.S. Here's a great read for customizing other wedding traditions: The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions: Readings, Rituals, Music, Dances, and Toasts
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Let the Music Play
Music is one of the most important considerations for your wedding. It will set the tone of your event from start to finish, and it's an imprint of who you and your beloved are as a couple. On the other hand, you don't want to pull your hair out making the music selections either. Listen to the words (if there are any), but most importantly, pay attention to how a certain song makes you feel. It it feels good, it's probably the right song. If you don't already have a large selection of music, you can check out some sample options at the Wedding Wire song page.
Here's how the folks at Ensemble Elan suggest making your picks:
A GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR WEDDING MUSIC
Q: What song absolutely melts your heart?
A: That's your Processional.
Q: What song could you hear over and over without tiring of it?
A: That could be for your attendants.
Q: What song honors your family?
A: That's the "Seating of the Mothers"
Q: What song reminds you of when you fell in love?
A: That's your First Dance.
Planning for your reception dance music is a lot less controlled. Pick a great band or DJ that fits your style. It's important that they understand the atmosphere you want to create. If there are special songs the band will need to learn, make sure you inform them in writing at least 4 months before the wedding. If some of your picks are not performance-friendly, the band could play those on CD during their breaks.
After you've given your band or DJ a list of DO NOT PLAY songs and a very short list of songs you absolutely want to hear, trust them to keep your guests entertained. You will still need someone to communicate the order and timing of the toasts, special dances and bouquet toss, etc. (Hopefully, a wedding planner). But the entertainers should be clear on what you want to hear months ahead of the wedding.
Here's how the folks at Ensemble Elan suggest making your picks:
A GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR WEDDING MUSIC
Q: What song absolutely melts your heart?
A: That's your Processional.
Q: What song could you hear over and over without tiring of it?
A: That could be for your attendants.
Q: What song honors your family?
A: That's the "Seating of the Mothers"
Q: What song reminds you of when you fell in love?
A: That's your First Dance.
Planning for your reception dance music is a lot less controlled. Pick a great band or DJ that fits your style. It's important that they understand the atmosphere you want to create. If there are special songs the band will need to learn, make sure you inform them in writing at least 4 months before the wedding. If some of your picks are not performance-friendly, the band could play those on CD during their breaks.
After you've given your band or DJ a list of DO NOT PLAY songs and a very short list of songs you absolutely want to hear, trust them to keep your guests entertained. You will still need someone to communicate the order and timing of the toasts, special dances and bouquet toss, etc. (Hopefully, a wedding planner). But the entertainers should be clear on what you want to hear months ahead of the wedding.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Cutting the Wedding Budget – Without the Pain
So you’re planning your wedding and find it’s not so easy to squeeze a $50,000 wedding out of your $30,000 budget. Here are some almost painless budget-trimming tips from Cherished Events, Inc:
Ask yourself if it will matter in 10 years
No one is going to remember the car you pulled up in unless it was something out of the ordinary or involved a horse and carriage. Even if you were dreaming of driving off into the sunset in that 1965 white convertible, if it doesn’t fit in the budget, skip it. Besides, the bridal party can decorate your usual mode of transportation with “Just Married” signs just as well and, it will actually make for more interesting pictures later. Whether or not they had a great time is what your guests are going to remember most anyway.
Who said Saturday was best?
Everyone loves a Saturday, but for several thousands in discounts, most of us could learn to like Friday or Sunday just as well. More venues and vendors that are hard to get will be available. To boot, Fridays can actually be more advantageous since it gives the couple the whole weekend to recuperate or have a family brunch and still catch that honeymoon flight to Rome.
What about the band
There is another alternative besides a DJ for the couple that really wants a band, but doesn’t have $5,000 or more to spend. A hybrid consisting of one singer instead of three along with a scaled down ensemble of musicians accompanied by recorded music would fool the senses. Ask the band of interest if they would be willing to offer a hybrid option for you. It should cut your cuts by at least 40%.
Dressing the part
Before you shell out thousands for that Vera Wang dress you love (we would not think of suggesting you choose another), you may want to check out a wedding dress consignment shop. Stores like Sabrina Ann (http://www.sabrinaann.com/) near Philadelphia, carry brand new and once-worn designer gowns. In one phone call, you could find out if they have the dress you’re looking for in stock.
See, we said it would be painless. Until next time, Happy Planning!
Ask yourself if it will matter in 10 years
No one is going to remember the car you pulled up in unless it was something out of the ordinary or involved a horse and carriage. Even if you were dreaming of driving off into the sunset in that 1965 white convertible, if it doesn’t fit in the budget, skip it. Besides, the bridal party can decorate your usual mode of transportation with “Just Married” signs just as well and, it will actually make for more interesting pictures later. Whether or not they had a great time is what your guests are going to remember most anyway.
Who said Saturday was best?
Everyone loves a Saturday, but for several thousands in discounts, most of us could learn to like Friday or Sunday just as well. More venues and vendors that are hard to get will be available. To boot, Fridays can actually be more advantageous since it gives the couple the whole weekend to recuperate or have a family brunch and still catch that honeymoon flight to Rome.
What about the band
There is another alternative besides a DJ for the couple that really wants a band, but doesn’t have $5,000 or more to spend. A hybrid consisting of one singer instead of three along with a scaled down ensemble of musicians accompanied by recorded music would fool the senses. Ask the band of interest if they would be willing to offer a hybrid option for you. It should cut your cuts by at least 40%.
Dressing the part
Before you shell out thousands for that Vera Wang dress you love (we would not think of suggesting you choose another), you may want to check out a wedding dress consignment shop. Stores like Sabrina Ann (http://www.sabrinaann.com/) near Philadelphia, carry brand new and once-worn designer gowns. In one phone call, you could find out if they have the dress you’re looking for in stock.
See, we said it would be painless. Until next time, Happy Planning!
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