Wedding trends are always changing. For 08 weddings, we are seeing a lot of tiffany blue accents and themes, sparkle and shine, green weddings and as no surprise to me, DESTINATION WEDDINGS! I've seen the trend from the big 400 guest ballroom wedding blowout turn into personal, smaller more intimate weddings. At least 1 out of 4 weddings that come through the bridal salon are destination weddings. Some are Las Vegas weddings, some are beach weddings, a few are on a cruise ship.Why is this you ask? A lot of the couples are in their 30's and have lived together for awhile. They don't want the big fairytale wedding. They want something more personal, yet meaningful. For many of the couples , this is a second wedding. They've had the blowout, they want a wedding that is light years away from the first wedding. They want a wedding and none of the fuss.Other couples feel that it is more cost effective (cheaper) to have a destination wedding. They can have the wedding and the honeymoon in one location. They get the honeymoon of their dreams AND a romantic wedding. For other couples, the beach or destination wedding has always been the dream. A wedding at sunrise in Hawaii, a sunset wedding in the Caribbean, a Las Vegas wedding near the Bellagio fountains, or an Elvis wedding at Graceland Chapel. Other couples have family problems. Blended families, too many stepmothers, too much conflict. Its a lot easier for them to avoid the issue and have a wedding away from home. The focus is on THEM, not the family squabbles. If you need help planning a destination wedding, check out this free destination planning guide.Dream Honeymoons; Destination Weddings!
Thinking about a beach wedding? Google beach wedding and you will have 10,200,000 results. WHOA!! Thats a lot of information to sift through. Even the most die hard bride will have grandchildren before she can check them all out.So where do you start? Most wedding couples have a favorite beach or location. Maybe its the beach they went to ever summer on family vacations. Maybe they've always dreamed of a Hawaiian beach wedding. Or maybe its the Caribbean with its turquoise waters and soft breezes.Start with your favorite location and use that as your starting point. Contact the city or chamber of commerce for information. They'll give you a list of wedding planners and contacts and go from there.We advise you to use a wedding planner if you are planning an out of town beach wedding. They'll cut through all the red tape, steer you in the right direction and keep you from making a costly mistake. The best part: They save you time and stress because they'll do all the detail work.Before you sign ANY contracts, make sure you ask for references and testimonials. A hotel that looks so marvelous on the internet may not be habitable in person. Also check beach wedding reviews at Trip Advisor. These are unbiased trip reports from real life beach brides. I also use Trip Advisor to check out hotels in any city I'm traveling to before I make my reservation. All the glossy web pages in the world don't make a difference, I prefer to hear from people who've stayed there and get the real story.
