Destination Weddings & Honeymoons On A Budget

Yes, you CAN have a destination wedding
on a budget. Travel bargains abound right now,
the airlines are slashing air fare, the resorts
and cruise lines are enticing you with specials
to get you to travel. They'd rather have their
rooms full and their staff working than have
empty rooms. There has never been a better
time to travel and combine your wedding
and honeymoon.

Here are some specials that we just came
across:
Get on board for a cruise ship wedding.
The prices are UNBELIEVABLE. Your
food is all included, your room and your
entertainment. Just sign up on the website.
The deals are so good right now that I'm
booking my own trip. I've been on a few
of these ships and had a wonderful time,
and paid close to a thousand dollars a person
for the same itinerary. Sign up for Carnival's
newsletters and get the deals!
3,4 and 5 day Carnival Cruises from $249
This is a bargain!

Beaches Resorts is having a special but you
have to book by May 28, 2009.
Get 1 Night Free plus save up to 60%
at Beaches Sandy Bay until May 28th, 2009
Sandy Beach is a 7 mile beach of pure white
sugar sand located in Negril, Jamaica. Beaches
is a Sandals Resort, known for their all inclusive
pampering treatment. Everything is included.
You can leave your wallet at home. Just make
sure you take your ID so you can travel!

Vegas is dirt cheap right now, that is, if you can
stay out of the casinos! We've found the Flamingo
hotel for $40 a night and the Bellagio which is one
of THE top hotels in the world $ 139 a night.
Both hotels are top rated, in excellent
strip locations and there are more deals here:
Top Hotel Deals in Las Vegas

We also found some great deals on hotel
rooms in Las Vegas here:
Las Vegas Hotels from $29!
and here:Las Vegas Hotels

And you can always get a great deal on
Las Vegas here: Las Vegas - 5-star -
from $79 per night from Hotwire.com!

Las Vegas is trying to keep the action rolling
and you get the deals! I just got back from there myself
and the room rates are rock bottom but not likely
to remain there forever. I scored Wynn's for
$129 a night and the Venetian for $79 a night by
using the links above. Woo Hoo, I love to travel
first class on a beer budget. And the beds at
Wynns are the most comfortable bed you'll ever
find. I want one!

The top hotels In Las Vegas are Wynn's, the Venetian
and the Bellagio, but other great hotels include
the Flamingo, the Luxor, Monte Carlo, Treasure
Island, the Mirage, MGM Grand, Harrah's,
Golden Nugget, The Palms, Rio, Hard Rock
and more. If you tell them you are there
to get married, you may get a room upgrade and
a bottle of champagne!


We found amazing airfare deals to Las Vegas here:
$36 & up -- Fly Throughout the U.S. & Canada
into June --As seen on Travelzoo's Top 20

If you are ready to tie the knot in May, check
this out:
VEGAS: May Weekend Flight Deals on Orbitz!

Looking for a great wedding chapel in Las Vegas?
We love the Little Chapel of the Flowers.
We've had family marry here and the service was excellent
and the prices are affordable.

Punta Cana in the Caribbean is a new hot spot that
is still affordable and has 4 and 5 star resorts
and wedding packages. The beaches are gorgeous,
and our brides have raved about the service and
the food. Go the all inclusive route and save a lot
of money. Once this area is hit heavy by
tourists, the prices will increase. Enjoy
paradise NOW while its affordable.
Dominican Republic - Punta Cana Vacations

If you are looking for a flight and don't want
to wade through tons of sights looking for the
best travel deal, this site will do it all for you.
Find Cheap Flights from 100+ Sites with One Click.

If you want a destination wedding, plan it while
the prices are down and start packing.

For all the legalities, go to Beach Bride To Be
and have a happy wedding!

Destination Wedding Announcement & Invitations

Destination brides have been searching for
a destination wedding announcement or
invitation that is made SPECIFICALLY for a
destination wedding. Most traditional wedding
invitations and announcements are too
uber traditional and don't convey the
spirit, excitement and adventure of
a destination wedding. We just came
across these invitations and had to share them
with you! Click on the pic for more info.


The perfect wedding announcement of your
destination wedding and invitation to a post
wedding party. Everyone wants to see the bride
and groom dresses up for their wedding.


This invitation is called Tropical Tryst.
Isn't that a great name? Or a great destination
wedding theme?



Here is the perfect invitation for a beach wedding.
It features the sand dollar which also has
religious significance. And its pretty, modern
and simple, everything a beach wedding should be!



The card below can easily be adapted into a wedding
invitation, save the date card or wedding
announcement. The palm trees against the
Caribbean blue remind me of a tropical paradise.
And yes, the Caribbean seas are really this color!



Getting married in Hawaii? Hawaii is synonymous with
Hibiscus flowers and bushes.



Natural coral and the beach is a no brainer.
Love the simplicity of this invitation.



Weddings in sunny Mexico are a reason for a fiesta!
This can be adapted into an announcement, wedding
invitation or a fiesta at home after the wedding.
This just makes me want to celebrate!

Reasons Couples Choose A Destination Wedding

Couples used to elope to get secretly
married. Couples headed to Las Vegas
or Niagara Falls. It evolved into a full blown
destination wedding when couples decided
to go away and have their dream wedding
away from home.

We asked a lot of couples why they
decided on a destination wedding and
here's what they said.

We've always dreamed of getting married
at a beach. We're beach people.

We got engaged on a vacation to Cabo.
It seemed like a natural place for
our wedding.

It was a second wedding for both of us.
We didn't want a large church wedding since
we'd both been there and done that. We
wanted something meaningful and less showy.

Our family was driving us nuts. Both moms
wanted what THEY wanted. The stress was killing
us and we got tired of this not being about
our wedding. So we planned a destination wedding
and it was amazing.

We have a big blended family and they don't
get along. We didn't want to deal with doing
seating charts to keep them apart. You can
choose your friends, but you can't choose
your relatives.

My husbands father is an alcoholic and we could
either have a reception with no alcohol or
have someone watch him all day long so he
doesn't create an incident. My husband had a
hard life because of his dad's drinking and even
though he loves him dearly, it wasn't fair
to my husband to worry about his dad on our
wedding day. We decided a destination wedding
was the way to go.

We went to a friends wedding in the Bahamas. It was
beautiful. We enjoyed it so much that we decided
when we got married, that we wanted a destination
wedding at sunset on a beach.

We come from different religious backgrounds. It
isn't a problem for us, but it IS a problem for
our parents. So, we decided on a nondenominational
chapel wedding to avoid the religion argument.

We wanted a vacation and we wanted to get married.
Killed two birds with one stone..LOL.

A destination wedding was less expensive and fit
into our budget. I thought I wanted the big
fairy tale wedding, but the economy made me realize
that we shouldn't be spending that money for a huge
wedding. So we decided on to upgrade on a destination
wedding and we are so glad we did!

Keeping Your Destination Wedding Guests in the Loop

A destination wedding means you have to
keep the information flowing to the
guests who are traveling to your wedding.
They need to know of any change of plans
that will affect their travel plans.

Save the date cards should be sent out
as far in advance as possible. Your guests will
need time to arrange their finances, save for
the trip and get the time off work so they can
attend your wedding. You should include a link to
a personal wedding web site where you can
keep current information.
wedsimple.com - View our beautiful website designs

Post on the site special information for your
guests such as travel agents or sites you
are working with to help them make their
travel arrangements. Post discounted hotel
options for the guests. Most resorts or hotels
will discount a block of hotel rooms for your
guests. You, as the bride, need to arrange
this either by negotiation or by using a
wedding planner in your location.

You might want to include a schedule of the wedding
events as well as local things for them to see
or do. Include information on local weather and
transportation. Ask yourself: If I were a guest,
what would I want or need to know so I can attend
this wedding. Then answer them on your personal
web site.

The more information you give to your guests, the
easier it will be for everyone to attend the
wedding and have a blast! Remember, your guests
are spending a lot of money to travel to the wedding
and this is also a vacation for them. Give them
free time to enjoy themselves and take in some of
the local color, lounge by the pool or beach or
just chill.

Destination Weddings and Dealing With the Humidity

Tropical climate equals humidity. Lets say
you are getting married in Florida, and yes,
Florida does have tropical weather and the
humidity is off the charts. Normal Florida
weather, so to speak. Its humid and you
are in a wedding dress for a beach wedding.
How do you stay picture perfect and look fresh?

My nephew had an awesome beach wedding in Florida.
Everything was perfect, except for the humidity.
It was so humid in the evening that my teeth were
sweating. We'd been rocking out on the dance floor
that was on a huge deck surrounding the hotel.
There were fans, but no ocean breeze and the
brides makeup looked fresher than a daisy.
Mandy, the bride, asked me to help her remove
her crinoline. No one could figure out how to
peel it off her because of the corset back but
me. So while I was helping her cool off,
she told me she had on makeup primer.
Head smack! Why hadn't I thought of that?

Rule number one: Wear makeup primer. It
will keep your makeup on through the
most wicked humidity.

Carry some makeup blotters that blot your
skin and remove the oils and leave the
makeup intact.

Rule number two: Don't wear a heavy crinoline
if you are having a beach wedding. Most
dresses already have a built in crinoline
and you don't need more fullness and added
fabric to make you warmer.

Rule number three: If you are having
an outdoor or beach wedding with an
outdoor reception, keep the cold drinks
flowing. Limit your alcohol intake, it
will make you warmer. Drink ice water, ice
tea and lemonade to rehydrate.

Rule number four: Let your groomsmen take
off their ties and jacket after the ceremony
and the pictures. Tuxes are hot, in both
senses of the word. ;)

Rule number five: Enjoy yourself, a cool
shower when you get home and you'll feel
great!

We've Relaunched Our Destination Web Site!

After months, our revamped website is
finally online for all of our destination
brides! Beach Bride To Be
has been expanded with new destinations, more wedding
planning tips and more ideas. Our old web host had
change their platform, and made it nearly impossible
for us to update the site. So, after months of
hard work, we rebuilt the site from the bottom up.

Our revamped site is a work in progress, we will
be adding more destinations, more advice and more
comments from real life destination brides who
have been there and done that and give their
honest impressions.

If you have destination wedding questions, we
have answers. Comment on the blog or
email through our FAQ page and we'll find
the answer for you!

Flying To Your Destination Wedding

Most destination weddings involve the bride
and groom or wedding guests flying to the
destination. Flying is becoming a pain in the
rear with all the new rules and regulations implemented
by the airlines. Educate yourself BEFORE you leave
so that you don't end up paying excess baggage fees or
repacking your bags at the check in counter.

I recently was in line to check in at a Delta counter.
Most of the people in line didn't know that there
were weight limits to their suitcase and ended up
repacking their bags at the counter. No one wanted
to pay the additional $25.00 for a few extra pounds.
I didn't blame them, but the line didn't move for one
solid hour and tempers were short.

The airlines are changing their baggage rules
by the second. US Airways, American and United
are charging $15.00 to check ONE bag. Only
Southwest isn't charging a bag check fee unless
you have a third bag. The second bag price varies,
but that is the latest gotcha to get you to part with
your money. Some are charging for seat selection!
US Airways is even charging for soft drinks.
How long will it be until they figure out
how to charge for a seatbelt?

Pack your own snacks to eat on the plane. Easy to bring
along snacks are grapes, crackers, cookies, trail mix,
granola bars, etc. You'll save a bundle, but remember,
you can't bring any beverages from home. You'll have to
buy them at the airport at an inflated price.

Learn to pack lighter to avoid a lot of pitfalls
at the check in counter.

Know the latest rules and regulations by
going to RickSeaney.com.
He is updating his chart to reflect the latest
airline fees so there isn't any unpleasant surprise
on the way to your destination wedding!