A great way to greet your guests when they arrive is to arrange a welcome package in their hotel room. It’s a simple gesture that sets the tone of your wedding and is a lovely surprise. You can customize the package based on where your destination is. If your wedding is on the beach in Mexico, you may want to put sunscreen, bottled water, a beach towel, a hat, and a pair of flip flops in a beach bag. If your nuptials are in a city, like Niagara Falls, you can put an area map, a visitor’s guide, a gift certificate for a planned activity, casino vouchers, and a bottle of ice wine in a backpack. Whatever you put in this package, make sure to add a welcome letter to really personalize it. The last thing to consider is to keep the gifts lightweight and not too bulky because you want your guests to be able to bring them home.
Image from Intimate Weddings
When you’re planning a destination wedding, you probably have your wedding specialist thinking of the small details for you. But that doesn’t mean you can’t think of ideas on your own to make your wedding suit your style. Little things such as save the dates and invitations are not something that the resort will provide you; but today we’re going to show you some ideas that will have your guests excited about your wedding and get you all set for your destination wedding.
Save the dates
Save the dates is a fun way to let your guests know of your wedding date while getting a glimpse of the theme of your wedding. And trust me, you need to let your guests know you are having a destination wedding, to give them enough time to save. So getting those save the dates early in the mail is important!
Luggage tags
What better way to let your guests know about your wedding date than to send them a customized luggage tag with all the information about your wedding? Sunshine and Ravioli create these amazing luggage tags that you can definitely add to one of your many ideas for your upcoming destination wedding
Invitations
Just like the save the dates, this is also something that you can customize to ensure it stays with your destination theme. From passports, boarding passes, message in a bottle the possibilities are endless! I really like the idea of passports and boarding passes. It will really get your guests excited over the thought of going away. Just make sure they don’t mix it up with their real passports and boarding pass at the airport!
Here are some great samples of boarding passes invitations from emdotzee.com
Now that the venue is booked, you need to make sure you are dressed appropriately for the tropical climate. Attire that is made from lightweight material that allows the skin to breathe is ideal for everyone. For the women, chiffon is a popular choice because it flows beautifully in the summer breeze. For the men, a white or natural coloured suit made from cotton, linen or bamboo is trendy.
Images from Bella Beach Weddings
Continuing on to our week-long destination wedding posts, we thought we’d do a feature on some of the popular destinations for weddings. Oh the endless possibilities! There are definitely a lot of things to consider when choosing a place. From the cost, to what is being offered to you and most importantly, what the legal requirements are when getting married in the country of your choice.
Here are some destinations that might make you want to have a destination wedding
Hawaii
Imagine having an option when it comes to your backdrop! Whether it is one of their resorts, sandy beaches or even a remote waterfall. All this is possible in Hawaii! You can even enjoy a luau for your reception! Now that’s definitely taking tradition out of the equation.
The Caribbean
The Caribbean is definitely one of the go to places for destination weddings. You have a lot of countries to choose from and resorts who will work with you every step of the way and offer different packages that suit your needs. From Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Antigua, Aruba and St. Lucia – all you need to do is choose!
Las Vegas
Ok, it’s probably not the beach setting that you’re imagining when you think destination. But couples are going to Las Vegas to get married surrounded by their family and friends! Why not? I mean, the endless casinos and nightlife makes Sin City a playground where adults play. Your whole wedding party can have fun and celebrate your union at the same time.
Cruise Ships
This is probably the most exciting for me. You can do all the pre-wedding celebrations in one country, get married in another and have your honeymoon in a totally different country! Granted your room will look the same throughout but the idea of having your wedding with a cruise is that the adventure doesn’t only stay confined in one resort. You and your guests are in for an adventure as you see the different ports your cruise offers which will make this a vacation/affair to remember.
Images from
Aloha Island Weddings
Air America Inc
The Inspired Bride team will be going to the Dominican Republic for a week and we thought it’s only fitting to do a weeklong feature on destination weddings! To start off the week, we’ll tackle the differences between having a destination wedding and having a traditional wedding.
Here are some reasons why a destination wedding would be more ideal to you over a traditional wedding:
- Couples these days are going out of their way to ensure their wedding is different from the rest and a destination wedding seems like the ticket to do just that
- With the hustle and bustle lifestyle, the idea of having someone else think about the little details seem like the best way to go
- More couples are opting for a more intimate celebration where only family and some close friends are present
- Simplicity is best. You prefer to keep it simple over having elaborate details
- Practicality is key. You get a wedding and a honeymoon all rolled into one. You can stay longer than your guests to have the much needed alone time and just relax after all the wedding related partying
Now on to some reasons why a traditional wedding might be more ideal to you over a destination wedding:
- You’ve always dreamed of a big, elaborate wedding
- You enjoy planning every detail of your wedding
- You are a traditional couple
- The idea of not having your whole family and some friends there is just unimaginable to you.
Whether you’re considering on having a destination wedding or a traditional wedding, it all comes down to one thing. The wedding is the celebration of your union and the way you choose to celebrate it will depend on how you have always imagined your wedding to be (of course with your fiancé’s input as well).
The idea of going away for a wedding seems great! I for one considered having a destination wedding at one point but I’ve always dreamed of having a wedding surrounded by family and friends. I simply can’t imagine not having them there on our special day. Looking back, I can honestly say that they were a big part of our wedding Another reason why we opted to having a traditional wedding was because I as a bride took on the role of being my own wedding planner and enjoyed every minute of it. There were so many ideas and details that I felt wouldn’t be possible if I left it in the hands of people who are miles away from me. Yes, call me obsessed, but this is one day where I wanted my visions to turn out exactly the way I always imagined it.
Inspired Bride would love to hear your take on this topic of whether to choose a destination wedding or have a traditional wedding.
Image from TheWeddingLocation.com
For people who enjoy sweet things like chocolates or candies, the cake and the dessert table is usually something they look forward to when attending a wedding. I know I’m guilty of this. When I was planning my wedding, the cake is one of the things I thought of endlessly in terms of design and flavor.. My four tiered cake had red velvet, chocolate and vanilla to satisfy every palette and the design was something I thought of just as much as I thought of the decor for our venue. I’ve seen some weddings where cupcakes served as an alternative to the traditional wedding cake and couples these days are really being creative when it comes to cakes.
While searching for ideas for a wedding cake, I came across something called Cake Pops. While the idea is not new (probably because I’ve seen them at Starbucks before) incorporating them on your wedding might be. Cake pops will for sure be a hit with kids and the kids at heart. TheSweetSource specializes in these treats and just seeing all the colors make me giddy just like a kid in a candy store. They can customize it based on your theme and colors. If you don’t like this for your wedding cake, you can definitely add this to your sweet table or even as favors. If you have a lot of kids at your wedding, this will definitely be a good thing to add to their table.
Images from TheSweetSource
I love puzzles! Before my son was born, I was determined to finish a 1000 piece puzzle because I knew I would not have time to sit and relax to complete one after he arrived. How true this has become! Starting a puzzle has not crossed my mind until I saw this guestbook alternative. This is such an enjoyable way to get your guests to sign your guestbook and a way to entertain them as well. If I was at a wedding that had this, I would be telling everyone about it so they won’t miss out (like an amazing sale). The customized puzzle shape, pieces and colors are all bonuses to an already amazing product.
Images from Bella Puzzles
My wedding could not have come together so marvelously without the help of our bridal party. I am so thankful for all the pre-wedding details they helped us with, like putting together our invitations and making our centerpieces and especially for standing by our side on our big day. I remember trying to find the perfect gift to thank them for their love and support..something that was unique, useful and everyone would like…but I never ended up finding something with that description, until now. This glassware is the perfect gift! I really like that the cartoon is made to look like the person you are giving it to…so never again will anyone mistaken your drink for theirs. Cheers!
Images from Fizzy Artist
Today we’re adding a new category called Hot Topics! It’s a chance to give our readers the “floor” so to speak to share their opinions on certain topics related to weddings. For our first Hot Topic, we’re going to talk about having a DJ or a Live Band at your wedding reception.
New York Magazine’s Summer Wedding 2012 issue covered this topic and had 2 DJ’s and 2 Bandleaders talk about this to see what the differences are between having a DJ or a band at your wedding. Jason Fioto from Generation Events is one of the DJs featured on this article and this is his advice to couples who are thinking of having either a DJ or a live band at their wedding. “Like all wedding decisions, take the “should” out of the equation. “Should” you choose a DJ because the venue manager says they “have a DJ booth and everyone uses it”? No. “Should” you choose a band because your friend says it’s “more black tie”? Absolutely not! Bottom-line, think about how you like to party and find the best person or group for the job. As long as the entertainment is great and you’re enjoying yourself, everyone else will too.”
I remember the one time when my husband and I considered having a live band at our wedding, because we thought that it would be more fun live. In the end we decided to go with a DJ because we thought that our options wouldn’t be limited in terms of genre. Looking back, I remember the packed dance floor that night as our DJ went from one genre to another since our guests cover different age groups.
As this is a popular topic with most engaged couples, Inspired Bride would love to hear what your thoughts are about having a DJ or a live band at your wedding reception.
