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 Destination Wedding Tips
Popular Caribbean Weddings - Weddings in the Caribbean
Getting The Most Out Of Your Aruba Wedding Plans
One of the risks of planning your own Aruba wedding involves miscommunication. Even when the information is clearly presented to you, it's still possible to overlook that little sentence at the bottom of the website or brochure.
For example, Aruba law states the marriage legalities must take place in a certain place such as the town hall. So that beach wedding celebration you've planned in great detail will really just be a celebration, with no real legal wedding taking place. Don't worry, you can still have your Aruba wedding, but you should communicate with guests that the necessary paperwork will be filed without them, but the "real" wedding is on the beach.
Perhaps you can have a send-off breakfast with all the guests to wish you well on your paperwork appointment, and then celebrate the "actual" wedding on the beach with everybody.
Unique Jamaican Weddings
There's nothing quite like Jamaica's laid-back atmosphere and rich culture. Naturally, some places are a little better than others for your wedding ceremony, especially if you plan to head off the beaten track. If you're interested in mixing the activities available at the resort with your Jamaica wedding plans, talk to your destination wedding specialist.
Jamaica is a great spot to have a non-traditional wedding. The locals are up for just about anything (within reason!). If you're going to have a Jamaica wedding, take advantage of the Jamaican experience. A professional destination wedding specialist will help you incorporate the majesty of the Jamaican tropics with your Jamaica wedding plans.
You're really not bound to a traditional beach/resort wedding you know! As long as the ceremony takes place before 8 p.m. Jamaican time, you'll be fine. A few nontraditional Jamaica wedding ideas include:- Drifting down a sultry winding river on inner tubes. You could get married at the resort and then join your guests in a relaxing, sight-seeing ride down a Jamaican river.
- Visit the top of Dunn's River Falls.
- Horseback riding is big in Jamaica, so you might want to ask your wedding specialist to incorporate it into your Jamaican wedding weekend.
Your wedding specialist will make sure everything is legal, the documents are in place, and your guests arrive safely. Want to add some local traditions to your ceremony? Instruct your guests to throw their hands in the air at the end of your wedding ceremony and shout, "IRIE!" Irie (pronounced I-ree) is a Rastafarian term signifying peace and harmony.
The Best Caribbean Wedding Plans Are The Ones You Don't Make Yourself
Congratulations! Not only are you planning a Caribbean wedding, you've also managed to secure a decent price at a luxury resort for you and all of your guests. You're always hearing about great low airfare rates so you figured why get a wedding vacation package? It's easy to mislead ourselves into thinking we're somehow going to get a better price by spending all of our time scouring websites for the hottest deals.
Unfortunately, that doesn't always work. Planning a last minute vacation is not the same as planning an Aruba wedding or a St. Lucia wedding. For one thing, you might be comfortable waiting for last minute seat sales for vacation travel, but do you really want to gamble the success of your Caribbean destination wedding on the off-chance you'll get that deal of a lifetime? Even if there are some seat sales that just happen to materialize, there probably won't be enough seat sales for all of your guests.
By letting a personal destination wedding specialist take care of your Caribbean destination wedding plans, you'll be guaranteed to get the best price available -- not just for you, but for all of your guests. Because of the professional relationship wedding specialists have with their travel suppliers, they're much more likely to get a better wedding package for you and your guests than you could on your own.
Bringing Families Together at a Turks And Caicos Wedding
You don't have to be a Brady Bunch family to experience stressful moments when bringing two families together. Whether your children are elementary school-aged or graduating high school, you want to make them feel valued and truly part of that hot Turks and Caicos wedding you've been planning.
Talk to your personal destination wedding specialist about getting the kids involved in the wedding. Your specialist could coordinate any one of the following ideas:- Have your specialist present an itinerary of family fun packages to be enjoyed together after the ceremony.
- Talk to the teens about sharing a suite of rooms together and surprise them with gift baskets made up especially for their age groups.
- When planning a Caribbean wedding, ask the officiator to make an announcement after the ceremony that signifies the merging of two families into one.
- More than a couple days at a Caribbean theme wedding might be overwhelming for small children. To make it easier for the child, work with your wedding specialist to send the child home in the care of a trusted guest.
Whatever you do, don't be shy about talking to your destination wedding specialist about any concerns you have for the children. Get them involved and actively participating in your exotic wedding.
Winding Down Before The Aruba Wedding
Those humid gusts of Caribbean wind can really tangle your hair, making your wedding photos look as if you just participated in a science experiment instead of the Aruba wedding of your dreams. Caribbean weather is hot and sultry, and while you might not care what your hair looks like when you're vacationing on a beach lounger, you don't want to look at your photographs later and say, "Was that a jelly fish stuck in my hair?"
One of the best things about Caribbean wedding resorts is the spa treatments available. If the resort doesn't have on-site hair stylists, your destination wedding specialist can help you find a recommended local one for you and your wedding party. You'll want light makeup and a simple hairstyle that stays put when Caribbean wind whips across the sand.
You know what else your destination wedding specialist can help coordinate? Massages for the bride and groom (pre- or post-wedding)! Imagine de-stressing before your Aruba wedding under the skilled hands of a professional masseuse. Your specialist can even arrange for full day spa treatments before the wedding. Most Caribbean wedding locations require a 24- or 72-hour minimum stay before being able to receive a marriage license, so you may as well pamper yourselves in the meantime.
If you're interested in doing things a little "old school," ask your personal destination wedding specialist to coordinate spa/sports activities that keep you and your partner apart for the day or two before the wedding. A little "me time" will help slow things down for you and put you in the right frame of mind for your wedding.
The Importance Of A Wedding Planner
A lot of brides initially cringe at the idea of letting someone else take control of their wedding plans. It takes a certain leap of faith to trust a wedding specialist enough to handle every little detail. After all, you want a certain color scheme, specific flowers, and the perfect backdrop for your St. Martin wedding. Unfortunately, the details of planning a destination wedding often get much more complicated when it comes to coordinating travel arrangements for the engaged couple and their guests.
If you've been dreaming of all-inclusive Caribbean weddings, but you're not sure where to even get started, have a look at the web for professional destination wedding planners. Here's the thing: When you book your St. Martin wedding through a destination wedding planner like DestinationWeddings.com, you'll be granted access to the free services of a personal destination wedding planner.
A reputable wedding specialist has the kind of clout to make sure you're not stuck at the airport for unforeseeable reasons, or stuck without a hotel room. There have actually been situations where the engaged couple arrived at their destination only to discover that their rooms had been given away to someone else. On their own, the couple would have been forced to find another hotel/resort. In fact, the situation appeared to be closed for negotiation until the couple mentioned the name of a certain wedding specialist they had. Miraculously, a room appeared! The bottom line is that if you're going to book a St. Martin wedding, or any wedding in the Caribbean, you may as well do it right with the help of someone who has connections and knows how to jump through hoops.
Confirming The Guest List Of Your Aruba Wedding
The moment you and your partner decided to have an Aruba wedding, you knew it was the right decision. It probably didn't take long for the conversation to turn toward who you'd like to invite to the wedding. Before you jump into a commitment with a destination wedding specialist, ask your friends and family to share their feedback and to confirm their intention to attend the ceremony. Wedding specialists work hard to make sure everything is perfect, including talking with your guests and helping them with their travel arrangements.
When you bring up the idea with your family and friends, there are certain things they'll want to know right away including possible dates, location (maybe some geographical, climate, cultural details), and approximate travel costs. Answer as many questions as you can and also direct them to DestinationWedding.com's frequently asked questions.
If celebrating the best day of your life isn't enough incentive for them, highlight the fact that the trip will also be a time to reconnect with family and enjoy some much-needed vacation time.
Some of your friends and family might think they have to book a trip for an entire week, but that's not true! Make sure to tell them that they're free to arrange whatever travel plans work best for them. For example, maybe there's a three-day travel package that is more convenient. The point is to make sure that everyone invited is aware of the different possibilities available to them. In terms of financing, some destination wedding planners offer the opportunity to pay for the trip in installments, so be sure to mention so to your invited guests.
The Maid Of Honor - Not Your Personal Assistant
Traditionally, it's the maid of honor who takes on the responsibility of therapist to the bride, personal shopper, and personal assistant. Until you experience the process yourself, you don't even realize how much you're going to rely on her! And you expect her to remain your best friend?
One of the many perks of making your travel arrangements through a specialized destination wedding travel site is the personal destination wedding specialist that comes with the package. Having a St. Lucia wedding? Don't ask your maid of honor to handle all of the details! Your personal destination wedding specialist should be the one to step in and make things right if things go wrong. His or her job is to work out all the little bugs related to travel arrangements (for you and your guests), and make sure that the on-site resort wedding coordinator arranges to have your flowers delivered on time to the wedding site, arranges for on-site catering... the list goes on.
Like any other day, your maid of honor should be your confidante, not your personal assistant. Spend time before your St. Lucia wedding enjoying time with your friends, not bossing them around! While you're floating in the pool enjoying a cool drink, your personal destination wedding specialist will be working round-the-clock to make sure everything about your St. Lucia wedding is perfect.
Please Remember:
Destination weddings take considerable planning and research, and the best properties & accommodations often book far in advance of the wedding date.
The earlier you begin planning your wedding, the greater the likelihood you will be able to book the perfect property for you and your guests.
Start Planning your Destination Wedding Today.
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