How to Make Travel Easy for Destination Wedding Guests

We appreciate all those people who go out of their way to attend our destination weddings. So, of course we want to make any related travel easy on them. Here are some ways to do exactly that:

  • Timing is everything. Subsequently, you may want to plan your destination wedding during shoulder season in Florida, which is just before the holidays in late fall (also helping YOU avoid hurricane season) or in April or May, after our peak/winter season, when the weather tends to be fabulous here in Florida. What this means for your guests, aside from some of Florida’s best weather, is lower costs and better availability on flights and accommodations, as well as the ever-so-pleasant absence of crowds – which again helps you with your actual wedding reception planning, costs and facilitation.
  • Advance, detailed notice will help them to better prepare with all of their travel details and vacation time, etc. Be sure to include all the helpful travel information they may need.
  • Consider holding your wedding reception at a resort where it is lovely, lavish and convenient for you and your guests can bunk right there – making it lovely, lavish and convenient for them too!
  • Although it is not expected, you can go above and beyond and book block accommodations at a hotel which is convenient to your event.
  • As a way of saying thanks, you can also do a few things including inviting any out of town guests to your rehearsal dinner and presenting them with a goodie back loaded with all sorts of items that may make their trip even better – things like sunscreen, a bottle of bubbly, a disposable camera and maybe even a souvenir. Don’t forget to actually SAY thank you with a personal, handwritten note to let them know how much you appreciate their efforts and attendance.

How to Create a Luxury Beach Wedding on a Budget

If you are looking to create an affordable luxury wedding, you are already partway there. Since you have chosen a beach wedding, before you even lift a finger, you can rest assured that your ceremony venue is gorgeous. If it is in the Daytona area, you also already have a built-in honeymoon and extraordinary guest entertainment that only a Daytona area destination wedding can provide.

Now let’s talk attire. Have you ever considered a vintage wedding gown? A vintage wedding dress can provide silk, or lace and unsurpassed grace. They have become so popular, you can shop them in places as convenient as Etsy and Amazon where you’ll find everything from 1920 ostrich feathers, to beaded opulence, tulle cupcake tiers and ethereal renaissance. Flower girl, bridesmaid and mother of the bride dresses come in scads of vintage styles and colors too!

For the piece de resistance, some of the best advice for creating a beach wedding on a budget is to retain the services of a trusted and premier beach wedding planner such as Affordable Beach Wedding. Their extensive network and experience can not only save you money, but provide peace of mind, as well as the wedding of your dreams.

The consummate and reliable professionals at Affordable Beach Wedding have been planning beach weddings in the Central Florida area exceptionally well for quite a few years and they offer a wide range of wedding packages from modest to elaborate…at prices to meet every size wedding budget.

Small Wedding, Big Memories: Why Micro Weddings Are Growing

Price

In a world where gas and grocery prices continue to soar, it is no wonder micro weddings are growing in popularity. Why not create meaningful memories in an intimate setting with the people you love most…all while saving quite a bit of money? A smaller guest list translates into smaller costs for everything from your venue, to catering, décor and more…savings which can be used to create a more elaborate event, to pay for an extravagant honeymoon or to put toward your future.

Ease

It’s literally simple. Micro = more manageable. Decreasing the size of a wedding also decreases the amount of organization and preparation, as well as all of the associated stresses. So, go micro and relax and enjoy your wedding and the days leading up to it, as opposed to being overwhelmed with an enormous amount of details. You may even decide to use some of the money you save to hire a wedding planner, making your life even simpler and providing you with the peace of mind that one of the most important days of your life will be exactly as you dreamed it would.

Impact

Then, of course, there is the whole quality over quantity thing.  You don’t have to sacrifice style when you decrease size. In fact, with a wedding of 25 or 50 as opposed to 100 or 200, you can more easily afford to splurge on luxuries. You can add personal touches like customized gifts, comforts or amenities for your guests. Your dining experience can be lavish with dessert from your favorite French bakery instead of the requisite big cake. Plus, with a micro wedding, your celebration can be unique as you are. Instead of being relegated to some sort of huge ballroom or the like, choose from distinctive venues including private estates, exotic villas, boats, vineyards, boutique hotels, a museum or arboretum. Or maybe you lean more toward the simpler side and prefer a secluded beachside cove, a lovely English garden or even a backyard bonfire.

Why All-Inclusive Wedding Packages Make Planning Easier

Convenience, ease, affordability and peace of mind…that’s why!

First of all, when you tap into the professional services of a reliable, proven wedding planner, you can rest assured that your special day will be a beautiful celebration full of everything you had hoped and that your guests will be competently accommodated. Choosing an all-inclusive wedding package, expertly executed by an experienced wedding planner also allows you to enjoy your wedding celebration instead of worrying about it. Imagine a professionally coordinated event instead of one for which you have to personally juggle a bunch of vendors and all the loose ends that accompany them.

With an all-inclusive wedding package, every aspect of your wedding day, from the theme and decorations, to the catering, cake, officiating, music and schedule of your day, will be handled by a single, trusted source and the cost of all of that will be one fixed price. In fact, through a well-established network of established vendors, an experienced wedding planner will most likely be able to package all of your wedding services more cost effectively than you ever could on your own…and you can put that savings toward your honeymoon or a downpayment on a house instead.

Plus, knowing that you have an all-inclusive wedding plan in place can simply greatly reduce your stress on a day you should thoroughly enjoy.

How to Handle a Plus-One Dilemma with Guests

Unless you choose for your wedding to be an intimate event with only your very closest friends and/or family, it would be amazing to invite everyone you know and like, along with whomever they choose to bring as a guest. However, realistically, wedding guest lists aren’t typically that large because most of us are limited by the size of our budget and venue. So, how do you handle the whole plus-one issue the right way?

First of all, remember that your wedding is exactly that – YOUR wedding. So, although of course no one wants to offend anyone or ruffle any feathers, whatever you decide to do is perfectly acceptable.

If you do want to offer certain guests the option of bringing a plus-one, here are some thoughts on the subject that may help:

Aside from being undoubtedly close to you, your wedding party will probably invest quite a lot of their time and money for your wedding and leading up to the event. It would be a nice gesture to grant those folks a plus-one. It is also good to try to be consistent. For example, it wouldn’t really be good form to let only some people in your wedding party have a plus-one.

Family members and close friends are often given the option of a plus-one, but if you are not close to them or if other people they know will be there, a plus-one doesn’t necessarily have to be a given.

Most people should understand that “and guest” on a wedding invite means you get a plus-one. If you think those who do not get a plus-one might misunderstand, for your sake and theirs, it may be best to add a polite, but very clear explanation. Possibly something like, “Although we wish everyone we invite could bring a guest, we are restricted by budget and space. We hope you understand and look forward to celebrating our special day with you.”

Must-Have Welcome Bags for Out of Town Wedding Guests

Destination weddings beg for welcome bags as unique as they are. The first thing you may want to do, is to choose a reusable tote with which they can easily travel home. Then you can fill it with everything from local favorites, to items that tie into your wedding theme. Here are some interesting wedding welcome bag options to get your idea juices flowing…

If your wedding ceremony is on the beach, by all means go beachy with flip flops, sunglasses, sunscreen, trinkets made from seashells and maybe even a ball cap with your initials for memory sake.

A welcome bag full of local favorites is a great idea too, especially if your wedding is in world famous Daytona Beach or an adorable beachside town like New Smyrna Beach. Don’t forget the gift cards for an acai bowl in your preferred outdoor café or your local coffee or sandwich shop of choice.

Plus, of course Florida is famous for its citrus. So how about stuffing your welcome bags full of fresh, locally grown oranges and grapefruits?

Or fill it with a bunch of items that will make their hotel stay more comfortable, like fuzzy slippers, an eye mask for a good night’s sleep and a bunch of fancy toiletries…or go casual and pack it full of candy bars, pretzels, chips, sodas, waters, Tums and maybe even a monogrammed beer koozie.

Lean toward the luxurious with a bottle of bubbly and champagne flutes to welcome them with style. If your wedding is held at a winery, wine samples from that vineyard are perfect.

Matching everything to your wedding colors can be fun too. Don’t forget to include a note of thanks for their attendance including how much it means to you!

Guest Book Ideas for Your Wedding

Every element of your wedding should be unforgettable, from your dress to your guestbook. Here are some wedding guestbook ideas that may make your wedding day even more memorable…

It is always nice to have your wedding guests leave a recorded message you can listen to long after your special day.

Or have your guests take an instant photo of themselves on which they can write a message. You will love looking back on these unique mementos which can be fashioned into scrapbook keepsake or a decorative display that’s just perfect for framing.

Speaking of framing, you can ask that your guests add their own signature strokes around artwork which is meaningful to you. It could be an artistry reminiscent of your travels, your pet, yourselves or say, if you met at college, it could be a visual representation of your alma mater.

What if your wedding guests wrote you notes they placed in a time capsule to be opened on your first wedding anniversary?

Or how about “Recipe for a Lifetime of Happiness Cards” on which guests submit their suggestions or well wishes for your long-term bliss?

Your wedding guests could sign quilt squares which you could make into a wedding quilt with sentiments to keep you both warm at night.

If you love wine or hold your wedding reception at a winery, it is nice to have your guests sign corks which you can place in a decorative bowl.

Or tie it into your favorite hobby. Love baseball? Have your guests sign a baseball or if game night is your thing, they could sign playing cards or Jenga blocks. Like to surf or kayak together? Have them sign your surfboard or a kayak paddle. You get the idea!

What To Do After “I Do”

What To Do After “I Do”

  • If your wedding reception is a traditional one, of course you will want to make your grand entrance and be introduced for the first time as a married couple.
  • Then there may be time for cocktails, appetizers and socializing.
  • Most likely, before a delicious celebratory meal, you will also enjoy toasts by the best man, the maid of honor and possibly others you hold dear.
  • As time for dessert draws near, there will probably be a cake-cutting ceremony with or without what I like to call cake-face.
  • Traditional wedding activities also include bouquet and garter tosses.
  • Then most newly married couples usually make time for music and dancing.
  • Typically, there is also a brunch for close friends and family the day after your wedding.
  • After your wedding ceremony, you also need to take care of some important (not as much fun) stuff, including filing your marriage license; legally changing your name (updating related documents as well such as your driver’s license, social security card, passport, financial accounts and payment information at your place of work) if you plan to do so; return suit or tux rentals if that applies; clean and properly store your wedding dress and send your thank-yous.

If this all seems a bit overwhelming and you’d like help with planning, facilitating, as well as your marriage license, you can always elicit the help of Central Florida’s premier wedding planner – Affordable Beach Wedding, expertly serving the Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Ponce Inlet and Ormond Beach areas.

Wedding Dress Keepsakes

Your wedding, one of the most memorable days of your life, will undoubtedly be etched in time with gorgeous photos and video; but what if you could use one of the most important aspects of your wedding – your wedding dress – to create a unique and touching memento?

You can, and it can be done in all sorts of beautiful, incredible ways! What if you preserved a piece of your wedding dress to make a cover of a wedding day memory book or a lovely frame?

Keep it in the family! Instead of passing down your wedding dress for someone else to wear, you could have a ring bearer pillow made from it for another family member or a close friend for a special gift or to use as something “old”. A piece of your wedding dress could also be used to fashion a gorgeous bridal bouquet wrap or even a bridal garter.

Or create a sentimental keepsake such as your first Christmas ornament for your tree, a christening dress or a bassinet liner for your first child.

Preserve a piece of your wedding dress and repurpose it to create a lovely jewelry box, tote bag or formal clutch. It would make a stunning table runner, blanket or quilt. Choose from handkerchiefs, pillowcases or a decorative wreath. You could even frame the entire dress as a piece of art for display in your home.

Tips for Writing Meaningful Thank-You Notes

It’s important to recognize people for their good deeds and a meaningful thank-you is a wonderful way to do just that. Here are some tips for writing a meaningful wedding gift thank-you card…

Be prepared with thank-you stationery at the ready and keep track of the gifts you receive and from whom you receive them.

As with pretty much everything in life, timing is everything. So be prompt with your thank-you notes, as no one likes to be forgotten. Two to three weeks is an acceptable response time if you have a large number of thank-yous to write.

Including specific details about their gift or the reasons their particular gift makes you grateful will make your thank-you more personalized and meaningful. For instance, did it mean the world to you that a special moment or fondness was reflective in their wedding gift?

Try to avoid cliches or overused adjectives. Instead, speak from the heart and use words you would choose in a face-to-face conversation to express your thanks.

Take the time and effort to legibly handwrite your thank-yous instead of sending emails or texts. The extra time you take will not go unnoticed.

Correct spelling and grammar are important too. Just as taking the time to mention details that matter to you and handcrafting your note, make the extra time to ensure that your grammar is correct. Incorrect grammar can appear slopping and uncaring.