For the destination bride on a budget, Target gives you the new wedding collection designed by Isaac Mizrahi. According to Isaac " this collection defines affordable luxury, incorporating sophisticated elegance with the just the right touch of glamour. The Isaac Mizrahi for Target wedding collection defines affordable luxury, incorporating sophisticated elegance with just the right touch of glamour into classic silhouettes. Ranging in price from $9.99 - $159.99, his new line includes eight stunning looks in ivory, white and black. Clearly these gowns are worth considering if you are a bride on a budget or simply don't consider your gown a keepsake-they can be easily altered into dresses you can get a lot of mileage out of.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Taking Target on the Road
For the destination bride on a budget, Target gives you the new wedding collection designed by Isaac Mizrahi. According to Isaac " this collection defines affordable luxury, incorporating sophisticated elegance with the just the right touch of glamour. The Isaac Mizrahi for Target wedding collection defines affordable luxury, incorporating sophisticated elegance with just the right touch of glamour into classic silhouettes. Ranging in price from $9.99 - $159.99, his new line includes eight stunning looks in ivory, white and black. Clearly these gowns are worth considering if you are a bride on a budget or simply don't consider your gown a keepsake-they can be easily altered into dresses you can get a lot of mileage out of.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Let's Fly Away!
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Take a look at five unusual and suprisingly easy-to-book wedding destinations.1. Italy: Top quality food & drink; the stunning venues are amazing.
2. Cyprus: Georgous scenery and super affordable.
3. South Africa: Great packages mean less stress for you.
4. Mauritius: Brilliant service and the perfect honeymoon spot.
5. Austria: Perfect for a winter-wonderland affair.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Planning Tip: Your own wedding website
One of the greatest tools a bride has on her side when planning a destination wedding is an online wedding website. I can't recommend this site enough--it offers hundreds of design variations for your site and reasonable prices. I include one for every wedding I coordinate. Take a look at Wedding Window.
"Save the Date" Invitations
A key aspect to organizing destination weddings is guest management. It's important that guests feel taken care of from the very first mention of a destination wedding. Ideally, you will want to choose a company that coordinates the travel for guests and wedding party as well as the bride & groom. This can be accomplished in many ways, but one of the easiest and most important is to send "Save the Date" postcards or emails. These should be sent as early as possible and the design can be coordinated with the official wedding invitations and other wedding stationary. Any reputable printer will have the standard invites or will be able to design an invitation at your request. Sonicstef Design, Paper-source.com, and Paper-girl.com are a few of my favorites.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Wedding Parasols--A perfect treat
These parasols make your outdoor wedding pretty as picture; and not only that--they are functional as well. Consider providing them to your guests as wedding favors to be used during the event. These lovely guest favors along with other unique wedding gifts can be found at White Aisle.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Quiz: A Destination Wedding-Right For You?
Destination weddings or weddingmoons are all the rage at the moment. Take this quiz to determine if a destination wedding is right for you.
1. Your best friend since the third grade just let you know she cannot attend due to finances, you:
a. Tell her you understand, but secretly feel like your relationship will never be the same.
b. Totally understand. You wouldn’t be able to spend $1000+ to travel for her either.
c. Foot the bill for her ticket and demand her attendance.
2. I want a destination wedding because:
a. Duh, it’s cheaper!
b. I want my guests to have an experience like no other wedding they’ve attended.
c. Who has the time to plan anything else?
3. The internet and you are:
a. like old friends who spend hours interacting every day.
b. acquaintances. You email occasionally, but are not completely web saavy.
c. What’s the internet?
4. You think a wedding planner is:
a. A luxury reserved for brides with much larger budgets than yours.
b. Pointless. Why would I hire someone else to do what I can do myself?
c. A necessity. How the heck am I supposed to go it alone thousands of miles away?
5. Your attitude towards your wedding style is:
a. everything must be perfect down to the exact shade of ribbon tied on my bouquet.
b. I have a vision, but since it’s in such a great destination, I know it will be beautiful no matter what.
c. What do you mean wedding style? I think my wedding planner is taking care of that for me.
6. You think you’ve found the perfect photographer for your day, but can’t meet him in person, you:
a. Blow your budget by scheduling a planning trip to your destination. You can’t do this without touching everything and meeting everyone involved in your day.
b. Send in your wedding planner to do the footwork. That’s what she’s there for anyway.
c. Risk it. He’s got a nice web site so he must be legit, right?
7. Your Aunt Dawn has just called you for the 17th time to ask where the best restaurant in your destination is, you:
a. Help her out. The research is fun and from there you can provide a list of favorites for all of your guests.
b. Tell her she is on her own. How are you supposed to help with other people’s vacations when you have a wedding to plan?
c. Get her started by giving her the phone number of your wedding planner, hotel concierge or local travel agent.
8. How do you feel about the culture in your destination?
a. Love it! The traditions, people and foods are my inspiration for designing my day.
b. It’s a little tacky, but it’s fine, as long as it doesn’t show up on my big day.
c. I don’t know much about it.
9. You want to be married by a catholic priest, but just found out that this is not an option in your location, you:
a. Cancel the wedding. Religion is a non negotiable factor for your ceremony.
b. Marry anyway, but plan a small ceremony in your own church when you return home.
c. Don’t care too much. You were really only doing it for your mother anyway.
10. It’s the day after your wedding and you can’t get a minute of alone time with your new hubby, you:
a. Secretly check out of the hotel you have been staying at and head for more secluded accommodations.
b. Love it! You want to spend every last minute with your family and friends.
c. Let them all know how rude they are being. After all, this is your honeymoon too.
SCORING:
1. A. (1) B. (5) C. (3)
2. A. (1) B. (5) C. (5)
3. A. (5) B. (3) C. (1)
4. A. (1) B. (1) C. (5)
5. A. (3) B. (5) C. (3)
6. A. (3) B. (5) C. (1)
7. A. (3) B. (1) C. (5)
8. A. (5) B. (1) C. (3)
9. A. (1) B. (5) C. (3)
10. A. (5) B. (3) C. (1)
10 to 16: CONSIDER A HOMETOWN AFFAIR: Unless you have the time and budget to make multiple trips to your destination of choice, save your time the pain and stress planning a destination wedding will cause you. Choosing the exact shade of peony, the perfect material for the table linens or ensuring your favorite cousin is able to attend will be a whole lot easier to manage and much more fun with a hometown affair.
17 to 32: DON’T GO TOO FAR: A weekend in the wine country if you live in California or Cape Cod if you’re on the east coast might be the perfect getaway for someone who doesn’t want to relinquish complete control, but still wants a new experience for their guests. This will allow you to make a couple of road trips to your destination for planning without breaking the bank. Your vendors can even be from your hometown if they are willing to travel to short jaunts.
33 to 50: ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD: You’re all about the destination wedding experience and are open to the bumps in the roads that may come along with the journey. You know what you want, but at the same time know when to trust the experts. Consider Greece, South Africa, Bali or anywhere else in the world for your big day. Your guests will love you for it.
1. Your best friend since the third grade just let you know she cannot attend due to finances, you:
a. Tell her you understand, but secretly feel like your relationship will never be the same.
b. Totally understand. You wouldn’t be able to spend $1000+ to travel for her either.
c. Foot the bill for her ticket and demand her attendance.
2. I want a destination wedding because:
a. Duh, it’s cheaper!
b. I want my guests to have an experience like no other wedding they’ve attended.
c. Who has the time to plan anything else?
3. The internet and you are:
a. like old friends who spend hours interacting every day.
b. acquaintances. You email occasionally, but are not completely web saavy.
c. What’s the internet?
4. You think a wedding planner is:
a. A luxury reserved for brides with much larger budgets than yours.
b. Pointless. Why would I hire someone else to do what I can do myself?
c. A necessity. How the heck am I supposed to go it alone thousands of miles away?
5. Your attitude towards your wedding style is:
a. everything must be perfect down to the exact shade of ribbon tied on my bouquet.
b. I have a vision, but since it’s in such a great destination, I know it will be beautiful no matter what.
c. What do you mean wedding style? I think my wedding planner is taking care of that for me.
6. You think you’ve found the perfect photographer for your day, but can’t meet him in person, you:
a. Blow your budget by scheduling a planning trip to your destination. You can’t do this without touching everything and meeting everyone involved in your day.
b. Send in your wedding planner to do the footwork. That’s what she’s there for anyway.
c. Risk it. He’s got a nice web site so he must be legit, right?
7. Your Aunt Dawn has just called you for the 17th time to ask where the best restaurant in your destination is, you:
a. Help her out. The research is fun and from there you can provide a list of favorites for all of your guests.
b. Tell her she is on her own. How are you supposed to help with other people’s vacations when you have a wedding to plan?
c. Get her started by giving her the phone number of your wedding planner, hotel concierge or local travel agent.
8. How do you feel about the culture in your destination?
a. Love it! The traditions, people and foods are my inspiration for designing my day.
b. It’s a little tacky, but it’s fine, as long as it doesn’t show up on my big day.
c. I don’t know much about it.
9. You want to be married by a catholic priest, but just found out that this is not an option in your location, you:
a. Cancel the wedding. Religion is a non negotiable factor for your ceremony.
b. Marry anyway, but plan a small ceremony in your own church when you return home.
c. Don’t care too much. You were really only doing it for your mother anyway.
10. It’s the day after your wedding and you can’t get a minute of alone time with your new hubby, you:
a. Secretly check out of the hotel you have been staying at and head for more secluded accommodations.
b. Love it! You want to spend every last minute with your family and friends.
c. Let them all know how rude they are being. After all, this is your honeymoon too.
SCORING:
1. A. (1) B. (5) C. (3)
2. A. (1) B. (5) C. (5)
3. A. (5) B. (3) C. (1)
4. A. (1) B. (1) C. (5)
5. A. (3) B. (5) C. (3)
6. A. (3) B. (5) C. (1)
7. A. (3) B. (1) C. (5)
8. A. (5) B. (1) C. (3)
9. A. (1) B. (5) C. (3)
10. A. (5) B. (3) C. (1)
10 to 16: CONSIDER A HOMETOWN AFFAIR: Unless you have the time and budget to make multiple trips to your destination of choice, save your time the pain and stress planning a destination wedding will cause you. Choosing the exact shade of peony, the perfect material for the table linens or ensuring your favorite cousin is able to attend will be a whole lot easier to manage and much more fun with a hometown affair.
17 to 32: DON’T GO TOO FAR: A weekend in the wine country if you live in California or Cape Cod if you’re on the east coast might be the perfect getaway for someone who doesn’t want to relinquish complete control, but still wants a new experience for their guests. This will allow you to make a couple of road trips to your destination for planning without breaking the bank. Your vendors can even be from your hometown if they are willing to travel to short jaunts.
33 to 50: ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD: You’re all about the destination wedding experience and are open to the bumps in the roads that may come along with the journey. You know what you want, but at the same time know when to trust the experts. Consider Greece, South Africa, Bali or anywhere else in the world for your big day. Your guests will love you for it.
Planning Your Dessert Reception
A unique and often less expensive way to celebrate your wedding is to have a dessert reception. If care is used in the planning of your dessert reception you can often save 50% or more.1. The venue you choose is very important. You want to get the best venue you can afford. This can range from a relative or friends back yard to the ballroom of a fancy hotel. What’s most important is that you find a location that has a lot of presence.
2. Optimally, you should have at least 20-25 different desserts. Since this is the only type of food you will be serving there should be a large and varied assortment of desserts. Let your taste buds do the talking, from crème brulee to gourmet blondies. If 20 different desserts is not in your budget range, you should have at the very minimum 8-10 desserts.
3. Presentation...Presentation...Presentation...is extremely important.
4. The timing of your event should take place in the early afternoon or the late evening. These are times that your guests will typically not expect a heavy meal.
5. Last but not least, be sure to include “Dessert reception” on your invitation. This informs your guests that the reception will not include your standard hor d’oeuvres or plated dinner.
Welcome to Say "I Do" Abroad
Join us as we discuss anything and everything to do with destination weddings. We are scouring the globe to bring you the latest and best ideas for your destination wedding; and who knows we might throw in some fantastic tips for your local wedding as well!
Cheers,
Mackenzie & Co
Cheers,
Mackenzie & Co
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