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Ways to Save on Destination Wedding Accommodations
There are many ways that you, and your wedding guests, can save on destination wedding accommodations. If you choose to have your wedding in the “off season” (a less popular time of year to travel to your destination), you can often save almost half of the cost of full rates. Booking large amounts of rooms at the same time can also save you money - you or your wedding planner can negotiate a group rate for your accommodations, making the cost per room less for your guests. Another way to lower your accommodation costs is to have wedding guests stay at a cheaper (but still nice) hotel or resort that's nearby. If you want to stay at the four star resort you're holding your wedding at, you can choose to have your wedding guests stay at the two or three star hotel next door. It's also nice to give your guests a choice of rooms; that way, they can decide how much they want to pay for their accommodations. Remember, your destination wedding is a vacation for them as well!
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Destination Weddings Tip: Good Destinations for Weddings in Mexico
Mexico offers a number of advantages for a destination wedding. It's affordable, it's easily accessible from the United States and Canada, and the vast country offers a number of resort, historic, and urban wedding sites. Among the most popular destinations for weddings in Mexico are:
Cancun. This popular resort city on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula features dozens of luxury, beachfront hotels as well as designer shopping, a plethora of restaurants, and a vibrant nightclub scene. Couples can choose a traditional beachfront wedding or something a little different, like getting married near the historic Mayan ruins that dot this area.
Mexico City. Mexico's capital city is a sprawling metropolis, the second largest in the world. It also offers all of the benefits of a large, cosmopolitan city, including fine restaurants, shopping galore, and a wide variety of wedding sites. Plus: Mexico City is generally more affordable than comparable cities in the United States or Europe.
Cabo San Lucas. Located at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, in western Mexico, Cabo is a favorite of beachlovers, divers and snorkelers, and fishing enthusiasts. It's a relaxed fishing village, turned world-class resort, and still retains much of its quiet, unhurried charm. The rugged coastline, especially "El Arco" (the Arch) at the entrance of Cabo's harbor, makes a dramatic backdrop to any wedding ceremony.
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Choosing a Destination Wedding Coordinator
If you decide that using a destination wedding coordinator is the right idea for you, there are some easy ways to find a coordinator that you will feel comfortable with. One of the first things you can do is ask around. If you know other couples who got married at your destination, or if you find someone on-line who did, ask which coordinator they used. Another way to get a wedding coordinator referral is through a destination wedding planner/travel agent. These sites help to book travel plans and stays at your destination, and they can also put you in contact with wedding planners in your area. For example, if you're planning a Costa Rica wedding, a travel company specializing in destination weddings can help you to book your trip as well as find a wedding planner in Costa Rica. A third way to find a wedding planner for your destination is to look at bridal planner associations, and get referrals that way. A good one to use is the Association for Wedding Professionals International (http://www.afwpi.com/).
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Destination Weddings Tip: Pick a St. John Wedding for Outdoor Beauty
St. John, the smallest of the United States Virgin Islands, is as different from its neighbor, St. Thomas, as can be. Most of St. John is part of the undeveloped Virgin Islands National Park, land donated to the US by the Rockefeller family in the 1950s. St. John is only accessible by boat from St. Thomas or Virgin Gorda, part of the British Virgin Island chain. The island has little shopping and the nightlife centers around a quiet dinner and the dramatic sunsets.
People come to St. John for the nature beauty, long stretches of uncrowded white sand, and for its superior snorkeling and scuba. If you are looking for a beautiful, outdoor setting for your wedding ceremony, choose a St. John Wedding.
Though uncrowded, St. John does have a few luxury resorts. Chief among these is Caneel Bay, the former property of the Rockefellers. Accommodations at the beachfront resort include suite set right off of the sand as well as Mr. Rockefeller's former manor house. The open-air dining room here serves the finest food on the island.
As with travel to St. Thomas, United States citizens visiting St. John are only required to have a photo ID. No passport or visa is necessary.
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Ways to Have a Celebrity Wedding With a Low Budget
Although many brides and grooms would love to have the kind of extravaganza that celebrities can afford for their weddings, few couples can match that kind of expense account. To recreate the celebrity wedding feel, you can emulate their ceremonies and style for a cheaper price. Window shop for your celebrity wedding gown on different sites such as the Knot and then find a similar one by a lower-end designer. Often, you can get a gown that's close to looking like the real thing for less than a tenth of the price. You can look at pictures of celebrity wedding cakes, and then ask your local baker for a quote on how much it would cost to recreate it (using different ingredients and less embellishments can lower the price).
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Destination Weddings Tip: What Is Destination Wedding Attire?
Destination wedding attire is generally much less formal and fussy than what you'd wear for a traditional church wedding. The setting, be it on a beach or in a scenic garden, is lovely enough that you won't want to detract from it by wearing heavy fabrics and lots of jewelry. In addition, since you are traveling to your wedding destination, you won't want to have to lug elaborate outfits to the event.
Destination wedding dresses are usually made of simple construction with basic lines, not the lace, satin, and pearl creations of the top wedding designers. That's not to say destination wedding dresses don't make a beautiful bride, but an elaborate wedding dress just looks out of place on a beach.
Grooms can wear anything from a tuxedo to a white cotton shirt and black pants for a destination wedding.
As traditional footwear -- especially those three-inch heels -- doesn't work particularly well on sand, sandals and even embellished flip-flops are perfectly acceptable at a beach wedding.
Destination wedding attire should be comfortable, light-colored, and adorned with a minimum of frills and embellishments.
DestinationWeddings.com features an array of beach and destination wedding fashions. Check out special offers and discounts for your entire wedding party.
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Destination Weddings in the Bahamas
The islands of the Bahamas are known for their exotic beauty and unique culture. These attributes can definitely carry over to your wedding and give you many lasting memories. Planning a Bahamas wedding starts with a residency requirement of one day; you can't get married in the Bahamas on the same day you arrive. Legally, you must also provide photo ID, sign a declaration with the US Consul at the American Embassy, and provide documentation of when you arrived in the Bahamas. The Bahamas actually has its own state-run complimentary Weddings and Honeymoon Unit of the Ministry of Tourism, which can help you to plan your wedding here, and many resorts also provide help with planning.
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Destination Weddings Tip: All-Inclusive Weddings in the Caribbean
One of the easiest and most stress-free ways to host a Caribbean wedding is to choose an all-inclusive resort as your destination. Not only are these resorts located in lovely, tropical, beachfront settings, but they have onsite wedding planners to assist you with last minute details and extras.
One price covers everything at an all-inclusive resort. The basic stay includes accommodations, taxes, all meals, most bar and soft drinks, live entertainment, a variety of watersports and other activities, and transportation to and from the resort. In addition, most such resorts offer a standard wedding package that includes the necessary paperwork, the services of a local clergyman, a Caribbean wedding cake, the decorated wedding site, and a keepsake photo. Most resorts also allow you to add extras, such as photography, live music, and a reception following the ceremony.
Sandals Resorts, with seven resorts in Jamaica, three on the island of St. Lucia, and single resorts in the Bahamas and on Antigua, is the leader in all-inclusive Caribbean weddings. However, they aren't the only company that offers such packages. Other good choices include Jamaica's San Souci and Half Moon Bay Resorts, the Club Med Resorts in the Bahamas and in the Turks and Caicos, and the St. James Club Resort on St. Lucia.
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Booking a Location for a Destination Wedding
When booking a location for your destination wedding, there are many things you must consider. If you're planning to have a wedding at a resort, make sure that you find out whether or not the ceremony is included in your resort stay, where you can get married on the resort, and who can attend (if children are welcome). If you're planning on a different sort of location, such as a hotel or a chapel, make sure you contact the site to find out particulars such as the size of the location (how many guests can be present) and the facilities available. Find out about details such as décor, catering (in-house, or can you use your own), and even seemingly obvious things such as parking. It may be a bit harder to judge whether your chosen location is perfect from long distance, so it can help to have a “local” in the area scout the sites for you, or better yet, hire a local wedding planner.
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Celebrity Wedding Dresses for Less
One of the ways that any bride can emulate a celebrity wedding is by copying a celebrity wedding dress. Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier and other bridal designers to the stars create beautiful dresses, but their price tags can reach tens of thousands of dollars. One way to purchase celebrity wedding dresses on a budget is to buy copies - often if a dress is very popular, moderately priced designers will copy it for sale to the general public. Or you can take a picture of the dress you want to a seamstress to have it copied for you, at a great discount. Another way is to buy a used wedding dress in a boutique or online. If wearing a dress that someone else already wore isn't your idea of the perfect gown, you can also brave Filene's Basement's annual wedding gown sale, where designer dresses that normally sell for up to $8000 are marked down to prices between $249 and $500.
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