Advanced Topics—Airfare Considerations

One of the most important considerations in selecting your destination wedding location is the travel logistics you will encounter. If you are eloping (i.e., a guestless wedding), it really doesn’t matter. But if you are having guests, you will probably have to take this into consideration. We briefly touched on this in Choosing your Dream Location.

In our planning process, we needed some place that was easily accessible from Pennsylvania (where we live), Dallas and Denver. This became a tall order as we selected locations. You will need to decide on the critical guests on your guest list (the people you can’t live without) and what their budget constraints are.

Given the expense of airfare, most of the Eastern and Southern Caribbean became out of range. This included—Aruba, Bonaire, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Cayman Islands. We were able to find reasonable airfare to Cancun and Cozumel in Mexico, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

There are a number of websites that we checked (frequently) to try and find reasonable flights:

• Expedia
• Priceline
• Kayak.com (offers some unusual flight combinations)
• Also the airline websites themselves can offer some good flight deals
  

You will also need to decide how far in advance you start communicating details with your guests. We established a website for them and every month or so posted prices that we had researched from airports where they would be flying. As we noticed that airfares had started to bottom out, we sent out special e-mails to everyone on our guest list letting them know. It’s more work for you, but the extra effort was very much appreciated.

Finally, we did talk to a travel agent about package deals, but our guests were coming from so many different locations that this was not practical. However, this could be an option for you if your guests are coming from a similar geographic area.

NYC+Zander=Monumental

Who is this yummy guy? I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing more of Zander Bleck soon. With talent and attitude larger-than-life, this singer/songwriter is on the brink of super stardom. Zander is the voice and the driving force behind Monument, a kick-a$# NYC rock band about to sign with a major label.

We had a blast photographing him around the city.




My favourite - love the classic look of this image.
At midnight that night, we shot him performing on stage at Crash Mansion in Soho. And if you think he looks good, ummm, you should hear him sing.

It was an incredible show!
We were introduced to Zander by the beautiful Barbara, and of course we photographed the two of them together as well. The couple is so gorgeous, a roving band of NYC paparazzi shot us shooting them! Stay tuned for their images.

Destination Wedding Magazine Showdown

Recently, someone emailed us a question on what the best magazines are for destination wedding planning. We thought we would review them for you.

Destination I Do
Rating: 8
Cover price: $4.95 U.S.
Pages: 122
Comments: The newer of the two magazines, this one is definitely different. First, it’s not as polished (and that’s a good thing!). Second, they use heavier paper, so it feels more like a book/album than a magazine.

It also features a “4-1-1” call out box with details on actual weddings profiled (photographer, officiant, wedding planner, florist, cake designer). This is a fantastic idea! It eliminates the, “yeah, but does anyone actually do that” thought.

I liked that it had ads for smaller, independent and more unique vendors. I wished the articles were just a little “meatier” (but not much more).

The magazine was difficult to obtain (I guess it says something for the quality). All the stores near us were completely sold out. However, it was easy to order through their website, www.destinationidomag.com.


Destination Weddings & Honeymoons
Rating: 7
Cover price: $4.99 U.S.
Pages: 130
Comments: This “feels” like a traditional magazine. This is more of a traditional wedding magazine that features some (but not all) destination wedding content. You still find spa tips, cake ideas, etc. (and not all of them are destination wedding appropriate).

I really liked the use of charts to compare venues in articles (e.g., article comparing the destinations of Treasure Beach, Negril, Monetgo Bay and Ocho Rios in Jamaica). These charts are great idea!

This has a lot more advertising…mostly big splashy ads from destination resorts. This is not necessarily a problem as these ads can give you different ideas.

Overall—We can’t recommend just one. In planning your destination wedding, at least buy both once. They each offer something different.

Amanda & John Got Hitched

Leave it to the most comical couple on the face of the earth to really teach me how to plan a truly memorable Welcome Reception. The Groom & Best Man showed up as Dumb and Dumber's Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne! I nearly pee'd my pants I laughed so hard when the bride said, "Kelly, look out the window!"
You can see a few more photos of Amanda & John on their wedding blog. All my wedding blogs are down below on the right (the sidebar).

Out-of-Town Bags

Out-of-town (OOT bags) are a great way to welcome guests to your wedding because they are often left in guests' rooms when they check in or are otherwise distributed early in the wedding weekend. The items inside typically reflect the location or a thematic element of the wedding—we once arrived at a cousin's Kansas City wedding to find a bottle of BBQ sauce waiting in the hotel room—or they may be useful at the wedding itself.

We began to think about OOT bags nearly a year in advance to take advantage of end-of-season sales. We were lucky to find some great waterproof beach bags that solved the dilemma of what container to use for the favors. The question of what to put in the bags, though, was a bigger, much-debated issue. We considered a wide variety of items: personalized beach towels, mini martini shakers, cocktail mixes, various kinds of food, and more. In the end, we were constrained primarily by space because whatever we bought, we would need to bring with us to the Bahamas...along with our luggage, scuba gear, Wedding Dress, etc. We opted for several small items that we could carry easily, including aloe, inflatable pillows, Chap Stick and miniature fans, and we bought granola bars and water bottles at a small market when we arrived.

Popular sits for OOT bag items include:

• minimus.biz
• beau-coup.com
• orientaltrading.com
• towels4less.com
• kustomkoozies.com
  

The Dollar Spot at Target is also an excellent place to grab good stuff (for real cheap) for OOT bags.

Welcome Casey!

Everyone, this is Casey. She's my new assistant and I am so excited that she's here. She's hard at work already finishing up Amanda & John's Welcome Bags.
Welcome to Weddings by Socialites Casey :)

Destination Wedding Invitations

Many people feel that invitations set the tone for the wedding because they're among the first pieces (or the first if you don't do a save-the-date) of information that guests receive about the wedding. While they mattered to us, we viewed them simply as a vehicle to get the word out about our wedding rather than as something very symbolic. As Lance said quite regularly throughout the process, "it'sonly paper!!"

When we first started looking at invitations, we naively assumed that they would be one of our easier decisions. So, we started the invitation process by going to our local Crane's store and hoping to hash things out in an afternoon. Who knew paper could be so expensive? For about 75 invites that weren't even in a style we loved, it was going to be several $1000s. There were also almost no options appropriate for a laid-back destination wedding, so we went back to the drawing board.

We wanted something a little beachy (but not over the top), possibly including blue that could be ordered in a relatively small quantity and wasn't too boring...so we probably weren't that easy to please. After much research, we couldn't find any designs that we really liked and that were in our budget. Unwilling to dedicate a larger chunk of money to paper, we decided to make the invites ourselves.

We found paper printed with blue seashells mounted on blue cardstock by William Arthur Invitations, which served as the main body for the invite. We found matching cardstock at our local Michael's store and ordered envelopes and ribbon from every DIY-bride's dream, Paper Source (paper-source.com). With materials in hand, Laura began the extremely labor-intensive process of making the invites - printing the main invitation, the reply card, the reply envelope, the outer envelope (front and back).

In the end, they turned out great, and we got numerous compliments. In retrospect, however, not being particularly crafty people or having a lot of extra time, we probably should have sucked it up and paid a little more money to have someone else make them.

There are plenty of stores and websites that will handle the invitations for you soup-to-nuts or just provide you with the materials to embarke upon your own DIY project. Some favorites among a lot of destination weddings brides include:

• hanahouproductions.com



• bellainvites.com



• mypersonalartist.com

Disney Launches Wedding Gowns

Disney has launched a line of wedding gowns, which I have discussed in Fairy-Tale Wedding Dress? Disney Does Weddings back on February 22. Since I wrote on the topic, Reuters covered the story and has provided a photo (see picture below).

The "news" is that the gowns were debuted on Sunday in New York. The gowns will range in price from $1,500-$3,000.

According to the Reuters story:

The company was encouraged to delve into the high-end wedding business by the 2,000 weddings it hosts each year at its U.S. resorts — Walt Disney World and Disneyland — and its cruise line, according to McFann [Korri McFann, marketing manager for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons].

Disney hopes to capitalize on soaring demand for destination weddings, in which couples and their guests turn their nuptials into wedding-vacations that often take place at resorts in tropical locations.

TIE-dy up that budget!

There is nothing more that I love than a great deal. A couple weeks ago I searched up and down 3 cities trying to find satin finish chocolate brown neckties for the groomsmen in one of next months weddings. I had ZERO luck. I ended up buying yards of fabric and dropping it off at a seamstress. What did I find today? A GOLD MINE. Check out SolidColorNeckties.com.
Not only are the ties extremely inexpensive, but they have about every color under the sun, and every type of tie: standard ties, skinny ties, bow ties, cross over ties. LOVE it.

A cool idea? These ties are so cheap ($3.75!!!!) you could outfit all the catering staff in your wedding colors! How awesome would that be? Just order one tie per table of guests, and you should have the appropriate number to cover the servers and bartenders. Check with your venue in advance of course.

Covering the basics – Photographer

When doing a destination wedding, the photographer can be a difficult decision. Should you bring your own or “go native?”

In researching photographers for our destination wedding, we really wanted something in a photojournalistic style. We quickly realized that there were only 1 or 2 local photographers, and wedding photography was something they just happened into. Most of them only offered staged shots and few candids. We felt like the quality was something that our parents could do, and we were looking for more.

The realization that we could not find what we wanted locally began a several month long process to find the photographer of our dreams! As a starting point, we began with the website of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA). This is a really great website of dozens of wedding photographers that specialize in destination weddings. Some of these photographers can be quite pricey and offer very different styles.

From the WPJA website, we identified several excellent photographers (Leigh Miller and others), only to find out they were not available for an entire weekend in June. Finally, we did find one (Brian Tsai, Life Mosiacs in Austin, Texas), he committed to do it and promised to send a contract, only to back out. We’ve heard of others who have had excellent experiences with him (both before and after), but it didn’t work out for us.

In the end, we did not find anyone from the WPJA site that had availability for us. Ultimately, we found Julia Newman from New York who was available and willing to travel to the Bahamas.

Advanced Topics – The Welcome Back Reception

One of the drawbacks to a destination wedding is the necessity of limiting the guest list. There will be friends and family members who are not able to attend your wedding for personal or financial reasons.

For this reason, many couples limit the number of attendees at their destination wedding to a very small number. And then when they come home, their friends or families throw a small welcome back reception.

For us, it was difficult to have all of our family involved. The groom has a very large family in the Midwest and it was not practical to invite them to the wedding. Instead, his family welcomed us back with a reception over the 4th of July weekend with about 50 people in attendance. It was really more like a family picnic with good conversation (4-8pm, with BBQ sandwiches, coleslaw, etc.) than a formal wedding reception.

For those who could not attend our wedding, it was a nice way for us to share our joy with our family in a casual setting at home.

My friend needs a wedding planner

Yes, its now almost 1am and I'm still working. I just opened up this email from the most hilarious client ever and she woke up the Jerry Seinfeld in me.

Funny Bride:

Hey there! A friend of mine (guy) is getting married in City name removed to protect the dis-organized on 6/15 and they are really behind in their planning. I told him he needs a wedding planner and started asking all these questions. He wanted your info but then I told him you were in Florida :) Do you by chance know of any City Name Removed wedding planners that could help a disorganized couple?

Me:

No, I don't, because wedding planners don't deal with dis-organized couples.

Oh my gosh, I should put that on my questionnaire!:
1) Name_________________
2) Wedding Date______________
3) Are you dis-organized? _____ (if yes, stop here)
4) Expected number of guests_____


I put the word out with my wedding planner network to see who's in the area. I think I actually know one, and if she's booked, she'll give me the name of the next best thing :)

Ok, so maybe I'm not as funny as Jerry Seinfeld. But I am giggling something fierce.

I never ever thought I'd find a cake topper I liked.

But Nicole Clark has changed that. You have to look through this gals gallery. She makes custom cake toppers that look just like the bride and groom- and even their kids or pets! I totally saw this on Risa's blog (The Partea Planner) and had to tell you guys about it. Very cool.
For the record, I try very hard to do my own blogging before I read my favorite daily blogs- so that my thoughts and ideas are really my own. But if I come across something too good to pass up- I share. Tonight I'll attribute it to the face that it's nearly 12:30am and I'm still working, with no end in sight.

Say Cheese!

So I have a couple clients who want to do the polaroid stations rather than the guest book. Because really- what in the world are you going to do with a book of signatures that you can't read?
But look at this new super cool idea! I LOVE IT.
With Usnaps you get in front of the booth, push the button, and the next day all the images are online at a designated website! You and all your guests can download away or purchase prints right from the website. But the best part- the newlyweds get a high-res dvd of all the images! How cool is that? It's all the rage at celebrity parties in LA and NY.
With Photobooth Scrapbooks, you get a vintage photobooth that spits out an unlimited number of those fun photostrips and a scrapbook for your guest to attach the photos and leave a message!
Both Usnaps and Photobooth are about $2000.

They never made it to the altar

For the 1st time ever, I had a wedding cancel. Not cancel a few months before- more like a couple minutes before (about 90 minutes). I don't know the details and am not going to ask. I imagine whatever the reason was, it was a very valid reason.
So. As you might imagine, 90 minutes before, its too late to salvage anything. But I am the "silver lining" kinda gal. I stopped being sad, grabbed the wedding cake, called up a few nearby wedding pros, and had a "The wedding got cancelled" dessert hour at my house. We all took turns cutting the cake. It was nothing short of absolutely hilarious.
Here's a photo of Clint Wiley with his gorgeous girlfriend Lauren who is currently in the Naples theatre production of Showboat. That girl can sing! She sang the Little Mermaid song to all the kids...blew us away. Clints name sound familar? Maybe because he's one of the most sought after wedding musicians in the area. Also in attendence- Rob and AnnMarie Epple from AMC video. Speaking of video, I totally had the video camera out...and we had great footage of me smashing cake all over Kelly's face (my husband and I have the same first name). Leave it to me to completely destroy the tape. Yep. I taped right over it not even 24 hours later. Ugh.

NYC, here we come!

So excited to get a phone call from Monica Campbell Hoppe the other day. The director of the Canadian Tourism Commission congratulated both of us for each winning a Northern Lights Award for excellence in travel photojournalism. Monica also told us they would be flying us out to NYC for the award ceremonies - yay!

The winning article was about our journey up the Yellowhead Highway and the many First Nations sites and people we encountered along the way. It was such an honour to have master carver Chief Alver Tait invite us into his studio to watch him breath life into his cedar works of art.





The story was published in British Columbia Magazine. We have been so fortunate to work with the amazing people there like editor Anita Willis and art director Ken Seabrook for the past nine years - thanks for always making us look so good, guys!

Save the Dates

“Save the dates,” or STDs, are becoming increasingly popular for all weddings, but they can be particularly useful for destination weddings since guests may need extra time to make travel plans and take time off work. They are typically very brief, listing the couple’s names, wedding date and sometimes the location, simply informing guests to “save the date.” For traditional weddings, STDs are often sent out about four months ahead of the wedding. For destination weddings, timing can be as early as six to eight months in advance. We sent ours out about nine months in advance—September for our June wedding.

STDs can take a variety of forms and are often much less formal than a traditional invite. They are usually creative and designed to catch a guest’s attention. Options used frequently include: a photo booth-esque strip featuring multiple photos of the couple, a postcard or tourist guide from the destination, a card showing a week’s forecast of sunny skies, a passport holder, a luggage tag, or just about anything tropical one could imagine. Because we wanted something fun that would set the tone for our largely informal wedding, we decided to go with a magnet that showed a beach scene and all the applicable details for our wedding (same as the picture; although this is not ours). With the magnet, we included a card that listed the URL of our wedding website where guests could read more about the Bahamas and our hotel and get all the information they would need to travel to the wedding. The STDs helped build a lot of excitement in advance of the wedding, and it was a great way to let people know about the website too. Nearly a year after our wedding, people mention that they still have the magnet on their fridge.

Our vendor, Magnet Queen, came highly recommended from a number of other brides on The Knot. The magnets were high quality, and the company representatives were very kind and responsive, even going out of their way to let us know that they had miscalculated a discount, so we would be charged less than we thought. We had the opportunity to view a proof before the magnets were printed, and we were very satisfied with the service we received. Another very popular vendor among Knot brides is VistaPrint. Though we didn’t use them, we heard positive feedback about the quality of their products as well.

This could be good or bad.

I've learned that I can blog from my cell phone, while sitting in traffic with my chai tea frap., while thumbing through this new Martha Stewart Weddings, between a cancelled wedding and meetings.

Cancelled wedding? Yep. I'll blog about that one tomorrow. That's what I'd like to call a blog CLIFFHANGER.

Passports Delayed

News reports are reporting that the State Department is running behind in processing passport requests. Passports are now running about three months to process. This is largely the result of the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which I have discussed previously.

So, if you are having a foreign destination wedding, you may want to reinforce the new passport rules for your guests. As a reminder, you now need a passport to go anywhere, including Canada, Mexico and Caribbean countries like the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Real quick--

Jen & Chris's pro wedding pics are now on their blog. Thanks to photographer Gigi Hamlet for sharing!
The Wedding of Jen & Chris

Betty+Toby

It's that time of season again - engagement portraits! And we got to start with Betty+Toby, two warm, genuine people who are just so in love! They live in Bejing right now but were back in town for Betty's birthday and to do some planning for their big day. With her impeccable style (check out those haute boots!), I have no doubt their wedding at Hycroft will be one of the highlights of our summer.

Speaking of Betty, not only is she drop-dead gorgeous, she's also one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She had the great idea of sharing random "tidbits" with each other each time we email so we can get to know each other better: now I know all about her adopted Bejing dog Poppy, their fav vacation locations, and Toby's impressions of Conan O'Brian! And she knows all about Chris and my silly habits (like hiding random notes around the house for each other to find!).

Here's some more of our favourites:

Can't wait for your nuptials, guys!

Want to be on TV?

Here are some recent casting requests for wedding or engaged/newlywed shows:



Whose wedding is it Anyway?; The Style Network is currently casting for the sixth season of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? Looking for couples with or without a planner, who want to share their wedding-preparation adventures with the hit prime-time wedding series! Click Here for the website
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I Do Over; Did you have a wedding-day disaster? Style wants to give you a chance to turn back the clock and make things right! Dress caught on fire? Cake fell over? Tell us the dirty details, 'cause Style Network is giving one lucky couple the chance to renew their vows in a fabulously perfect dream wedding. Click here for I Do Over casting
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Platinum Weddings
If you're planning an exquisite, dream-come-true, high-end wedding between now and June of 2007, we'd love to hear about it! We want storybook romances, menus created by world-renowned chefs, breathtaking venues, and unforgettable elements.
To be considered for your own episode, please email us at casting@filmgarden.net. Include: the names of the couple and the wedding planner; phone numbers and photos; date, location and total budget of the wedding; a few sentences about why your wedding is a Platinum Wedding.
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International Weddings
WE are looking for an ADVENTUROUS AMERICAN COUPLE willing to say 'I do' according to the traditions of a completely different culture.
Only ONE LUCKY COUPLE will be chosen for an ALL EXPENSES PAID international wedding.
To apply, fill out the application here and e-mail it along with the following information to CASTING@BNENT.COM:
1) Names of the engaged couple...
2) Contact Information (all phone numbers and e-mail addresses) & where the engaged couple lives (city and state)...
3) A recent photograph of the engaged couple...
4) A list of all the countries the engaged couple has visited (separately or together)
5) Why do you want to have an international wedding?
Say 'YES' to us and maybe you'll find out first hand how couples in
countries like Japan, India, Morroco, Russia, China and beyond exchange
vows!
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ABC: The Dream House; ABC is now casting for a new, positive, upbeat show in which recently married couples will compete in fun challenges and then one lucky couple will actually win an amazing house to live in! www.abcDreamHouse.com

Uncle McPicky

Okay, so you all know I have the most hilarious clients on earth. Which is good, because I love to laugh. Here's todays winner:
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"So, I got an RSVP back tonight from my Aunt (my Dad's high-maintenance sister) she's going to have the fish, but my Uncle McPicky...yes, that's right, "Picky" needs a special option and I quote:

""If possible, please provide a low-fat, no cheese vegetarian option for Uncle McPicky""

and at the very bottom it continued to say

"" *No Eggs - prefers egg beaters or egg whites for Uncle McPicky too.""

So apparently my reception is at Mel's Diner and everyone's meal is made to order"
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Now, knowing that this client likes to crack a good joke as much as I do, I respond with,

"I'll ask the venue coordinator to send a request to the chef now to find out his suggestion for something yummy (well as yummy as something low fat, cheese less, eggless, and meatless can be)."

The comedian for a bride replies:
"HAHA yeah - what does that leave him? A chunk of tofu with tomato sauce spread over it?"
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Guess what? I learned my lesson. Chef came up with something I'm dying to taste:
Squash, mushrooms, onions, peppers, zuccini, eggplant grilled and layered with a balsamic marinade, topped with fresh herbs.

Let them Eat Cake

If you like cake, live anywhere near Philadelphia, or want to support the City of Hope Cancer Center this post is for you! My dear friend and colleague, wedding planning Guru, Mark Kingsdorf (better known as the Queen of Hearts, and yes, he's the guy from Who's Wedding is it Anyway and Emily Post Wedding Etiquette) is getting ready to roll out the fondant at the 3rd annual Let Them Eat Cake!
The extravaganza will take place Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at The Bellevue. Let them Eat Cake is a wedding cake design competition for pastry arts professionals and students, which will for sure wow the hundreds of brides and wedding professionals that will be in attendance. Oh, and of course- there will be plenty of cake to eat, champagne to drink in the Korbel Lounge, and HUGE raffled prizes. Yep- worth the donation! From the looks of last years event- I might just have to try and find a way to get up there myself. Too good too miss! Click here to see the video.
To get more details please visit the website: Let Them Eat Cake

Your Big Exit

I received this question from a reader yesterday:

I was wondering if you had any creative/unique ideas for a send off at a venue that doesn't allow confetti, birdseed, sparklers, etc.

It's such a great question because there are some really creative things that can be done. Before you start to plan your big send off, take note of a few things:
1. The rules and regulations of your venue.
2. Local laws
3. If you're planning something really great- keep your photographer AND videographer until the end of the reception. Something like this is not the thing to leave out of your professional photos and video.
4. Somebody has to be in charge of staging the exit. If you don't have a wedding planner or wedding coordinator, make sure you have someone responsible and sober enough to remember their special job.
5. Timing, and the ability to move all the guests out is crucial.

Okay, so here are a few ideas:
1. Rose petal toss. This looks so great, its environmentally safe, and the petals don't hurt. I had rice at my wedding. It was the worst ever. It hurt so bad.
2. Fog machine, Disco lights, and a big funky song. Doors swing open, and the two of you come out dancing! This is also a really great segue to an after party...
3. Feathers, bubbles, or balloon drop
4. A choreographed dance. The dirty dancing finale would be perfect. See the YouTube video down at the bottom of the blog.

Wedding Activities: Scuba Diving

Water sports are the most popular activities for destination wedding/honeymooners. For us, that meant scuba diving. If you’ve ever tried snorkeling, you might consider trying diving. If you think this is something you want to try, consider going to a local scuba dive center before you leave since most of them offer a Discover Scuba Experience. It’s a chance to try it (usually for free) before going.

If you like diving, you have several different options. Most of the resorts in the Caribbean offer “resort courses.” They will teach you to dive in a pool and then will take you out into the ocean. However, you are not a certified diver and if you ever want to dive again, you need to go through the process all over again.

Your other option is to become a certified diver. There are several different certification agencies that are recognized around the world, including: PADI, NAUI and SSI. Once certified, you can go diving anywhere you want. Certification involves class work, pool work and “open water” diving. If you chose to get certified, you have several options:

• Do the class work and pool work at home before you leave and then do the “open water” diving work at the resort.


• Do all of it at home before you leave. We choose this option because we didn’t want to spend any of our precious wedding and honeymoon time going through classes or getting certified.

Scuba diving was one of the highlights of our Bahamas wedding and honeymoon. We did one day of diving with UNEXSO on Grand Bahama Island before the wedding. Lance did a morning of diving before the wedding. Then, we did a full day of diving with Stuart Cove’s Dive Resort in Nassau.

No blood, No wait, Anyone can officiate!

Yep, I wrote that little doozy myself.

5 reasons why you should consider South West Florida for your destination wedding:

1. No blood tests are required. In many states and destinations you are required to have a blood test prior to getting a marriage license. Not if you come to Florida!

2. No waiting period. Several states and countries require that you either wait several days before your license is valid or that you be within its boundaries for a certain length of time prior to the ceremony. The exception- if you are a Florida resident, you have to wait 3 days.

3. Anyone can officiate. Anyone can go online, get ordained, and officiate your wedding! How cool is that? Your favorite Uncle Sam can marry you! I married some of our best friends. I balled through the whole thing. It was hilarious.

4. No passport required. Did you know you need a passport even for the Bahamas now? Save your guests the hassle.

5. None of your friends got married here. Chances are, you'll be the 1st of your gang to tie the knot here. Meaning, anyone who does it after- just followed your lead. You have such great taste.

6. It's less expensive and you'll have more time. Yes, its less expensive to travel and stay in Florida than it is to travel and stay in Mexico, the Bahamas, or Europe. I say this knowing that the majority of my readers are on the Eastern half of the US.

7. It's gorgeous here. No seriously, its gorgeous.

8. I'm here and perhaps I could help plan your wedding. "Call me!" You know, like Debbie on the Sprint commercials? Remember Debbie? Whatever happened to Debbie? hmmmmm

Photo credit (ceremony): Nick Adams
I know, I have more than 5 on the list. I couldn't stop. I have more if you need more. Hee Hee.

Nicola+Michael=Bliss!

A little rain didn't stop Nicola and Michael from loving every second of their wedding day! I don't think Nicola stopped smiling the whole day - from getting ready in the morning to boogying on the dance floor into the wee hours of the night!

Blue boxes everywhere when we arrived at Nicola's home.

The girls prepare...Nicola was a gorgeous bride in her Italian gown.
Married!Michael is a champion racer; he & Nicola met at the go-cart track so it was only fitting they had to have some images with their helmets!

The reception hall was lit up with hundreds of candles - pure romance.

The couple gave their guests bottles of olive oil from Michael's family grove inItaly.

Everyone in the family was smiling during the heartfelt speeches.

Nicola and Michael share their first dance as husband and wife. Congratulations!

Supermodel!

"You better work! Work it girl, do your thing on the ..." Remember that song? What was his/her name? I Can't remember. Yes I do, it was RuPaul.

Anyway- the point I'm getting to- I'm very excited. Two of Weddings by Socialites couples are featured on Michelle Reeds website! Karyn and Len are on the enter page and the homepage; Jill & Tim are featured on Aimee's gallery.
I took the photo above- that's Aimee getting Jill & Tim set for a shot.