Second Marriages and Destination Weddings

It’s a sad fact that over half of first marriages end in divorce. But people don’t have to give up on love and many get remarried. And this has given rise to a boom in second marriage destination weddings.

Destination weddings are uniquely suited for second marriages. If you had a big church wedding for your first marriage (also known as “starter marriages”), you may be reluctant to have another. It can be awkward to invite people who attended the first wedding, and many people feel uncomfortable because of the “wedding gift” factor. Basically, having someone buy a gift for the first wedding and then getting a gift at the second one makes many brides (and grooms) uncomfortable.

Destination weddings offer a balance between the larger ceremony a couple may want with the elopement they feel they have to have.

In our quest to find destination wedding stories from real couples, we found a YouTube video that we’d like to share. This couple is sharing their story of a second marriage destination wedding.

Here’s the YouTube video:

C+L FAB 5: Linda+Scott

We're off to Kelowna for a Okanagan wedding!

Before we go, five of our favourites from Linda + Scott's beautiful Sutton Place wedding.

Congratulations L+S!

Domestic Destination Weddings

Destination weddings can take place anywhere! That’s one of the best things about them. But for us, a destination wedding means more than getting married “someplace else.” It means that the destination becomes an important and integral part of the wedding festivities.

North Carolina-based wedding photographer Mary Basnight contacted us and pointed out an oversight on our part – all of our coverage has been about destination weddings in locations outside the U.S. She’s right and this has been a significant oversight on our part, which we will attempt to rectify.

Destination weddings can take place anywhere. From Catalina Island in California to the Hamptons of Long Island. From the sin city of Las Vegas to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Our blogging about destination weddings in the U.S. has been minimal (one post about South Padre Island, Texas). We’ve had the incorrect attitude U.S. weddings are really “Deportation Weddings,” not Destination Weddings. I guess we’ve viewed them as shotgun affairs that need to happen FAST (usually because somebody needs to leave the country in a hurry). This isn’t the aesthetic we choose to subscribe to. However, Mary Basnight is correct, there can be wonderful destination weddings within the U.S. and we haven’t given them fair treatment.

We’ll attempt to rectify this glaring omission in our blog coverage soon.

Laurie+Warren=Wow!

It all started normally enough - playing in the light in the park, checking out the view of the ocean, hanging out by the seawall.









But then Laurie and Warren's stroll along the beach turned into a roll in the beach. And in the waves! Now we love photographing couples playing in the surf, but that kind of engagement action is normally limited to our destination sessions in tropical climates, not the chilly Pacific Northwest!










But once these two got a little wet...



... they just embraced the moment!







A beautiful evening and a beautiful couple.

Are you a Bride Blogger?

So I was on a blogathon this morning and came across some really fun blogs by real brides. As usual, when I'm on blogathons I get inspired. These blogs really inspired me more than I expected though. So I decided that I would add another blogroll- blogs by brides!
If you are a bride, and would like to be on this Blog roll, comment below or send an email to WeddingTidbits@Gmail
I'm excited!

Welcome back Anne!

Do you know that my first introduction to the world of wedding blogs was from I will to I do? Yep. These years later, I am ever so glad that Anne is still blogging away, and I am so happy for her- she's moved her blog back to its blogger home and is now the Senior Editor at Brides.com
Congrats Anne!

The Gangs all here

Okay, so the picture is really kind of bad. That's okay though, because the evening was wonderful. There's truly something so nice about being surrounded by people who just love weddings.
I was so excited when I walked into Miromar Beach Lakes Clubhouse tonight and found so many of my favorite people sitting around one table. In the total lack of resolution photo from my phone above (left to right):
Shari Bare, Kelly from No Worries, Sam & Ashley Brockinton and then me. Also in attendance (but not in the pic)were Rob & AnnMarie from AMC Video, Vanessa from Pelican Preserve, and Jane Jedlick. Anyhoo, we had all been invited to take a tour of the new clubhouse and spa (which is beyond fabulous). I went because the invite said cocktails & hors d'oeuvres. Ahhh ha ha ha, snort. Just kidding (a little). Oh, but the sun dried tomato goat cheese on toast points were soooo good. I ate 6.
FYI: I linked to a few previous posts to show off some of the work for everyone I've worked with tonight.

Calling all brides!

As you know, we're gearing up for our 2008 blog showcase and we're off to a great start. The Planners & Wedding designers across the country are ready to start creating a showcase piece based on what you envision, and we have a list of amazing photographers a mile long ready to photograph! Much to my surprise, we're short on brides!
The process is easy- your showcase planner/designer will contact you and let you know what showcase piece they'd like to create for you. Then all you have to do is give her/him your thoughts/ideas on what you'd like to see.

"Oh, you're doing a place setting? Great! I'd love to see something really contemporary, with greens, whites and golds. Oh, and I love the look of glass. Love, love, love glass. And my favorite flower is a rose, if that helps at all."

Easy right? Then you and your showcase planner/designer and the photographer will get together to photograph you, your planner/designer, and the showcase piece. All the submitted showcases will be featured on the blog in August.
That's it! Nothing but fun wedding inspiration. Free of charge, full of smiles. If you have a photographer or planner you'd like to work with, send me an email and I'll see if I can get you matched up!
Here's the list of cities we for sure need participants from (but we're not limiting to these!):

Boston, MA
Captiva Island, FL
Conneticut
Denver, CO
Ft Myers, FL
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Naples, FL
New York, NY
Newport, RI
Sanibel Island, FL
St. Louis, MO

Our Story

We’ve had a number of e-mails lately asking about our inspiration and motivation for doing this blog. This blog is really for you – the future brides and grooms who are interested in destination weddings.

Several years ago, we were planning our own destination wedding and were disappointed in the resources that were out there. We spent hundreds of hours trolling The Knot message board and other websites trying to get ideas. We wished we had a coach or mentor to walk us through the process. With that in mind, we started the Ultimate Destination Weddings blog to be your coach.

It started simply. We were the first in our social circle to get married. We found ourselves spending a lot of time going through our thought process with friends or answering their questions. This blog became a way to disseminate information to them in an easy-to-use format. Somewhere along the way, it caught on and we now get a few hundred visitors a day. We don't try to be all things to all people. We just try to offer good, solid, unbiased advice on planning destination weddings.

We are definitely NOT wedding coordinators. It's funny, last week, a woman named Stacey in Maine wrote and wanted to hire us to plan her destination wedding in Jamaica. We are flattered, but we have jobs and this is a just a hobby for us.

We aren’t paid to do this. And we rarely recommend specific vendors and don't keep preferred vendor lists (we've thought about it, but don't think it's for us). If we recommend someone and it goes bad for a couple, we lose our credibility. We only recommend people we really have faith in. We don’t shill for anyone and aren’t paid to do this. We do Ultimate Destination Weddings because we love it.

We hope you enjoy the blog and find it useful in planning your wedding.

Post #301

I can't believe I've had over 300 posts. That's craziness. In a fury of boredom driving home from Savannah, I read through a bunch of old ones and found yet another wedding I missed! So...here are the pro photos from Smiley brides wedding (a.k.a. Amy & Stephen). Amy is a wedding coordinator herself, so I had a blast planning with her. Click on each picture that you'd like to see enlarged. Each guest received a chocolate menu...serious wow factor.
The Newlyweds table. Dinner with all your best friends. Does it get better than that?
Amy & Stephen had the best of the best for music- Clint Wiley Band. They rock! Clint's band has the best playlist I've come across in a really long time. They actually keep current with what you hear on top 40 radio. That's almost unheard of with wedding bands.
How can you not love the occassional photo just for laughs? Stephen is a hoot!
5 minutes 'til aisle time...
See what I mean? She never stopped smiling!


The Peonies, oh the Peonies. this was a bad year for Peonies. They literally arrived the day before the wedding, and until one day prior, we didn't know if they'd come at all. Talk about holding your breath!
This my friends, was another great wedding!
Ack! I nearly forgot to give credit where credit is due: Phenomenal Photography by Julie Goodacre and Magnificent Makeup (and hair) by Fresh Beauty Studio.

2008 Showcase extended!

Okay, so we have a whole buncha odds and ends for the showcase, so I think it would be best to extend the deadline for participation until the 25th. Up there on the left sidebar I have a list of cities that we have participants for, but need some match-ups: planners, photographers, and brides.
***We got a request from a videographer to participate- ABSOLUTELY! You guys know I'm all about the video!
To participate just email me at WeddingTidbits @gmail.com
The showcase is easy and fun to do, so don't wait- sign up now!
Confused? Read here: Click

Um, the picture. It has nothing to do with this showcase. I just like it. Julie Goodacre took it at Smiley Bride's wedding.

Robin+Jerome=Adoration

Ahh...what a perfect day. One of the first sunny Saturdays in Vancouver for Robin & Jerome's big day - and it was a beautiful one! These two are so devoted each other - and their deep and true love for each other shines through in all their images.

First some of Robin's bling bling.



Getting ready. And beautiful.


Finishing touches for Robin.

And Jerome.

A private moment between Robin and her father before they walk down the aisle.



The ring bearer approaches - what a cutie!


"We did it!!"

I love Robin's expression in this one. And that Vancouver backdrop is pretty nice too - no matter where we get to travel, we always love coming home to the mountains.

Robin's brother affectionatley described the bride as "a dorky nerd."
Pretty darn hot nerd, I say :).

And Jerome's pretty easy on the eyes too.






Love the pink and purple colour scheme.

Robin's brother delivering a heartfelt, hilarious (and most daring!) speech ever.

Traditional Chinese shenanigans.



Bride and groom cakes - and an eager photographer (hey, I think I recognize that fabulous couple!)



Jerome putting on the moves during the couple's first dance.



Congratulations you two - hope you're enjoying Bali!!