Destination Weddings With Kids

Four-year-old Grace Layman, decked out in full frilly flower girl regalia, excitedly led her smiling surprise guest to the separate kids’ party she was hosting at her dad’s wedding reception. Mickey Mouse wowed everyone — grown-ups too.

”I was teary eyed,” said the groom, Grace’s 31-year-old dad, Grant Layman. “It was fantastic.”

Layman, a Columbus businessman, said he and his wife, Jennifer, also in business, opted for a Disney destination wedding in large part because of Grace and all of their friends’ children.

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/family/story/689379.html  

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Hawaii Great Place for Weddings

Hawaii is a great place for a wedding. The islands exude romance and natural beauty, and after the ceremony, you’re already on your honeymoon. And the members of your wedding party will most likely be delighted, since you’ve given them the perfect excuse for their own island vacation.

More than 20,000 marriages are performed annually on the islands, mostly on Oahu; nearly half are for couples from somewhere else. The booming wedding business has spawned more than 70 companies that can help you organize a long-distance event and stage an unforgettable wedding, Hawaiian style or your style. However, you can also plan your own island wedding, even from afar, and not spend a fortune doing it.

See also Florida beach weddings

Inviting Kids to a Destination Wedding?

As the bride and groom turned toward each other to say their vows, the ocean sparkled in the background and white sand warmed the guests’ feet. The moment was interrupted only by a toddler – mine – yelling, “I want to sit in Mommy’s lap!”

I scooped him up, only to knock the pacifier out of my two-month-old’s mouth. Her lips quivered, preparing for a full-blown wail. I popped it back in just in time.

Double meltdown averted. Still, the ceremony was a harrowing half-hour for me.

Bringing the kids along to “destination weddings” – those that require travel to exotic locales – has become a priority and a challenge for many bridal couples and their guests.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jej7hXloZqrMePAsMw-nuDNEin7w

Also see destination wedding ideas

Destination Weddings in Barbados

Tourism officials are going after the romance tourism market in a major way.

Roseann Myers, chairman of the National Tourism Marketing Committee, told a Press conference last Thursday at the recently concluded two-day tourism consultation at Hilton Barbados that this market was a major component of lifestyle tourism.

She said for more than three years tourism marketers had focused their attention on product launches that entailed niche marketing.

http://www.nationnews.com/story/306156783171558.php

See tropical caribbean destination wedding

Destination Wedding Issues

Question: After we booked a family cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line, we decided to hold a wedding for our daughter on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Our travel agent told us we would have to go through Norwegian’s wedding planners, an agency called The Wedding Experience.  

We found the agency’s wedding coordinator unresponsive. The day before departure, I called several times to ask if everything was in place. The coordinator only re-sent paperwork we already had filled out and returned weeks ago. We left for our cruise not knowing if the wedding was going to take place.

On board, the ship’s cruise coordinator informed us our paperwork was not in order but graciously helped us fix the problems. Afterward, we were told we would receive our wedding pictures within a week to 10 days. Months later, my daughter received an e-mail from The Wedding Experience indicating the pictures could be purchased for an additional $550 — on top of the $2,500 we already paid for the wedding package. We also were charged a $250 late-booking fee rather than $150 as indicated on our contract. Can you help us get our wedding photos and a fee refund?

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/burbank/2007-11-01-travelersaid_N.htm

See also destination wedding ideas

Cruise Ship Weddings

Interesting information on MSC Cruises’ wedding program.

For lovers looking for a special and unique way to exchange or renew vows, there are few more romantic places to celebrate than on a cruise, between land and sky.

Italian company MSC Cruises offers a variety of options to make dreams come true, with special on-board symbolic ceremonies that promise an unforgettable experience.

http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article.asp?id=49083&nav=5

See also honeymoon cruises

Destination Weddings on the Rise

Destination weddings used to be for those eloping or celebrating a second marriage.  But now, the number of younger couples tying the knot in tropical locations is on the rise.

Travel agents say in just the past decade, the number of destination weddings has grown by 40 percent.

http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=3572

See also destination weddings

Destination Weddings – Italy

Interesting…

Few people get paid to spend time exploring Tuscany. But Helen and James Lord do. The’ve built a business around helping British couples organise Italian weddings in the Tuscan Hills.

The idea came to them after spending 12 months planning their own wedding in 1998. “It took a dozen visits over a period of 12 months finding suppliers. Helen said we now have this little black book, why don’t we use it,” says James.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/14/ybstart114.xml

See also destination wedding ceremony sites

Regent Cruise Line Launches Destination Wedding Program

Here’s a unique way to get married: 

Here’s how it works: Regent guests looking to get married or renew their vows in port (or onboard, if they wish) can plan their ceremony directly with a wedding consultant. But what’s interesting to us, and unique to the industry, is that pre-arranged wedding packages for Regent’s guests do not exist! The bride- and groom-to-be, or couple renewing their vows, get to create their own day. The traditional wedding staples (the officiant, marriage certificate, wedding cake and Champagne) will be there — but you get to pick everything else, with your consultant’s help.

So, think outside the box for a minute. If you could tie the knot or renew your vows any way you wanted, how would you do it? Some of Regent’s suggestions include a kilted ceremony in an ancient Scottish castle (with bagpipers!), a hot air balloon ride over a tropical pineapple plantation and a sunset wedding in the South Pacific.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2117

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