The amazing thing about all the planning, scrimping, worrying, arguing, imbibing and saving for a wedding is when you actually pull it off. The successful arrival of all your guests to your island paradise, the sigh of relief knowing that both sets of parents get along so well that you can stick them at the corner of the wedding table and not have to check up on them too often. These are just some of the things that make you breathe a sigh of relief, look your Prewife in the eye knowing all is well with her too, and then go hit the beach.
Of course, even the best wedding is not all smiles and sunshine… From our own personal experience – we learned to be very flexible. We saw our guest list drop from 50 to 15 people. It worked out well, since in the end it was actually quite an intimate affair (and what I wanted all along). We went from having a full band and a buffet style beach dinner, to a DJ and buffet dinner, to an iPod hooked up to speakers at a restaurant, to what was playing at the Restaurant. This was fine as well as the restaurant was excellent. As usual props go out to the Prewife – always cool under pressure, and nary a hissy-fit in sight. Gents, make sure your Prewife has nerves of steel and the flexibility to match. Getting married at an island destination is not for the faint of heart.
The one thing we did not scrimp on was the photographer. If there is one thing we can say is most important, it is the photog. Now this doesn’t mean you have to blow all your money on the most expensive one. But make sure to get the best one you can afford. Take your time on this. If the wedding is local, look at their pics and talk with the photographer and find out how they interact with you. If they have references, by all means use them. If the wedding is a destination, then as soon as you decide where to have it, find out who is going to shoot it. Check out their website, email them, etc. Destination weddings tend to be in beautiful places that sometimes have limited resources – such as a photographer’s availability. So get the best one you can quickly, before they are snatched up by another wedding party. Do not rely on friends or relatives for anything more then “fun photos” or you will be very disappointed.
If you happen to be going to Turks and Caicos, where we had our wedding, the photographer we used was Ileana, from Tropical Imaging. I cannot say enough good things about her. Professional, relaxed, engaging, on the ball, excellent photographer, the list goes on, you get the idea. Tropical Imaging’s setup for picking out pictures you want to keep is straight forward and is as easy as opening up your laptop, logging on to their site and selecting the images you want.
So, this week and next, we here at Prewife will focus on some great locations for destination weddings.
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Should you take a trip to Maui and then don’t take the Road to Hana, you will overlook a once-in-a-lifetime adventure – definitely do not miss it! The Road to Hana is best appreciated by van – permit some other person do all the driving along with you and your family marvel with Maui’s natural splendor; the waterfalls, tropical rainforests, the black sand beaches, the 7 Sacred Pools, you know the reason why plenty of films continue to be shot in Maui. The road starts off near the international airport located at Kahului and it’s fifty-two miles long, has got 620 turns, passes across 59 bridges of which 46 are one-lane only after that you must retrace the same road back again to the international airport. That is 1,240 hairpin curves, 118 bridges to get across and 92 of them are one-lane by the end of the day. There are many wonderful van adventure companies that perform the driving while family and friends rest in captain’s seats, take photos, stop at roadside vendors selling banana bread to flowers, delight in the included lunch close to waterfalls and therefore do what you ought to do on vacation – having fun in Maui. I can recommend the top van companies at my Road to Hana website. Aloha.
WOw that sure is fun =) I am so much excited to have my wedding in Las Vegas,, do I sound cheezy? Vegas weddings are sometimes perceived as cheesy and cheap, but the weddings held at Las Vegas hotels are classy and can be more expensive than the average wedding across the country. However, it is a great way for a bride to cut her costs because she can limit her guest list without upsetting anyone. She can plan an elegant wedding that is fun for everyone and it will barely be recognizable as a Vegas wedding. There are many great photo opportunities in the city and some of the most amazing restaurants in the country are located right inside of the casinos. If you are looking for a great place to host a destination wedding, consider hitting Sin City.