Beach Weddings in Hawaii
Celebrate your wedding on the stunning tropical beaches of Hawaii; get married barefoot in the sand or in full view of the roaring surf from a palm tree-lined luxury resort. Located in the Pacific Ocean, the state of Hawaii is composed of islands formed primarily from volcanic rock. The Hawaiian Islands offers soon-to-be-wed couples a variety of premier beach-side options for their wedding considerations. After deciding on a wedding date, it is time to consider the best beach for your nuptials. The friendly aloha spirit combined with the laid-back island atmosphere draws lovers from around the world. Read on to learn more about a beach wedding in Hawaii.
About Hawaii Beaches
The beaches of Hawaii are incredibly beautiful in appearance and the sand comes in an array of colors including green, black, tan, pink and white. Lava flows create black sand, broken coral and sea shells make white sand and the mineral olivine gives a green color to sand.
Choosing a Time of Year
Hawaii offers two seasons, wet and dry: although the temperature is generally pleasant year round. Most couples choosing to wed in Hawaii aim for the high and dry season months of April through October. The rainy season usually occurs during the months of November to March. Some of the nicest weather conditions and best travel bargains occur in April, May, September and October.
Know Your Budget
Destination weddings costs can be exorbitant and Hawaii is no exception. Before making reservations, know exactly how much you can afford, make a budget and stick to it. Look online for airline deals and the best hotel rates. If you have airline miles or hotel points, use those to help save on wedding costs.
Select an Island
The most popular islands for a beach wedding are Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai and Lanai. There are many choices for a beach wedding in Hawaii, but no matter which island you choose, it will be scenic. Also known as The Big Island, the island of Hawaii offers lush tropical beaches and volcanic landscapes. Referred to as the ‘Garden Isle’ is Kauai, an emerald paradise with sun-drenched golden beaches. The Island of Oahu offers easy access to the Honolulu International Airport, where most flights arrive. For an intimate wedding, choose Lanai for a rural experience.
Picking a Venue
Hawaiian beach weddings are offered at many different types of venues from hotels with built-in wedding packages to on-the-beach luxury resorts to charming inns to quaint tropical bed and breakfasts. Ask your venue if they offer wedding packages or the services of a wedding coordinator. Inquire if your location has reception facilities on the premises or nearby. When selecting a site for a sunset wedding, consider the time and direction of the sun.
Planning an upcoming wedding and need ideas or suggestions? Attend the Great Bridal Expo, a nationwide touring wedding show featuring current wedding trends, an incredible honeymoon showcase, New York-style fashion shows, live orchestra and DJ performances, endless exhibitions and a bevy of knowledgeable wedding professionals ready to meet with you and make your wedding dreams come true. Click HERE to register and use code BLOG for 2 FREE tickets!
Types of Online Wedding Businesses
Engaged couples are increasingly turning to online shopping to fulfill some of their wedding planning needs. Whether your business sells wedding-related products or services exclusively on the internet or on a website that complements your brick and mortar business, creating an online store is an involved process that may evolve your business and create the potential to reach a wider customer base. No formal education is required to operate an online wedding business but a basic understanding of the technical aspects is helpful. Elements of a successful website plan include a domain name, website, shopping cart, social media marketing strategy and access to web analytics. Read on for look at some of the different types of online wedding businesses
Favors
Make your passion for weddings a business with an online wedding favor store. Wedding favors are mementos given to guests at the reception by the bride and groom as a show of sincere appreciation. Favors come lots of shapes and sizes, selection is largely based on the personal preference of the marrying couple. Personalized favors are very popular and may include such items as custom wine bottles, chocolates, candles or gift bags. Some favor businesses buy favor supplies wholesale for resell. Craft-lovers may want to design original favors.
Accessories
The finishing touches of bridal and groom attire are found in the finishing touches of the coordinating accessories. Offer an online wedding business showcasing wedding accessories. Create a niche and specialize in certain areas of accessories. Add to the beauty of wedding day tresses with hair accessories such as veils, tiaras, combs, hats, fascinators, combs, barrettes and floral wreaths. Other areas to consider include items such as gloves, ring pillows, flower girl baskets, petticoats or bouquet jewelry. Custom cake topper businesses help provide options for a wedding cake with an original and personal touch.
Decorations
Wedding decorations add to the festivities of a ceremony and reception. If offering wedding decorations online, decide on the scope of your business such as offering outdoor decorations, specific themes or traditional decorations. If your specialty is receptions, be sure to offer an assortment of coordinating tablecloths, chair covers and centerpieces. Your decoration business may want to provide items such as unique unity candle sets, decorative lanterns, fun bubbles, hand fans, aisle runners, candelabras, chair and aisle bows or getaway car decorations. .
Wedding Dresses
Every bride wants the perfect wedding dress that reflects her personal style and tastes, many are turning to online shopping in the search for the dream gown. Determine the types of wedding dresses you would like to offer, is there a certain niche or specialty that your business can provide? Be sure to include information about sizing charts and offer a return policy. Consider adding fun features such as virtual dressing rooms, where a bride can “try on” a wedding dress by uploading a photo.
Be sure to Exhibit at the Great Bridal Expo. Great Bridal Expo is the only bridal event in the U.S. featuring local and national companies covering everything from pre-wedding planning to the new home after the wedding. To request information on exhibiting or sponsorship information, click HERE.
Elegant Reception Ideas on a Budget
Give your wedding reception an air of elegance without breaking the bank on your budget by choosing sensible cost-effective strategies over more expensive counterparts. Before making purchases, create a game plan by knowing exactly how much you can afford to spend on your reception, determine the exact number of that amount and do your best to stay within a reasonable distance of your budget goals. Get creative by brainstorming different ways to create a stylish and sophisticated reception atmosphere using inexpensive alternatives featuring an economical price tag. Read on to learn more about elegant reception ideas on a budget.
Lighting
The right lighting can transform your wedding reception from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Candles make inexpensive yet sophisticated lighting choices for a wedding reception on a budget. The flickering lights of candles evoke a soft and romantic mood and work great on tables as accents to centerpieces. Types of candles to consider include tea lights, votives, tapers, pillars and containers. From outdoors to indoors, white string lights always add a magical twinkling effect. Whether hanging from the weathered limbs of old oak trees or wrapped around the trunks of palm trees to creating an indoor starry night on a ceiling at a reception hall, string lights offer versatility at an inexpensive price.
Food and Drink
One of the biggest expenses of a wedding is the food costs for the reception. Feature a dessert buffet offering a variety of sweet treats such as pies, cookies, ice cream, pastries and candies. Have your wedding in the early morning and offer a breakfast buffet, breakfast items generally cost less than dinner items. Alternatively, consider an early evening wedding and have a cocktail hour reception featuring finger foods and homemade appetizers. If your wedding is outdoors, consider an old-fashioned barbeque. Save money on alcohol costs by serving a signature drink, a special drink designed just for your wedding
Centerpieces
A great tip for saving on wedding expenses is to consider making your own wedding reception tabletop decorations. Beach or tropical themed wedding centerpieces can be as simple as a pineapple surrounded by a handmade wreath of tropical flowers, fruits and leaves. Bouquets of balloons with streamers consisting of your wedding colors really put love in the air as a tabletop centerpiece. For a fall wedding, tie a sheaf of wheat together with a rustic bow or place a low basket filled with colorful seasonal items such as squash, gourds, pumpkins, apples and marigolds. Save money on flower arrangements and substitute potted plants, a great option especially for winter weddings and poinsettias.
Planning an upcoming wedding and need ideas or suggestions? Attend the Great Bridal Expo, a nationwide touring wedding show featuring current wedding trends, an incredible honeymoon showcase, New York-style fashion shows, live orchestra and DJ performances, endless exhibitions and a bevy of knowledgeable wedding professionals ready to meet with you and make your wedding dreams come true. Click HERE to register and use code BLOG for 2 FREE tickets!
Fairy Tale Theme Weddings
Ever since you were a child you dreamed of your wedding day, and now it is your chance to “live happily ever after†with your fairy tale themed wedding. Fairy tales are fictional stories that often feature a happy ending; make your wedding day a dream come true of your favorite fairy tale. Read on for ideas for a fairy tale themed wedding.
Cinderella
One of the most beloved fairy tales of all-time is Cinderella, a story about a girl who is treated poorly by her step mother and step sisters yet ends up marrying the prince with a little help from her fairy godmother. Blue and white are often the colors associated with a Cinderella wedding; however any light and airy color will suffice. Choose a castle for your wedding venue, and if you can’t find a real castle get married in front of Cinderella’s Castle in Disneyworld. Wear a Cinderella style wedding dress replete with sweetheart neckline, poufy ballroom skirt and tiara. Decorate your reception tables with white tea roses in elegant crystal vases and offer glass slippers filled with chocolate kisses as favors.
Sleeping Beauty
Only the kiss of her handsome prince could awaken Aurora in the romantic story of Sleeping Beauty. Evoke the mood of this enchanting fairy tale at your wedding with key details such as pink and white colors, dress in a ballroom bridal gown and decorate your reception with centerpieces featuring wildflowers, bluebirds and fairies. If you cannot get married in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, choose a woodland cottage as your venue or get married in a forest setting.
Snow White
Originally written by the Brothers Grimm, Snow White is a classic fairy tale about a young girl with a jealous narcissist stepmother who tricks Snow White to fall into a deep slumber from the bite of a poisonous apple. Snow White is rescued from her sleep by a prince whom she later marries. Yellow and blue hallmark the classic colors of the Disney version of the Snow White story. Dress your flower girl as a mini Snow White, she will look adorable. Decorate your venue to resemble a forest cottage. Place mirrors on your reception table and place atop with silver fruit bowls filled with red apples. Keeping with the theme, serve delectable such as appletinis, apple pie and candied apples.
The Princess and the Frog
The Frog Prince by the Brothers Grimm is an enchanting tale featuring a brave girl who kisses a frog who turns into a prince. The Disney version of the story is called the Princes and the Frog and takes place in New Orleans. Get married in the French Quarter or along the shores of the Mississippi River. Give a nod to Mardi Gras and choose colors for your wedding such as pastel green, pink light purple and white. Have a little fun with your wedding cake and choose a topper of a bride kissing a frog.
Planning an upcoming wedding and need ideas or suggestions? Attend the Great Bridal Expo, a nationwide touring wedding show featuring current wedding trends, an incredible honeymoon showcase, New York-style fashion shows, live orchestra and DJ performances, endless exhibitions and a bevy of knowledgeable wedding professionals ready to meet with you and make your wedding dreams come true. Click HERE to register and use code BLOG for 2 FREE tickets!
Home-Based Wedding Business Ideas
Discover the joys and challenges of helping engaged couples prepare for their big day with your at-home wedding business. Weddings are one industry that never seems to go out of style, as long as there is love there will be weddings. With the average wedding costing well more than $25,000, there is a reason it is considered the most special day for many couples. Many at-home wedding businesses require working on-site at the wedding. Read on to learn more about home-based wedding business ideas.
Wedding Planner
Have a knack for organization then consider a career as a home-based wedding planner, a type of professional who organizes the events leading up to and on the wedding day. No formal education is required but a degree in hospitality or tourism management may prove helpful.
Wedding Cakes
Create custom-made wedding cakes from your home by using your talent for baking and decorating skills. Make a niche or specialty for your wedding cake business to separate yourself from the rest. A professional background is not required for a home-based wedding baker and cake decorator.
Photographer/Videographer
Love to take pictures? Capture wedding day memories with your skills as a home-based photographer/videographer. Gain real-world wedding experience by working as a photographer’s assistant or by offering to work for free. Requirements include a talent for photography or videography and the proper equipment and knowledge to operate a camera.
Wedding Invitations and Calligraphy
Handwritten invitations are the hallmark of luxury but where does a bride find someone who knows the art of calligraphy. This is where a home-based wedding business as a calligrapher pays off. Calligraphers are specially trained in the near lost art of fine handwriting. They can turn an ordinary invitation into an extraordinary.
Sewing and Design
Turn your love of sewing and weddings into a home-based business. Create a niche for yourself and specialize in wedding dress design, alterations or custom sewn items such as table and chair coverings. Experience is required to be successful as a seamstress or tailor.
Wedding Floral Designer
Design wedding arrangements and reception centerpieces with your home-based wedding florist business. Choose to specialize in fresh or silk flowers. Take classes in floral design and gain experience working in a wedding floral shop.
Favors
Add something special to a couple’s wedding day with a favor-making or decoration business and work from home. Decide on what type of products you would like to offer for favors from small gift bags to custom candles for guests to take home.
Looking for fresh ideas to get your wedding related product or service out to the public? Be sure to Exhibit at the Great Bridal Expo. Great Bridal Expo is the only bridal event in the U.S. featuring local and national companies covering everything from pre-wedding planning to the new home after the wedding. To request information on exhibiting or sponsorship information, click HERE.
Napa Valley Weddings
Three cheers for choosing Napa Valley as the destination for your wine country wedding. Filled with verdant undulating hills and quixotic vineyards, the Napa Valley is a natural draw for the romantic at heart creating a fusion of love and weddings. Choose from a number of venues for your wedding or reception including vineyards, wineries fine restaurants and resorts. Be sure to make all reservations well in advance. Read on to learn more about Napa Valley for weddings.
About Napa Valley
Located about 55 miles north of San Francisco, the Napa Valley region consists of six main towns: Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, Helena and Calistoga. Napa Valley is about 35 miles long and home to over 400 wineries. Considered the center of Wine Country is the city of Napa, a medium-sized community comprised of about 75,000 residents. The more tourist-centric of the local towns are St. Helena and Calistoga. St. Helena features an Old West tribute vibe and Calistoga is home to geothermal hot springs, a great place to soak in warm mineral waters. High season runs from March through October.
Venues for Winery Weddings
Wineries make unique wedding venues with opportunity for great photographs amid aged wine oak wine barrels, wine making equipment, tasting rooms and the gentle clicks of wine glasses filled with the local grape. Get married at the Silver Rose Resort Winery in Calistoga, offering several onsite wedding locations including the estate vineyards surrounded by several small waterfalls, a romantic gazebo sitting atop a knoll or inside the winery encircled by wine barrels and softly lit candles. Other great wineries to get married at include the Merryvale Winery or the V. Sattui Winery.
Places for a Vineyard Wedding
Seeking the definitive outdoor wine country experience, then get married on the estate of an authentic vineyard. Discover the Hans Fahden Vineyards located close to Calistoga accommodating up to 120 guests for your wedding and offering a number of packages from elopement to all-inclusive. Enjoy wine country elegance by getting married at the celebrated Beaulieu Vineyard Garden in Rutherford. Founded in 1900, this wine property is an official California historic landmark.
Resorts and Inns
Celebrate your nuptials with wine country style at a number of traditional and untraditional venues from high-class luxury resorts to quaint bed and breakfast establishments. Exchange vows at the sophisticated Auberge du Soleil, found in the heart of Napa Valley near Rutherford and offering wedding packages along a terrace overlooking the vineyards. If you would rather elope, then consider the Milliken Creek Inn and Spa offering elopement and conventional wedding packages.
Planning an upcoming wedding and need ideas or suggestions? Attend the Great Bridal Expo, a nationwide touring wedding show featuring current wedding trends, an incredible honeymoon showcase, New York-style fashion shows, live orchestra and DJ performances, endless exhibitions and a bevy of knowledgeable wedding professionals ready to meet with you and make your wedding dreams come true. Click HERE to register and use code BLOG for 2 FREE tickets!
Ideas for a Yellow Wedding
Bring a touch of sunshine to your wedding by choosing yellow for your color theme. Yellow represents youthful joy and a sunny disposition. It is a bright cheery color inspiring happiness. If this is your favorite color, then read on for ideas for a yellow wedding.
Wedding Attire
Feature yellow accents upon the bridal, groom and wedding party attire. Add a yellow silk sash to a white wedding dress or carry a bought of yellow flowers. Give the groom and groomsmen yellow boutonnieres to wear on their lapels. Dress the bridesmaid in yellow gowns or dresses trimmed in yellow. Have the flower girl wear a wreath of yellow flowers in her hair paired with an adorable yellow lace dress. Give the ring bearer a yellow pillow to carry golden wedding rings.
Flowers
Flowers often play an important role in weddings in the form of the bridal bouquet, boutonnieres, reception centerpieces and ceremony decor. Choose from a plethora of yellow flowers for your wedding. Wedding favorites include the daffodils, sunflowers, roses, lilies, tulips, marigolds, daisies, zinnias, freesias, honeysuckle and gerberas. Flower colors range from soft pastels to bright golden yellow.
Ceremony Decorations
Decorate your ceremony with yellow to set the theme and mood of your wedding. The first thing your guests will at your wedding venue see is the entryway; greet them with a yellow floral arrangement alongside a yellow sign-in guest book. Beautify your ceremony with yellow organza bows on the backs of chairs and the sides of pews. Add golden foil accents to your wedding program. Roll out a colorful yellow runner to walk down the aisle. Get creative by marrying under a lemon tree.
Yellow Reception
Celebrate at your reception adorned with yellow style. Illuminate the tables with glowing yellow candle centerpieces or fresh floral arrangements. Spread yellow tablecloths over tables, paying special attention to the couple’s table by adding yellow twinkling lights. Sprinkle golden glitter or yellow confetti atop all the reception tables. Have fun dancing to tunes with the color yellow in the title such as Mellow Yellow, Yellow Submarine, Good-bye Yellow Brick Road and Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.
Wedding Cake
Serve a delicious yellow wedding cake, starting from the inside to the out. Yellow wedding cake flavors include the classic yellow cake and lemon. Adorn your cake with yellow fondant, buttercream, royal icing or marzipan. Add yellow decorations such as sugary confectionery flowers to your wedding cake. Almost all yellow wedding cakes feature white in the form of vanilla or coconut as an accent. Create a yellow wedding topper that looks like the newlyweds.
Planning an upcoming wedding and need ideas or suggestions? Attend the Great Bridal Expo, a nationwide touring wedding show featuring current wedding trends, an incredible honeymoon showcase, New York-style fashion shows, live orchestra and DJ performances, endless exhibitions and a bevy of knowledgeable wedding professionals ready to meet with you and make your wedding dreams come true. Click HERE to register and use code BLOG for 2 FREE tickets!
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