In My Mind’s Eye
July 28th, 2008 @ 12:40 pm by Miss Sea Breeze
Sometimes there are things that just can’t be put into words, even for a long-winded Bee like me.
So without further ado, here is a quickie photo tour of our wedding resort: the Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana.
I wish I could share with you my own photos of the resort. But that would be impossible. Because, you see, I’ve never been to this resort… which means I’m planning a wedding at a venue I’ve never seen.
All I’ve had to go on are pictures like these:
DW Resources to Help Maintain Your Sanity
July 25th, 2008 @ 10:24 am by Miss Sea Breeze
Once we had our destination of choice nailed, it was time to pick a resort.
As I flipped through one brochure after another, my eyes began to glaze over at the sight of the same images over and over: 1) photo of woman lounging by pool, 2) photo of woman on wide (and weirdly empty) white sand beach, 3) aerial photo of resort that is indiscernible from aerial photo of other resort on opposite page, 4) swan-shaped towel art displayed on a bedspread which must have been designed by someone who was color-blind.
Since I’m dorky and secretly love research (oh Melvil Dewey, your name still inspires shivers) I went, of course, to the grand World Wide Web…
…and, oh my lord, it was just more of the same schmaltz!
There were pictures of beaches and couples canoodling and 80’s-style wedding dresses with pouffy bangs to match, but not much else except ads, ads, ADS AND MORE ADS!
Unless you really like ads, I’d say do yourself a favor and don’t try Googling ‘destination weddings’.
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How We Picked the DR for Our DW - Part 2
July 24th, 2008 @ 12:50 pm by Miss Sea Breeze
Weighing all the options for wedding destinations can be, admittedly, enormously overwhelming.
We found that the best place to start after asking ourselves these questions was to talk to friends and family that had been to the various Caribbean destinations we wer\ sort-of considering.
This kind of candid feedback can sometimes be incredibly helpful since it’s honest and trustworthy. However, if you want some advice based on personal experience, don’t ask too many people for their opinions. Not because you don’t love them all equally (obviously you do, or want them to think so, anyway) but if you don’t, you’ll just get massively, massively confused. It’s like going into Sephora when you want to try a new brand of mascara. GAHHH! They all sound so wonderful, how do you pick just one?!
If at this point you have already found a travel agent to work with, by all means do ask for his/her thoughts…but not before you have some sort of idea of what YOU want first. Trust me, it will make it easier for both of you.
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So What’s a DW Anyway?
July 23rd, 2008 @ 4:20 pm by Miss Sea Breeze
I’m thinking that regular readers of Weddingbee, especially Mrs. Lovebird’s fans, will have no problem answering this question, but for those out there like me who were totally clueless (which, by the way, is one of the. best. movies. made. ev-ah) before diving into this whole wedding scene, let’s just take a moment to make sure we’re on the same page.
Destination Wedding* (děs’tə-nā’shən wěd’ĭng) n. Also known as “DW”.
1. A celebration of love that takes place in a location other than the bride and groom’s current place of residence.
2. An amazingly fun excuse to get your closest friends and family together for a week-long get-to-know-you gathering.
3. A slightly sneaky, but completely gratifying, way for someone who wants their wedding day to last FOREVER to stretch the festivities from the usual 12-48 hours to a deliciously extravagant 168 hours.
* Source: the unofficial dictionary of Sea Breeze-isms
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Making a Destination Wedding Green
July 23rd, 2008 @ 1:45 pm by Mrs. Pinot Noir
One of the biggest pieces of green wedding advice that I have read, is to reduce the amount of travel (especially air travel) due to its impact on the environment.
As you have probably figured out, this is a piece of green advice that we did not follow. We are having a destination wedding and 55 of the 60 guests will need to fly to San Francisco. I wish that we could have had a local wedding, but this just wasn’t an option for us. My family lives in Minnesota, Mr. PN’s family lives on the East coast and our friends are all over the country. We decided early on that the only way to make everyone happy was for everyone to travel. We had dreamed about getting married in Napa Valley and we knew the perfect venue to bring together our family and friends.
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How we picked the DR for our DW - Part 1
July 23rd, 2008 @ 9:32 am by Miss Sea Breeze
So you’ve decided to have a DW (destination wedding). Every night, images of sandy beaches, turquoise seas and hurricanes- no wait, that was just me- er…swaying palm trees fill your dreams.
With a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eye, you trip on into your local travel agent’s office where HORROR OF HORRORS, they weigh you down with 20 pounds of catalogues detailing vacation packages in every single Caribbean island under the sun!
Where do you even start?!?
Well I’m not going to beat around the bush here: if you’ve never actually been to any of these potential destinations (like yours truly), what you’re about to encounter is NOT a cake-walk.
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Weddings Abroad Part II: Mexico
March 13th, 2008 @ 3:34 pm by Mrs. Lovebird
Mr. Lovebird and I are getting legally married at City Hall in New York before our wedding in front of friends and family in Cancun. I think it was the lawyer side of me talking since I don’t want the hassle of having a Mexican marriage certificate, which I would have to get translated and Apostilled each time I would need it. But the ultimate deal breakers were the blood tests. Me no likey needles…
Small Town Bride?
March 10th, 2008 @ 5:38 pm by Mrs. Tiramisu
It’s been a challenge trying to plan a wedding from 500 miles away. Each weekend trip back to Maine must be carefully planned for maximum vendor-visiting potential. (I believe it was Miss Lovebug who coined the appropriate term vendor bender.) I really wouldn’t have it any other way though- I can’t imagine getting married anywhere but my home state.
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Cayman Islands Part I
April 27th, 2007 @ 1:52 pm by Mrs. Bee
The Department of Tourism invited me and a couple of other wedding magazine/website editors to come visit the Cayman Islands last weekend on a press trip. Not only was it a fantastic opportunity to mingle with some of the top people in the biz, we got to spend 4 days in the beautiful Cayman Islands! What an honor for weddingbee to be invited! 
The island is clean, safe, beautiful, and the people are so friendly… I had an absolutely fantastic time, and would definitely love to visit again with Mr. Bee.
Now I’ll start off with the water excursions, because I got to experience a lot of things I’d never done before. On Saturday, our free day, I went snorkeling in Stingray City with Red Sail Sports. I purchased an underwater camera case for my digital camera for about $60 off ebay before the trip. Totally worth it! I got some amazing pictures and videos, and I’m sure to use it over and over again - a must have if you’re going to be participating in water sports on your honeymoon.
Greetings From The Cayman Islands
April 21st, 2007 @ 1:22 am by Mrs. Bee
Hi everyone!
I’ve been in the Cayman Islands since Thursday on a press trip. It’s absolutely gorgeous here! 
I’ll be back Sunday night with lots of information and of course pictures galore. If you’d like me to find out anything in particular about the Cayman Islands as a destination wedding/honeymoon location, leave a comment and I’ll try my best.
Hope you have a great weekend! 
