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4 Reasons Why You Don’t Have to Feel Guilty About Having a Destination Wedding

Source: Martha Stewart Weddings   

 

Destination Wedding

The first stages of planning a destination wedding go something like this: After weeks of debate with your fiancé, you settle on a location you’re both excited about. Then, you start shopping the idea of a destination wedding around to friends and family, getting a feel for which guests will be able to attend and which won’t. And finally, you’re overwhelmed with the data you’ve collected that runs the gamut of responses from totally enthusiastic to totally discouraging. Here’s the thing: You shouldn’t have to feel bad about having a destination wedding. The people you love who want to be there will find a way, and those who can’t swing it will come up with another way to celebrate your love.

Here, more reasons why you don’t have to feel guilty about planning a destination wedding if that’s what you really want.

This wedding is about the two of you, and who you are as a couple.

As much as people will try to convince you to have a certain type or style of wedding, your wedding is really meant to be a celebration of who you are as a couple. If you both love to travel and explore far-off places, it only makes sense that you’d have an adventurous destination wedding. Celebrate that, because this traveling phase of your life may not last forever.

As much as your guests love you, they won’t sign up to attend an event they can’t manage.

The reality of traveling to attend a wedding can be difficult for some guests. Some may have a fear of flying, limited budgets, or may not be able to take enough time off of work. While that’s a tough pill to swallow because you’d love for all of your friends and family to attend, they’ll ultimately make the call that’s best for them. For those guests who just can’t swing it, they’ll probably try to find another way to celebrate your marriage, either through a small dinner gathering or by sending a nice gift your way.

Your guests who are able to make the trip will have a memorable experience that feels like a vacation.

For the guests who make the trek, you certainly won’t have to apologize for treating them to a weekend filled with good food, great music, and excellent company. Though it’s tempting to fill every hour of your wedding weekend with group activities, be sure to leave some space for relaxation so your guests can fill in some of their time with their own agenda. Et voilà—guilt-free destination wedding!

You might inspire some of your friends and family to travel more than they typically would.

If you have a few guests attending your destination wedding who don’t spend a lot of their time traveling, you might be surprised by the travel bug you’ve inspired. Maybe they’ll tack on an extra few days or weeks to explore the region or a nearby place they’ve always wanted to see. You should never feel guilty about providing your loved ones with inspiration!

Who’s Responsible for Hosting the Post-Wedding Brunch?

Source: Martha Stewart Weddings 

The post-wedding, or morning-after, brunch is a nice way to end the wedding festivities. It’s especially popular at weekend-long and destination weddings since guests are already staying over. The brunch gives everyone time to chat in an informal setting, and this event can be held anywhere from a family member’s backyard to the café at the hotel where everyone’s staying.

Since this type of brunch is a fairly new concept—it originated around the late 20th century, long after all the “wedding rules” were set—there is no tradition of assigning hosting duties to any particular group associated with the wedding. Then who does host the meal? Basically, anyone who offers to. Though it’s common for the bride and groom to pick up the tab, it’s also something grandparents might like to do. Or maybe one of the newlyweds’ godparents, an aunt and uncle, close family friend, or the parents of the bride or groom, even if they’ve already hosted other events like the reception or rehearsal dinner.

Though the host is paying for the meal, that doesn’t mean they have to plan the entire event, too. Often the couple will choose the location (if not at the host’s home) and menu regardless of who is hosting, or they’ll work with the host and iron out the details together. As for what everyone will eat, anything goes, from something simple like bagels and muffins to more substantial foods like eggs and pancakes.
But just so you know, throwing a morning-after brunch isn’t mandatory. If no one has offered to host and the bride and groom’s budget can’t be stretched any further, it’s fine to skip this event. It’s a nice add-on but by no means necessary. The most important part of any wedding celebration is the moment you say I do.

Recovery Kits Are the Latest Guest-Approved Wedding Trend

Source: Martha Stewart Weddings

Recovery Kits

Everyone loves an open bar at a wedding—until the following morning, that is. Your celebration is bound to be a moment of indulgence for at least a few of your guests, which makes accommodating your friends’ and family members’ recuperation the hospitable thing to do. Enter recovery kits. Filled with plenty of hangover repellants, these pouches and boxes are sure to come in handy, especially following that epic after-party.

To help you fill yours, we tapped Lauren Fremont of Loli Events, who’s prepped many of these kits for former clients. Her best advice? Either integrate them into your welcome gift or—her personal favorite—hand them out after the festivities as favors. “I always think that a favor should be thoughtful and useful—not a random trinket that won’t get used—so a hangover kit is great,” she says. Here, our favorite recovery kit options for any type of party.

“I Regret Nothing”

Believe us, they’ll regret enjoying those signature cocktails even less when they’ve got a bag filled with handy helpers, like ibuprofen, eye drops, and mints, says Fremont. Throwing in a midnight snack is another appreciated touch. Other good adds? Facial mist, eye cream, and a hydrating facemask, advises the planner, so attendees can feel and look their best the next day.

Before and After

Prepare guests for a night of indulgence with a bottle of water and vitamin B (it supposedly staves off hangovers!). We can’t say the supplement is foolproof, though, which is why a second bottle of water and Advil makes for an appropriate follow-up. Bonus points if you serve it all up with these cutesy labels, which you can easily DIY.

Sea Legs

Not all recovery kits revolve around alcohol. For this couple’s boat wedding, pouches were filled with anti-nausea pills to prevent sea-sickness. Come to think of it, they’d likely work just as well the morning after, too…

Recovery Box

While Fremont maintains that these kits don’t have to be big to be effective, we can’t knock these newlyweds for pulling out all the post-wedding stops. This box had it just about everything—electrolyte-restoring Gatorade, water, a protein-rich granola bar, mouth wash, eye drops, and Aleve.

Read the rest here.

Designer Spotlight: Blue By Enzoani at Ashley & Alexandria’s Bridal Boutique

Blue Enzoani

With modern European styles mixed with traditional looks. This designer is dominating the bridal landscape. Blue Enzoani offers a beautiful modern style mixed in with an unforgettable classic look.

At Ashley & Alexandria’s Bridal boutique we are proud to offer some of the top designers in bridal. Our boutique is located in Southfield, MI but our brides come from all over the united states to find their dream wedding dress. We are happy to highlight on of our designers. In this installment of the series, we are putting the spotlight on Enzoani.

Blue Enzoani

Just like Ashley & Alexandria’s, Enzoani is happy to provide each “bride with her dream wedding dress.” Our clients come from California, New York, the DMV, Atlanta, and more. We understand the importance of privacy, memorable moments, and the decision-making process when it comes to choosing a wedding dress.

Our family owned boutique invites you to make an appointment today. Your dream dress awaits. When you say “yes to the dress” at Ashley & Alexandria’s, you become a part of our family. Call 248.351.9741 today.

The Wedding Trends to Keep and Ditch in 2019 According to Wedding Planners

Source: Brides

With the new year comes new engagements, new brides-to-be (welcome, ladies!), and new wedding trends. And while we’re still excited about the trends and creative ideas we saw in 2018—think games for guests, statement bridal hats, and basically anything Harry and Meghan did—we, like you, are also ready to dive into the world of weddings for 2019.

Which is why we called on some of the industry’s top wedding planners to see exactly what they’re predicting for the new year. You’ll have to keep scrolling to see exactly what they said below, but one thing is certain: The rules are all out. Think mismatched bridesmaids dresses, coeds on each side of the aisle, and more. Also out? Wedding welcome bags and expensive favors (don’t worry, we’ll get to that later). In terms of what’s in, the experts say we’re all still obsessed with the world’s hottest power couple (hi, Harry and Meghan!) so feel free to continue copying the royal wedding’s statement church entrance, meaningful ceremony touches, and unexpected reception details. They’re also excited to see couples experiment with fresh color palettes and put unexpected twists on the traditional wedding in the year come to.

Keep reading for all the exciting, modern, and on-trend ideas, broken down by the pros who came up with them. Oh, and we also asked the experts to share which trends to avoid and their best pieces of tried-and-true advice for the newly engaged ladies like you… So, basically, read on because we’ve got you covered as you dive into wedding planning in the new year!

The year’s biggest trend: “2019 is all about embracing color and new color combinations that have never been done before,” Jesse says. “We see the trend veering away from soft classic colors and heading in a more fun, pumped up direction.” Case in point: “Living Coral,” the Pantone Color of the Year. “We see 2019 clients leaning more towards younger, fresher palettes with pops of bright and bold color that is fun, youthful and often somewhat daring,” he adds.

Trend to do away with: “Welcome bags! Time and time again, we see many of the expensive, well thought-out items get left behind in hotel rooms,” he says. “Instead, consider giving a nice bottle of wine and a handwritten note, or making a donation to your favorite local charity in the guests names honor.”

Excited for in the new year: “We have a couple who is focused on supporting underserved communities and working with female owned and operated local businesses for their wedding day,” he says. “This is an exciting prospect for us and a first for Alison Events to have a client that is so locally, globally and environmentally minded when planning their special day. We can’t wait to see how it all comes together!”

Can’t wait to see a couple do: “A food and wine-focused wedding,” he says. “We love when clients embrace food and beverage as an integral part of the wedding celebration!”

Best planning advice: “Get personal! Hire vendors you connect with on a personal level, not just ones that suit your aesthetic or budget,” he says. “Get to know a vendor over coffee or a glass of wine to make sure they are a good personality fit for your project and are someone you would want to spend a year of your life with planning such a big and important day in your life.”

Read the rest of the trends here.

Ashley & Alexandria