A Poem for my love of micro/macro economics class 😑

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FIRST LOOK AT WEDDING SEASON CHRONICLES!!

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To Destination Wedding or Not

Destination Weddings are becoming more frequent among weddings. They can save money due to a lesser guest count, they can combine the wedding honeymoon in one planning aspect, provide your guests with a mini vacation, make for a beautiful backdrop and scenic atmosphere for a wedding and more.

When considering a destination wedding for your wedding, take these five things into consideration:



1. Budget- whether you have a destination wedding, creating a budget is the first and most important thing to establish.This will be your guiding light planning your wedding.

2. Location, Location, Location! - What do you want the atmosphere to be?  The tropical environment is popular, but you can want a European location, a jungle or rain forest atmosphere for the destination of your wedding. Location is important.

3. People - are the people you and your groom want there the most, be able to travel to your destination of choice. (grandparents, older family members)

4. You'll need help - Destination weddings have additional arrangements that need to be made. We advise hiring a wedding planner AND travel professional. Most resorts have onsite wedding planners to fill in all the details, while your travel professional will take care of the room and in some cases flights, ground transportation, travel insurance, passport information, activities and excursions.

5. Packages - Compare wedding packages. This will make it easier for you to decide what works for your wedding vision and your budget,

*Bonus - Consider if you and your finance want to spend your honeymoon in the same destination. Your resort of choice will most likely have a honeymoon incentives such as free nights upgrades.

Whatever you decide make sure a destination wedding fits your vision, budget and accommodates the must have guests.

Planning a Destination Wedding?

Contact us today to be your wedding travel professional

203-516-7288 alexis@apoeticauthor.com

Stress Free Planning

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48 hr Book Sale!

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Budgeting for a Wedding

Its a general consensus that weddings can be expensive! Although they do not have to be. Everyone's definition of expensive or low cost is different but for you and your finance, the definition has to be the same, at least for the wedding.
To control and keep things organized, you both NEED to sit and create a budget.

Budgeting is very important for your wedding. You want to be very sure that you have enough money to make this a special occasion and not run up huge bills that will be hard for you and your finance to manage.

There should be a total budget that breaks down into the various categories.  List your expenses to estimate better. Your biggest expenses will directly be linked to the number of guests that will be attending such as the venue, catering, and wedding cake provider. Thus creating a total max amount of guests you wish to attend and deciding on the max per person cost you and our finance can afford is crucial.

Next you'll want to list all of your other expenses and when I say all, I mean ALL. Down to the smallest item you need to purchase, should be included on your list. This will be your guide to staying on track with the total budget.

Now, your budget should be realistic. You may want to pay $200 for flower arrangements but that might not, well that is not realistic unless someone you know is giving you a huge discount. Do some research in regards to how much bakers, dj's , caterers, venue's etc are in your area. Decide on an budget for each service and shop around when deciding on who you're actually going to go with. Facebook bridal groups and bridal expos are a great resource for finding wedding vendors.

At some point during the planning, you may find yourself switching the budget around. Some couples will value putting more money into one service than the other or find a less expensive service for a certain aspect of the wedding which allows them to either spend the extra money in another area or count it as a savings.

With all the moving parts and the many costs, having a budget an sticking to it will save you stress down the road, and you definitely want that because wedding planning can be a looooong road.

I find using excel is a great tool for creating a budget and is easy to make changes to, and can recalculate columns and rows easily. Having a ready-made wedding binder can also help because they typically have the expense categories already laid out for you which lessens the change of forgetting to add something to the list.

Happy Wedding Panning!

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Wedding Season Chronicles Bridal Expo and Book Launch - Register Today!

5 Tips for Newly Engaged Brides

Congratulations!

You are about to embark on one of the biggest journey's in your life. But first, we need to get you on the right path to planning your wedding day.

What do I know about weddings and who am I to give tips on planning a wedding?

I have worked and am currently in the wedding industry for over 12 years as a caterer and chef. More recently, I have expanded my wedding experience through my travel business, by booking travel arrangements and activities for destination weddings.

I've learned so much over the past 12 years and wanted to give you a fews tips on planning your wedding.

Set your expectations 

This is in regards to your bridal party. Your bridesmaids and maid/matron of honor play an intergral role in your wedding, so you want to ensure you communicate and set your expectations of them from the beginning.

Organize

This part is KEY! A wedding has many moving parts and you want to be sure you are keeping track of each one of them. You also want to ensure that you are not forgetting anything and keeping yourself on track. You can purchase a physical wedding planner or create a digital organizer using excel, and google drive.

Create your budget 

This may be the most important thing you do in the beginning stages. Weddings can be costly and you want to control how much and where you are spending your money. Some brides spend more on decor, some spend more on dessert. It is vital you and your fiance configure this in the beginning.

Research

I wanted to add this tip in here. There will times when you come across a service or products that do not fit into your budget. When this happens, do your research. This is not to say that you should look for the cheapest price you can find. This is the familiarize yourself with the average cost of the service, product you're looking for and adjust accordingly

Prepare 

Not many people talk about the emotional and mental aspects that are involved with planning a wedding. You and your finance will be planning a very special day on top of keeping up with your normal day to day lives. This can be stressful and cause tension, miscommunication, aggravation, etc. It is important that you prepare yourself for the journey ahead.

One way to prepare is, to get a copy of the upcoming book, Wedding Season Chronicles, available for pre-order.

I am so excited to share my knowlegde and over 12 years of experience working in the wedding industry.

This ettiquete guide provides an in depth look into things you need to know and consider for wedding planning, including my experiences, advice and even MORE tips to planning a wedding. Past brides round off the book by providing advice from their experiences.

Learn more!

Keep the conversation going! Our  Wedding Season Chronicles Facebook Group is talking all things wedding etiquette