Posts from — August 2008

A beautiful reason to choose sunset weddings on the terrace at the Ritz Carlton Beach Club in Sarasota.

The staff is exceptional and they have a list of vendors in the Sarasota area who are also top notch.  So if you’re considering an elegant Florida beach or sunset wedding give them a call.  Enjoy your weekend!

According to Forbes Magazine these are 10 wonderful locations to check out when planning a destination wedding.  I think it would be great to have your wedding here and then extend the fun into a honeymoon.  What do you think?  Your favorites?  Or do you have a place you think should be on the list? 

Keawala’i Congregational Church  Maui, Hawaii  {dates back to 1855 and overlooks the beach and beautiful sunsets}

Villa d’Este   Lake Como, Italy  {16th century estate surrounded by 25 acres of gardens.

The Wakaya Club & Spa  Fiji Islands {a private island all inclusive resort }

Inverlochy Castle   Fort William, Scotland  {a true castle that even the Queen has stayed here}

Guana Island  British Virgin Islands  {privately owned island with 850 acres of natural beauty and beach}

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge  Tanzania  {a true safari lodge on the edge of the crater and the Serengeti}

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park  Australia  {the Red Rocks of Australia provide a beautiful sunset wedding backdrop}

El Tamarindo Beach & Golf Resort  Manzanillo, Mexico  {luxury and beauty on Mexico’s Pacific Coast}

Caneel Bay  St. John, USVI  {a beautiful, nautural resort created by Laurance Rockefeller with seven white beaches}

Hotel Plaza Athenee   Paris, France  {a true luxury hotel of Paris, just off the Champs Elysee and of course it’s Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite place to stay when in Paris; they even have a Sex in the City package that includes a shopping guide for shoes in Paris with your VIP boutique contact for personalized service!}

Looking for unique ways to incorporate vintage travel into your wedding or reception?  Why not do a custom itinerary of the weekend events or dinner menu. 

You could fill it with pictures from your previous travels, a few travel stories, travel suggestions & tips, as well as information on the location of your event, especially if it’s a destination wedding.

Or even hunt down some old postcards and use them as table decor or guests signature cards.  If they’ve been used they would make great table conversation and after the wedding you can always frame them for a vintage home decor piece.

Shannon really stumped everyone last week. The location was San Giacomo di Rialto. Good one!

I’ll try to make this week’s a little easier.

• It’s in the USA
• It’s a well-known building
• It’s built to last

I’m a HUGE travel nut and I love vintage airline items, including the airline galley carts. Well Flight 001 is now selling retro galley carts! And even though they’ve been cleaned up and repainted, they still carry their battle scratches and dents. And you can even purchase the 14 trays that fit neatly inside. So if you’re having a travel inspired wedding what a neat item include. If you are having it in a garden or on the beach, imagine having this filled with bottled water for your guests or have it as a mini bar during cocktail hour or even use it as a display cart holding gifts for your guests. There really are so many uses for it that can add a fun element to the wedding.

And what to do with it afterwards? What about a mini bar for your home, or utilize it during outdoor BBQ season or store DVDs in it. There are so many ideas but it’s certainly going to be a conversation piece for years to come.

Shari and I are very excited about the new change we are implementing to Fly Away.  We want to keep the blog about destination weddings and honeymoons but we also realize there are so many brides looking for inspiration and ideas.  Therefore, as of today each week or two we’ll have a theme to excite and inspire you.   The themes will vary from cultural wedding & reception elements, i.e., Madrid inspired with colors, decor and food from Madrid to fun ideas of a 50’s beach wedding and reception.   We’ll still have travel photo Tuesday and of course we’re always looking to feature your destination wedding or honeymoon.

But in the meantime, we’ve got some great themes planned and hope you’ll visit often.  Let us know if you have an inspiring theme for destination weddings or even how to incorporate travel and cultures into a wedding and reception. 

This week we’ll be focusing on travel and maps as a great theme for your wedding, whether it’s a destination wedding or not.  Maybe you love to travel and want to incorporate all your travel photos and experiences into your wedding.  My first thought was to have a unique, travel/passport invitation.  And I found some very creative and beautiful ones from Custom Paper Works.  She has so many creative, unique ideas that I absolutely adore.  I love the pink & lime one below; especially how she took images from the destination and created an RSVP postcard!

Here are a few other great designs:

• Inkbox Design Boutique, they do the cutest collection that includes save the date hang tags, an RSVP postcard, a Passport of LOVE invitation and a custom photo stamp which is all shipped to each guest in a mini travel suitcase. 
• Sarah Prye
• Ceci New York
• Atelier Isabey
• Abby Jean Press

Kelly McWilliams, the genius behind so many fabulous destination weddings with her company Weddings by Socialites, has done it again with the opening of the WBS Planning Studio and Brides Library in Cape Coral, Florida.

This is such a great idea. The studio is open to ALL brides, not just Kelly’s clients. It’s a fun place to get some amazing inspiration. She and her staff have really done a great job with their new studio. It just feels bridal!

As Kelly puts it, “We’re trying to make it easy for brides to find only the best of the best. Every bride that comes in will have the opportunity to browse my wedding library for inspiration, will be offered beverages (yum, champagne!), browse & purchase wedding stationary, and be introduced to your amazing work (local vendors). Of course, they’ll also be offered a consultation upon request.”

Here are some pictures from the grand opening celebration, which was lots of fun! Here’s me and my honey Sean, Kelly’s in the middle.

Give Kelly a call at 239-673-9620, or visit her really fun blog: http://www.weddingsbysocialites.blogspot.com/

Yep, the contest ends tomorrow at midnight. So this is your last chance to get your destination wedding photographed by Shannon or Shari for free!

Procrastinators welcome

Click here for all the details.

I would say that 95% of my brides wear a beautiful new wedding gown, purchased just for their wedding. But I recently learned about a fabulous store called Dream Bridal, owned by Britta Barts, which specializes in selling new, sample and gently worn high-end, designer wedding gowns to savvy, sophisticated brides nationwide. Think Monique Lhuillier, Vera Wang, Jim Hjelm, Reem Acra, Amy Michelson, Melissa Sweet, and other wonderful designers. I want this one, it’s by Monique Lhuillier `Cabaret.`

I love how Britta puts it, “The days of old where bridal salons would have you believe in bad mojo or karma are long behind us. No one thinks twice when buying a pre-owned luxury car, and why should buying a designer gown be any different?”

You can check out Dream Bridal online, or go visit the shop if you are in Los Angeles. Their site has some good information about buying sample and gently worn wedding gowns.

Not only is this a fabulous way to get the gown of your dreams at a fraction of the price, but it’s also great for the environment. Not to mention avoiding the problem of storing that gown for so many years.

I’m an incredibly sentimental person and an in-recovery pack rat, so I can totally understand why so many girls want to hold on to their gown. But the truth of the matter is, it’s probably just going to cost a lot to pay someone to store it or just gather dust in your house. I think passing it along to a consignment shop or even a friend is a great option.

I know the word used doesn’t have a lovely ring to it, especially when talking about your wedding gown. But many of the dresses shops like Dream Bridal sell are actually brand new. There are samples, and also never worn dresses from girls who changed their minds. Either on the dress or the guy ☺

I love vintage clothes. So, of course, this sounds wonderful to me. I’ve found some of my favorite clothes in second hand shops. It might not be for everyone, but it does offer a great alternative. I’d love to hear from some brides who have gone this route.

Well our loyal trivia fan, Matt, guessed it correct last week.  It was Aran Islands off the coast of Ireland.  Good job Matt!

Here is this week’s picture.  Good luck!  The clues are below:

1. This building was originally erected in the 5th century
2. It experienced a fire in the 15th century
3. The bells rang during the middle ages to signal a fire and tell the laborers to stop work