Category — Travel

The White Mountains in New Hampshire are a truly spectacular destination in New England.

This would be a stunning fall honeymoon location. Stay at the historic Mount Washington Hotel, which is featured here. There are lots of great activities, from hiking to golf to whatever these people are doing here. Playing lumberjack? Actually, it’s a canopy tour, which I think looks pretty fun

The Mount Washington Hotel has had a recent renovation and restoration. With the unveiling of the new Spa, scheduled to debut in the winter of 2008/09, it will be even more desirable.

We had a lot of guesses last week & Shari gave a great challenging photo.  Charity was the first to guess Emerald Bay.  Congrats Charity!  Drop Shari and email & she’ll get your 8×10 print to you.  Hopefully you all will find this week’s photo just as challenging.

I took this photo back in 1992.  My daughter, Victoria, was about seven months old.  In fact she cut her first tooth while visiting here.  So here are the clues:

1. It’s an island
2. A famous author was born here
3. They have snow in the winter

Good luck & have fun!  Who knows, there might be a give away this week too.

Napa offers a variety of things to do, see and eat.  So here’s the ‘Best of’ list for 2008:

• Best Picnic is at the Clos du Val Resort
• Best Train Ride is the Napa Valley Wine Train
• Best Spas are Golden Haven with a wonderful couples mud bath & Lavendar Hill offers an incredible volcanic mud bath for two in a private cottage.
• Best horseback riding is at the Larson Family Winery
• Best cup of coffee belongs to Napa Valley Roasting Co.
• Best chocolates can be enjoyed at Annette’s or Woodhouse
• Best tapas and sangria is to be savored at Zuzu
• Best bubbly tasting is at Schramsburg
• Best olive oil tasting is at Round Pond Winery Olive Mill
• Best bakery is Bouchon Bakery
• Best sip n cycle tour is Napa Valley Bike Tours
• Best F1 racing experience is at the Jim Russell Racing School { which I can personally say they are a fun and exciting experience since my son use to do karting lessons and practice there }

This is only a small list of the BEST in Napa Valley.  Plan a honeymoon, anniversary or just a relaxing trip to Napa and let us know what’s on your list.

Well Matt was the only one to guess correct last week but we love hearing from others, so keep submitting your comments below. 

Here are the clues to this week’s photo:

1. A descendent of Charlemagne established a city near here.
2. Sandstone cliffs provide beautiful views of the valleys.
3. You can enjoy a wonderful local glass of Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc.

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.

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

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

Richard Branson’s island retreat, Necker Island, is on my list of luxury Islands to experience.  He has done such a fantastic job of creating a beautiful haven and getaway and I dream of renting the island one day.  But if you happen to planning a destination wedding and haven’t chosen your spot, check it out and envision yourself there.

74 acres of private island.  Cool breezes.  Balinese houses. 

And some little details if you decide to rent the island for a week:

• Your accommodations for up to 28 included
• all meals and drinks { alchoholic and other }
• transfers to Virgin Gorda
• laundry facilities
• wi-fi

And things to do on the island?   Try two freshwater pools, a jacuzzi, two tennis courts with a pro on staff, wind surf, kite surf, gym, kayaks, wake boarding, and hamocks are just a few things to do on the island.  Imagine having 28 of your closest family and friends on this gorgeous island for a week of fun.  And of course I didn’t forget the spa on the island, which I think would be at the top of my to-do list followed by a good book and hamock.

And what does a week at a private island cost for your destination wedding, which btw, they have a staff to help you plan your special event?  $235,000.00 for five nights.  A girl can dream right!?!?!  After all I did say exotic & luxury.

But if it gets you thinking and you’d like some other alternatives, visit Private Islands Online or Caribbean Way for some great ideas.