Monday, April 28, 2008

News Flash: Target Dollar Spot

News Flash: Target has all new inventory in the Dollar Spot! There are lots of new great new items including flip flops, lip balm, water bottles and other great stuff!

Longtime readers of this blog know that we love Target’s Dollar Spot as a cheap place to load up on great stuff for your out of town bags. (See Out of Town Bags)

Monday, April 21, 2008

Reality Check – Too Much of a Good Thing?

You are engaged and want to share you joy with everyone. You’ve decided on fabulous destination wedding in some tropical, beach location or some other exotic spot.

And you’re thinking it would be a good idea to infuse the theme into [fill in the blank here.] It could your birthday, your holiday plans or just about anything.

There is too much of a good thing. Having a beach themed bridal shower/bachelorette party may intrigue you, but resist the urge. You are thrilled about your European wedding, but resist the urge for an Italian themed Thanksgiving. You CAN go over the top in theming.

This hit home for us recently when a friend invited us to a party. The party was, you guessed it, beach themed. The bride-to-be was so thrilled with her upcoming destination wedding in Jamaica that she decked out the party with reggae, Bob Marley, jerk chicken and about every other Jamaican cliché. It was a party, not her wedding.

The same can also be true at your actual destination wedding. Just because you’re in an Italian villa doesn’t mean everyone needs to act like extras in The Godfather. Just because your nuptials are on some tropical island, doesn’t mean that you need to decorate EVERYTHING in seashells.

Your friends and family are excited for you. And they want to be a part of your special day. Just keep your excitement in check.

Monday, April 14, 2008

A Simple Destination Wedding

Until recently, we thought that everyone had the same idea when it comes to a destination wedding. A small group (i.e., less than 50) of friends and family join you for your special day and then you celebrate afterwards.

However, we found a YouTube video (below) for simple destination weddings (hat tip to LaQuinta South Padre Island, Texas). Slowly, it dawned on us that there is a market out there for very, very, very simple destination weddings. OK, we’re a bit appalled that the minister didn’t really have the bride and groom’s names nailed and seemed to stumble through the ceremony, but maybe that’s what this couple wanted.

In our book, this qualifies more as an elopement than a true destination wedding. However, we post it here because as we researched our own destination wedding, many resorts sold this kind of a wedding as a “destination wedding.”

Frankly, some were even worse…offering only a tape recorded ceremony that is played back with the appropriate pauses for the bride and groom to announce their names, etc. We find these kind of Vegas-esque “ceremonies” to be ghastly and appalling. And yet there is a market out there for them.

So... the whole point of this posting is to be sure you really investigate that you are getting the kind of destination wedding you want. Don’t assume that the terminology means the same thing to everyone. Ask probing questions. And, if at all possible, try to do a visit of your destination in advance and observe someone else’s wedding.

This simple destination wedding could be what you are getting:

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Essence of Destination Weddings

I found this little gem of a video on YouTube. It was made by two young women in the Philippines for a school project. It’s kind of long at 8 minutes, but the first 2 minutes are well worth viewing…

Essentially, these young women capture the essence of a destination wedding. Do you want to get married in a stodgy church? Or do you want to do something fun?

View the YouTube video: