October and November are the unofficial beginning of the new travel year.  This is when pricing is available for the most popular travel months of June through August.  To promote products, resorts and travel consolidators will offer what is often called the early booking discount.  This could be anything from a free night, a special amenity such as free breakfasts, or up to $100 off the hotel stay a night!  This is just one benefit of booking any travel early. When it comes to booking travel for a honeymoon, it is even more important to book early, especially if you are planning to travel between May and August.  These are the most popular wedding months, and honeymooners must compete not only with regular travelers high season, but an increase in other honeymooning couples.  This means that special room categories, such as honeymoon suites and oceanfront properties, will sell out quickly.  And with such an important trip, you do not want to leave it to the last minute chance.

Booking early also gives you the ability to get you air fare at a lower price as well.  Air usually gets more expensive the closer you get to a departure date.  And with air pricing changing on a daily basis, the first price at the earliest time is usually the best.

Once you have a deposit on something, there is no worrying about what could happen.  So weather you are traveling for your honeymoon, a destination wedding or any other type of vacation or getaway, book early to avoid the stress of loose ends!

Everyone interested in travel, wether it is for a family vacation or a honeymoon, fears hurricanes in tropical destinatons. In responce to my clients many concerns, I wrote this article about travel and hurricanes. Enjoy!

When is hurricane season? Depending on who you ask, the answer is usually different. Some will say that for the Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific, it’s from August until October, while others say June to November. Some say the South Pacific is prone to hurricanes from November to May, while others say it is year round. Basically, there is not certain way to predict any type of weather, and these “seasons” are mostly based on when past years data. The problem is, each year is different, and sometimes drastically so. The reality is that a hurricane can happen at any time in any month at any sea side destination!

Hurricanes could happen in any costal region in the world at any time of the year. Without trying to sound harsh, there is no way to be able to avoid a hurricane other than traveling to a land locked destination. But this does not mean you should never travel. You could step outside your door tomorrow and be struck by lightning, but that does not mean you should become a recluse. Fear should not drive most of decisions you must make in life. So if you want to take a vacation, honeymoon or destination wedding to a costal region during one of the supposed “hurricane seasons”, do it.

And what if, of all the 365 days out of the year, out of all the islands and coastal regions in the world, a hurricane hits your destination during one of your luxury vacations? Take actions to protect yourself. When you purchase your vacation, simply purchase travelers insurance. Most insurance protects you and the money you invested in your vacation in cases of a natural disaster. The best recommendation is to book your trip through American Express Vacations and add American Express’ Cancel For Any Reason Plan. This insurance runs from $89.00 to $129.00 per person, and must be purchased at the time of deposit. It covers the complete cost of your trip, including air, plus medical protection, baggage loss and emergency evacuation costs. And you can cancel for any reason, so that if a hurricane hit the week before and your reconsider, you will not be stuck with the bill. Seize the day, but protect yourself just incase!

There is no reason to get into a fuss about hurricanes. Your travel could be affected by the break out of wars, famine, illness, terrorism and other natural disasters. The fact is, these variables could suddenly come into play at any time. Its the same story with hurricanes. The best you can do is not to panic. Do not let fear of the “what ifs” dictate they way you live or travel. Purchase travelers insurance for those what if situations, take a deep breath and enjoy!

It was nice to see so many happy couples this weekend at Bride World’s two day LA wedding expo. Brides and grooms from all over Los Angles flocked to this event. Brides with plans from 2009 to brides with less than a month left to go were looking for a great place to honeymoon. The top three most popular places were Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. Europe was so popular, we ran out of brochures on both days. The hot topic was our free honeymoon registry, which I am proud to announce is FINALLY going to be automated on our website so that brides, grooms and guests can view the registry online and gift online! There were lots of people also interested in destination weddings, especially in Hawaii. There was one couple who is all set to be married in Spain! Everything was incredible. The Bride World people really know their stuff! Check out their show in Costa Mesa in October at http://www.brideworld.com where we will, of course, be show casing our stuff.

Because destination weddings are growing in popularity with modern brides and grooms, more and more resorts are offering wedding packages. My favorite of said companies is Couples Resorts. Located in Jamaica with four unique properties: Couples Ocho Rios, Couples Sans Souci, Couples Swept Away and Couples Negril. These all inclusive resorts are more peaceful than their big name competitor, Sandals. They are also less crowded, with only 150 to 312 rooms available. And these are large properties, meaning it will seem even more intimate. Each resort has about seven restaurants, four bars and plenty of included activities. Some resorts even offer Jacuzzis in the suite! And this is a couples only resort. Each of these beautiful resorts offers complimentary wedding packages to make your day special!

I have sent many a couple to the Couples Resorts for destination weddings, but the most recent is Tabitha Durkee and Kirk Arneson. They are planning their destination wedding to the Couples Swept Away on April 1, 2008 for about 30 guests. Take a look at their website
http://www.kirkandtabitha.com/bonusone.asp

If you are thinking about a destination wedding and want some great location ideas, check out this site with the top ten destinations!

http://www.amtweddings.com/destination-wedding-top.html

As always, I am happy to answer any questions about honeymoons or destination weddings!

Sunday, June 3rd, I woke up bright and early, ready to tackle the day.  And by bright and early, I mean 4:30.  What was all the fuss?  The Bride World Redondo Beach Bridal Show!  While we have exhibited at bridal shows before, this was the first time we attended under the guise of our new division.  I brought Maureen, one of our most excellent agents, as well as Frank, our chief financial officer.  Frank was there to represent our corporate office, and Maureen was there to help get the word out about our amazing wedding division travel team.  I had a funny feeling that something would go wrong, but we actually exceeded my high expectations!  I meet so many amazing brides and grooms, and from the sound of it, their plans sound amazing!  One bride, Jenny , was considering a destination wedding in Israel.  Another bride, named Janelle, has already made arrangements to be married in Hawaii, and just needs to book the travel for her wedding party!  Fiji was extremely popular with a number of brides-to-be, so I am in the process of writing some articles about Fiji travel.  If anyone else was at this expo, leave me a comment about your experiences, and let me know if you have any questions! 

For years, people have been applying themes to their weddings.  From Star Trek to Fariy Tale themed, each wedding has certain foods and garments to incorporate whatever appeals to the couple.  I came across one such option on Mother’s Day, when I took my mom to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.  Sure enough, you can be married there, overlooking the beautifully scenic lake, in a decorated gazebo.  The Faire has a number of packages to choose from to create the perfect Renaissance themed wedding, but has several add-ons to make it comprehensive.  At first, I thought that a wedding here would be cheesy.  But the Pleasure Faire really works hard to give their weddings an elegant look, with touches like rich brocade table cloths covering other wise simple stone benches, and even a historically accurate “bridal chamber” where the bridal party can prepare themselves.  Anyone who has ever been to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire knows that anyone in attendance will be warmly welcomed an encouraged to join in the fun of the Faire!  No doubt that any weddings held at the Faire will have an energetic and exciting atmosphere.  One of the bonuses of having your wedding here is the Faire Wedding Coordinator.  Included with your wedding package, the Faire wedding coordinator can put brides in touch with special costumers, florists, entertainers, photographers and more.  You even get private “privies” aka outhouses, that are not used by the public.  There can be a lot of perks to such a wedding.  Talk about the event of the year!  Who would forget such an innovative way to say I do?  The Faire can even get you a minister who will marry you in traditional Elizabethan english!  For couples who really want to immerse themselves in a theme that is not only fun, but as historically accurate as possible, the Renaissance Pleasure Faire seems the way to go!