Hi everyone!

Sorry I have not updated in FOREVER, but we lost a few people in our office and things have been crazy! December through March is high honeymoon booking season.

Anyways, I thought I would do a quick post about an upcoming bridal show that we are participating in…

From 11 am to 3 pm, join us for an upscale bridal show at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. Famous for its golf tournaments and for its famous clientele, this is the first time the Riviera Country Club will be allowing non members to contemplate having a Rivera Wedding.

And did I mention you will have a chance to enter into our Hawaii Honeymoon drawing? That’s right! You could win a 4 night honeymoon at a five star resort.

All you have to do is register! The first 300 brides are free and get a free bag of goodies.

Register Here: http://www.rccla.com/arivierawedding/

For more info, visit our website and click on the link in blue at the top of the page.
www.amtweddings.com

Our free honeymoon registry has been going strong for the last five years. With this concept becoming extremely popular in the last year or so, we have expanded our program to our clients and have continued to look for ways to improve our service for honeymoon couples.

I am really excited to announce that we have finally added a way to make a gift to any honeymoon registry online. Again, there is still no service fee charge of any kind. Engaged couples pay nothing, and their friends and family pay nothing for this service.

To sign up for a registry, or to send a couple who have registered with us a gift, simply visit our website at www.amtweddings.com and click on the Honeymoon Registry drop down menu. Click on give a gift and make sure to completely fill out each field.

Enjoy!

As I have mentioned before, wedding fever is a force of nature in my life.  Not only am I working with brides all over the country to create the best honeymoons, but it seems that, one after the other, friends and family members are getting married.  The latest in this list is my dear cousin Kelly.  My mother, my aunt and my cousin Jenny are throwing her a “posh” shower next weekend.  I was drafted into creating the invites and the shower centerpieces, being the crafty one.  The invitations were a bit of a fiasco (I won’t go into it), but the centerpieces are coming out incredible.  I am attaching a picture of them.  As it is a fall wedding, with the wedding colors being sage and chocolate, I decided to do the shower in fall colors, using the sage, chocolate and orange.  They are so great I simply had to post this picture.  See, you can have nice things you make yourself!

I have really worked hard to be as accessible as possible for clients and potential clients, and so I am proud to announce yet one more innovative way I am here to serve all of you honeymooning couples out there. I will now be able to receive instant messages via AOL instant messenger, also known as AIM. My screen name will be AMEXHoneymoons, and I will be happy to field any questions, comments or concerns. Feel free to contact me at any time!

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!

There are so many ways to gift your friends and family who are getting married.  From a honeymoon registry gift to new home registires, the wedding world is changing drastically.  You can see a free honeymoon registry that I personally run at http://www.amtweddings.com/honeymoon-registry.html.   

And now there is a new type of registry, perfect for couples who treasure the art of their loved ones.

 For the new Mr. and Mrs. in your life, consider giving a much needed gift that you personally made yourself.  At  paint your own pottery stores, there are a number of engaged couples who are asking wedding guests gor hand painted plates, mugs, bowls, serving platers and more.  This gives the bride and groom a chance to showcase the art of their talented friends and family.  And it’s non toxic, lead free, microwave and dishwasher safe!  I have personally partaken in such a gift at my local paint your own ceramic studio, A Fire Within Ceramics www.afirewithinceramics.com.  So if you are looking for the perfect gift, or for the perfect registry to use for your weddings, a paint your own ceramics registry may be the way to go!

Have you ever noticed that weddings in your personal life happen in clumps? For example, I have been involved in a wedding for the last four years. It seems that as soon as one ends, another begins. Personally, I blame the wedding fever. Women go to weddings, and have a great time. The bride looks beautiful, the groom so handsome, they are so in love, etc. etc. etc. And before the night is over, bang, the wedding fever has been passed on. I think that the throwing of the bouquet is actually a physical metaphor of the spread of wedding fever. Men are obviously immune to its effects, unfortunately for us gals! But wedding fever is so catching because everyone has a good time. In fact, if people come away from your wedding without wedding fever, your reception has failed! So keep this in mind: The purpose of your wedding is to have fun, thus passing on the wedding fever! p>

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!