I know destination weddings are a big trend these days, but with the economy in the shape it’s in, it may not be affordable to have your wedding in a tropical location. So, I was thinking: why not stay at home and create your own destination wedding? With enough creativity and helpful wedding vendors, you could “design” your own tropical wedding without actually going there.

Whether it’s Hawaii, Jamaica, or the Bahamas, you could create the feel of a tropical paradise for your wedding day. For a more casual fell wear the same strapless wedding gown you would wear on the beach and let your groom wear an easy, open collar shirt and lightweight slacks. Even go barefoot for a beach-y feel.

Your wedding decorations could be large tropical plants and flower arrangements with birds of paradise, orchids, any flower you would find in a tropical locale. If a Hawaiian wedding is your dream, you could wear leis instead of carrying bouquets and wearing boutonnieres. Instead of traditional candelabras, use candles covered by glass lanterns or hurricane lamps. I think you could really come up with some great ways to decorate for your wedding using this idea, and save a lot of money, too.

Carry the tropical destination wedding theme over into your wedding reception.  Have your caterer serving tropical fruit platters, pulled pork, Hawaiian Chicken with rice, and pina coladas. Who says you have to spend a small fortune to get married on an island when you can create your own paradise right at home?

A special thanks goes to:

Blue Pagoda & Evolution Orchids LLC, an Englewood FL wedding bouquet florist, for their lovely Cymbidium orchid bouquet picture.

Ann's Bridal & Etcetera, a wedding caterer from Searcy AR, for their scrumptious looking fruit platter photo.

With summer right around the corner, it’s hard for me not to daydream about the romantic possibilities that the quixotic destination wedding holds. It almost seems as if a movie is taking place around your life; a movie that is embedded in your mind for the rest of your life. Destination weddings have become even more popular over the past few years. Which has in turn resulted in a demand for more destination wedding options from travel providers and wedding coordinators.

A popular option for destination weddings are Cruise Weddings. (And no, I don’t mean you have to get married on the cruise ship.) Many couples are taking the cruise opportunity as a means of transportation to their favorite island. While the boat is docked, they take this time to exchange vows and celebrate on the beach, or a venue on the island. When the day is done, everyone heads back to the boat to enjoy more all-inclusive meals and drinks. This is a great way to minimize costs to guests, keep things simple, and have a good time in the process.

With any destination wedding, legal documents can be a bit of a hassle. Make sure that if you are getting married out of country you have all of the correct paperwork and certificates required or you might not be legally wed when you return home. Most travel agencies or cruise lines can help you with this paper work if you let them know your plans. Travel agents are very useful in this type of situation also. If you have a travel agent helping you plan your destination wedding, they can help you get your marriage documents together to ensure a smooth process.

Be sure to look into making your destination wedding and honeymoon smooth sailin’ this summer with a destination wedding cruise. Whether just the bride and groom or the entire family, destination wedding cruises have something for all ages to enjoy. Your guests will be thrilled!

Ask the Celebration Advisor: I am planning a destination wedding that will be in Miami Florida where I met my fiance’ while on vacation. Neither of us lives in Florida but we really want a beach wedding. Do you have any wedding tips suggestions for planning a beach wedding in Florida? Thanks, Tanya

The Celebration Advisor: A Miami beach wedding … how exciting! Well Tanya, planning a beach wedding in a city that you are not familiar with can be somewhat of a task. I think the most important and the most resourceful asset to have is a destination wedding planner. It will save you so time and stress to have someone in the area who takes care of getting everything like the wedding flowers, caterers for the reception and rental supplies organized and on time. There are several companies or individuals, especially in beach cities, which offer these services. Some wedding coordinators or beach wedding planners even have a package service, where you can customize all of the parts of your wedding the way you want them, but the price is all inclusive. This makes it easy to not go over budget.

Often you can communicate via internet and phone, sending the coordinator pictures of what you want, songs that you want played, and food that you want served. I would advise that you arrive in Miami a few days before the ceremony to meet with the coordinator and look over the final details.

Also make sure you plan your Florida beach wedding and festivities at a time of year that is ideal for Miami weather. For instance, you would not want to plan the ceremony at peak hurricane season. Your chances of good weather during those couple of months are very slim.