The Most Common Honeymoon Mistakes to Avoid

I went to Aruba with my wife for our honeymoon...

I would like to thank Jan Moeser from Elk River Travel for providing the list of the "most common honeymoon mistakes to avoid."

Not starting your honeymoon planning early.
The number one mistake most couples make is leaving your honeymoon planning until the last minute. This trip is the first of hopefully many vacations together as husband and wife; let’s not underestimate the importance of it. Not only can you save significantly if you book early, you better your chances of getting your first and or second choice of resort or cruise.

Not taking a honeymoon.
Okay, life is busy, hectic and sometimes downright chaotic. But seriously: Will your job, company or family really fall apart if you take some much deserved time for yourselves? Now is the time to relax! You’ve survived your wedding day, danced the hokey-pokey and now it’s time for you. Even if it’s only a day or two, take the time and make it special. The last thing you want to do is look back years from now and regret that you didn’t take time for yourselves.

Forgetting to bring your sense of humor.
No matter how carefully you plan your trip, sometimes things can go wrong—even at a world-class honeymoon destination. Don’t let anything ruin the overall purpose of your trip, which is to have a fun and romantic time with your spouse. Laugh it off and you’ll only remember the good stuff. Just think of any hiccups as great stories to tell the grandkids.

Scheduling all of your time with activities.
With all the pre-wedding excitement, mad dashing and last-minute issues, you may not realize how exhausted you are. Most likely, it'll certainly hit you a day or two after the Big Day. So even though eight hours of fishing sounds wonderful, don’t plan it for the first part of your honeymoon. Instead, consider say, a couples’ massage, as the best way to start your honeymoon. Be sure to leave yourselves enough relaxation time.

Not using a travel agent to help you plan your honeymoon.
Travel agents are your advocates: They offer personalized service, travel knowledge, and can be someone to lend a hand or ear when you’re looking for the perfect place to begin your life together. Travel agents don’t work for an airline, cruise or tour company – they work for you. Let the experts find you the best values, industry deals and discounts that only they have access to. Let them do the many hours of research for you; they understand you’re a little busy right now.

Not So Fast Down the Aisle...

Today's Minneapolis Star Tribune had an interesting article about the now infamous wedding dance down the aisle. It comes from the perspective of clergy in the church.

Is it inappropriate or sacrilegious to boogie down the aisle at the church? I guess it depends on who you ask. Some clergy think this is a great way to express the joy of getting married, while others would never allow this to happen in their church.

The article also brought up a cultural difference that I had not thought about. In the West, there is not typically a connection with worship and dance, at least during a wedding ceremony. While in other parts of the world, dance is more deeply connected with worship.

Personally, I thought the dance was very creative and fun. It matched the style of the couple and they were able to express themselves in a way during their ceremony that few others have done before. I don't think it should replace the typical wedding processional, and I certainly hope that not everyone tries to recreate this at their upcoming weddings.

The spoofs have already started. I watched the "JK Divorce Video" earlier this weekend. I know we have not seen or heard the end of this.

More than a Web site

Many people planning weddings only get to see one side of the Central Minnesota Wedding Association...our work connecting you to vendors in our group through our Web site and Bride Guide.

There's another side of our organization that works with wedding vendors in the Central Minnesota area to educate them about new trends and bring them together as a group to share ideas and network with other vendors.

Last night we had our bi-monthly meeting at The Pillar Inn in Cold Spring...just west of St. Cloud. If you are looking for a great bed and breakfast, or a place for a ceremony with fewer than 40 people...this is it.Here you see Adam Welz, the CMWA President, playing "Wedding Pictionary." Games like these kind of bring the "kid" out in you- and you forget how much fun you can have playing a silly game.

Most of the night was dedicated toward networking with other wedding vendors. This was a lot of fun (and it wasn't all about weddings!). We got to meet people and hear about their interests outside of work, and really start to build relationships. That truly is the key to networking...because you never want to refer someone that you don't trust- because if that person doesn't follow through, it makes you look bad.

It is so cool that we can have multiple photographers, florists, cake decorators and reception hall planners all work together toward- and put the fact that many of them are competing for the same business aside. I often refer Northern Lights Video to clients if my busisness, Capture Video is booked on a particular day.

I'll share more about what our organization does in future blogs...but I thought you might find it interesting that we are a lot more than a Web site.

Wedding Day Survival Kit

My wife was recently a personal attendant for a wedding- and was in-charge of putting together a kit that would include everything the ladies may need for the day.

She didn't use everything that she had packed, but the good news is a lot of that stuff we can now use in our house. Take a look at the list and leave a comment if there is anything that we missed- or a tip from past experiences.

(Being a guy, a really don't have a lot of experience with many of the things on this list!)

Clothes

• Static Guard
• Febreze (mini bottle)
• Tide Pen
• Double sided tape (Try Hollywood Fashion Tape)
• White chalk (to hide any stains on the gown)
• Packing tape (sounds weird, but it does everything from repairing headpieces and hems to removing lint)
• Sewing kit (with scissor)
• Safety pins

Face

• Makeup for touch-ups
  
• Mirror
• Tissues
• Blotting papers
• Make-up eraser pen
  
• Q-tips

Hair

• Brush
• Hairpins
• Hairspray

Smile

• Floss
• Travel toothbrush and toothpaste
• Gum
• Mints

Nails

• Clear nail polish
• Super glue
• Nail file

Body

• Tampons
• Deodorant
• Advil/Tylenol/Motrin
• Alka-Seltzer
• Tums
• Band-aids
• Visine
• Purell

Feet

• Slippers
• Various foot cushions
• Blister Blockers
  

Holiday Weekend Weddings

I admit, I was not thrilled about going to a wedding over Memorial Day weekend. One of my wife's friends from college got married on Sunday...and I have become friends with the couple over the last few years...great people.

I was an Usher/Videographer for the day...which actually worked out pretty well. I had my business partner running the main camera for the day- so I ran the second camera for the ceremony and got a few other shots here and there.

Enough about me. The big question here is- "Is it OK to plan your wedding on a holiday weekend?"

I guess the answer depends on who you ask and what your motives are to have your wedding over a long weekend.

For this couple, there were a lot of people from out-of-town that needed to travel to Minnesota for the wedding. The groom grew-up in Nebraska- and still has a lot of friends and family there. Their goal was to provide people an extra travel day by having it over Memorial Day weekend. I think that makes a lot of sense...and I am sure their out-of-town guests really appreciated the extra day.

If most of the people coming to your wedding are less than a plane ride away, I would take a look at your motives...People here in Minnesota really value their holiday weekends- with cabin trips and other personal vacations that are planned around these holidays. You may upset some people if you are asking them to give up their weekend.

The 4th of July falls on a Saturday this year...anyone have any weddings planned for that weekend?

Changing Your Name

Many women choose to change their last name after the wedding...but where do you start?

Before you can file anything...you need a certified copy of your marriage license.

However, you can get information ready prior to your wedding. Many people need to contact the following agencies for a name change.

• Social Security Administration
• Passport
• Department of Motor Vehicles (Driver’s License)
• Employer and/or School
• Financial and Credit Card companies
• Insurance companies
• Utility companies

A good rule of thumb is to look through your mail and see who continues to send you mail to your old name. Contact these institutions and send them the necessary paperwork to get your name changed. This can be a time-consuming process, but it is necessary to prevent major headaches down the road!

A couple of other tips...

• Wait until you return from your honeymoon, if you are taking one. You will need your legal documents to travel and it can take weeks or months to get a new driver’s license or passport.
• Change your driver’s license and social security card first. Once you have these documents changed, it is much easier for you to change your name other places.
• Tell your employer or school about your name change before your wedding. They can have your new email address or business cards ready after your wedding.

Visit www.idoido.org/namechange for links to help you change your name!

Wedding Planning for Guys?

Good or bad...most guys don't do a whole lot when it comes to wedding planning...but should they?

I was the exception to the rule when I was planning my wedding in 2007. Since I had been to a number of different churches and reception halls as part of my job as a wedding videographer- I think I had a better idea of what I wanted than most guys. My wife tells people that I did more of the planning then she did. I'm not sure about that.

After we got engaged, we divided up different areas of the wedding planning that we would each be in charge of...and this worked really well for us. I enjoy planning events and I think the day was even more special for me since I had a good chunk of time invested into the planning of the day. I wasn't simply "showing up."

There is an article in today's New York Times that talks about this and offers some additional resources for guys who are helping to plan their wedding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/fashion/weddings/03FIELD.html?_r=1&ref=style

What do you think?

You Get What You Pay For!

Many people planning weddings are looking for ways to cut their budget in these difficult economic times. I would encourage you to do your homework before booking a vendor that is "the cheapest." A lot of times, you get what you pay for!

My friend Tammy recently shared her story with me...

We found a 'great deal' online for our photographer..... We had a simple wedding no attendants should be pretty easy. That day she took 300+ candid shots, NO posed put together shots, She then did not follow up with her contract and give us 2 parent albums, and one full of 100 pictures for us. We followed-up with calls and many emails no response so took her to small claims court, she did not show, of course the judge ruled on our behalf but what did we get? a loss of the $ in court fees. The joys!

Make sure you do your research and ask for referrals of past clients! Unfortunately, like in most businesses, there are some vendors out there that do not provide quality services.

All vendors in the Central Minnesota Wedding Association must abide by a code of ethics and go through a screening process prior to becoming a member. We hope this gives local brides a sense of trust in choosing vendors for their wedding.

Do I need a travel agent for my honeymoon?

I wrote in my last blog about my honeymoon to Aruba...and how my wife and I would have never picked Aruba, if it weren't for the advice of our travel agent. Her experience allowed her to find us a place to honeymoon in August, while staying outside of the hurricane belt.

We had enough decisions to make about our wedding- and it was so nice to let someone else do the research on airfare, prices, hotels, excursions, etc... Our travel agent had other couples visit Aruba- and was able to provide insight that we would have never found if we were just booking our trip online.

Some travel agents do not charge any service fees...while others may charge a small service fee for their services. Do some research and find a travel agent that can meet your needs- and stay within your budget.

Bursch Travel is a great local travel agent, and there are a number of others in the Central Minnesota Wedding Association.

Happy planning!