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Wednesday, April 15, 2015

How to make a Brooch Bouquet for your Florida Beach Wedding

Sunset Beach Wedding bride's have had some fantastic bouquets over the years! Many brides opt for artificial flowers for their destination beach wedding. One neat idea is to make a brooch bouquet (this works for seashells as well!) This article from Wedding Magazine shows you how:

How to make a brooch bouquet

Published on 14th Apr 2015

Perfect for your wedding reception, this sparkling floral alternative will add some extra pretty to your celebration

You will need...

- Rose garlands in pink and light cream (we used Sass & Belle)

- Brooches

- Hessian and ribbon

- Glue gun

- Floristry tape

- Floral wire

- Wirecutters

Wind the pink rose garland into a spiral. Attach three lengths of floristry wire to the bottom, twisting the ends around it until they feel secure. Pull these wires together to form the stem of the bouquet.

Cut blooms from the cream garland and attach each one to floristry wire, placing randomly within the bouquet until it looks full. Attach floristry wire to the back of several brooches using a blob of hot glue.

Insert the brooches within the bouquet, again holding the wires together to add to the stem. Once you've added all the brooches and blooms, hold all of the wires together and wrap floristry tape around them.

Cut some hessian and wrap over the stem, then a length of white ribbon, to make it comfortable to hold.

Tip! Wrap the leftover leaves from the cream garland around the top of the stem to disguise the bottoms of the flowers.

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We have affordable beach wedding packages in a wide range of prices and style for Destin, 30a, seaside, watercolor, seagrove, grayton, seacrest, rosemary beach, blue mountain beach, dune allen beach and gulfplace.

Ken and Heather Delo

Sunset Beach Weddings

Like us on Facebook for more photos: www.facebook.com/sunsetbeachwed

Twitter: @sunsetbeachwed

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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Who to take Shopping for your Bridesmaids Beach Wedding Dresses

Breezy, blowy, fluttery, strapless, fun beach wedding bridesmaids dresses. There are so many options (traditional or not) for your Sunset Beach Wedding bridal party attire. Sandy Malone shares some tips on who you should take shopping for your bridesmaids dresses in this blog for brides.com:

Shopping For Your Bridesmaids' Dresses? Here's Who You Should Take with You

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

by Sandy Malone

Who To Take To Shop For Bridesmaids Dresses

Photo: Getty Images

Bridesmaid-dress shopping for your own wedding is a lot less stressful than shopping for your own bridal gown. There's nothing to be anxious about. No stress! Just sit back and laugh with your girlfriends when something truly adorable on the hanger looks hideous on the bridesmaids ... at least it should be care free so long as you bring the right people with you. Keep the following five things in mind when choosing who will shop with you or you might not have as much fun as you deserve:

1. Don't take more than two bridesmaids with you shopping for a dress. The more girls, the more opinions you'll have to contend with when they try on dresses.

2. Take your bridesmaid who will be the most difficult fit with you to the bridal shop.
If you have a member of your wedding party who is plus size, or has a very large bust, or some other body shape that makes finding flattering dresses a challenge, this is the woman you need to focus on when you're shopping for bridesmaid dresses. True, you don't have to limit yourself to what looks good on her because a lot of bridal vendors can do different style in the same color, but it's a good idea to make sure she's going to look good and feel comfortable in what you're asking her to wear.

3. Take your mom with you only if she's on the same page as you.
If your mother is adamantly opposed to strapless, for example, and that's what you definitely want, thendon't invite her to go along on the shopping trip.

4. Bring a bridesmaid who understands your taste and the look you're going for.
If sexy isn't the look you want at your wedding, don't bring the girl most likely to choose something with more cleavage and less skirt.

5. Choose the least opinionated and most supportive bridesmaid for this shopping expedition.
Yes, you want your girls' opinions, as long as they're in line with yours. You get to choose the dress. If they don't like it, they have to live with it. It's only one day of their lives.

Owner of Weddings in Vieques, a destination-wedding planning company off the coast of Puerto Rico, Sandy Malone has helped countless couples plan their big day since 2007.

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Ken and Heather Delo

Sunset Beach Weddings

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Twitter: @sunsetbeachwed

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Is a Florida Destination Beach Wedding Right for You?

Couples choose to have a destination Sunset Beach Wedding for many different reasons. Sometimes it's their love of the ocean that brings them to the beach in Florida. Sandy Malone explores some things to consider before deciding on a destination wedding in this article for brides.com:

Why Choosing Your Wedding Location Is Critical for Your Planning

Monday, March 23, 2015

by Sandy Malone

Photo: Marie Labbancz Photography

Where in the world do you want to get married? The possibilities are endless nowadays. You can have a big traditional (or not) wedding at home or an intriguing getaway to a fabulous destination for all of your friends and family — or you can elope! The trick is that you have to decide where you're getting married before you can start looking at venues and wedding locations.

Most brides and grooms have a pretty good idea of whether they want an at-home or destination weddingwhen they get engaged because they've talked about it. The biggest factor usually has to do with the size of the guest list and the number of important family and friends who wouldn't be able to attend if they didn't get married in the hometown of the bride or the groom. It's also popular for brides and grooms from two different regions or countries to get married in the town or city they currently call "home" so that both families have to travel and most friends are not as inconvenienced.

Some couples decide against their dream destination weddings because of health considerations for parents or elderly relatives who would be crushed to miss the affair but couldn't possibly travel. That's a very legitimate reason to get married at home. And remember, you can always have an amazing honeymoon afterwards and fly away to someplace exotic to celebrate your new marriage.

Not every couple are good candidates for a destination wedding. Likewise, many brides and grooms choose to get married someplace else for the sole purpose of skinnying down an out-of-control guest list. If getting married in your hometown means you have to bump up the headcount by more than 100 extra people you really don't feel like you want to invite (but would be obligated to because of familial or professional obligations), then tying the knot someplace that neither of you calls home might be the most fiscally-responsible decision. Remember, you have a year to throw an at-home reception for those folks who want to help celebrate your good news. And that reception can be something much more casual and inexpensive, meaning you'll be more relaxed and have a better time when you go to your own party.

You have to figure out where you're getting married before you can actually start the rest of your wedding planning. It isn't worth the venue's time or your money for you to visit five different islands or mountain getaways scoping potential venues if you really don't know where you actually want to exchange vows. The banquet manager at the venue can't help you make that decision, either. It's one of those things brides and grooms must sort out on their own (or with their families) before they start the next step of the process. The Internet makes it possible for you to do lots of research without ever leaving your desk.

Owner of Weddings in Vieques, a destination-wedding planning company off the coast of Puerto Rico, Sandy Malone has helped countless couples plan their big day since 2007.

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Ken and Heather Delo

Sunset Beach Weddings

Like us on Facebook for more photos: www.facebook.com/sunsetbeachwed

Twitter: @sunsetbeachwed

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Bad Weather on your Florida Beach Wedding Day

Planning any outdoor event has the potential to experience inclement weather. Having a back up plan for your destination Sunset Beach Wedding gives you some peace of mind in a worst case weather situation. In an article for huffingtonpost.com, Sandy Malone talks about the importance of not letting the weather ruin your big day:

Sandy Malone Owner, Weddings in Vieques

Only You Can Let Bad Weather Ruin Your Wedding Day

Posted: 03/05/2015 11:26 am EST Updated: 03/05/2015 11:59 am EST

Rain on your wedding day is supposed to be lucky. It's a symbol of fertility, of new starts, unity and renewal. Some say it's supposed to represent the last tears the bride will shed for the rest of her life, but those of us who are married know that one is bunk.

For years, Mother Nature smiled on all of my Caribbean destination weddings and we never had a drop of rain. But you can't do almost 500 weddings in the tropics without ever having showers, so it was bound to catch up with me at some point. In the last couple of years, we've had to use our Plan B on several occasions. However, I'd like to point out that in several recent cases, the brides and grooms told me that it had rained on every single one of their pre-wedding events too, so maybe it wasn't my fault.

I've always said that the bride and groom's attitudes totally determine what happens when something goes wrong at a wedding -- and we've seen everything go wrong over the years, not just bad weather. Believe me, a little rain is preferable to family members fighting, medical emergencies and couples drama between your friends. But it's all about how the bride and groom handle the necessary shift to the inclement weather Plan B that makes the difference in whether or not everybody ends up having fun at the wedding.

Jacquie and Tim's wedding last November was a great example of how, when the bride and groom keep smiling through whatever happens, every single family member and guest keeps smiling too. They'd had rain at their engagement party, bridal showers and even their bachelor/bachelorette weekend, so the wedding party told me it was going to rain even before it was in the forecast. I groaned.

It didn't just rain at Jacquie and Tim's wedding -- we had a mini pop-up tropical storm, I swear to God. It went from looking wet and grey out to sudden 50-plus mph winds. Plan A was the beach. Plan B was the porch. For Jacquie and Tim, we had to move to PLAN C (inside entirely) -- and that just never happens.

At the last minute, we had to tear down an entire wedding reception, setup inside a multi-million-dollar villa and flip it over into a wedding ceremony venue -- and make it look good! We couldn't use the porch because the wind and rain were so intense they were blowing 20 feet across the deck and hitting the big glass windows. The palm trees in the back of the photos are actually bent over sideways!

The ceremony was beautiful. It's probably hard to believe that Plan C could be just a great as the original -- but it was. The venue was gorgeous, the bride and groom were blissfully happy, everybody was smiling and laughing. And my staff was wet through all the way to the underwear, for eight hours, while we pulled this thing off. But we did it. And everybody had fun and danced all night. Our decision to move the DJ and bar inside was stellar and once the decision was made to move the ceremony, we adjusted everything from that point on.

Here's the thing -- IF the bride and groom had been upset and/or angry about the rain and having to execute Plan B, and then Plan C, nobody would have had fun. When the bride is smiling, EVERYBODY is smiling. The minute the bride is upset, the groom is angry and her mother flips out. That's how it works. I've seen it in action.

I've also seen perfectly calm brides who weren't pleased (but were holding it together) about the weather get tormented by mean members of the wedding party who didn't seem to understand that the role of the bridesmaids and the moms when something is amiss is to SUPPORT the bride and tell her everything is going to be okay, not run in and out of the bridal suite announcing that grandma's hair got wet when the rain showers started after she'd been seated.

No seriously, it upsets me when I watch people with questionable motives trying to get the bride and groom upset or pissed off on their wedding day. In the case of rain, we have it under control. It may take the wedding planning team a few minutes to adjust the plan, but unless the ceremony is on a remote beach with no tent, there's always a Plan B. It just takes a few minutes for our team to execute it. And it does not help us accomplish our goal quickly when wedding guests are yelling at us that we should have had umbrellas for every single wedding guest, or that we should have 10 hair dryers on hand, or that we should have had a tent on the beach when the bride and groom knew all along that Plan B was the villa.

I'm a wedding planner -- not a freakin magician! I cannot control the weather. And odds are that if you're attending a wedding at a private villa, we're not going to have 50-plus umbrellas handy for you. The bride and groom would have had to purchase them for their wedding and instead they decided to spend their money in other ways. If there hadn't been rain, it would have been a huge waste of money. So please, if you find yourself a guest at a wedding that has a sudden weather problem, stand back and be quiet and let the professionals do their jobs. We have it under control but we cannot move, dry and re-setup a wedding ceremony while people are bitching at us. And how do you think overhearing that makes the bride and groom feel? It just gives the mean people more ammo.

The crazy thing is that, even when the guests are party poopers because of the weather, weddings always turn out beautiful and fun. We've yet to have an entire wedding ruined because of Mother Nature. And hours later, after they've been fed and watered significantly, the guests and wedding party who were nasty to us during the most stressful and busy times usually make a point to apologize for their behavior before they leave. Because, they admit, the wedding was wonderful and they had a blast. We appreciate the apologies, but we'd like it even more if they just used their manners while we're going 100 mph trying to triage a situation.

Remember this: You are getting married. In the grand scheme of things, the rain will be something that won't matter down the road. None of the little side baloney matters -- it's about the two of you. Trust that your wedding planner has it under control until she says she doesn't -- then you can worry. And if you are a DIY bride and groom, let this blog be a lesson to you that you need to have somebody other than yourselves in charge of executing your Plan B should the weather flip on you at the last minute. You're not going to be moving chairs and fixing things when you're dressed to walk down the aisle.

Take a look at the fun staff-made, behind-the-scenes video from Nicolette and Nate's Valentine's Day wedding last month -- all of their events were supposed to be outside and everything had to be moved inside. If this doesn't prove that weather has nothing to do with having a spectacular wedding, I don't know what does!

Until next time, happy wedding planning from Weddings in Vieques and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events!

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Destin, Panama City Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa Island, Navarre Beach, Pensacola Beach, wedding packages, wedding photography, beach wedding photography.

Ken and Heather Delo

Sunset Beach Weddings

Like us on Facebook for more photos: www.facebook.com/sunsetbeachwed

Twitter: @sunsetbeachwed

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Shopping for your Beach Wedding Dress

Every little girl dreams of her wedding day and the beautiful dress she'll be wearing. Dress shopping for your Sunset Beach Wedding should be a fun experience. Sandy Malone shares some dress shopping tips in her blog for brides.com:

5 Things You Must Know About Wedding-Dress Shopping

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

by Sandy Malone

5 Things to Know Before You Go Wedding Dress Shopping

Photo: Getty Images

You're engaged! And now it's time to do all the fun things like wedding-dress shopping.

For some girls, shopping for their bridal attire is one of the most exciting things on their "to-do" list, while others dread it. But regardless of your level of excitement, there are five ways to make the wedding-gown shopping process a lot less painful:

1. Do not invite all of your friends and family to go with you.
That's going to give you entirely too many opinions. Shows like Say Yes to the Dress make you feel like you need all your bridesmaids, cousins, aunts and their friends to be there giving their opinions. You don't. That's for television. For real wedding-gown shopping, take two (three at the most if you're counting mom as one) friends with you and get their feedback.

2. Only shop with friends and family who boost your ego and make you feel good about yourself.
If you have a friend that constantly criticizes your attire or your mom constantly picks on your weight, do not invite them for your initial shopping trips. Brides are critical enough of themselves without bringing along a guaranteed buzzkill.

3. Get referrals to good bridal shops with solid reputations.
You don't have to start with the most expensive by any means — it's better to approach it in reverse. But do your homework before you start making appointments. Always make an appointment for wedding-dress shopping. Most gowns are not displayed in a way you can just look at them — you need an appointment with a consultant who is going to hold your hand through the process and select gowns for you based on what you describe and how you are shaped.

4. Go shopping for your wedding on a weekday.
You might have to take off work, but bridal salons are packed on the weekends. If you can do it on a weekday, move heaven and earth to make that happen.

5. Trust your gut.
The more gowns you try on, the more confusing it will be for you. If you love something, choose that dress. Even if your best friend doesn't like the shade of ivory or your mother thinks it makes your butt look big. If you feel good about it, say yes to that dress.

Owner of Weddings in Vieques, a destination-wedding planning company off the coast of Puerto Rico, Sandy Malone has helped countless couples plan their big day since 2007.

KEYWORDS:

Ken and Heather Delo

Sunset Beach Weddings

Like us on Facebook for more photos: www.facebook.com/sunsetbeachwed

Twitter: @sunsetbeachwed

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Wedding Insurance for your Destination Beach Wedding

Life happens. Should you consider wedding insurance for your Florida Sunset Beach Wedding? Sandy Malone weighs the issue in her article for the huffingtonpost.com:

Sandy Malone Owner, Weddings in Vieques

Do You Need Wedding Insurance? Check Out What the Numbers Say

Posted: 02/26/2015 3:36 pm EST Updated: 02/27/2015 3:59 am EST

I've often been asked about the value of purchasing "wedding insurance" by my clients. My honest answer was always that if you are the type of person who buys insurance every time you buy a plane ticket, then you probably should investigate and consider investing in insurance for your wedding if it will make you feel more secure.

Here's the thing, most of the time I plan weddings on a tropical island off the coast of another Caribbean island. If we get hit by a hurricane and have to cancel a wedding (hasn't happened yet), all of your vendors are going to work with us to reschedule because nobody wants to half-ass your wedding with limited power/water/etc. So that's not the problem really. Unless of course, you're worried about having to change your flights should that happen -- and in that case, you should have bought the airline insurance they always offer when you're buying your ticket.

As a wedding planning company, I carry insurance that covers me and my staff at our events. However, when your guests (or the bride and groom or their families) do something stupid that results in damage or liability then that responsibility falls back on the bride and groom.

Travelers Insurance released some interesting numbers early this month that listed the top CAUSES of wedding insurance claims, and I found it fascinating. Let me share:

- 44 percent involved vendors who were hired and didn't deliver as promised

- 28 percent involved property damage to the venue that was related to the wedding (See how many wedding guests are misbehaving and being down-right destructive?)

- 8 percent resulted from sickness or injury to the bride or groom, or member of the wedding party, resulting in a postponement or cancellation.

- 6 percent of claims were things like unexpected military deployments and, get this, "problems with the bridal party attire."

That last one made me laugh because I've planned a lot of weddings and I've heard a lot of wedding gown and bridesmaid dress horror stories, but none of my brides would have ever considered postponing or cancelling the wedding because of it. They just got another dress.

Okay, but let's look at the first two numbers. Vendors who don't deliver can be a problem, especially if you're not using a reputable wedding planner's recommended vendors and are winging it in a destination you don't know, working off the Internet or a random list provided by a hotel to find the people who will make your biggest day possible.

I'd be interested in knowing more about the bar being set here as far as what "delivered as promised" means only because I've twice in my career had brides accuse me of not "being there emotionally" for them on the wedding day (because I was busy directing crews lighting tents and setting up the actual wedding and reception). I wonder if a bride who felt I didn't hug her enough when her mother was being mean would be able to recover damages through a wedding insurance policy? Would be interesting to see how far these things really go. And what about a legit cake-tastrophy? We've never had one unfixable before the wedding but still -- if somebody kicks the cake table and down it all goes, does wedding insurance cover a clumsy guest? Because clearly the vendor delivered.

My favorite number was the 28 percent of claims involving damage to the venue itself. You do understand that expensive damage doesn't just happen at a wedding, right? It takes drunk guests banging on furniture, throwing things in the swimming pool and really making an effort to behave like complete jackasses to do the kind of damage that would require the bride and groom to need insurance.

With that said, I'm starting to think it's not a bad idea. After some recent outrageous behavior, we had to institute a new damage agreement and liability waiver for all of our clients. We never needed it for almost eight years, but now we do. If clients must accept responsibility (which they must when working with us) for anything that is broken or ruined by their guests, maybe having a backup policy to cover their butts is a good idea.

A little research taught me that you can up the basic policies if you have specific concerns about specific issues -- and that just depressed me again. I've done a lot of talking with industry colleagues lately. Both stateside and at other destinations. Across the board, we've all noticed a sincere increase in the level of inebriation and volatility for wedding guests at events. The drunker they get, the more out of control they behave. They more badly they behave, the more likely they are to do something stupid like throw furniture -- or your wedding planner -- in the swimming pool. It's all fun and games til the person tossed in the pool was holding a cordless microphone and wearing thousands of dollars in electronics. When that happens, a prank becomes a very expensive liability to the bride and groom. Not to mention an assault.

I actually found it very heartening to see that legit companies like Travelers are offering a "Wedding Protector Plan." In my early years as a planner, I saw a lot of bunk wedding insurance out there and that's why I didn't want to recommend it to anyone. No matter what company you choose, you have to have a clear understanding of what exactly the policy covers, and what it does not. You may need to add riders or other insurance if you're very, very concerned, or if your venue requires you to cover certain things. Every company offers different benefits and different pricing. Do your homework!

It's important to note, for example, that cancelling your wedding because the bride and groom break up is NOT covered by most wedding insurance policies.

"Travelers' Wedding Insurance Policy does not provide coverage if anyone decides not to proceed with the wedding. From our perspective, 'change of heart' is not an insurable circumstance. Couples should think about both the financial and emotional investment that a wedding entails before they get too far down the road in planning their long-term life together," advises Ed Charlebois, Vice President of Personal Insurance for Travelers.

So do I recommend wedding insurance now? I'd say that if you're the kind of person who likes to insure everything, build it into your budget. If you're working with a reputable wedding planner who has no concerns about vendors not performing and already has things that hold you accountable for your guests' behavior, you should take a look at everything and make a decision about whether it's worth it or necessary for you. Ask your planner what he or she thinks. I found the numbers about the claims made to be absolutely fascinating, and I think it's educational information to help you decide whether wedding insurance is something you want to build into your own wedding budget.

There are a lot of companies out there offering wedding insurance now and you should compare the benefits and the costs before making a decision. If you happen to live in the UK, for example, The Money Super Market offers a cost comparison of wedding insurance available in that region. There are other sites out there for the same sort of information all over the world if you do a little digging.

Until next time, happy wedding planning from Weddings in Vieques and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events!

30a keywords:

Ken and Heather Delo

Sunset Beach Weddings

Like us on Facebook for more photos: www.facebook.com/sunsetbeachwed

Twitter: @sunsetbeachwed