There were over 30 coordinators from the area.  Some new, and some old faces, which made it a great gathering.  I would like to thank Melissa Hale and her team for doing a great job and for the invite to participate with the other vendors.  Also, Royal Fig Catering by Dan & Kristen was to die for…  All I can say is that Dan prepares a magnificent Beef Tenderloin on top of Lobster Grits.  Need I say more.

Thanks again to all the great vendors I got to work with.  I would highly recommend any of those great professionals to help with your wedding or professional event.   And of course, if anyone is looking for a honeymoon travel agent, look no further than the Honeymoon Guru

Austin Wedding Photography

Dragonfly Designs

Royal Fig Catering

Groove Labs

Stella & Dot

Stardust Pastries

Full Spectrum Ice

Premiere Party Central

mPassport App Picture Example

Anyone who travels frequently can attest: finding medical assistance while traveling in a strange city—especially in a foreign country, where language barriers can easily work against you—can be quite the challenge. But thankfully we live in an age chock full of so much convenient technology, that obstacle is becoming less of an issue.

I recently learned about an iPhone app called mPassport. It’s a handy piece of software that is a wealth of information for anyone needing medical attention while away, whether it’s routine or emergency service. What exactly can you do with the program?

Doctors & Dentists: Using GPS, the program will display a list of the closest offices. Not only that, but you can read up on the doctors’ board certification, languages spoken (everyone included in the software’s database speaks English), education, and training. Oh, and did I mention? You can actually book appointments with any of the doctors in the database.

Pharmacies: You can see the address, hours of operation, which credit cards are accepted, and connect to their website (if one is available).

Emergency Services: Connect immediately to the emergency service you need (ambulance, police, or fire department) via the foreign equivalent of 911. You can also browse a directory of the closest hospitals with 24/7 emergency rooms.

Drug Equivalency Guide: Not every country uses the same name for medicines, so with this feature, you can browse (alphabetically or via search) a huge database of drugs, see the generic name, and see what they’re called in the country you’re visiting. The app also lists the dosage(s) available and what forms it comes in (pill, cream, etc.).

Hospitals: You can view all the nearby hospitals, what types of services and facilities they offer, whether there’s a 24-hour emergency room, the hours, website, and even the number of beds.

Another really cool feature of the phone? If you’re in a non-English-speaking country, there’s a bonus section with medical phrases and terms. Medical phrases topics range from allergies and symptoms, to everyday necessities like food and drink, to inquiring about restrooms. And to help with the potential language barrier problem, with the touch of a button, the app will teach you how to pronounce the local name, with a sound bite.

I should also mention that all of the offices and emergency destinations can be pulled up on a map—the green pin is your location, the red pin is the office/hospital.

So as much as we all hope that we don’t have any medical emergencies—while on vacation or otherwise—this is a fantastic app to have on hand, just in case.

Current destinations offered: Barcelona, Budapest, Dublin, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome, Vienna, Cape Town, Nairobi, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Quito, Bermuda, Nassau, Beijing, Hong Kong.

Upcoming destinations: Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Istanbul, Dubai, Moscow, and Athens.

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part! These apps are completely free.

Planning a wedding and all aspects involved with it, can be a lot of work and stress trying to get everything done, but I truly believe and I may be biased, but I really believe working with a Certified Honeymoons & Destination Wedding Specialist means one less thing to worry about.

• Start early and share the planning. To ensure that both parties enjoy the honeymoon, couples should consider making all the decisions together.
• Define “Desireable.”If just one person will be doing the planning, he or she shouldn’t assume that because they have always dreamt of honeymooning in a tropical paradise their soon-to-be-spouse shares that dream. Consider these questions as soon as honeymoon talks begin:
  • What is most important? Suntan lotion, sand and surf or the privacy and seclusion a cozy mountain retreat?
  • Are you looking to experience new cultures or do you just want to get away from it all?
  • Are you more interested in going around the corner or around the world?
  • Do you want to spend more on the wedding or the honeymoon?
  • What sounds better: a cruise, a package vacation or an all-inclusive resort, something tailored just for you?
• Pick what you want, not what is in the paper. When it comes to honeymoon planning, most couples try to select the destination first, yet I always suggest a different approach: Unless the dream destination has already been set in stone, couples should first decide what type of vacation (all-inclusive resort, cruise, adventure vacation, cultural trip) they want and then narrow down their list of destinations accordingly.
• Make time to relax. Pad the honeymoon schedule with generous amounts of free time. A rushed and overly organized honeymoon might feel too much like the wedding. Instead, plan a few enjoyable activities and leave lots of opportunities to just enjoy each other’s company.
• Set a tentative budget. Talk about expectations and priorities from the very beginning and decide what you might splurge on and where you might cut corners.
• Splurge on living quarters. No matter what type of vacation package a couple chooses, most clients will spend an enormous amount of time in their room or cabin. This is not a place to cut corners.
• Brides-use your maiden name. Unless a couple is planning on taking a delayed honeymoon, the bride won’t have time to change the name on her passport and driver’s license. She should use her maiden name on visas, airline tickets, etc., so they match as it appears on official documents.  I always triple check this, as I don’t wont to have a couple show up at the airport and not be able to board the plane, because of this very issue.  Trust me, I have witnessed it in person.
• Leave it to a professional consultant. After “I do,” a couple’s two favorite words will be “stress free,” if they opt to work with a honeymoon expert, such as myself  who specializes in planning honeymoons. For stress-free travel plans–especially those with multiple steps like a honeymoon–seek out the expert advice of a honeymoon travel consultant.  A good honeymoon travel consultant can save money as well as time, two enormous factors for a couple trying to plan a wedding and a honeymoon simultaneously.

Thanks to Kristina & Laura with ASTA for the help with additional tips.

Happy Couple who planned a "stress free" wedding and honeymoon

Later during the bride-by-capture era, we first relate honeymoons with travel. Grooms would abduct their brides for a period of one month and take them into hiding. Friends and family assured their safe return. However, it was imperative no one should find them during this period. Very often the family of the bride would go out looking for her to bring home. It was the husband’s hope that within one month’s time his bride would be pregnant and would be before the bride’s family located her.

It was not until the 16th century and later in the Victorian era, that the honeymoon became the romantic trip that it is known for today. During Victorian times, the bride and groom were kept separated during the engagement and the honeymoon was the first time the couple was allowed to go away together and get to know each other.

During the 19th century, in the Victorian era, bridal tours were introduced and paid for by the groom’s family. The couple would go on tour or take a wedding trip which lasted anywhere from several weeks to several months. With the rise of industrialization, the middle class sought to emulate the upper class bridal tours, and took small trips which lasted a few days after the wedding. Once automobiles, trains and airplanes became mainstream couples were able to increase the distance of the honeymoon trip and seek out exotic locations, hence the modern day honeymoon was born.

According to tradition, the groom or groom’s family should plan the honeymoon, since the bride and her family have planned the majority of the wedding. Where to go on a honeymoon should be a joint decision by the couple, but the groom or groom’s family should handle the arrangements to help alleviate the stress from the bride’s family. Of course though, this is only tradition, and may of today’s modern couples handle the honeymoon planning.