Grand Bahamas Island

Welcome to the Great Paradise Weddings

Grand Bahamas is the second most popular spot after Nassau/Paradise Island for beach wedding.

There are 2 types of beaches on the Bahamas islands namely - activity beaches and secluded beaches. However you would need to consult the Wedding & Honeymoon Unit to check if the beaches can be used for events. If you have engage a hotel or a wedding planner, they would do the check for you and thus save you the hassle of finding out the perfect beach spot. Depending on where you are going to house the guests, picking a beach which is accessible to them would help to save on the hassle to provide transport and save some money.

Though the secluded beaches are quieter and usually with less amenities, you would need to arrange for you own transportation to the beaches.Th e secluded beaches which you could consider are:

• Mather Town Beach

Great beach for swimming and hanging out!

• Gold Rock Beach - beach protected by the National Trust. However there are limited amenities available at this beach.

"One of most beautiful, remote, private beaches I've seen. And one of the most romantic. The park guide was extremely helpful, informative and polite on our visit. A must see for any visit to Grand Bahamas!!!"

Theresa - St. Augustine, Florida, USA
July 24, 2004

• Fortune Beach

A quiet beach which got its name from a shipwrecked found there. There is a good restaurant called Banana Bay which served great food and caters to private functions.

The activity beaches are usually bustling with life but you might be able to spot a small spot along the beach to plan your beach wedding.

• Lucayan beach

Located across Port Lucayan hotels. It offers a wide variety of water sports from snorkeling to diving and more. There is a small stretch called Coral beach which is less crowded and might just be the perfect spot for your wedding.

• William's Town Beach

Great for water sports.

• Xanadu Beach
  
  

Popular with the tourists and is a place which offer great food and beverages besides the usual water sports.You might be able to find great hotel packages or wedding package deals on the island since it is a popular wedding destination. Some hotels might even give a free package if you stay with them with a number of nights.

Some activities you could do:

• Water sports
• Golf
• Shopping
• Dining
• Fishing
• Tours
• Boating & Sailing
  

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Where to Stay?

There are many types of accomodation which you can choose from from all-inclusive resorts such Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach, luxurious resorts such as The Westin At Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort, boutique resorts such as Pelican Bay At Lucaya and mid range hotels such as Island Palm Resort.There are occassional deals being offered by the hotels and resorts. Do look through them to find a bargain!

Bahamas Beach Wedding

Bahamas is a top notch beach wedding destination. Made up of an archipelago of over 700 unique and diversified islands, the great beaches on the islands boast wonderful venues for conducting the perfect beach wedding.

You could hold your wedding on Grand Bahamas Island, Long Island, Nassau/Paradise Island, Eleuthera / Harbour Island,or any other islands from the 700 islands.
There are many events and activities going on on the Bahamas Islands. So do check out the calendar, which will help you to plan some activities for your guests after the wedding. There are many great activities such as water sports and tours which could help to keep your guests occupied.
Do not worry as there are a lot of wedding planners and hotels offering great wedding packages for you to choose from.
Caution!! Do remember to remind your guests to bring their passports along or they would be refused entry to board the plane or to enter Bahamas. If you have foreign guests coming over, do check that they do have the necessary visas (if needed) too.

Lombok Beach wedding, Indonesia

You have always heard of people going to Asia to get married, be it a destination wedding or an elopement. The favorite hot spots are Thailand and Indonesia, thanks to their nice picturesque landscape and warm hospitality.

The most visited beach places in Indonesia would be Bali or Lombok. So why do I recommend Lombok?

I have the good fortune to visit Lombok recently and is impressed by the nice beaches and great scenery there. Besides it is relatively inexpensive to conduct a nice wedding ceremony there, with the hotels and beach resorts offering competitive packages for couples.

The relaxing, laid back life in Lombok would be perfect. The interesting culture and customs are all great attractions to planning a beach wedding there. Especially for couples who have chose elopements. Why do I say that? It is for you to find out when you get there!

There aren’t many international direct flights for you to take if you are in the West. Most probably you would have to transit at one of the major hubs such as Singapore or fly direct to Indonesia and hop on a domestic flight to get there.

The small Selararang airport is an interesting airport. You can’t find the great amenities you would most probably find in major airports hubs. The rather simple setup itself is an attraction.

Though Lombok might be less developed than Bali, you would be surprised that there are many well known hotel chains such as Sheraton and Novotel operating there!

Furthermore the transport within Lombok is rather primitive with cidomo and motorcycles as their common mode of transport.

So why not choose this as your beach wedding destination!

Bali Beach Wedding

Bali is a well known place and popular spot for weddings in the Asia Pacific. The fine Indonesian hospitality and the great beaches make it a nice tropical island to visit and to conduct the beach wedding.

Marriage requirements

The residency period is a minimum of 10 days. If the wedding organizers submit this on your behalf, this requirement can be waived.

Documents Needed:

Proof of ID: You will be required to produce your original birth certificates and passport with at least six months validity remaining upon your arrival in Bali.
• 5 passport size photographs
• If you are divorced, you must produce your decree absolute with the court stamp. Divorced Catholics are not allowed to wed in Bali.
• If you are widowed, you will have to produce the death certificate of your former spouse and your former marriage certificate. Widowed Catholics are not allowed to wed in Bali.
• The legal age to marry is 18 and above. If you are underaged, you would need parental consent.
• For Catholics: you must obtain from your parish priest, a letter of Freedom to Marry, a letter of Delegation addressed to the church in Bali stating that your parish has no objections to your marriage service to be performed in Bali and a Pre Nuptial enquiry to be performed by you and your priest.
The marriage license has to be obtained from Jakarta and thus you must go to your respective embassy to sign an affidavit swearing that you are free to marry and to apply for a Certificate of No Impediments. You would need to produce originals documents at the time of application.

There are no restrictions on where you can hold your wedding ceremony. One thing to note is that you cannot just have a civil ceremony. For beach weddings, it is always better to check whether the location allow such weddings as usually beach weddings are done on private beaches.

Romantic Bali Wedding

Bali is an island in Indonesia archipelago which located on westernmost of the Lesser Sunda islands just between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Bali is popular as a number one party zone! Beauty is long known to go along with romance, and Bali, the beautiful island in Indonesia can accommodate this romantic Bali Wedding that you desire.
For couples with different nationalities, Bali Wedding can be performed without much hassle. Paper works and government authorities are managed professionally to ensure your satisfaction. You can have your romantic Bali Wedding by the beautiful beaches in the island that is organized professionally and with all sincerity. Having yourself and your lover in the serene and yet stunning sunset enjoying your blissful day, together with your families and relatives is the ideal romantic wedding that you can afford for.

By Dharma Putra A

Bali Holiday Packages

Bali is one of the finest nations in the world to go on holiday, offering a great number of activities to suite anyone and thousands of different locations with their own unique view, so finding Bali holiday packages that suite your individual tastes and wishes isn't difficult. When looking for a holiday package in Bali you must consider what it is you are looking to do on holiday. There are many packages available when you're hunting for Bali accommodation to stay in. Budget packages are aimed at the visitor that is not intending to spend much on accommodation but would rather spend some time away from the hotels and villas discovering what the island has to offer in terms of excitement and culture. Marrying in Bali is an excellent choice as the locations are so varied and set with a fairy story back drop of tropical vegetation, spotless rain forest or the looming volcanoes. Wedding and honeymoon packages will change depending on your position; there is no limit as to what you want. Inland is a lovely place called Ubud which has many spas encircled by lush tropical rain forests and sculptured rice fields as well as the rich creative community which has made this area so favored. The top villas and hotels all offer in house spas and massage services for you to enjoy without traveling around.
As a family with children you'll be looking for family packages in Bali that offers decent accommodation and access to numerous activities to keep the children occupied. Most of the companies that offer family deals always include a kiddies club, not only to keep them occupied, but to offer you a bit of spare time to relax.
Bali hotels offer the best services and facilities that are to be found in any exclusive resort around the globe and combined with the tours available and Bali shopping destinations, it is not surprising that it is known as the place to experience a memorable holiday.

Popular Beach Wedding Destinations

Weddings Destinations, It is becoming an increasingly popular trend to get alternative weddings such as beach weddings.

After much deliberation, you and your partner decide to conduct your wedding under the warm sun and walking down the sandy aisle.

Which are the popular beach wedding destinations?

Hawaii

Hawaii is blessed with many great beaches and breathtaking scenaries. You should have no problem in getting the perfect spot for the unique beach wedding.

The more popular spots are in Maui or the Big Island. Other places are Honolulu, Kaui or Molokai.

Bahamas

Home to the Atlantic City. Besides the main Paradise Island, other great spots are Eleuthera / Harbour Island, Grand Bahamas.

Anguilla

Choose from 33 beautiful, secluded sparklingly white beaches, lined with clear blue waters for the great spot.

Florida

Key West, Destin/Ft. Walton, Miami Beach, is many of the fine beaches available of you to make your pick.

California

California is blessed with many great beaches. The most popular ones are Long Beach, Mission Beach, Coronado Beach and Ocean Beach.

Indonesia

Enjoy the Indonesian culture and traditions by opting for a Balinese flavor beach wedding in Bali or to have a beach wedding along the beaches of Lombok.

Lombok is one of the two places in the world who houses the blue coral. Enjoy snorkeling in the clear blue waters in the many 'gilis' (small islands) nearby.

Thailand

Enjoy the Thai hospitality. Go to Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi. Phi Phi is the island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. Great views and scenic.

If you like serenity, choose Krabi.

Which ever final destination you choose, you can certainly know what you are in for, an out of the box experience in getting married in the soft white powdery sands with great picturesque views!

By Anne Lim

What Do Wedding Planners Do?

Wedding Planners are professionals, who will help you create the wedding of your dreams. Wedding planners take the hectic out of the event, leaving you with the joy.

The more you delve into the business of a wedding, the more you realize it is very complicated and time consuming. You also need someone, who has more time and organizational skills than you do. You can check out a professional wedding planner through your friends. After checking references carefully, including talking to their referrals, you settle on an individual, who inspires confidence in you, helping you relax.
Your very own wedding planner will help you by setting priorities. Finding a date that the ceremony location is available that comes closest to your goal is of premier importance. Your wedding planner can accompany you and help you assess the size of the location, so you can determine the number of guests to invite. The wedding planner will also help you establish a budget for all the wedding expenses. Now that you have a date, location and budget, the wedding planning can commence.
The wedding planner not only helps negotiate arrangements for photos, invitations, flowers, clothing, music, and food, but has extensive experience in all the little other things like attendant gifts, car decorations, marriage license requirements, pass port and travel arrangements, favors for guests, and limousine rentals.
Your wedding planner will help keep your wedding arrangements on track. The wedding planner will do all these things in a calm businesslike manner, hopefully smiling all the way, as you sail down the aisle to meet the love of your life. That is what professional wedding planners do for you.

What is Wedding Insurance?

Most couples are not interested in wedding insurance because they are not planning on canceling their weddings, rather it is because they are worried about losing their jobs or other financial hardships.Wedding insurance typically covers deposits if the event has to be canceled due to illness, weather, military action, a vendor not showing up or other uncontrollable occurrences. It typically DOES NOT cover you if you are unable to pay for services because of job loss or if you get cold feet.If you decide to purchase wedding insurance, make sure to read the policy very carefully. How Much Does Wedding Insurance Cost?
A basic insurance policy that covers loss of photos, videos, attire, presents, rings, and deposits usually costs anywhere between $155 and $550, depending on the amount of coverage you want. General liability insurance, which covers up to $1,000,000 for accidents, costs around $185.
Do You Really Need Wedding Insurance?
When Should You Get Wedding Insurance?
With wedding insurance, you'll be sure to get your deposit back.

But note: most insurance companies have limitations on how far in advance you can purchase insurance.

What Does Wedding Insurance Cover?
Problems with the site, weather, vendors, key people, sickness, or injury are the top concerns come wedding day. Be sure to find out the details of your insurance plan.
Every insurance policy and every wedding scenario is different.

By Rachel Esposito

Paradise Weddings are More Popular

Weddings Destination are becoming more popular in the United States. The average wedding in the United States costs between $15,000 and $20,000. On the contrary, destination weddings cost between $500.00 and $5, 000.00 dollars depending on amenities and hotel choices. Many couples would rather spend the money on a new home rather than get in debt for a wedding. In addition, many couples are living together prior to marriage, and no longer depend on their parents to pay for the wedding.

Destination weddings offer a fresh new way to get married. As the rate of church attendance decreases, couples are choosing to get married in new locations. Caribbean countries are very popular for American couples. The weather is beautiful year round, and the beach offers breathtaking views. Mexico and Hawaii are also popular among couples who choose destination weddings.
Many couples will plan a "wedding weekend" that includes activities as well as the wedding. Couples can plan excursions, beach activities, bachelor and bachelor parties, attend clubs, and schedule shopping trips. Each hotel or cruise ship has a wedding coordinator that will do most of the work for you. Paradise Weddings will become more popular as the price of weddings increase. Modern couples are looking for affordable ways to have a memorable wedding and think outside the box.

By Kimberly Willis-smith



Exotic Island Wedding!

As a travel professional considering an exotic island wedding was a logical choice, but having to convince a strong Catholic family was the challenge I faced! Island weddings have been around for quiet some time, but in my opinion, they seemed to be perceived more for renewal of vows and second marriages, however, as our lifestyles change, we separated ourselves from tradition, and an exotic wedding on a spectacular island seemed like a dream in paradise for me.

The planning for our special event had begun, and with some consideration we both agreed on having our anticipated wedding on the exotic destination island of Cuba. We had the privilege of visiting this beautiful tropical island prior to our wedding, and we both fell in love with the extremely friendly culture, beautiful beach, and the spectacular exotic resort called Beaches, which is located on a peninsula in a small vacation town called Varadero, this is where we planned on having our special ceremony.
The Beaches all inclusive resort was not our original choice, and in the beginning of our research and planning, we decided on the Sandals Montego Bay Resort, which is a fantastic Ultra-All Inclusive Resort located on the fabulous Caribbean island of Jamaica! Not only were they including everything in their package, but they also offered a free wedding as long as we stayed at the resort for 5 nights or longer. I realized that certain events in life happen for a reason, and once we found out that the Beaches Resort in Varadero, Cuba also offered free weddings on the property, and accepted singles, couples, and families as well, we knew our decision was the correct one! If anyone ever tells you the wedding application process is difficult, get a second opinion! We went online and printed the resorts application form, faxed it off and in a matter of weeks we received a confirmation of the selected date and time of the wedding ceremony without any problems.
The garden wedding gazebo was romantically trimmed with aromatic exotic flowers, and bordered with swaying palm trees. As the wedding ceremony commenced, I soon realized that two dreams were fulfilled that day. I not only married my soul mate, but we performed an exotic island wedding, and became one in island paradise!

By William Parise