Will you marry “moi” ?

Wedding Planners are professionals whose lives revolve around all things nuptial. By hiring a professional to help you organize your wedding, you are in reality hiring all of the following: a party planner, stage manager, financial advisor, vendor broker, stress reliever and someone to listen to you moan about your mother/husband2be/father/maid of honor or all of the above.

So what can he/she do for you? In the case of a destination wedding, the role of a professional wedding organizer becomes much more vital. Your planner effectively becomes your eyes, ears, mouth and nose as he/she is responsible for pre-selecting the best venue, musicians and food, etc. according to your desires, taste and budget. As you do not live in the country, may not speak the language and do not necessarily know the customs and traditions celebrated in your destination country, your wedding planner will be able to advise you on all of the above.

Before you say yes to a particular consultant, ask for references from other couples and make sure you’ve got a great rapport and feel confident that he/she will not try to force any vision other than your own on you. You are hiring this person to help you transform your dream into reality, make sure it is your dream and not his/hers.

Here is a list of the main things a professional Wedding Planner can do for you:

• Draft a realistic wedding budget based on your wish list.
  
• Propose the best and most original wedding locations in the regions/countries that interest you based on the size of your wedding, budget and vision.
  
• Source the most professional and reliable wedding vendors to fit your vision and budget: florists, caterers, photographers, videographers, wedding bands/DJs, transport companies, magicians, babysitters, etc.
  
• Check all of your vendor contracts and translate them into your own language to reassure you that you are not signing away your lives.
  
• Advise you on the best type of wedding insurance to take out.
  
• Counsel you on proper etiquette in your chosen destination country.
  
• Inform you of the hottest wedding trends and must-haves.
  
• Share the customs and wedding traditions celebrated in your destination country.
  
• Propose the best accommodation for you and your guests (if not available for everyone at your chosen venue) and arrange for local transportation to and from the venue/church.
  
• Suggest things to do of interest in the region for you and your guests.
  
• Create a timeline (wedding program) that tells everyone involved in the planning process when to do what. This becomes your bible once you step onto that airplane en route for your destination wedding!
  
• Coordinate with all your wedding vendors to make sure everything is delivered and set up on-time, saving you an enormous amount of time and energy, not to mention misunderstandings if you don’t speak the local language!
  
• Serve as your spokesperson, conveying your every desire and whim to your wedding vendors.
  
• Propose the best place to hold your rehearsal dinner and/or host your day after pool party/brunch, book all vendors and coordinate these events.
  
• Stage manager the entire wedding weekend, supervising vendors, handling emergencies and soothing nerves.
  
• Help to plan and book your honeymoon.
  

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of choosing the right professional Wedding Planner for you based in your chosen destination country. Nobody will know the local market better than them.

Good luck!

An ideal way to relive the excitement and romance of your wedding day…but just the two of you…in the most romantic city in the world!

Whether you got married on a beach somewhere hot, in your hometown or in a medieval castle in the heart of the European countryside, here is an ideal way to celebrate your wedding anniversary.

Imagine spending a weekend in Paris, the most romantic city in the world. During the weekend, surprise your sweetheart with a 2-hour boat cruise on your very own private luxury motor yacht on the River Seine. Enjoy a glass of champagne as you sit under the elegant white awning on the open air wooden deck or for winter anniversaries, snuggled up in the captain’s cabin.

Discover the delights the City of Light has to offer: the Grand Palais, the Louvre, the Invalides, the Orsay Museum, the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame Cathedral. When you feel the moment is right, gesture to the skipper to slow the boat and cut the engine. With the romantic backdrop of the Eiffel Tower or Notre-Dame Cathedral, you can again declare your love to your beloved before being served another glass of champagne to seal this exceptional moment. We can even arrange for a special dove release with 40 doves as a symbol of your love for each other!

Should you wish to extend the pleasure, settle back and enjoy a sumptuous dinner for two before retiring to the pretty sleeping cabin below deck and float off to sleep to the sound of the rippling water of the River Seine around you.

Rather than offering your guests classic wedding favors such as pastel colored sugared almonds, why not consider offering them a box of delicious and colorful French macarons? We found this series of “I was in” macarons decorated with Parisian monuments, famous paintings, writers or poets and the words “I was in”. A great way to remind your guests of your wedding destination whilst also proposing a mouth-watering alternative to those hard and frankly not very tasty sugared almonds!

Sold in boxes of 4, 5 or 8 at the recommended price of euros 9,90, 11,50 and 16,50 at the Carrousel du Louvre and Galeries Lafayette. An added bonus is that they can be conserved for up to 2 months!

Bon appétit!

Photo credits: Sortir a Paris, Meltyfashion