Romance is in the Air!

Take it from someone that got married more than once, my barefoot tropical wedding on the beach in Kaua’i couldn’t beat anything else when it came to my own personal enjoyment, romance and pure joy.

I couldn’t handle the stress of planing the wedding, flowers, seating charts and just the enormous cost of everything. Been there - done that and didn’t enjoy it. My first wedding  was extremely stressful 300+ people, I didn’t know most of them and the best man’s grandma dropped dead on the dance floor. Really. Ceremony lasted 1 hr 40 minutes, everyone had a great time except me and the ill-fated grandma (but dropping dead on the dance floor is an excellent way to go in my opinion). I didn’t want to repeat the big white wedding, especially that I wasn’t crazy about it the first time around. Although my first husband and I got some seriously good gifts and lots of cash that we should have spent on a lavish honeymoon, but we didn’t unfortunately. 

My current husband and I didn’t have parents with deep pockets to pay for the wedding, so we started saving. We saved and saved, but our savings were very meager compared to how much a decent reception would cost. So we decided to do the next best thing: screw the reception and wedding presents - let’s blow all the money on ourselves. To this day we didn’t receive ONE wedding present, but we had the most romantic wedding ever. We didn’t even know where are we going for dinner that night. We asked our wedding coordinator who organized everything where to go, we told him we just want really good food, we are covered with sand and we are barefoot, and we had a wedding dinner at the great restaurant with no tablecloths, blue hawaiians were flowing, lobsters, crabs and steaks were served in abundance, and it was perfect. 

Whenever I visit any of the hotels I always ask for the wedding coordinator and to look at locations for weddings, honeymoon suites, and any set wedding menus. The most convenient I found so far was at Sandals and Beaches Weddings by Martha Stewart. Here are few photos of Seaside Serenade Dinner Sandals actually served for us. Their wedding coordinators are a dream to work with. No request is too big or too small.

In closing, as I’m about to embark just on my 13th wedding anniversary, no begging or pleading to my husband that 13 years in Los Angeles is like being married 25 years anywhere else will convince him to renew our vows, so I’m going to have to live vicariously through my brides as I work with their wedding coordinators. Here is 2 more photos of Martha Stweart wedding themes (daytime-better photos I was using iPhone).

Happy Travels!

Mexico Travel

Lots of talk about Mexico and safety. I personally feel comfortable going to certain areas. Last year I went to Cancun and twice to Cozumel. In Cancun I hire my own driver, I have been hiring his company for 4 years now, I take my little girl with me and I feel perfectly safe. 

For us on the West Coast it's the only direct flight to the Caribbean, so you can’t beat the convenience.

I am enclosing a map done by Travel Weekly that gives you areas where you should exercise caution and/or not visit. It is a shame that such a beautiful country is currently under such a crime spree, as we used to drive from Los Angeles down to Rosarito and Ensenada and San Felipe and had time of our lives. 

http://www.travelweekly.com/uploadedFiles/MEXICOMAP4.pdf

I still plan vacations for my clients to Mexico with great pleasure. Anywhere we travel we should exercise common sense and caution. We are not in our country and there are some things that are different. It is a shame when people completely write of a country with such rich culture, excellent food, amazing beaches and great climate, and let’s not even talk about tequila. 

Another passion of mine that has to do with Mexico is a team of fashion designers called Pineda Covalin. They have incorporated pre-Columbian and Mexican art into the finest silk. Scarves, pareos, purses, shoes, I’m salivating just when I think about it. In the photo below I am wearing Pineda Covalin silk top (red) I bought in Cancun airport boutique in 2011. Hard to find, I love flying into Cancun just to visit their store. In Playa Del Carmen they even have a store. They also have a store in Cabo Airport. Something not to be missed. 

Don’t just discount all of Mexico yet.

Happy Travels!

Grab Your Girlfriends and GO!

This one is a very near and dear to my heart. Since I became a professional travel agent it has been very important to me to have girlfriend getaways as a regular repertoire of what my agency offers. 

My first Girlfriend Getaway was WINOS (Women In Need Of Something), which has been designed by travel agents for female travel agents and their girlfriends. Last Year we had a BLAST on a cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel. There was 25 of us ladies. One of the new friends I met was Arlene, she also writes a blog and here is her take on girlfriend getaways: http://ramblingsbytiggheart.com/2011/09/30/girlfriend-getaway-awesome/ and more in depth account about meeting new friends http://ramblingsbytiggheart.com/2011/09/19/meeting-new-friends/

This year it’s WINOS @ JAMAICA! At Grand Bahia Prinipe in Runaway Bay September 20th. Email me @ DC@cosmopolitantravels.com if you are interested in joining us. 

It is truly a chance for us to ‘let our hair down’ and enjoy ourselves. We rarely have a chance to spend quality time together, as we are from all different corners of the United States, and it is so nice to finally sit and break bread together after years or even just months of e-mails, Facebook or phone calls. And being in this business we are spoiled with our requests for ourselves. The worst part about WINOS - September seems so far away!

So have a glass of wine with your BFF and think about joining us. We think Jamaica will never be the same. We already have 50+ ladies signed up. 

Stay warm this week and Happy Travels!