Archive for July, 2010

Traveling elsewhere for weddings is quickly becoming a popular trend in the modern wedding category. Offering the opportunity for your wedding guests to have some fun in the sun while attending your special day is a great way to add a little extra to your wedding and make it an event that your family and friends are sure to remember. Going to a vacation destination is also a great way for the happy couple to enjoy their honeymoon at the same time as their wedding, without the hassle of travelling after the ceremony.

Choosing destination wedding invitations can be a little tricky. There is quite a bit of information that you need to include in your invitation, but you do not want to overwhelm your invitees either.

The first step for choosing your destination wedding invitation is to choose the design you love. Most couples usually want to incorporate the theme of the destination into the design: sandy beaches, expansive oceans, shells and palm trees are popular choices for warm destinations. However if your destination is elsewhere, choose images that speak to that particular area when designing your invitation.

Next you should make a list of the information you might need to include in your wedding invitations. Standard invitations only have sparse information: who, what, where, when, and why. A destination wedding needs to include much more information so your invited guests can make informed decisions if they plan to travel and attend your special day.

The information that you should give your invitees includes:

Time, date and place.
Transportation suggestions (especially if you can get a deal from an airline for booking multiple tickets to the destination).
Accommodation information – if you’re staying at a resort, many offer wedding packages for guests that are attending at a special rate. If this is being offered, you need to include this information in your invitation. However, if you don’t have a registered deal with a resort or hotel, you should include some local information about the destination. Possibly including the names and numbers of close by hotels or rental properties.
Other rental information – don’t forget to include car rental information, including the names and numbers of businesses offering this service. This is particularly important if you aren’t staying at a resort and your guests need to travel to get to the location of your wedding ceremony.
Suggested dates of travel – this helps you coordinate the date and time that your guests arrive at the destination.

You should also include local maps and information about the destination. Offering some additional information about local attractions that your guests may enjoy and maps of the area can offer them the opportunity to have some vacation time of their own while attending your wedding ceremony. Perhaps you may arrange a tour or special event other than your wedding that you will offer your guests. Regardless, be sure to include some local information so your guests know what they can expect upon their arrival. You should include the local time zone, weather type (hot and sunny!) and available recreation areas and attractions.

Choosing a double sided invitation is a great way to ensure you will be able to incorporate all the information that is needed to be given. This allows you to put the basic invitation information on the front side and the more detailed information of travel arrangements on the back of the invitation card.

Many couples choose to have a local celebratory reception as well, to allow those invitees who could not attend the ceremony to still share in the festivities. This will mean an extra piece of stationery to include with your invitations. If you are having a separate, local reception, be sure to include a second invitation to that celebration as well.

It is also important to remember that when you plan a destination wedding that you leave plenty of time for your guests to decide and arrange for travel. Somewhere between three to four months should be an adequate amount of time for your guests to decide and prepare. The more time you offer your friends and family to plan and make travel preparations, the more people you are likely to have at your wedding ceremony.

It is always a good idea to try and secure some kind of deal at your destination. Many resorts and tropical destinations offer wedding packages that include specials for guests as well. If you do not have this as an available option, you might want to find a hotel that will offer deals for multiple rooms. You may even be able to get your wedding suite free if you reserve enough rooms. You obviously want your wedding day to be a day you will remember for the rest of your life. Be sure to find a great destination for everyone involved.

Married pilots hook up on military refueling mission
Christine and Jeff McLean, on separate military deployments, hadn’t seen each other in six months until the married pilots found each other in the sky over Pakistan.

Read more on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Reducing the carbon footprint is very important but how do you ensure that you are environmentally responsible when it comes to your wedding. The Wedding Planner School gives their top ten tips for making your wedding not only eco-friendly that will also help to keep it in budget….

1. Keep it Local – Choose a wedding venue that is local to you or to the majority of your guests, which reduces carbon monoxide and other car emissions and saves money on fuel. When it comes to researching suppliers and venues think local and use the internet and telephone to do most of the research for your shortlist.

2. Potted Decorations – Instead of cut flowers that are generally imported from Holland or Africa and die a few days after your wedding, source potted plants & flowers that are grown locally thus reducing your carbon footprint and ensuring fair trade. Consider having organic non-genetically modified plants, which can be used both for decoration and given as favours or gifts at the end of the day. If you prefer the idea of candles adding to the ambience opt for those made from soyawax rather then beeswax.

3. Stationery & Communications – Using the internet and telephones to invite your guests reduces the need for paper, ink and postage. E-reply cards should also make for quicker responses. Where invitations need to be sent in hard copy choose a simple design on chlorine-free paper with organic inks or opt for a postcard design saving paper and money and don’t forget to recycle stationery such as Orders of Service. Consider a wedding website to provide details, directions and a gift list without doing any printing.

4. Wedding Planner – The Wedding Planner School offers a free graduate wedding planner service for brides nationwide.  If you are enjoying planning your eco-friendly wedding so much you want it to last forever book yourself onto a course to learn how to turn your passion into a successful career, money saving tips and how to avoid nasty surprises!

5. Fashionable Green – Vintage dresses are very fashionable so you can be socially responsible and bang-on-trend.  Consider renting or borrowing a dress or alternatively have a dress made to measure with locally sourced fabrics. Charity shops do second hand dresses, which are so popular that in 2007 stocks were exhausted, and you can donate them back afterwards.

6. Rings – Buy antique rings instead of new ones as diamonds, platinum, silver and gold always have to be imported and may contain blood diamonds.

7. Food Miles – Opt for locally sourced, organic food, which is in season. Thus reducing food miles and the use of chemical fertilisers.

8. Gifts – If you have already set up home have an ethical gift list so that your guests can make donations of time or money to charity.

9.Transport – A romantic horse-drawn carriage is a very eco-friendly way to travel to your venue or you might want to walk if it is nearby.  Imagine how beautiful a procession of your guests led by you and new husband would look strolling through town. If you want to arrive by car consider using a regular car rather than a limousine or vintage car, which only do about ten miles to the gallon.

10. The Honeymoon – You don’t have to go abroad to enjoy a wonderful honeymoon so consider honeymooning in the UK or if you do want to head abroad use public transport to reach your destination. Some travel agents will actually calculate the carbon footprint resulting from the honeymoon so you can plant trees to offset the carbon emissions.

 

1. Lakshadweep islands
The spectacular marine life is worth a watch or sleeping by the sea with only night sky covering you. This place holds the peace and natural beauty like no other place. If you want to have a tranquil beach holiday then this is the best destination. The tourists are attracted by wild sea and the virtuous nature. This place is perfect honeymoon terminus. The romantic ambience attracts lots of newly wed couples.

2. Andaman and Nicobar islands
If you don’t want to follow the rut and are looking for making it perhaps the most memorable event of your life, be selfish and take time off to go to The Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The beauty of the virgin islands has to be seen to be believed and this wonderful yet relatively untapped tourist spot is perhaps the most ideal place for all nature lovers and adventurous kind.

3. Honeymoon in Goa
The scintillating combination of Sun, surf, sand and sea makes Goa vacation trip one of the picture perfect destinations in India. For the romantic start of your life check out: golden Goa. If heaven were a place on Earth Goa would be the destination. If you are looking for a very special place to spend your honeymoon, Goa is definitely the place for you.

4. Kovalam
Kovalam is one of the most beautiful and popular beaches in Kerala. Dreaming of an exotic Honeymoon in Kerala is for lovers, romantics and those in search of a tropical vacation. Cuddle up in a warm beach cottage, dine and vine under the stars, or getaway to your own clandestine vacation hill station with a picnic lunch. Kerala Backwaters is a perfect place for your island vacation.

5. Srinagar Vacations
Srinagar is a big hit with the honeymooners who find the serene environments and the picturesque surroundings at Srinagar very enticing. There’s ‘something’ in the landscapes that makes the couples shed their inhibitions and express their love for each other. No wonder, Srinagar is sometimes called the “Lovers’ Paradise”.

6. Darjeeling
It is the most ideal location for most of you honeymooners to spend some quality time together. The green and cool environment coupled with fresh breeze would definitely make you the happiest couple together in the lap of nature. It is a vacations paradise for the honeymooners. The serenity of the secluded hill stations and the Dooars jungles attracts many honeymoon couples to the region.

7. Jodhpur
To go on Honeymoon in Jodhpur will give a high that you will not experience in any other destination. Jodhpur offers a unique honeymoon experience sans the run-of-the-mill mountains and beaches. If you are a couple who are fascinated by the rustic villages, heritage structures and palaces, Jodhpur is where you want to go.

8. Coorg
Coorg is called as the ‘Scotland of India’ and ‘Kashmir of the South’ by the people who have visited it and been enthralled by its beauty. The place is a treat for the eye for the honeymoon goers. It is abundant with green forests, greener coffee estates and pale green rice valleys. The most ideal location for most of you honeymooners to spend some quality time together.

9. Ooty
This place is a tourist delight and honey mooners ever tested destination. The Botanical Garden, full of shady trees, myriad exotic plants and flowers is a treat to watch. Don’t forget to take a snap of you together in this wonderfully maintained place. The place is a paradise and heaven for nature lovers. The place is ideal for honeymooners with its breathtaking scenic beauty.

10. Shimla
Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, is one of the most famous honeymoon destinations in India. Salubrious climate, picturesque locations, serene settings, superior accommodation facilities and convenient location are the primary reasons for the newly married couples to opt for Honeymoon in Shimla.

Welcome to Salentine Travel! For almost 25 years, Salentine Travel has provided a rich depth of travel knowledge and exemplary customer relationship skills to our clientele. And with over 50% of our business coming from repeat and referral clients, getting travel right is of prime importance. We are the best Luxury Travel Agency Milwaukee. We are glad you’re here, visiting our site and learning about all we have to offer! Salentine Travel is one of the fastest growing travel agencies in the Midwest US and is female-owned and operated. Salentine Travel is an international travel agency in Milwaukee. We specialize in providing a broad range of travel services for the luxury and family travelers. We also have honeymoon travel packages Milwaukee. Besides traditional travel services, Salentine Travel focuses on tours, cruises, group and custom designed vacations.

Our mission is to make sure that our customer service and your travel experience is satisfactory, no matter what the travel reason. Our broad clientele is a testament to this mission, and we are pleased to service you:
. The Affluent: With the growth of the mass-affluent market-space growing over 20% per year, Salentine Travel is poised to meet the demands of this growing segment. Led by baby boomers moving into peak earning years through retirement, two-income families and economic growth, more travelers will select luxury-category trips for their next vacation.
. Families: Greater numbers of families are traveling to more diverse locations. Nearly 50% of Salentine Travel clients travel as a family. Working with suppliers that include the airline, transfers and all-inclusive properties, family travel is easier and more affordable.
. Corporations: As a multi-billion dollar global industry, corporate incentive travel is an important focus of Salentine Travel. From pre-trip concept and site selection to providing destination group management and post-trip analysis, Salentine Travel provides a broad range of experience to top group destinations.

Salentine Travel has been honored as the top agency in several categories.
We were named #2 Travel Agency by the Milwaukee Business Journal. We are Milwaukee travel agency. Our staff has vast and varied experience. Michele is a member of the Island’s Magazine Advisory board. Sarah and Jamie were named the top 30 agents under 30 years old by a national publication: Travel Agent Magazine. Louise and Marlene are certified from Master Card World Elite and are the top performers in this very exclusive program. Sandy used to live in Isreal and is an Eastern Europe and Jewish Heritage specialist. Lynn has managed our fulfillment division and produced over 110 million in airline ticket sales annually. Myself, I am on the technology and marketing boards of Virtuoso. Salentine Travel has a large independent program and offers special rates and exclusive amenities, we have a staff of over 30.

We are also members of the most exclusive travel consortia called Virtuoso. I like to compare Virtuoso to the American Express Platinum credit card. American Express member’s pay an annual fee of $400.00 to access to exclusive rates and value added amenities for 350 luxury hotels. At Salentine Travel, we offer you over 900 hotels with no annual fee. We also have exclusive offers with cruise lines, airline and private guides all over the world. The value is in the exclusive relationships.

Again, we are pleased you are visiting Salentine Travel. We specialize in creating the perfect vacation or corporate travel for you, to your specifications.
Buy one night and get the second night FREE!! Or 50% off travel through Dec 23rd 2010!! Must book by June 30th 2010. Please contact us anytime at 1-800-962-8747 and put us to the test. We look forward to working with you!

At Salentine Travel, we would like to remind you to “Live Well and Travel More!”

Listen to Tolstoy for a true reading of the toll war takes
For too long – a decade, perhaps – I had wanted to read War and Peace. A bit like running a marathon, reading Leo Tolstoy’s 19th century masterpiece about the Russian aristocracy and the Napoleonic wars seemed like a worthy and challenging enterprise. It might feel painful in the moment but seem rewarding afterwards. Somehow I never found the time.

Read more on The Age

 

The last minute travel deals can be very cost effective to the people who frequently travel to other places for work or holiday purposes etc. They are basically offered by almost all the airlines for various popular tourist destinations like Europe, Caribbean and other such most preferred cities all around the world. Actually the airlines that offer such deals enter into partnerships with those travel agencies and operating carriers who adopt various techniques to promote the tourist destinations for business and profit motives. There are many countries and cities whose economy depends mainly on the business of tourist only. As such, the government tourist offices and various major tour operators come up with attractive and lucrative tourist deals to offer ultimate satisfaction to the people.

 

 

 

Now the main question of concern is where can a person find such last minute travel deals. Nowadays, the best and the most easiest way to get such lucrative deals is through the online shops. Another authentic and reliable way to get the information regarding such deals can be the local and the national newspapers as most of the travel agencies use these resources to promote their innovative promotional schemes and deals offered at very low rates.

 

 

 

People can also enjoy saving huge chunks of money by availing such deals as most of the times they come with a complete package of both the hotels and air tickets. Moreover, they are often offered to the people at heavy discount rates by the airlines and the hotels to accommodate the vacant seats and rooms. These offers are easily available in various occasions and seasons and a person can save as much as $500 to $1000 . People can also contact the airlines to know more about such deals and get all the facilities at discounted rates.

 

 

The travel deals for almost all the seasons may vary. There are so called high and low seasons when such deals are offered to the people to fill their trip with all the necessary facilities they deserve to to have. You can save huge chunks of money if you grab such deals at the right time.

 

 

 

First plan and then get into action. Actually great planners can grab the right opportunity when it comes to them as they are always prepared for that. However, most of the people plan their holiday trip at the eleventh hour when all the doors of profit seem to get closed. But, as this is the natural tendency of the almost 80% of the people the deals and offers are also crafted keeping this thing in mind. When a person finally decides to go for a trip, the quest for the best and the cost effective deals the starts right away. To ensure excellent comfort and pleasure to the people the booking reservations have undergone various changes.

 

 

 

The last minute travel deals are steadily becoming popular among the masses due to various reasons. As a matter of fact they are preferred most by the travellers and the hasty planners. Actually the main reason for this awesome metamorphosis is the attractive deals which can be availed by the people at very reasonable rates. Moreover, the World Wide Web with its several search engine has proved to be a great help to the people who can avail any deals and gifts from the comfort of their cozy living room. These online stores facilitate the netizens to avail various when they are in dire need at the last time.

 

 

 

You can surf these sites to find the awesome travel deals and the most cost effective hotels and cruise etc. One can comfortably save thousands of dollars as the travel agencies and the airlines search for the  Last Minute Travel deals to accommodate their cancelled or empty rooms and seats. It is always a good option to earn something then nothing as such those cancelled seats and rooms are offered to the hasty travellers at discounted prices.