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Guatemala Honeymoon

                Are you looking for a honeymoon destination that is adventurous and affordable as well as romantic? Well, look no further, because Guatemala may be the place for you.

For the adventurer, we recommend Panajachel, on Lake Atitlan.

Things to do:

Hike this volcano

                Don’t worry, it’s dormant.

Zip lining

                The zip line at Panajachel crosses a small valley between two mountains. You start by climbing the mountain, then zip line back and forth across the valley until you reach the bottom. The great thing about this is that it isn’t just one ride, but you get to take many rides as you zig zag to the bottom. You’ll have an excellent view of the lake and volcano. You should also take a look down while on the zip line, as you may see a few playful monkeys in the trees below.

Watersports

                Most of the hotels and a few villages rent out equipment, so you can go canoeing and boating almost anytime.

Explore the surrounding Villages

                Take a boat across the lake to check out the surrounding villages. There are hidden treasures everywhere.

                If you happen to be going the week before Easter, you should definitely check out the amazing street art. Locals use flowers, leaves, nuts, and dyed sawdust to create incredible works of art. On Easter, they hold a parade, which will destroy art, so there’s only a small window in which to glimpse this beauty.

Tips for Panajachel:

1. Consider staying in the Hotel San Buenaventure De-Atitlan. This hotel is really a collection of guest houses, so you’ll have a full kitchen and living room. They sit right near the lake, with views of the volcano, excellent gardens, and amenities such as pools & a spa. The best part of all, double rooms start at $83 a night. These are truly nice rooms, and you will not beat these prices! They also keep peacocks!

2. Go the week before Easter. Seriously, I know I said it earlier, but the artwork is just that amazing.

Next on the itinerary is Antigua.

Things to do

1. Explore the City on Foot

Antigua is great for those of you who prefer big cities and tourist attractions. You’ll love the colorful buildings and amazing architecture.

2. Check out a Show

A lot of local restaurants offer authentic dancing and shows along with dinner. You can watch the show, then join in on the fun. Everyone comes together for the fun and it is quite a party.

Tips for Antigua:

1. It can get dicey at night. Travel in groups after dark, and don’t stay out too late.

2. Consider staying in the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo. It is entirely gated, so safety isn’t an issue. You can wander around the gardens at night without trouble. They offer plenty of entertainment options, as well. My secret tip, go up on the roof for some amazing views of the city and surrounding scenery. It’s also the best seat in the house if you want to crash one of the many weddings that the hotel hosts each year. This will have you and your new hubby feeling extra romantic, reminiscing about your wedding…. from a week ago….

Double room rates range from $90-150 a night.

General tips for Guatemala

1. Tourists Should Beware in Guatemala City

You will likely fly into Guatemala City and obtain transport to your final destinations. Be careful in the city. Poverty is high and danger is real.

2. Don’t Drink the Water (or use the ice!)

Water is not safe to drink in Guatemala. Your hotel will tell you if they have a special filtration system that allows you to drink it. Even if they have these systems, they are usually only for sink water, so don’t let water in your mouth when you shower. I just prefer to stick with bottled water, even if they have the filtration system. And for goodness sake, if the water isn’t safe to drink, neither is the ice! I had a friend who drank only bottled water for the whole trip, but then had ice in his soda. He was vomiting for days. Just don’t do it. 

3. Enjoy!

You're going to love Guatemala. Seriously! There is all kinds of variety in the flora and fauna. Take loads of pictures, and then comment below to tell us how much you loved your trip. 

Bouquet Breakdown #3

This week we present our 3rd bouquet breakdown. You may have seen this bouquet before, as it was featured in our Tennessee Orange & Kentucky Blue featured wedding.

Although this bride chose the main colors of Tennessee Orange and Kentucky Blue, she didn’t want blue in her bouquet. Instead she chose to add light pink flowers to bring out her blush colored gown. Here are our florist’s thoughts on each of the stems in her bouquet.

Hypernicum berries

Hypernicum berries (orange) – These small berries make a great, colorful filler. They come in a variety of colors for a reasonable price. They do well for the better part of a day without water, making them great for all kinds of arrangements.

Peonies

Peonies – These flowers are all the rage right now. We think they’re lovely, but they’re just so darn expensive. We paid $150 for just 20 stems! And that was during peak season. For a cheaper replacement, there are several garden rose varieties that have a very similar look.

Roses

Roses (bright orange) – These roses were the perfect shade of orange! We recommend them for fall harvest themes, bright color combinations, and of course for any UT Vols weddings/events.

Tulips

Tulips (bright orange) – This is another one that had the perfect shade of orange. Tulips are a great for a pop of color. Also very affordable. Just note that tulips open quickly, giving them a different appearance everyday. If you want closed tulips, we have to add them to bouquets at the last minute. Here we chose to have them open in order to show off as much of their bright orange color as possible.

Sweet Pea

Sweet pea (light pink) – Sweet peas have about 3-4 flowers on a short stem. These are very delicate, fragile flowers. They are so prone to breaking, that our warehouse supplier always includes a few extra with our order. However, we love them for the soft, romantic look that they give to any wedding.

Ranunculus 

Ranunculus (orange) – These flowers are also very popular right now. The problem that we had was that the supposedly “bright orange” flowers came with too much yellow in them. They were so yellow that we didn’t get to use half of what we ordered! When selecting this flower, we recommend a picking a color that is tried and true, such as white, unless you don’t mind a little color variety in the flowers. 

Send us an email to order your wedding bouquet. The quote is free! anelegantencounter@gmail.com

Do Sticky Bras Work?

Okay ladies, it’s time to get real. Boys, just skip ahead to the honeymoon articles (Jamaica is fantastic!). This one isn’t for you.

We’re going to get honest about bras for your wedding day. Wedding dresses come in all shapes and sizes, usually with some feature that makes wearing your typical bra impossible. They’re often strapless, backless, or both!

So, one common solution is to use these sticky bras! They’re pretty great. They stick to you, eliminating the need for straps of any kind.

But beware! If you are a bride or bridesmaid, you are likely to be running around like crazy on wedding day. And this means boob sweat. It’s a very real issue, ya’ll. I’m here to warn you, at the first sign of boob sweat, these awesome sticky bras are going to slide right off. If you’re corseted into a super tight bridal gown, maybe there won’t be any room for these babies to go anywhere. But if you’re in a not-so-perfect bridesmaid’s dress, be prepared to lose your bra halfway through the ceremony. Embarrassing.

I love sticky bras, but for a high stress wedding day, I recommend this alternative: Take an old bra that you don’t use anymore, cut it up, and have the cups sewn into your dress. Can’t bear to cut up an old bra? Buy a $5 one at Wal-Mart. Have it sewn in like this:

Trust me, this is one thing you do not want to worry about on your wedding day. This solution is an easy fix, and you'll look great!

Honeymoon in Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal is an excellent honeymoon destination for those of us who do not want to spend a week sitting on the beach. (If you do love the beach, then check out our reviews of Jamaica and St. Lucia .) Lisbon doesn't have sand, but it's right on the water, and the cliff-side views are amazing! We've listed a few of our favorite spots, and some tourist traps of which to beware.

  

Castles

There are castles everywhere! These Castle of Moors ruins (below) will give you a great workout. In fact, all of Lisbon is a great leg workout. You saw the hills in the photo above. Well, to get to the best sites, you have to climb all of those hills.

Castle of Moors

But not all castles are the same. It’s pretty rare to find a castle that isn’t just made of stone. This colorful castle at Sintra is truly unique (below), and was so huge that we couldn’t even get a proper picture of it. And, you guessed it, the castle sits on top of another massive hill.

Sintra

History

The one frustrating thing about Lisbon, Portugal, (for us history buffs, that is), is that the earthquake of 1755 destroyed a lot of the records. So much of the time you’ll be standing in front of some fantastic site and there is almost no information about where it came from or the people who lived there. The best you get is the history of royals who married out into royal families from other countries whose records survived.

Tourist Spots

Belem Tower

Finally, there are the obligatory touristy spots, the famous Belem Tower and the Monument to the Discoveries. My advice is to admire from the outside, but don’t pay to go in the tower. The lines are long and it isn’t worth your money. Instead, spend your $5 on a couple of hot dogs and fresh lemonade from the nearby food carts and have a picnic in the sun. Maybe I was just starving, but those Portuguese hot dogs were seriously the best I’ve ever had.

Monument to the Discoveries

Travel Tips

Some practical tips:

1. Skip the Lisbon aquarium. It’s advertised everywhere in Lisbon, so you’ll start to think it must be something special. But those of us from Tennessee are used to the fabulousness of the Chattanooga aquarium and Ripley’s in Gatlinburg. The Lisbon aquarium doesn’t compare, so don’t waste your money.

2. Consider staying in a hostel. Lisbon hostels are so nice! We got a private room with a double bed (shared bathroom) for 40 USD a night.

3.  Use the Lisbon metro. If you’ve never lived in a big city, study the rail map before your trip. I find the metro in the city and trains to the outer areas is the easiest and cheapest way to get around. You can put money on a card and just swipe it every time you take a bus or metro ride.

Share your tips for traveling in Portugal in the comment section below!

Floral Hair Pieces for your Wedding

An Elegant Encounter has recruited Lipscomb University fashion professor Charity Armstead to help us design some fabulous new floral hair pieces, using leftover flowers from this bridal bouquet. Check these out and order your own unique piece for your wedding.

This little hair piece shown above is possibly our favorite! It contains a single white chrysanthemum and a sprig of silver dollar eucalyptus (which is all the rage this year) on a clear comb.

This next beauty contains purple statice and baby blue eucalyptus for a simple, elegant effect.

                                     

But not all of our hair pieces have to be simple. We can make them as intricate as you wish. This clip contains chrysanthemum, statice, mini pink roses, and green poms.

Finally, we have a pink rose and silver dollar piece that is small enough to make a perfect accent piece for your bridesmaids.

Here are some more photos, just because we can!

When you order wedding flowers from An Elegant Encounter, be sure to let us know if you would like any floral hair pieces for the bride, bridesmaids, or flower girl. We can make floral pieces on hair clips and combs, on headbands, or into a hair wreath or crown. For questions, email us at anelegantencounter@gmail.com, or send us a message on Facebook at www.facebook.com/anelegantencounter

Choosing a Wedding Photographer

One of the biggest regrets brides have from their wedding day is not getting a good photographer. It’s one of the expenses where we usually recommend a little splurge. A lot of brides think that they can just get a friend or family member to take the photos. Well imagine that you spent $1500 on a glorious masterpiece of a cake, then Aunt Agnes forgot to get a picture before you cut it. Was all that money really worth it?

Photography looks like a fun job, so you get a lot of armatures trying to pass themselves off as professionals. Believe it or not, wedding photography is actually a ton of work. When they charge you $2000 for one wedding, it’s not just for the 6 hours on the day of the event, but for all the hours that they spend editing the photos.

With that being said, you don’t want to spend all of that money and live to regret it. There are things you can do to prevent photo catastrophe. We’ve provided some tips for choosing and getting the most out of your wedding photographer.

1. Make a Photo Wishlist

With all of the chaos going on during wedding day, it’s easy for the photographer to miss something that was important to you. My photographer did not get one single full length shot of me in my dress with my husband. We have tons of close-ups. And we have tons of singles of me in the dress. But unless I want to frame pictures of only myself (can we say narcissism?), then I’m stuck.

Another story…. One of our brides had to rush through before-wedding photos. The single shots of her and each bridesmaid were poor. After the wedding, the photographer got tons of shots with each bridesmaid and the groom, but we have NO pictures of the bride with each of her girls.

All of this to say: make a list of important photos that you want! Are you planning any big surprises or special moments? Tell your photographer ahead of time so they can capture the moment. You want pictures with certain people? Tell your photographer! Make a list ahead of time, so he/she can be prepared.

2. Create a Photo Timeline

Next tip, make a day-of wedding timeline with your photographer. A good photographer will have the day planned minute by minute. Example: 3:00 photos of girls in robes getting ready, 3:15 photos of girls in dresses, 3:30, etc., etc.

Follow the timeline! We had one wedding where the photographer had to start an hour later than planned because the bridesmaids were still curling their hair. Your bridesmaids are there to help you, not to prep for glamour shots or hook up with the groomsmen. Inform them of the timeline at the rehearsal, and stick to it.

3. Use the Engagement Session as a Trial Run

Finally, use your engagement session as a trial before booking the photographer for the big day. S/he should be someone who makes you and your fiancé comfortable, as that is how you will get the most natural looking pictures. How long does it take them to return the photos? You do not want to wait 3 months for your wedding pictures. Do you like the photos? Did the photographer do everything you asked? If you’re unhappy with them, don’t be afraid to use someone else for the big day. Remember, the wedding is one day, but the photos last a lifetime.

Are you looking for a photographer in Middle TN? An Elegant Encounter has worked with some of the best in a variety of price ranges. Email anelegantencounter@gmail.com for a referral.

All Inclusive Honeymoon Cruise

Are you considering a Carnival Cruise for your honeymoon? We’ve put together some tips to help with your decision.

Is this your first cruise?

Lesson #1, beware the cruise honeymoon if you have never been on a cruise or large boat. Your honeymoon is NOT the time you want to discover that you are prone to extreme seasickness. If you choose to ignore this advice, then for goodness’ sake take lots of Dramamine and seasickness patches with you just in case.

Unlimited Food

Yes, it is true that the food aboard is unlimited. But, please, be smart about what you eat. Cruises are notorious for food poisoning. Try to eat from the mini-restaurants that cook the food to order rather than from the buffet. Every morning the buffet milk was warm, so instead of cereal, choose fruit or fresh cooked bacon.

Activities on Board

Carnival cruises are family-friendly, so you’re going to see a lot of kids on board. Don’t even try to get in the arcade room. Most adults are going to be in the casinos during the day and watching the shows at night. These shows are hit or miss, so I wouldn’t count on that being your sole source of entertainment. Other activities include various classes, an expensive, not-included spa, and a gym. Please check with your fiance before you book a cruise. These kinds of activities are not for everyone. Personally, I quickly grew stir-crazy on the ship.

Activities at Stops

I took the Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos. Each stop consisted of tourist shopping and crowded beaches. I will NEVER do something like this again. Each city seems especially designed for what they think tourists want, not for seeing the true country. For that, you’ll need to pay an independent tour guide, which can be risky. But you might find a local gem, like this pretty little church:

                                      

As for beaches, the sandy beaches are man-made and very crowded. The natural beaches are beautiful, but rocky. On the plus side, you’ll be the only one around these rocky beaches, so it’s great for photos.

If I were to go on a Carnival Cruise again, I would pick one with more activities that reflect the nature of the countries visiting, such as ancient ruin sites. That’s just me, though.

Overall, a Carnival Cruise is one of the cheapest honeymoon options around. Excluding costs of getting to the port, you can take a cruise for just a few hundred dollars per person. And if you get bored on the ship, at least there are other honeymoon-specific activities that could keep you occupied. ;)

Bouquet Breakdown #2

Today we present another bouquet breakdown. If you missed the first one, you can find it here: Purple bouquet breakdown. 

For the bouquet shown in today's article, the bride requested pinks & purples with that oh-so-popular eucalyptus. If you're looking for a cheap bouquet, you should definitely consider some of the flowers on this list, as they are some of the most affordable flowers ever. 

Chrysanthemum

These white chrysanthemums come with several flowers on each stem, making it a great value. At 2-3" in diameter, they take up a good amount of space for a low cost. In this bouquet, we only used 3 stems (3 flower heads on each) to create that pop of white. But beware, as soon as chrysanthemums begin to wilt, they shatter, and you'll have a huge mess of petals. For a sturdier alternative with the same look, consider dahlias.

Alestroemeria

Oh Alestroemeria, the cheapest of flowers, found in grocery stores everywhere. These babies have many flowers per stem and come in a wide range of colors. My favorites are the deep burgundy and the white. This bouquet used the "salmon" pink variety. These flowers hold up well and look lovely.

Tissue Culture Statice

We love tissue culture statice for it's deep purple color and long vase life. The flower gets its name from the tissue paper look and texture. After the other flowers wilt and die, you can save this statice and the eucalyptus for a lovely dried bouquet of green and purple.

Silver Dollar Eucalyptus

You're seeing silver dollar eucalyptus EVERYWHERE right now. Greenery is the wedding "flower" of the year. And yes, we followed the trend and fell in love with it, too. Eucalyptus is great because it ages so well. If you leave eucalptus without water (say in a garland) it will just dry and get a little crinkly without losing it's color. And the lovely scent gets stronger as it begins to dry.

Baby Blue Eucalyptus

Ditto above with this baby blue eucalyptus. This variety has a totally different look than the silver dollar, but still has the same great smell and long vase life. Don't be confused by the name, the color is only a slight blue-green.

Mini Roses
We love mini roses for almost every type of arrangement. They come in so many colors, last for 2 weeks, and are surprisingly affordable. A single stem can have 5 or 6 buds, so they're great for bunches in bouquets, as above. We also like to break them apart and use them in floral hair pieces. Be on the lookout for our upcoming blog post on creating unique floral hair pieces.

Should you Rent Bridesmaids Dresses?: A vendor review of Rent-The-Runway

Rent the Runway allows you to rent bridesmaids dresses online instead of purchasing them. We mentioned them in our last post, 3 Places to Buy Bridesmaids Dresses for Under $100. To expand upon this article, here are the pros and cons of using this dress rental service.

Pros:

*     Convenience: Everything is online, which saves you shopping time. The dresses are delivered right to the bridesmaids’ front doors, anywhere in the United States.

            *  Price: Your style isn’t the same as your girls’ styles. The dress you pick out may not be something that they want to wear again. With Rent-the-Runway, your girls save money by renting instead of purchasing. The blue dresses pictured in this article cost about $40 to rent.

 * Value: The company will send you 2 dresses for the price of one. Not sure if you need a size 0 or a 2, a 10 or a 12? You can get both. This provides a better chance that the dresses will fit.

Cons:

*   No room for error: For a Saturday event, your dresses will be delivered on Thursday. So if they don’t fit or are damaged, there is not much time to correct the issue. The dresses must also be in the mail by Sunday, so your bridesmaids will spend Sunday driving around looking for a UPS drop box (perhaps plan ahead for this one).

           *  The dresses aren’t identical: Take a look at some of these pictures from one of our weddings that used Rent-the-Runway. Do you see how the dress on the left  in the above photo is a different color? Well, the company doesn’t do a great job with throwing out old dresses. This dress was faded and threads were hanging off the hem.

      Next picture, above, you can see the dress in the center has a fold under the bust. This girl had to choose between a bold colored, new dress that didn’t quite fit, or a faded, ratty-tatty dress that did. She chose the new dress, but you can tell in the pictures that it isn’t quite right.

Overall, our experience with Rent the Runway has been positive. The bridesmaids usually appreciate the lower cost, especially when the bride wants them to wear full length ball gowns. Our recommendation is that you consult with your bridesmaids. They have to  pay for and wear the dress, so they should get a say in whether their money is going towards buying or renting. 

Our readers love to hear your stories. Share your experience with Rent the Runway in our comments section below! 

3 Places to Buy Bridesmaid Dresses for Under $100

In the South, David’s Bridal dominates the bridal-dress market. There’s at least one or two of this major chain in every big city. But I’ll be honest, I kind of hate David’s Bridal! They’re dresses are soooo cheap. And by cheap I don’t mean “pleasantly budget-friendly.” I mean poorly made, polyester crap. Let’s be honest, with these dresses, there is no way that your bridesmaid is going to “shorten it and wear it again.”

So, you’ve ruled out David’s Bridal. Now, where will you get your bridesmaids dresses? An Elegant Encounter is sharing some of our budget friendly alternatives. 

1. Shop online at Modcloth

                Modcloth is an online store with dresses of all variety. You can get super affordable all the way up to fairly expensive party and floor length dresses. Quality can vary as much as the prices, but the trick is to use the zoom feature to look at the dress up close. You can pretty much determine quality by looking at the fabric type and seams shown in the picture. Worried about sizing? Well, Modcloth allows exchanges for store credit. The biggest thing you want to do is have your girls order their dresses at the same time, to make sure that they have the dress in stock. They’re products are so loveable that if you wait too long, you might miss out.

2. Hit the Mall

                Gather your girls for a Saturday of shopping! You’re going to want a mall with lots of department stores with huge dress sections. For those of you in Nashville, that means Cool Springs Galleria and the Mall at Green Hills. For reasonable prices, Macy’s and Dillard’s have great party dress selections. For the super fancy weddings, Nordstrom is awesome. The purple bridesmaid dress below came from Macy’s. We found 2 that fit the girls at Macy’s in Cool Springs, then called Macy’s at Green Hills to see if they had the 3^rd before purchasing. They were kind enough to hold it for us, and the dresses ended up being perfect! Plus, on sale, these were $40 bridesmaid’s dresses. You’re not going to find that at David’s Bridal!

                For this wedding, the bride chose to be a little different. It was a winter wedding, so we went with these comfy sweater dresses from Old Navy. On sale, $20 each! I understand if this doesn’t fit your style, but they were exactly what we were looking for and totally fit the bridesmaids' budget.

3. Rent the Runway

                Rent the Runway is an online dress rental store. Guys rent their tuxedos, why can’t we rent our dresses? For each rental, you get to pick 2 sizes, both dresses included in the rental price. This gives a better chance of getting a dress that fits. The downside? The dresses arrive in the mail 1-2 days before the event, so there isn’t much chance for correction if they dress is horrible. See our upcoming post for a full review of our experiences with Rent the Runway.

Do you have more ideas for beautiful, inexpensive bridesmaid attire? Share them with us in the comments or at anelegantencounter@gmail.com

Wedding Musicians Company

Think you can’t afford live music for your wedding? You’re wrong! Wedding Musicians Company offers live musicians for a modest price. They offer single musicians and ensembles.

If your wedding is a low-key affair with no dancing, consider a single musician to set the mood. They can play favorite songs or light background music. If your wedding is a more extravagant event, they offer a variety of professionals, such as the string quartet, jazz trio, and many more. Vocalists are available, as well. Nothing says class like live, instrumental music.

One DJ in Nashville quotes $700 for 4 hours of DJ services. That’s insane! Wedding Musicians Company offered one of our brides a package that included violin services for a ½ hour ceremony and guitar services for a 2-hour reception for less than half the cost! And remember, this is LIVE music, not a guy with some records and a boombox.

The owner of Wedding Musicians Company will email with you to help you find a selection that works for your ceremony. Contact him through their website: www.weddingmusicianscompany.com

Whichever live music option you choose, Wedding Musicians Company is sure to add a touch of elegance to your event.