If the standard house of worship or hotel combo doesn’t quite suit the type of wedding that you and your partner hope to have, you may be entertaining ideas for some less traditional sites for your ceremony and reception. An off-beat venue is  great way for couples to express their personalities in ways that are unique to them as a couple, plus the more unusual the location, the more likely the venue will be available for your chosen date. Keep in mind that if you choose a venue that does not typically rent its space forweddings and receptions, it may require or advise you to seriously consider hiring a wedding planner to assist you in coordinating the many elements that need to be brought together to create your dream day. This may or may not include your caterers, seating, lighting, flooring, bars, sound system, generators, portable bathrooms, as well as the handling of permits and city allowances for parking, noise, fire safety and handicap accessibility. A wedding planner who specializes in planning unique and off-site occasions can recommend the most reputable service providers for your particular occasion and work in tandem with your caterers, rental companies and the venue’s on-site manager to ensure that it all comes together as easily and as smoothly as possible for you and your partner. Before you finalize your venue choice, consider, at the least, hiring a third-party wedding planner (one that doesn’t work for the venue) because he or she may be able to advise on any additional costs that you and your partner may incur and need to budget for, the estimated amount of time you will need to allow for planning, and any items to consider changing or negotiating before signing your contract. Consider one of these interesting alternative locales for the wedding that suits you best. A Conservatory Designed to house, grow, study and protect exotic plants, tropical trees, flowers from around the world, endangered types of greenery needed to sustain forest life, a conservatory is overflowing with natural beauty. You would hardly need to haul in your own floral arrangements, and most conservatories are free to the public, which means you may be able to negotiate a sweet deal (perhaps even a free deal) to privately reserve it for your big day. So long as you respect the inhabitants of the facility, your WeddingDay will feel like a trip to the Garden of Eden within the greenhouse walls of a conservatory. A Concert Hall Look for old concert halls in your area. If your town or city has an opera house, a specific venue for the symphony, the ballet or the theatre—or if there are any historical-landmarks-turned-venues for bands to perform shows—talk to the owner or the booking agent to...

Greece to host the only global platform where leading wedding planners meet luxury suppliers Top Wedding Planners brilliance meet Luxury Hotel chains hospitality: Destination wedding planners congress set to inaugurate in Greece April 7, 2014: Some of the finest wedding planners from around the world are coming together in Greece this April to attend the Destination Wedding Planners Congress, the first of its kind, an avant-garde initiative designed to highlight the importance of wedding tourism and provide a unique platform to build strategic partnerships with premium wedding suppliers. Organised by Dubai based QnA International, the congress will take place from April 23rd to 25th at the luxurious Grand Resort Lagonissi. Destination weddings have increased in popularity with 10% annual growth in the number of destination weddings taking place globally. “The destination wedding market is larger than ever and always growing.New suppliers are taking advantage of this industry boom and this congress makes it easier to meet people from around the world” says America’s leading destination wedding planner, Michelle Rago. “This congress will put planners face-to-face with the venue managers with whom they may be working someday.  This type of forum creates a wonderful transparency and it will be immediately evident the professionals with whom we’ll be comfortable working and which ones may be hiding only behind a well-constructed website or PR campaign.”   – Added the internationally renowned wedding planner David Beahm, known for the likes of the Catherine Zeta Jones wedding and is also the guest decorator for the White House. Connecting the world of wedding planners from every continent the congress is gearing up to bring the best destination wedding planners from around the world together. “This is very important in our current days because it eases the communication between different people and cultures all around the globe. Such a congress can help shorten the distances between countries, ease the communication process and open up opportunities in front of all people within the same industries to work together and benefit the audience always waiting for new and one of a kind products. “Lebanon based top wedding planner who is  known for his artistic genius, Paul Nasr added. According to Milena Santoro, Canada’s renowned destination wedding planner “It’s really refreshing to experience a congress with a different program, layout and interactive activities that are not typical. The importance of attending this event is to connect with pre-qualified strategic partners in the defined destination.  This is an opportunity to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas, compare markets and walk away with concrete concepts is fundamental. I’m looking to create strategic partnership with stakeholders such as: luxury brand venues, stellar vendors/suppliers as well as other supporter such as CVB, Economic Development organization,...

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l 5 e 6 Aprile a Roma c’è Expo della Sposa International  Il 5 e 6 Aprile arriva a Roma Expo della Sposa International, la Chermesse internazionale dedicata 
all’incontro tra Buyer internazionali e Operatori italiani del settore Wedding e Events. 
La prima edizione di Expo della Sposa International, l’International Wedding Trade Show, è a Roma il 5 e 6 
Aprile al SET -Spazio Eventi Tirso. La Chermesse è finalizzata all’incontro tra le eccellenze nazionali del 
settore wedding, provenienti da tutta Italia, con buyers esteri specializzati in destination wedding, nasce 
con l’intento di incrementare il “turismo nuziale” in Italia senza distinzione di territorio. La convention nasce con l’idea di creare un network tra gli esperti di tutte le categorie del settore Wedding, 
superando i confini nazionali e offrendo la possibilità di internazionalizzare prodotti e servizi, scelti tra il 
meglio del “Made in Italy”, a partire dalle location ma anche l’artigianato, la moda e l’enogastronomia, 
grazie ad una forte sinergia in particolare tra Usa ed Europa. Wedding Trade Show si compone di tre le sezioni tematiche: Area Trade, Area Convention e Area Factory. L’Area Trade è dedicata all’incontro tra i buyers internazionali, che desiderano intraprendere rapporti 
commerciali con gli operatori italiani: boutique, wedding houses, wedding planners e wedding 
professionals che vogliono proporre l’Italia come wedding destination e i professionisti italiani del settore 
wedding intenzionati ad espandere il proprio business oltre i confini nazionali e ma che necessitano di 
strumenti per muoversi nel mercato, in incoming ed outgoing e che vuole partecipare nella crescita 
dell’Italia come wedding destination. L’Area Convention è dedicata ai seminari rivolti alle aziende partecipanti per affacciarsi al mercato estero 
ed hanno il preciso scopo di fornire gli strumenti idonei per svilupparsi. Rivolti a tutte le categorie merceologiche, senza distinzione di settore, spiegheranno come trarre vantaggio dai diversi strumenti di 
comunicazione, come trovare nuovi clienti e cosa cercano questi in Italia. Oltre agli aspetti puramente 
pratici saranno affrontati anche quelli burocratici per assistere il cliente nel voler convogliare a nozze in un 
paese diverso dal proprio. Relatori dell’Area Convention saranno: Bianca Trusiani, Ambasciatrice del “Italy 
Destination Wedding” nel mondo; Milena Santoro, relatrice delle sessioni interattive “Building your 
Destination Weddings Market” e “Legal aspects of getting married in Italy and US”; Michelle Turner 
(Manager e Proprietario della ”Italy Bride & Groom Weddings”), curerà il seminario “Aspetti tecnici 
nell’organizzazione dei matrimoni di stranieri in Italia”; Joann Ferraro-Gregoli sarà la speaker del seminario 
“Aim high and maximize your profits”. L’Area Factory è la sezione dedicata alle aziende artigiane che desiderano far conoscere il loro processo 
creativo ed è dedicata alle aziende di qualunque settore merceologico del wedding che ritiene limitativa la 
semplice esposizione dei prodotti in uno stand ma che vede nella...

Some of the most difficult times in your life also represent the greatest opportunities for your growth if you choose to see it that way.  I know this is a very difficult time for you.  Perhaps you are feeling alone and that no one understands what you are going through.  You may even feel as if those closest to you have not showed up the way you expected them to. Today, live with 100% acceptance in all areas of your life.  Change the way you have been looking at things.  Send love and gratitude to the ones that you feel have wronged you the most.  See them now in a new light as your greatest teacher and as your catalyst for a new level of growth.  Recognize that they needed to be exactly what you needed them to be.  This is the greatest time for you as you are starting to become aware of a new way of being, one that does not require any external validation. When your inside voice becomes more profound than the outside, you will have mastered your life.This is your time and you know deep inside that you are not alone and somethings have to shift so you can become who you are now focused on being.  We are all here to lift you up, no one is ever...