Happy Holidays!

 

Check back in 2009 for new articles and features about destination weddings in Europe!

Share your anniversary with Tikitano!

Tikitano is celebrating it´s 5th year of success on the southern coast of Spain, and invites you to share your own special anniversary with them by enjoying their celebratory offers. 

Indulge in their tempting menu choices, all including complimentary cava, for as little as €65 per person.

Book now and enjoy this festive season in an ideal location for an unforgettable experience!  Limited availability.  

Contact Events Manager, Scarlett Smits on 952 923 814

Italy is a hit for celebrity weddings

Italy has always been one of the most popular destinations for a romantic wedding in Europe,  and wedding planners are bound to see a surge in enquiries following the announcement of yet another celebrity wedding there.

Italy is among the top destinations for weddings abroad for many reasons:  it’s strong religious history adds an extra aura of sanctity to a religious ceremony,  while the scenery and architecture are breathtakingly beautiful backdrops for any wedding.   Notorious for being a nation of passionate people,  Italy also has a softer, more romantic side which has fuelled art and poetry for centuries.

The latest Hollywood couple to head to Italy for their nuptials are actress Mina Suvari and concert promoter Simone Sestito.   The couple revealed that they will be combining a trip to promote Mina’s latest movie at the Rome Film Festival with some serious church-hunting.

While other celebrity couples have chosen Italy because of it’s straightforward laws allowing foreigners to marry legally,  this won´t be a factor for Italian-born Sestito.

Will this Hollywood marriage last longer than most?  Who knows,  but one thing is for sure,  the wedding photographs will be beautiful.

Wedding Exhibition in the Costa Blanca

The Wedding Services Guild Exhibition 

2^nd of November 2008

La Zenia Hotel Orihuela Costa

On Sunday November 2nd, 2008, The Wedding Services Guild are holding their first Weddings and Celebrations exhibition at the La Zenia Hotel, Orihuela Costa, situated just off the N332 at the La Zenia Round-about.  The Wedding Guild is an association of wedding professionals offering the highest of standards in their own specialist trades covering all of the necessary services to ensure your celebration is a success including Wedding Planning, Flowers, Photography, Video, Entertainment, Wedding Dresses and Accessories, Hair and Beauty, Shoes, Chocolate and Champaign Fountains, Vicars, Cars and Transportation, Favours, Specialty Items and so much more. 

For those planning other events such as a Birthday Party, Bar Mitzvah, Anniversary, Hen or Stage Night or just a fun celebration, you'll find lots of ideas, information and friendly advice at the show. 

This popular venue is sure to create a great deal of interest among the residents of Torrevieja and surrounding areas and guests can tour the Hotel and gather more information during their visit. 

Admission is only €1.50 which includes entry into a special Bridal and Celebrations Raffle. Doors open at 10.00 am and close at 5.00 pm. Children and Pensioners are admitted free!

There are still a limited number of spaces available at the show . For more information or to book your space, please contact Louise on 654 897 720.

Read more about Real Weddings in Spain from our new guest at The Wedding Guide

Rev Elaine Walker will be sharing some stories about wedding blessings in Spain in the latest addition to our Real Weddings section.   Read about couples celebrating their lives together in the warm sunshine of southern Spain and learn more about this option for getting married abroad.

A wedding blessing can be tailored to suit your ideas, and doesn't involve any of the legal paperwork or red tape surrounding a full legal ceremony.  Blessings are an ideal choice for couples who are having a wedding abroad and at home, or for couples renewing their vows.

Read her first article about wedding blessings in Spain now. . .

Virtual Brochures

This week has been packed with new features on The Wedding Guide site. Today sees the launch of our new Virtual Brochures. Browse glossy brochures from some of our featured suppliers, with real page-turning effects!

Peek before you click!

The Wedding Guide site has a new feature that lets you preview a website before you click the link. You can now hover your mouse over any link on our site and a small window will pop up with a preview of the webpage that it points to. Take a sneaky look at a wedding supplier's website before clicking!

Wing Walker Wedding

Last month saw the first ever "wing-walker" wedding take place in the UK. The daredevil bride and groom said their vows while harnessed to two small airplanes x feet in the air. After several months of trying to find a vicar to perform the celestial ceremony, the fearless Reverend Bringham finally agreed to be strapped backwards on the lead airplane, and sanctify the marriage between Katie and Darren McWalters. The vows were said over an intercom system and broadcast to the guests on the ground below.

Visit the Costa Del Sol

If you are thinking about planning a wedding or honeymoon in the Costa Del Sol, the tourist board has an abundance of useful information to help you sort out all of the details. Their hotel guide is particularly handy, and available to view online in PDF format here. Or you can request a printed copy to be sent free of charge by emailing your name and address to info@visitacostadelsol.com.

The 150 page guide gives a thorough review of hotels in most towns and cities across the Costa Del Sol, from budget apartment accomodation to luxury resorts, letting you find out about their location, amenities and services.

More Resources:
Costa Del Sol Official Tourism Site

New Wedding Car in Gran Canaria

As from September, Gran Canaria Weddings and Celebrations will have the ultimate wedding transport across Spain. The brand new Baby Bentley comes with its own uniformed driver, wedding ribbons and will enhance weddings and other celebrations across the Island.

The 30ft Stretch Limo comes with a built in mini-bar, surround sound music sysytem and DVD player to ensure that the bride arrives in the very best style that is available.

Exclusive Limos, in association with Gran Canaria Weddings, brings the ultimate wedding car to Gran Canaria. Seating up to 8 people not only does it add more style to a celebration, it also reduces the costs and carbon footprint at the same time.

For more information, please contact Paul or visit their website.

Jeremy Standley Photography

I love Jeremy's relaxed style of wedding photography - he always manages to catch couples looking so natural, and in love.

No forced smiles, no poses.

Catch his latest work at his wedding photography blog.

Jeremy is based in the Costa Del Sol, but travels to weddings all over the world.

TWG Gets political

If you visit the site, you will notice that there is now a banner in the top right hand corner. This banner will change, to encourage site visitors to get involved with charities. You don't have to make a donation, just visit the site and learn about how you can make a change, and help out with some worthwhile causes.

If you have a favourite charity, local, national or international that you would like us to help increase awareness for, please let us know.

New look for Boda Boutique

Our wedding shop, Boda Boutique, has an all-new look!

With more products, more photos, more ideas, and more options. Visit our new shop now.

Enter code TWG0808 for 10% off any purchase. Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear when new products are added.

Weddings in Ibiza

If you thought Ibiza was all about nightclubs and cheap beach holidays, think again! Ibiza offers couples plenty of beautiful romantic locations for a dream wedding in the sun. It is an ideal choice for a destination wedding, with white beaches, sunset views from the clifftops, luxury hotels and quaint churches. Candida Blaxall, Regional Wedding Guide for Ibiza regularly writes about all of the amazing features that Ibiza has to offer a couple looking for a wedding abroad. Visit her feature listing or read some of her inspiring articles about planning weddings in Ibiza. They are sure to have you dreaming of a destination wedding in this beautiful location!

Sign up for The Wedding Guide newsletter to hear about more articles on weddings in Ibiza.

Wedding in Sevilla

Our 'Real Life Bride' Sara tied the knot to her long-time love, Pepe on the 19th of April. Her beautiful photos by show a Spanish wedding at its finest, with plenty of bright colours, lace and happy smiles.

You can see more of her photos in her online album here.


Or pop over to her site here, for more information about her experience planning a wedding in Spain.

Congratulations Sarita!

Site update

Our site has been updated with a slightly new layout and design. Why? To make room for some new and exciting features that are coming to help you plan your destination wedding in Europe. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on new additions to the site.

Less is more

Sometimes in it the simplest of touches that is the most effective.
Simplicity goes hand in hand with an elegant wedding, and this is especially true for an outdoor destination wedding. The bright sunlight, blue sky and lush green foliage of many destinations in Spain create a fresh pallette for a crisp, bright wedding. Using colourful flowers to decorate your tables doesn't necessarily mean elaborate centrepieces or large arrangements. A stunning effect can be created by using petals or small sprays of local flowers such as bouganvilla. Combine inexpensive glass containers with flowers and candles for an affordable and stylish effect that will look equally impressive in the night and day. Or choose small vases, candle holders or ornaments that can double as table decorations and wedding favours for your guests to take home when they leave.

Rockin' Weddings!

Fancy getting married Vegas Style? Visit the CONTROL stand at the Rock in Rio music festival held the first weekend in July in Madrid, and you can get married on the spot in true Rock and Roll fashion. The wedding includes dress hire, Vegas-style pastor, music and flowers. Over 300 couples have already flocked to the stand to say 'I do' (or si, accepto)this weekend. All you have to do is show up with your fiance, your free spirit and your love for music. Just don't expect your parents to be pleased!

For more info, (en español) visit their site.

Create a Map for your Wedding in Spain

If you are planning a wedding abroad, it can be a big task co-ordinating all of your guests. They need to know where the venue is, and how to get there from the hotel. Which airport are they best to fly in to? Are there recommended restaurants nearby?

Now you can put all of this information and more in one easy place, for free! Create a custom wedding map with WeddingMapper and you can easily show your guests, as well as wedding suppliers where everything is, how to get there, and resources nearby.

It's like giving them a guided tour of the area before they have even arrived!



People can calculate travel times, hotel bookings, taxis, and much more.

Don't forget to add our resources to your map!
www.theweddingguide.eu - all the information you could need for your wedding in Spain
www.boda-boutique.com - wedding accessories, cameras and gifts for your guests

Eat Ibiza!

While looking for wedding suppliers in Ibiza this month, we stumbled upon Eat Ibiza. A catering company who can also plan your wedding, as the name indicates, their speciality is food. We were so impressed with their flower themed cakes that we had to share some photos here.

Warning! These images could cause hunger and cravings!



Find more suppliers of wedding cakes in Spain here.

The perfect Wedding venue is not an easy find. . .

LA POSADA

The perfect Wedding venue is not an easy find, combining the need
for a spectacular location with the privacy and level of service that one would hope for , to have your wedding arranged from start to finish , so all you have to do have to do is turn up and enjoy your special day . In short a completely stress free wedding and at an affordable cost !! Impossible you might say - not so . Karen Banham, co-owner of the Hotel La Posada del Torcal, a luxury 10 bedroom country hotel in the heart of Andalucia , has been orchestrating tailormade wedding’s for couples from as far away as Germany, USA, UK and Ireland . not too mention many couples from the Costa’s for over 10 years.

The hotel’s location alone is so jaw droppingly spectacular, that alone
would be enough to impress the most hardened wedding guest !! Couples can choose from a Church of England blessing , a non denominational blessing by a Humanist minister, Jewish wedding celebration or can marry in the pretty local Roman Catholic church in nearby white village, Villanueva de la Concepcion. Celebrations follow the service with a wedding reception dinner, on what must be the most amazing terrace ever, with the stunning El Torcal Park rock formations behind in the distance and vast rolling hills and valley all around – it’s a dinner no one will ever forget. Best of all , the hotel and its facilities are exclusively yours for your wedding weekend.

Karen works with every couple to ensure that the wedding of their dreams in the Costa Del Sol becomes a reality. She co ordinates the entire wedding – there is a minimum requirement of 20 guests and maximum of 120. Guests are accommodated in
other local hotels and also at the La Posada Rural Retreats – gorgeous country villas located close to the hotel. No detail is overlooked , flowers, wedding cake, wedding menu , photographer, hair and make up, music , everything is planned meticulously by Karen. Just one weekend planning with the couple several months before their wedding and the rest is left in Karen’s capable and experienced hands . The many testimonals and amazing photographs on the hotel’s web site and on view in the hotel’s own wedding album on view at La Posada , bear witness to the fact that this is indeed no ordinary wedding venue.

Karen can be contacted directly on
karen@laposadadeltorcal.com to discuss
your wedding.

Learn more about this fabulous hotel, and other suppliers for your destination wedding in Spain at our website.

June E-Zine

Our June issue of 'Your Wedding In Spain' is now online.

http://www.theweddingguide.eu/june_bridal.htm

You can have this e-zine delivered to your inbox each month, by signing up for news about weddings in Spain on our site.

What is it REALLY like to be a wedding planner?

One of our advertisers and frequent contributors, Candida Blaxall, gives us an insight into her busy days of planning weddings in Ibiza. Reading about how much she fits into her day, it is easy to see why hiring a great wedding planner can be a huge help when planning a wedding abroad.

A good wedding planner must has some essential skills such as the ability to organize and plan effectively, put yourself in the client´s shoes, and be able to work with every individual´s dreams for their perfect wedding in Spain. We think Candida fits the bill!

Read her article, 'A Day in the Life of a Wedding Planner' here.

The Wedding Guide of Spain Magazine

Our new issue of our Wedding and Guest guide is out now!  Full of supplier details from across Spain, as well as features about various areas of Spain,  and useful information to help you plan your wedding in Spain.

  

Subscribe now to get the most up to date information and  competition news delivered straight to your door.    Every subscriber also gets a free 10 euro gift voucher to spend at www.boda-boutique.com  

Boda Boutique

The Wedding Guide of Spain has now launched it’s online shop! Stocked with all of your favourite traditional wedding favours and reception decorations, as well as some new and fun ideas to make your wedding in Spain special.

We ship to anywhere in Europe, so even if you decide not to marry in Spain, you can still order wedding favours or decorations for your wedding in the UK!

Visit now and have a browse. We still have hundreds of products still to load, and many items are able to be personalized, including ribbons, stickers and vases. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified when new products are added, or when we have a special offer.

Our favourite at the moment are these great luminaries, small bags to be filled with sand and tealights that then cast a romantic glow at your reception. Under 9 euros per pack of 6!

Love Poetry Competition

It was a really happy part of my work week when I wrote emails to the finalists for our Love Poetry Competition. We launched the competition world wide, asking writers to send us their poems about love, with it's ups and downs, it's romance, it's hurts, it's passion, it's tenderness... in fact we gave them free reign to write about any topic with love as a central theme.

The entried were submitted to our judging panel, and the top three scoring poems are now on our website, for our visitors to vote on. The winner will recieve our top prize of $200, as well as having their poem published in the next issue of our Wedding and Guest Guide of Spain.

Which is your favourite? Scroll down our homepage to read the poems, and vote for your favourite in our poll.

Balloons for your Wedding in Spain

When thinking about how to decorate your wedding in Spain, why not consider balloons as a fun addition? The Balloon House offers balloons for all occasions, and can create topiaries, centrepieces, swags, arches and much more for your reception venue.

Get Married in Spain in 2008

Christmas time is the most popular time of the year for proposals, so if you are newly engaged, The Wedding Guide of Spain would like to say a very big congratulations. There is a lot of think about when planning a wedding, and location is definitely an important factor. While the weather in the UK is grey and cold, many of you may be thinking about the warm sunshine and sandy beaches that a wedding in Spain offers.

Is 2008 your wedding year? Are all your plans in place? If not, there is no need to panic. We will be writing even more articles and features to help you get married in Spain, and our friendly staff are always available to answer your questions or help you find a supplier. Feel free to email us at info@theweddingguide.eu with any questions, comments or just for a chat about weddings or life in Spain.