Pueblo Bonito’s honeymoon gift registry allows couples to register their entire honeymoon or destination wedding online. The future bride and groom can choose from a list of gift ideas that includes any of the six Pueblo Bonito resorts. The gifts they can register for include spa treatments, food and beverage, room upgrades, rounds of golf, day trips and excursions.

All of the amenities that may be purchased on-site at any of the Pueblo Bonito Resorts can be registered for as a wedding gift. Items that are not listed can be added to the personalized registry by using the “Create Your Own Wizard.” Through the registry, newlyweds also receive a complimentary wedding website to share with friends and family, announcement cards, a guest message board, bridal shower games and gift announcement cards.

I think it’s a wonderful idea for brides and grooms that are already set up with a household and don’t really need the standard wedding gifts. Now why didn’t they have something like this when we got married?

Images Pueblo Bonito Resorts

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Many rooms at The River Terrace Inn have a lovely view of the picturesque Napa River and nature preserve.

The River Terrace Inn offers wedding packages with several spaces that would work well for a wedding. They offer full planning services to help you have a stress free wedding.

Their Fireplace Room with beautiful French doors and an elegant patio are both great spaces for an event or wedding. They also have The Terrace, an outdoor venue with a romantic fire pit is the ideal spot for a for cocktail parties and dinners.
You can find out more about this charming wedding or honeymoon location at the River Terrace Inn website.

Images River Terrace Inn

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The 182 room resort boasts of 10 acres of lush landscaping and a beautiful pool and deck with full service. Rooms feature fireplaces, deep soaking tubs and specially crafted spa amenities. Sounds good to me!

The Lodge at Sonoma has over 22,000 square feet of space available for functions, it is the ideal venue for weddings or any special occasion. Here is an images of their Sonoma Ballroom decked out and looking fabulous for an event.
They have wedding and reception packages available, and of course accommodations for the honeymoon.

The Lodge also has a lovely outdoor space and the Stone Building (2,304 square feet), which is a large unique building with elegant lighting and atmosphere suited to a wine country wedding.

It sounds like a beautiful wedding location!
Images courtesy of The Lodge at Sonoma

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Today I have another romantic getaway location to share with you, this one is in Virginia.

Keswick Hall at Monticello is a 48-room Orient-Express luxury hotel nestled on 600 acres of lush Virginia countryside known as Keswick Estate. Located just six miles east of Charlottesville, VA, this English country-style property is set in the beautiful Virginia rolling hillsides.

The area features an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a variety of award-winning vineyards – sounds like a wonderfully romantic setting for couples desiring a relaxing escape on their honeymoon.

Keswick Hall is offering a Celebration Package that would be perfect for honeymooning couples and newlyweds.

The Celebration Package includes:

• Luxury accommodations
• Daily continental breakfast for two ($30 max per room, per day)
• Three course dinner for two at award-winning Fossett’s Restaurant, named after Thomas Jefferson’s head Chef Edith Fossett

• One $150 spa credit per stay
• A bottle of champagne on arrival
• Turndown chocolate amenity
• Keswick Club amenities (Arnold Palmer golf course, tennis courts, fitness center, and more)
• Rates from $365 per room, per night*

This special package does require a minimum two night stay, and is subject to availability, but it does sound like a wonderful getaway for the bride and groom.

Images Keswick Hall

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Today I have a cozy little inn called the The Mountain Top Inn & Resort to tell you about, in Chittenden Vermont. It would make the perfect place for a winter destination wedding. Picture yourself riding in the sleigh with the mountains as your backdrop on your wedding day.

Or toast your nuptials with some fresh warm cider curled up in blankets riding the sleigh.

Just check out the views, the winter wonderland setting looks like it’s out of a story book.

After the ceremony you and your wedding party and guests can warm up in the lodge.

Or hit the slopes for some skiing.

The Mountain Top Inn and Resort is set on 350 acres with sweeping views of a mountain lake and Green Mountain National Forest, the resort offers an endless array of outdoor adventures, ideal for the wedding couple, and their wedding party.

Doesn’t it just look like the picture perfect wedding and honeymoon destination?

Images courtesy of BnBFinder.com

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Image - Flickr

Before we explore these places though, did you know that there are various online sites and forums that South Australian-based brides can go to for tips and ideas from. Here’s the list that I found in no particular order

Wedding SA – This site has been recognized by Hit Wise Australia as one of the top ten websites in the Wedding industry in Australia for several consecutive quarters in 2008.

Adelaide Wedding Directory The most comprehensive listing of Wedding service providers in Adelaide with 600 businesses listed.

Wedding Central Australia, South Australia – this is just a webpage of all sites and links relevant under South Australia organized per category such as bachelorette parties, wedding venues, gowns, etc.

**STICKY: Don’t forget to join Our One Heart’s latest giveaway – $225 Clarisonic PLUS Therapy System

Image: Flickr – Barney Wrightson

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Image: sxc.hu

The Guardian UK reveals 20 of the most romantic and affordable wedding spots that you might like to consider in planning your wedding venue:

OLD FASHIONED GLAMOUR

1. Masseria Torre Coccaro, Puglia, Italy
A week’s B&B at the Masseria Torre Maizza costs from £835pp, while the wedding package at Torre Coccaro costs £530, covering the priest, flowers, legalities and a translator.

2. Taormina, Sicily, Italy
A week at Casa Turchetti costs from £2,478 per couple, including ceremony, interpreter, documents, flights and transfers through Long Travel (01694 722193; long-travel.co.uk).

3. Lesic Palace, Korcula, Croatia
Lesic Palace costs from £2,600 per night, including accommodation for up to 26 people on a B&B basis. Book on 00 385 20 715 560; lesic-dimitri.com. Wedding packages start from £2,200, including fees and legal paperwork, through weddingsincroatia.com.

4. Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria
Three nights’ B&B at Hotel Bristol in Vienna costs from £787pp including flights through Kuoni Travel (01306 747008; kuoni.co.uk), and the ceremony at the palace costs an additional £2,658 per couple, including limo transfer from your hotel. The registrar’s fee, payable locally on arrival, is about €650.

5. Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, France
A week’s stay at the Hostellerie Perigord in Aubeterre costs from €304pp through Get Married in France (00 33 9 60 400895; getmarriedinfrance.co.uk), with weddings in the underground church costing from €850.

URBAN CHIC

6. Havana, Cuba
A week at the Saratoga, room-only, costs from £957pp including flights, through Virgin Holidays (0844 557 3860; virginholidays.co.uk). The Deluxe Wedding package costs an additional £899, including flowers, formalities, transfer to the church and a city tour.

7. New York City, US
Quickie weddings got a glamorous overhaul at the beginning of the year, when the Manhattan Marriage Bureau opened at 141 Worth Street. The 20s building has an art-deco feel, and the elegant wedding chapels feature artwork on loan from the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The wedding licence costs just $25, leaving you plenty of spare bucks for cocktails and horse-drawn carriage rides round Central Park.

8. Miami, US
The slick art-deco streets of South Beach are about as far away from a traditional English wedding as it’s possible to be and at the Hilton Bentley Miami you can marry on the sands, or in the lush gardens that surround the hotel before celebrating with cocktails on the Skyline Terrace, which has great views of the city.

A week at the Hilton Bentley costs from £1,095 per couple, while the basic wedding package costs from £1,250 for a beachfront ceremony, champagne and chocolates. Book on 00 1 305 938 4600; hilton.com. Flights from £385pp with British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com).

9. Sydney, Australia
One of the most beautiful cities in the world, Sydney makes a spectacular destination for a wedding, particularly against the backdrop of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. From £3,775 per couple, including five nights in an Opera House room at the Park Hyatt, fees for the minister, photos, flowers and transport between hotel and venue, through Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555; bridgeandwickers.co.uk), who can also book flights, from £765pp.

ESCAPIST ADVENTURES

10. Masai Mara, Kenya
A week in Kenya, combining the Mara with the exotic island of Lamu, costs from £2,429pp through Somak Holidays (020 8423 3000; somak.com). The standard wedding package costs an additional £980, including all formalities and a decorated wedding location.

11. Arizona, US
A western-style wedding may sound an unusual choice, but Arizona is the perfect location for a real away-from-it-all day. A week costs from £1,049pp through Virgin Holidays (0844 557 3860; virginholidays.co.uk), including flights and room-only accommodation at the Stratosphere. The Ranch Deluxe wedding package costs an additional £1,369, including the minister’s fees, helicopter transfers from Vegas, cake, sparkling wine, but not the marriage licence (payable locally, $55).

12. Stellenbosch, South Africa
Most people who marry in Cape Town opt for Table Mountain, but head out into the Stellenbosch – South Africa’s wine region – and you get something far more unusual. A week’s accommodation and flights costs from £2,066 per couple; book through St Andrews Travel on 01204 397367. The wedding package costs from £454, including the minister, flowers and hire of the chapel, book direct with Zorgvliet Estate (00 27 861 967485; zorgvliet.co.za).

13. Banff, Canada
If it’s a mountain setting you’re after, head to the Canadian Rockies, where you can say your vows in the beautiful wilderness of Banff National Park. A week at the Fox Hotel & Suites in Banff, room-only, costs from £1,304pp including flights through Kuoni Travel (as before). The company offers a wedding package from £1,108 per couple, including location permit, marriage licence and certificate.

14. Praslin, Seychelles
For tranquillity and beauty on your wedding day, the Indian Ocean is the ideal scenario. Weddings in the Seychelles are never a bargain option, but they do offer something utterly unforgettable. A 12-night trip, with eight nights on Praslin and a four-night luxury catamaran cruise, costs from £2,499 through Tropical Sky (0845 543 2185; tropicalsky.co.uk), including flights, the ceremony, cake, champagne and flowers.

15. Hotel Budir, Iceland
Located on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, the Budir offers an awe-inspiring natural backdrop for a wedding ceremony; tumbling glaciers, sweeping fjords, volcanoes and soaring mountains. A five-day break to Iceland, with two nights at Reykjavik and two nights at the Hotel Budir costs from £594pp, including flights through Discover the World (01737 218800; discover-the-world.co.uk), who can also arrange the wedding package which starts from £250 for ceremony fees and church hire.

BAREFOOT ROMANCE

16. Dominica, Caribbean
The lush, unspoilt landscapes of Dominica offer something different from the traditional Caribbean beach wedding. The ceremony can take place by dramatic waterfalls or natural volcanic rock pools, or on one of the wild Atlantic beaches. A week at the Jungle Bay hotel costs from £1,779pp, including meals, a daily spa treatment and activities, through Harlequin Holidays (0845 277 3397; harlequinholidays.com). The company can arrange a wedding package from £1,000, including flowers and formalities, cake and a CD-rom of photographs.

17. Koh Phangan, Thailand
The island of Koh Phangan is most famous for its full-moon parties, but the palm-backed beaches and lively atmosphere make it a memorable place to get married. A week at the Santhiya costs from £915pp, including flights, through Tropical Locations (0845 277 3310; tropical-locations.com). A western wedding package, including flowers, formalities, dinner for two and an overnight upgrade to a villa, costs an additional £1,400.

18. Peter Island, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean
Get married on a high bluff, known as the Loop, with sweeping views of the ocean and the neighbouring St John and Norman islands. A week at the Peter Island resort costs from £2,949pp including flights, full-board accommodation and wedding package – licence fees, flowers, cake and champagne – through ITC Classics (01244 355527; itcclassics.co.uk).

19. The Cook Islands, South Pacific
If you’re thinking of heading to a tropical idyll for your wedding, the Cook Islands offer something really different. Tie the knot on the unspoilt island of Rarotonga, and the ceremony will take place against a backdrop of high mountain peaks scattered with lush rainforest. 12 nights’ B&B at the Takitumu Villas costs from £2,054pp, including flights, flowers and formalities, a bottle of bubbly and a wedding co-ordinator, through All Ways Pacific (01494 432747; all-ways.co.uk).

20. Beaches, Bermuda
For an eco-friendly wedding (if you overlook the flights), this resort combines a laid-back approach with green credentials. A week’s B&B costs from £798pp, including flights, through BA Holidays (0844 493 0758; baholidays.com). The basic wedding package, bookable at 9beaches.com, costs $1,150; organic add-ons cost extra.

Hmm, quite surprised that New Zealand was not included in this list as there are a number of romantic spots to get married here in this country of mine for very affordable costs too. Perhaps I should invite the writers Annabelle Thorpe and Nicola Iseard to come visit and explore New Zealand or maybe, I should write about the wonderful wedding spots here down under.

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Here are the Mexican states where the swine flu outbreaks have been confirmed:

_ Mexico City

_ Mexico State

_ Veracruz

_ Oaxaca

_ Baja California

_ San Luis Potosi

Some, including Oaxaca, Mexico City and Baja California, have tourist areas. But authorities have not said where in these states the outbreaks occurred.

Image: sxc.hu

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Kia Ora!

New Zealand has been home to me since January 2002. I thought it’s time to spotlight the country I call home as a potential wedding and/or honeymoon destination.

In this series, I will feature the places we’ve visited, giving you the good, the bad and the ugly. If you have any New Zealand experience of yours own to share, feel free to email me on christine(at)b5media(dot)com and I will feature your stories as well.

Cheers

Image credit: Picture taken by the author, Picton, New Zealand

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When we talk about honeymoons, we think of white beaches and warm tropical islands but they don’t have to be. It can be an walking trip in the jungles of the Amazon or a skiing trip in the mountainous peaks of Canada or even New Zealand.

Whatever you want to do, there are around about 5 basic things you need to consider while planning your honeymoon:

• in planning for your honeymoon, make a listing of different places that both of you would want to visit, and the activities that you want to be involved in
• the honeymoon budget
• how long do you plan to spend on your honeymoon
• get as much information of your chosen destination
• shock each other with surprise plans

Happy planning!

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