Destination Anywhere!

Good Morning Lovelies! I'm Jillian Nicole from Uniquely Chic and I'm so excited to meet you all! A little bit about me before I launch into my guest post: I'm a Southern California import, currently living the ex-pat life with my Handsome Husband in Edinburgh, Scotland--yes, it does rain virtually every day and no, I'm not even remotely used to it yet! I'm new to the blogging world, but have quickly fallen in love with having my own little piece of internet real estate and connecting with some pretty fabulous gals from all over the place! And I'm super honoured that Emilee would let me hijack you all for the day while she's cruising around Hawaii! Lucky Duck!:) So, while your fearless leader is honeymooning it up, I thought we would spend a little time talking about European Destination weddings and how to make them your own!

I'm sure some of you have toyed with the idea of a Destination Wedding...I mean really, at some point during the process {or just in your wildest dreams}, who hasn't thought of grabbing their fiancée and just leggin' it to some gorgeous local and making it all offic!?? Well, if you're like I was, and the idea of a Destination wedding sounds great in theory, but then you start thinking of airline costs and how your family would basically disown you for eloping, let me suggest some ways to bring the destination to you! First though, let's take a look at some pretty, pretty pictures to get our destination, wedding juices flowing!

  Who doesn't love the idea of having your most special day amidst fields of gorgeous smelling lavender and indulging in a French Croquembouche {those sticky, sweet cones of choux pastry buns that literally translated mean, “crunch in the mouth”. Cute, right?!}!?

 

Tuscan Villas? Check. Vineyards that go on for miles? Check. al fresco dining in a beautiful, centuries-old building? Check, check, and check!! Italy is my second favourite place in the world {first being London where I met Mr. Handsome!} and if I had to pick a wedding do-over destination, this would be it my friends!
 

 

If you're ideal day consists of quaint churches and cobble stone streets, the UK is where it's at! Embrace the stereotypes and traditions of this small {but chic!} island and throw a good ol' fashioned Tea Party your guests aren't soon to forget! Croquet included!:)

 So, now the question is, how do we as brides/wedding dreamers {who don't want to fork over major bucks to have our special day in a European castle}, manage to incorporate the feel of a specific destination into our own American-a weddings?  Well, I'm so glad you asked!  

Tips On Creating a Destination Dream Wedding Anywhere on Virtually Any Budget:

1.  ADD SMALL DETAILS FROM THE COUNTRY OF YOUR CHOICE: In love with Italy? Personalize beautiful bottles of Olive Oil and hand them out to your guests as favours. If the quaintness of England is more your style, have your dessert bar set up as a Tea Party with little bits and pieces on pretty stacked tiers.

2.  INCORPORATE OTHER COUNTRY'S TRADITIONS: Maybe your fiancée or someone in his extended family has French ancestry. Honour that by having a groom's Croquembouch instead of the traditional American groom's cake! Just like the idea of an Italian style wedding? If your wedding is intimate enough, why not try sitting everyone at one long table and serving food Italian “family style”.

3. SAY IT WITH FLOWERS:  Incorporate lavender into your tablescapes or gift your guests with little muslin bags of dried lavender to throw at you and your spouse as you walk back down the aisle.  Or include various types of English roses in your bouquet {some even look very similar to peonies without the cost!}.  You could also commission your florist to create a pretty, green ivy trellis {like the one shown in the Italy board above} for you and your love to stand under during the ceremony.

These are only a few ways of brining the destination to you, and I would love to hear if any of you have other ideas for creating your dream destination wedding!  Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and I look forward to "meeting" some of you in the blogosphere very, very soon!:)

uniquely yours,

Jillian Nicole

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