Beach Dreamy Destination: Hotelito Desconocido

Tucked away in a lush, green area in Jalisco, Mexico, is our last beach dreamy destination of the week, Hotelito Desconocido. There are 27 bungalows available on either the white-sand beach or in the lavishly green lagoon. Combine this with the three ecovillages within the property, and you'll feel like you're staying in the most luxurious jungle Mexico has to offer.

Images courtesy of Hotelito Desconocido

Beach Dreamy Destination: Esencia

Stretched out across 50 acres of one of the most beautiful beaches in the Riviera Maya, is the luxurious sea-side escape, Esencia. We love Esencia because it's super cozy, with amazing food and impeccable service. Tulum is one of the prettiest up and coming tourist zones of Mexico. It's about 2 hours south of Cancun, situated right along the Riviera Maya. So, you're surrounded by white-sand beaches and within a close walk to the historic ruins of the old town.

Images Courtesy of Esencia Hotel

Beach Dreamy Destination: Travaasa Hana

Located on the island of Maui,Travaasa Hana is a small collection of cottages and condo-like suites that overlook the greenery of Hawaii, with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. While Maui is one of the more popular tourist destinations, Hana is a serene and secluded getaway, perfect for a honeymoon or a little anniversary getaway. We were sold at the lava-rock whirlpool and ukelele and hula classes, but also stellar is the fact that you can fly right into Hana Airport, so it's super easy to get to.

Image courtesy of Travaasa Hana

Beach Dreamy Destination: Katikies

Another one of our top favorite beach destinations is Katikies, located on the Cyclades Islands in Greece. Set atop a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, this luxurious getaway reflects a modern approach to a traditional Greek hotel. It's a boutique escape, with less than 25 rooms on property, settled at the edge of a cute little grecian town. The white-washed walls contrasting with the deep blue water views provide a truly breathtaking Greek setting!




Images courtesy of Katikies Hotel

Beach Dreamy Destination: Cotton House, Caribbean

This week we are featuring our top five favorite beach destinations and some cool hotels in each location. Enjoy!



Cotton House is one of our favorite getaways in all of the Caribbean Islands, it's located in Mustique, which is part of the Grenadines. It's a small, boutique style hotel with less than 20 rooms, so it's super intimate and cozy. The design is modern meets colonial style, with a true island feel. We love this place for a honeymoon or a romantic getaway!


Image courtesy of Cotton House

Dreamy December Destination Wedding Inspiration

In honor of our favorite month, we've decided to spend every day posting a destination we're obsessed with. We're addicted to the Travel and Leisure guide to hot new places and can't get enough travel books in our office, so figured we'd share some of the cool places we've discovered in the past year with all of you. Starting on Monday, December 5th, we'll be posting a new dreamy destination every weekday through the end of the year. Some of the destinations will be pretty venues, some mountainous hotels, some desert based vacation spots and great ideas for honeymoons. We hope you enjoy this little labor of love project and we'd love to hear your feedback as you read about each location.

Happy Holidays from the team!


xoxo,
Alison, Kelsey, Alyssa and Susie

Happy Americana Day!

Memorial Day always has me day dreaming of bike rides along the beaches of Cape Cod, fresh lobster and crab, salty dogs... I could keep going, but I'll spare you my sentimentality. In short, I'm in the mood for an East Coast wedding. I'd love to escape to Woods Hole for a weekend and throw a party on the coastline. For those unfamiliar with Woods Hole, it's the sleepiest little town on the coast with an amazing bakery called Pie in the Sky, that has been around well over twenty years and bakes the most delicious cinnamon buns (dare I say, in the whole world). There are amazing little bike trails all along the beaches and through sweet little patches of town as well. If that's not enough to keep you busy, of course there's also surfing, golf, bonfires, whale watching, sailing, or just lounging on the beach with a good old book.

The Cape is very family oriented, so if you have a wedding out there, guests traveling with kids will love you, but those traveling without kids can find plenty of romantic getaway options that are kid-free as well. You can kick the weekend off with a big outdoor lobster bash, complete with arnold palmers and easy to drink salt-rimmed greyhounds for the adults. Then, you can set up a big, white Sperry tent on the beach for the wedding day and spend the night dancing away with the sounds of the ocean in the background, maybe you even set up a bonfire on the beach to end the night with s'mores and fireworks. On Sunday, you can let people recoup on their own by the shore line, or you can throw a farewell feast, plentiful with homemade pies and quiches (or pick some up from Pie in the Sky).

Takes me back to our photo shoot that was featured in Elegant Bride circa 2009. Also very east coast feeling...



Credit where it's due: lobster + beach shots by the unstoppable Thayer Allyson Gowdy, cute whale pillow from West Elm, Cape Cod Tote from Map Totes, yummy drink shot by Mel Barlow

xo.
alyssa

Brilliant Beach Ceremony Decor

After a week of all things Mexico, we're still in a bit of a beachy brain fuzz. We stumbled upon the artwork of Andres Amador not too long ago and absolutely love what this man does with sand. Of course there are many people who do sand art, but we particularly love his style of creating bold, graphic patterns on wide spans of beach sand. Can't help but think some of these would provide the perfect grounding for a ceremony. Might be a little too new agey for some of you, but with the right pattern and the right decor, this could be a really fun and playful way to create an unexpected ambience for a beach wedding.