The exclusive Southwest Vacation special is the lowest in years.  Get round-trip flight and 3-night hotel starting at $55 per person per night [price based on double occupancy].  This offer is good on travel from late summer through early January 2010.  Below are some of the many participating hotels.  For more information go to Southwest Airlines’ website.

Ahh Fresh Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens:

Imagine taking your vows against a lush exotic background with your dress flowing gently in the breeze and the soft, alluring aroma of wildflowers dancing to your movements.  Botanical Gardens are a spiritual experience like none other and in the last decade have risen through the ranks as prime wedding destinations.  The green movement has shown many that a spiritual experience is much better suited for a beautiful outdoor surrounding.  With very little cost, renting a gazebo area at a garden can give you a private wedding that produces amazing photography and an atmosphere comfortable for everyone.  If you don’t believe me, just check out the photos.  Gardens are located all over the country and are already prepared for your wedding needs.

Taking the Ultimate Dive:

Aquatic Matrimony

Tropical reefs are arguably one of the most stunning sites in the world.  Why not get married under water?  A ceremony on the beach is great, but it has been done and you end up getting sand in your dress.  Plan your wedding around the honeymoon, dawn your best scuba attire and tie the knot amongst the tropical wildlife and profess your love to Poseidon and the Sea itself.  Are family and friends wary of braving the great tropical blue but don’t want to miss a second of the action?  Rent a glass bottom boat and let the dry loved ones enjoy your matrimony from the comfort of a cushion.  You can even hire an underwater camera man to capture every moment on screen.  Hook up a monitor on the glass bottom boat and allow your fellow sea goers to enjoy two views of your underwater bliss.  For those looking for a truly unique experience this is at the top of the list.  There are many beautiful destinations for your underwater matrimony such as the Caribbean, the South Pacific, the Great Barrier Reef, but if you can’t go that far try the Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Florida.  This will bring great weather, stunning photos, and a fun honeymoon.

Fit for a Princess

Italian Castles:

There isn’t a much more lavish, unique and romanatic wedding as one in an early thirteenth century castle.  You may think that in order to get this type of Fairytale wedding destination one would have to set off to the  Tuscan countryside or the Chauteu outside of Paris.   On the contrary, Italy is home to St. Pattie’s cathedral a real castle on the Italian coast with amazing spreads of food and local flowers for the wedding garments.

Instead of having your wedding in an expensive church, consider having your wedding remembered as the highest form of art.  Italy has more restored castles than any other country in Europe.  Over centuries old, every castle blows away any baroque cathedral you can find in the western world.  Above all, when you leave your ceremony, instead of being back in a familiar U.S. city, you’ll be spending your honeymoon, down the road in a small Tuscany village.

There are plenty of large wedding planners that have brochures of these castles at your disposal.  But if you are one of the many pro-active planners, I’ve found a site that offers all the castle wedding sites in Italy and honeymoon services/packages.  Italian Weddings offers a map of all the sites, beautiful photography and all the requirements necessary to make your dream wedding take place in a real castle.

Skydiving into Matrimony:

Skydiving has become much more traditional for wedding in recent years (we say that in jest).  With so many available instructors and businesses around the country, having your vows read in an airplane before plunging through the skies is not so crazy.  For the young but not excluding anniversary couples, celebrating your bond while flying through a blue sky is something no one can take away from you.  There are other ways to kiss and fly, such as hot-air balloon weddings and bungee jumping.   Although these are also exiting I feel a sky dive really gives you and your spouse a genuine moment of silence together to soak in the vows you have just taken.  Some priests will be happy to go up with you, but many couples wait till they land to finish the ceremonies.

There are skydiving clinics and marriage programs everywhere in the U.S. but I found one that might suit your entire wedding weekend.  Although Las Vegas may not be your cup of tea, since the ceremony of flying only lasts a few minutes, you may want a city to parade in after you’ve landed.  Vegas Extreme is a group that does a very dedicated and tasteful direction towards your sky diving wedding.  They give you a DVD, can plan for your bridesmaids and groomsmen to dive as well and a professional wedding photographer (who sky dives as well).

Weddings on Waves:

Big Boat Wedding

Dream vacations to Tahiti may not be in every family’s budget this quarter; consequently some vintage approaches to the wedding celebration have come to light.  Taking the classic approach of getting married or renewing wedding vows on a cruise ship has also become a little to pricey for some couples.  All of these factors have spurred a new rave in marriage celebrations; the freighter cruise.

Before the first luxury cruise ships started their careers, such as the Queen Mary, the only intercontinental ships at sea were freighters and explorers.  Crossing one of the great oceans before the advent of jet airplanes was still a long journey.  Many famous writers, artists and celebrities such as Mark Twain would use these long adventures on the ocean to find themselves spiritually.  Now young and old couples alike are both testing the waters by taking freight cruises around the world.  These journeys have an informal mood with everyone you meet having an interesting story.

This may seem like a muggy idea, but the Maris Cruise Line is a very sophisticated company that gives an opportunity for travelers to take a less mainstream journey across all the exotic oceans in the world.  It’s a peaceful journey with no screaming kids or obnoxious tourists.  Book you wedding at their website http://www.freightercruises.com/.  Of all the innovative ceremonial ideas, this is by far the least exotic, but for some it may be the perfect retreat from the helter skelter of the wedding season.

So you’ve arrived at the airport and looking for a means to your hotel before wreaking havoc on the strip.  Well, you have several options:  You could take a shuttle which will run around $5 to the strip, $7 to downtown hotels (C.L.S. runs 24 hours and charges $4 for strip hotels and $7 for downtown, you can call them at 702.740.4050).

Your best bet if you came with a few friends or even made some new ones that are going to tag along…Take a Limo!  A2Z stretch limos run around $55 and you get them for the hour.  If you do the math: ($55 p/hr x 1 hr)/6 People= just over $9 per person to ride in style.  Keep in mind though, don’t exceed your hour or you’ll have to pay for another one.

(tip* Don’t try and hail a cab from in front of the Casino, your best bet is to ask the doorman)

Check-in From Afar

Don’t you hate going through all that travel just to get stuck at the hotel check in?  Well fret no more my friends.  If you’re staying at Ceasers Palace, Flamingo, Bally’s, the Hilton, Paris, MGM Grand and New York New York you can check in a the airport.  You can register and get your room key from one of the two registration offices off the ‘carousels 1-8′ area and head straight to your room.

Sleep In

Most hotels check out at noon.  However if the night before was particularly (ahem) long, then you can call down to the front desk and request a late check out.  Depending on how long you want to take you may or may not have to pay; just check with the clerk for pricing.  Late check-out is an especially good option if you have an evening flight.

The Tip Calculator

Vegas and Tips go hand in hand so it is important to have a good idea of appropiate tipping practices.

You’re Cocktail Waitress:

These lovely men and women come along every so often and provide you with FREE beverages while you are gambling.  We all know that nothing is truly free; so be polite and throw them a chip or slot coin when they bring you a drink.

Black Jack

For Karma sake it’s sometimes a good idea to tip the dealer outright when you first get to the table.  If you’re doing well place a $5 chip on the layout between your bet and the dealer.  This bet is for the dealer and is a nice way to get them in on the action.

Shuttle Driver and Bell Hops:

Usually a buck or two per bag is a nice way to say “Thank you.”

Happy Betting!

Memorial Day always sparks the need to get

There are about a million different amazing places to stay in Vegas all of which have a an allure of their own from the $5000 a night ultra luxurious MGM Grand Mansions to the more subdued travel on a dime Tropicana at around $40 a night. So before you go you really just have to ask yourself what is it you want to do? Do you want to gamble, see shows, be at the hottest clubs or lay in the lap of luxury for a little R&R. I recommend a little bit of everything

Where to Stay:
If you want a well rounded stay at a decent price I would suggest the Luxor Hotel and Casino. Centrally located on the strip the Luxor is home to one of the hottest nightclubs LAX. From the creators of Pure, this 26,000 modern experience is one of the top night spots with A list celebrities, social jet-setters and top industry DJ’s you can be sure a night at LAX won’t end early.

For the morning’s recovery head to the spa “Nurture” and enjoy a revitalizing eucalyptus steam bath and take soak in the whirlpool. Once you’re back up 100% hit up the casino and win back some cash (since you probably lost your pride the night before) and use it to go see Cirque de Soleil’s Mystere, an incredible display of athleticism and acrobatics with splashy costumes, live music and guarantees a unique experience.