Getting to La Romana Just Got Easier

The opening of a new road may not be the most exciting announcement in the world of travel; however, in this instance it is very good news! The 90 minute drive from the Punta Cana airport to the La Romana area is now cut in half!

I had the great pleasure (or displeasure) of traveling via motor coach from Punta Cana to La Romana, before the new road opened. I think everyone on the bus was feeling the effects of the bumpy, winding roads. Needless to say, no one was excited to get back on the bus to head back to Punta Cana; we knew we had to endure the car-sickness inducing roads. But, no more! The new highway with smooth roadways in now open and, the commute is cut in half to just 40 minutes! http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drelr/highway.html

This is wonderful, as now more people can enjoy the wonderful area of La Romana and glorious resorts,; such as Dreams La Romana, which is one of my favorites for family vacations and destination weddings.

Bon Voyage!

Into the Wild for your Honeymoon

My next article for Las Vegas Bride and Bride Beautiful is just around the corner.  Based on the sneak peek, what destinations do you think will be included?

“If you and your fiancé are adventure lovers who enjoy escaping to the great outdoors and prefer seeing wildlife rather than living the wild life … an adventure honeymoon may be just what you crave.

 

Marry your passion for adventure and love of Mother Nature.”

 

YouTube

Hello Fellow Travelers-

I recenlty started dabbling in Videos. I have a few posted to YouTube. Enjoy the videos and subscribe to my channel for future travel videos. Enjoy and Happy Travels http://www.youtube.com/user/MyTravelingPanda/videos

Press Release from WeddingWire for My Traveling Panda

Melissa Dutton of My Traveling Panda

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding Marketplace, is excited to announce Melissa Dutton of My Traveling Panda has been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Honeymoon and Travel Planning!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, My Traveling Panda was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.

My Traveling Panda is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate My Traveling Panda  for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are happy to announce that My Traveling Panda is one of the very best Honeymoon and Travel Planning companies within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at www.MyTravelingPanda.com and click on the Honeymoon tab.

To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards™, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire™, the nation’s leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.

Honeymoons and Destination Weddings in The Dominican Republic

Recently, I had the good fortune of traveling to the Dominican Republic. I knew it would be beautiful there, but I must say, the destination exceeded my expectations. Each reosrt I visited was more beautiful that the last. The crystal clear water of the Caribbean was stunning and the destination wedding locations were breathtaking. Take a look at the article I wrote for the Winter 2011 issue of Beautiful Bride and Las Vegas Bride to learn more about what the Dominican Republic has to offer both brides and honeymooners.

LINK TO ARTICLE
Honeymoon and Destination Weddings in The Dominican Republic

Beautiful Bride- Honeymoon in Mexico

Our most recent publication is in the Fall 2011 issue of Beautiful Bride Magazine.

CLICK HERE to read about Mexico as an ideal honeymoon destination!

Thank you to Heather Rogers and Andrea LeClaire Kuhn for your contributions, to Jennifer Florendo for being a great Editor-in-Chief and to AM Resorts and Karisma Hotels for the wonderful photos!

My Traveling Panda is published in Beautiful Bride Magazine- Summer 2011 – Las Vegas & Orlando

Bridal magazines are a wonderful thing. I think I had a stack about 3 feet tall by the time my wedding date came. I do not buy as many wedding magazines now that I am married, but this one is special, I have an article published on Page 80 of the Summer issue of Beautiful Bride. It is published nationally (Las Vegas and Orlando), so pick-up a copy if you can. Here is a link to the website: http://www.beautifulbridemagazine.com

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Helpful Hints for Honeymoon Packing

Are you overwhelmed by all the details of your wedding planning that you can barely wrap your head around the fact that you also have to pack for a vacation??

This article, that I wrote for the October 2010 issue of Las Vegas Bride (www.lasvegasbride.com), offers some helpful tips and ideas.  Please share with friends, future brides, etc.

I would like to thank my friend, Jennifer Bartol Florendo, for her help and to congratulate her on the gorgeous cover photo (yes, that is her actual wedding photo!).

LINK TO ARTICLE- las vegas bride packing

 

Tahiti

OK, so ABC really has me going again, this time, I want to go to Tahiti.  These last episodes of The Bachelorette have me drooling over a trip to the islands.  I have a friend who went there on her honeymoon and the photos are stunning.  She is thinking of going again next year for her anniversary.

My other friend is getting married next March, I am going to see what deals I can find for Tahiti.  All the research may be enough to convince me to forgo the cute new shoes and stylish sweaters and eat a few more boxes of mac n cheese so I can save enough money to take my dear husband to Tahiti for our next big holiday.

Then, today I visit the travel page on www.CNN.com and they talk about how Tahiti is a green destination.  I think I am nearly convinced…I have to visit this place!!!!  Thinking of a Green Holiday?  Tahiti may be far, but you can still go green
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/26/tahiti.mnn/index.html 

Honeymoon Registry

Are you getting married soon?   Do you already have as many towels, wine glasses and dip trays as you can handle?  Not sure where to register?

Why not register for your honeymoon!  It is easy, fast and fun!!

I used Honeymoon Wishes  www.mytravelingpanda.honeymoonwishes.com for my wedding and strongly recommend them.    Hers is a link to a recent article about Honeymoon Wishes from Destination Wedding magazine destination wedding

In a nutshell, here is how it works:

You contact a travel agent (it would rock if you contacted me at melissa@mytravelingpanda.com) to book your destination.  You can book any location, any resort, cruise ship, hotel, etc.

Once you have your location, you complete the registration process and it will walk you through how to create your registry.  You can include things such as airfare, private dinner, couples massage, etc..  You can also chose different monetary contributions amounts. 

One of the other things you chose is whether you want the service fee to be added onto whatever the wedding guests adds to your registry (ie your guest pays the fee), or if you want it deducted from the amount they give (ie you pay the fee).  In other words, if your guest decides to purchase a gift valued at $100 from your registry.  Let’s say the service fee is 7%.  If you decide to have the guests  pay, then they pay $107 and you get $100 as a gift.  Or, if you decide to pay the fee, the $100 gift becomes $93 after the service fee.

Once you create your registry, you can share it with family, friends, etc. via online channels as well as the resources available to you from the registry site.

Once guests make contributions to your registry, you will received deposits into your bank account.  You can then use these funds however you chose when paying for your honeymoon.  In other words, the gifts go directly to you, not the travel agent or resort.  It is really easy and efficient.

Like I said, I am a proponent of Honeymoon registries and I encourage all couples, even if they are registered elsewhere, to include a honeymoon registry as well!