Make Your Destination Wedding a Family Affair

Quick, grab the children and tell them Mickey Mouse is here. If you have children in your immediate family, planning a wedding where they can be involved in the fun can either be a challenge or an opportunity for a bit of extra excitement.

Grant Layman and his wife Jennifer wanted to plan a wedding in a place where Grant's 4-year-old daughter and other young family members would have as much fun as the adults. They opted for a package at Walt Disney World in Orlando that included a surprise visit from Mickey Mouse at the reception.

"I'm a family kind of guy," Layman says. "I wanted it to be a place where all the kids would have a good time."

Contrary to what you might assume, weddings and "familymoons," can actually be cheaper and involve less hassles than traditional celebrations. Usually only a fraction of the guests show up, and many resorts have professional planners on hand who take care of every small detail. If you're entering into a second marriage with children involved, going to a new place will allow you all the opportunity to create new memories and get to know your new family better.

Here are some links to travel companies who specialize in family-based destination weddings:
Beaches.com
Disneyweddings.com
Eliteislandresorts.com
Karismahotels.com

If you could plan a destination wedding for your family, where would you go? [Houston Chronicle]