Destination Weddings by ALHI, a service of Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) that didn’t—and still doesn’t—exist in the wedding industry, will add more education programs for wedding planners in 2004 while continuing to showcase luxury Member properties and destinations.
The service, which will be celebrating its third anniversary in June, works closely with ALHI’s worldwide portfolio of Member properties that want to grow their wedding segment, target a specific market or want assistance in creating brand awareness within the wedding community. This is accomplished through facilitating webinars, publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, keeping the planner community abreast of promotions, co-hosting discovery FAM trips and client events, coordinating styled photo shoots and much more.
Destination Weddings by ALHI is a resource to wedding planners and couples who are looking for wedding venues. As a former wedding planner, it can be daunting to find the perfect wedding destination and venue. It takes hours of research, scouring the internet, following up with venues and often getting no responses. Wedding planners juggle a multitude of responsibilities. When they’re not executing weddings, at menu tastings, designing mood boards or on pre-planning trips, they’re navigating family dynamics, counseling couples and more. This is a complimentary service that ALHI offers.
There were many successes in 2023. Destination Weddings by ALHI co-hosted Wedding Planner Experience trips and events with destinations that included Bermuda, Napa, Cancun, San Miguel de Allende, West Palm Beach and Savannah to name a few. These discovery trips and events gave the planners an opportunity to experience new destinations and connect with Member hotels. Not only were these events educational, but they were fun, collaborative and some amazing friendships were made.
Destination Weddings by ALHI also remained active with the International Association of Destination Wedding Planners (IADWP), which offers a platform to network and connect with fellow wedding industry professionals. As the DC Chapter Head, I had the opportunity to attend their 2023 conferences, including being a keynote speaker at their World Romance Travel Congress in Punta Cana, last June. Destination Weddings by ALHI sits on the IADWP Creative Advisory Board.
Destination Weddings by ALHI entered into a strategic partnership with Carats & Cake, a subsidiary of ROH. The exclusive partnership gives Members access to a 100 million monthly audience, which allows our properties focused on weddings to drive even more brand awareness and conversion alongside the platform. This partnership also provides the planners we collaborate with a direct channel of communication with the Carats & Cake team. Their director of social media attended a Wedding Planner Experience, where she conducted a Q&A session on social media.
The Destination Weddings by ALHI newsletter is a resource for planners, couples, and fellow industry partners. It has enabled Destination Weddings by ALHI to feature some of the planners we work with, highlight many of our properties and serve as an insightful tool noting industry trends, etc.
There is much in store for 2024. While we want to keep some things a surprise, we can share a few exciting updates. We will be adding to the ALHI Member portfolio and introduce a Hotel Wedding Collection, which will include small boutique properties and villas in new and exciting destinations.
Destination Weddings by ALHI is launching its inaugural Wedding Planner Retreat, which will take place this spring. Intimate luxury by design, this invite-only three-day event will bring together top wedding planners to network and share best practices.
Destination Weddings by ALHI will continue to co-host Wedding Planner Experience trips and events and already has destinations and hotels lined up for 2024. If you would like to get additional information about the FAM trips or learn more about Destination Weddings by ALHI, please contact us.
Wishing you a successful, productive, happy and healthy 2024.
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