Wedding Reality Check With Sandy Malone

   Jamalee Jenkins and Mat Henning meeting the groom’s specially requested shark at their destination wedding. Many grooms don’t ask for much when we’re planning the wedding. But when they do express their opinion, it should always be taken into consideration and included, if it’s possible. And let’s face it, almost anything is possible. Sandy shares a story about how she fulfilled the unique wedding requests from a recent groom. The Shark Video– This is a video that actually shows their grand entrance with the shark! But, keep listening to my podcast! How we hooked the shark is a great story! Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

DJ Paul Gonzalez Chavez with Weddings in Vieques Account Executive Kelsi Welch, coordinating timing of announcements during an event. Technology hasn’t done wedding couples any favors by making them think all they need to do is create a music playlist and pop it into an iPod dock at their wedding reception. Nor is it a good idea to use one of your besties as the DJ if you actually want things to happen on schedule. Sandy explains why using a professional DJ at weddings is so important. Sandy Malone, the owner of SandyMaloneWeddings.com and WeddingsinVieques.com, has planned more than 500 weddings and is an internationally-syndicated columnist for The Huffington Post, BRIDES, Monsters and Critics, and a host of other publications. She's also the star of TLC's "Wedding Island" (now airing internationally in many languages on FOX) and the author "How to Plan Your Own Destination Wedding: Do-It-Yourself Tips from an Experienced Professional," due out in March 2016, and available for pre-order now wherever boo

     Sandy explains why it's important to hire separate vendors to execute the different aspects of your wedding, rather than trusting a wedding planner who claims to be everything to everyone. These tips are especially important to DIY brides and grooms who are planning their own big day! Sandy Malone, the owner of SandyMaloneWeddings.com and WeddingsinVieques.com, has planned more than 500 weddings and is an internationally-syndicated columnist for The Huffington Post, BRIDES, Monsters and Critics, and a host of other publications. She's also the star of TLC's "Wedding Island" (now airing internationally in many languages on FOX) and the author "How to Plan Your Own Destination Wedding: Do-It-Yourself Tips from an Experienced Professional," due out in March 2016, and available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.   Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Inst

  Second weddings don’t have to be less special than first weddings, but you shouldn’t compare your first wedding to the plans you’re making for your second marriage. Especially if half of the couple hasn’t been married before and wants to have a big, traditional wedding. So, don't poop on your fiancés party just because you've been married before!   Sandy Malone, the owner of SandyMaloneWeddings.com and WeddingsinVieques.com, has planned more than 500 weddings and is an internationally-syndicated columnist for The Huffington Post, BRIDES, Monsters and Critics, and a host of other  publications. She's also the star of TLC's "Wedding Island" (now airing internationally in many languages on FOX) and the author "How to Plan Your Own Destination Wedding: Do-It-Yourself Tips from an Experienced Professional," due out in March 2016, and available for pre-order now wherever books are sold. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com @SandyMalone_ Fac

  Sandy says there are three steps to a successful first holiday season with new in-laws. Find an ally, don’t overdo, and bring a backup. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

Set yourself up for many years of fun and friendly holidays with your new spouse’s family by using your very best “guest” manners when you start celebrating together. Don’t sit around and watch while others do the heavy lifting – throw yourself right into the middle and be the biggest helper there. Sandy says you’re setting the tone for how Thanksgiving will go for many years to come. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

There are three things that brides and grooms put off most commonly, during their wedding planning. All three tasks could have been completely finished during the first week of wedding planning, but because the couple procrastinated, they’re stuck trying to complete their wedding homework at the very last minute, when everything is more stressful. Sandy says don’t put it off and screw yourselves!   Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

Sandy got a puppy shortly after she got engaged, years ago. And she has a story to tell about why getting a puppy at the same time you’re planning a wedding is not a good idea. Puppies require a lot of time and attention. So does wedding planning. Puppies require petsitters. There are so many reasons that it’s a bad idea, and Sandy personally experienced most of them with her own destination wedding. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings        

Sandy interviews Arianne Fisher from WeddingMix to get the opinion of a veteran wedding pro on the whole meme shaming of the bride and groom who asked their breastfeeding wedding guest to nurse in a designated area. Arianne says that this wedding guest used her boobs as a weapon to hurt the bride and groom. She explains “overboobing” as an inappropriate way to breastfeed in public. She says there’s no way to gracefully breastfeed discretely in a dress you’d wear to a wedding. It’s an interesting take from somebody who has experience as a breastfeeding mother, multiple times over, and who also has unique insight as a wedding vendor.   Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

Bride Shelby and groom Garrett have been shamed worldwide for asking nursing mothers at their wedding reception to breastfeed in an area they set up in the ladies room. Breastfeeding advocates have attacked via social media. All the tabloids have written about it. But nobody has talked to the bride and groom who are the subject of the wedding guest’s complaints. Until now. Shelby and Garrett explain what happened before, and after the wedding, in an exclusive interview with Sandy Malone. (All Rights Reserved) Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings media inquiries SandyNMalone@gmail.com      

There are lots of ways to share your destination wedding travel information with your guests, but that’s only the first step. You have to make it as easy as possible for people to make their travel arrangements, accommodations reservations, and other travel plans, if they’re using your destination wedding as an excuse for a bigger vacation for themselves. In fact, guests are more likely to attend if they have options that allow them to build a trip that they want to go on, rather than simply booking to and from your wedding. Sandy says make it easy because the old adage is true: If you build it, they will come. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

Sandy Malone as intervistando Andy Ramos de la policía de Puerto Rico que fue evacuado para razones médicas, en la ciudad de Nueva York. El oficial explica exactamente lo que pasó en la isla, la necesidades impelente de los residentes, para sobrevivir a la devastación de el huracán Maria. Photo: The Malecon in Esperanza, Vieques Credit: Andy Ramos Visit www.sandymalone.com Twitter @SandyMalone_ Copyright Flatlands Avenue Productions LLC - Please refer all media inquiries to Debra Grobmann debra@flatlandsavellc.com

Exclusive interview with Andy Ramos, a Puerto Rican police officer who was evacuated from Vieques Island for medical treatment after Hurricane Maria. In this interview, Andy illustrates what's happening on this tiny island, is cut off from the rest of the world, with no water, no power, no Internet, or no cell service. The island doesn't have enough police, there's no gas to power the equipment needed to clean up, and many residents lost their homes. All the resources that the United States is sending seem to be assisting the main island of Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Tiny Vieques has been forgotten, and Andy paints a pictures of a community that has banded together, but is getting very restless, and needs immediate disaster relief. Please donate to the ViequesLove relief fund today to help! Visit www.sandymalone.com Twitter @SandyMalone_ Copyright Flatlands Avenue Productions LLC - Please refer all media inquiries to Debra Grobmann debra@flatlandsavellc.com

Puerto Rico Police Detective Andy Ramos was one of the first people to be evacuated from Vieques Island, off the coast of Puerto Rico. The tiny island took a Category 5 hit from Hurricane Maria, and Andy says nobody is there to help. He says the community is trying, and that fancy storm shutters don't work. Donations to help support Vieques disaster relief should be made to #ViequesLove fund. Photo credit: EP Anderson Visit www.sandymalone.com Twitter @SandyMalone_ Copyright Flatlands Avenue Productions LLC - Please refer all media inquiries to Debra Grobmann debra@flatlandsavellc.com

The tiny island of Vieques, Puerto Rico has been pretty much forgotten by the rest of the world, as the media shows pics of flooding in San Juan. The Vieques community members who are not on the island have come together to create resources for sharing information. There are four satellite phones on the island, and that’s how folks are being accounted for following this Category 5 hurricane that made its Puerto Rican landfall in Vieques. Sandy explains that most safe Vieques residents are not listed on the government’s lists because there’s no power, water or cell service to the island. Community-sponsored resources are more accurate.   Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

  Sandy explains that although it’s very trendy to have a friend marry you, many places require the wedding officiant to be legally registered with their own local government. While it’s not a non-starter, it does create a lot of hassle in some wedding destinations. Sandy does the run through on how to find officiants in all the most popular religions, too. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

  There are lots of ways to share your destination wedding travel information with your guests, but that’s only the first step. You have to make it as easy as possible for people to make their travel arrangements, accommodations reservations, and other travel plans, if they’re using your destination wedding as an excuse for a bigger vacation for themselves. In fact, guests are more likely to attend if they have options that allow them to build a trip that they want to go on, rather than simply booking to and from your wedding. Sandy says make it easy because the old adage is true: If you build it, they will come. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings  

Sandy has always preached that there’s no difference in planning a same-sex wedding versus a traditional wedding with a bride and a groom. But that’s not entirely true. This Wedding Reality Check highlights the three things that need to be addressed ahead of time so that there’s no stress on the wedding day.     Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

Lots of places in the United States have recently been affected by hurricanes, and both hometown and destination brides and grooms will be scrambling from Puerto Rico to Texas to reschedule wedding plans. Some areas may be affected for much longer periods of time. In some cases, destinations will have to change if couples still want to get married this year. Sandy tells couples what to do if their wedding venue gets hit by a storm. Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: Find us on Podbean, Stitcher, Otto Radio and iTunes and more! Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings

  Those popular non-traditional wedding gowns in pale peach, blush, and hand-dyed silk swirls of color are eye-catching for sure, but they can create new challenges for giving wedding guests instructions about attire. Brides who really care about nobody wearing their color of the day need to take some steps to ensure that doesn’t happen.   Sandy Malone Weddings & Events www.SandyMaloneWeddings.com Weddings in Vieques www.WeddingsinVieques.com Podcast: http://www.iheart.com/show/27505307/ Twitter: @SandyMalone_ Facebook Sandy Malone and Sandy Malone Weddings & Events Instagram: SandyMaloneWeddings