Travel Consultant is Certified in Novel ‘WEDDINGMOONS‘ Concept

 (Issued September 2013)  -- Why plan two events when you can plan one? And why have it at the church down the street when you can have it in the Caribbean?

That’s the idea behind WeddingMoons, a hot concept being promoted by the Sandals and Beaches Resorts people. One of the first travel consultants in the area to become a Certified WeddingMoons Specialist is Ellen Paderson of Smiles & Miles Travel (www.smilesandmilestravel.com ) based in Easton, Mass. She recently attended a training seminar at the all-inclusive Beaches Resort Villages & Spa on Turks and Caicos.

 Ellen is a Certified Sandals Specialist accreditation for all aspects of travel with Beaches and Sandals. Beaches is the family resort for Sandals. Sandals is the brand of their couples resorts. The islands of Turks and Caicos are a British territory, southeast of the Bahamas islands chain, 650 miles south of Miami.

“Of course it’s a nice perk to see the resort as part of my research,” smiles Paderson who’s been in the travel business for 20 years, “but seeing the resort and its  amenities has many advantages: My firsthand knowledge and personal contacts help guarantee a great, customized wedding/ honeymoon experience. Also, these visits enable me to compare this resort to the others I’ve visited which can help me to match the couple’s preferences with the amenities available.”   

WeddingMoons can include any number of guests who usually pay their own travel, room and board. Paderson says the training seminar included destination wedding trends, wedding pre-planning, island-by-island wedding legal regulations, and insights about the honeymoon and vow renewal market. “We participated in a mock wedding rehearsal dinner, ceremony and reception. These experiences provide this personal knowledge to help clients make informed decisions. Also, first-hand relationships with resort managers and key staff are an important resource. Being known as a WeddingMoons Specialist will give me valuable added recognition in the field.”

“This training gave participating agents a deeper understanding of the  range of wedding and honeymoon options,”: says Paderson. “I’ve already started to incorporate this new knowledge and updated information into my client travel counseling practice.”

 Smiles and Miles has been recognized as a ‘Best of the Best’ travel agency by Travel Impressions --  an honor given to a limited number of top agencies. Paderson is a member of The Affluent Traveler Collection, hand-picked independent travel advisors. She has earned numerous travel awards, certifications and designations. This past year she was featured in the Travel section of USA Today and several other publications and online sites. For the past two years, Smiles and Miles  attained Elite agency status with NEST, the  prestigious Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel (NEST) consortium representing 500 member agencies, which means it is  one of the top 15 travel agencies in the U.S.

Ellen Paderson organizes all types of destination and cruise weddings and honeymoons and, 20 years ago, was a pioneer with destination and cruise bar and bat mitzvahs. For more about WeddingMoons, visit http://www.smilesandmilestravel.com/were-certified-sandals-weddingmoon.   For other travel  information, contact Ellen Paderson:  508-238-4088 / Fax: 508-238-9817; Email:  ellenp1@comcast.net / Website:  www.smilesandmilestravel.com.

PHOTO CAPTION:          

At the Sandals WeddingMoons certification program in Turks and Caicos, Ellen Paderson (left) of Smiles and Miles Travel based in Easton, Mass., and her daughter Kim were presented certificates by Susan Mangan, Manager of Wedding Business Development for Unique Vacations.

                                                 - By Stanley Hurwitz   508-269-0570  /  stanhurwitz@gmail.com