Many people think a destination wedding requires getting a passport and taking a plane to a remote island in the Caribbean. But sometimes plans don’t allow for that. I had a client who wanted the look and feel of a destination wedding, but centrally located in Texas. So when I received and invitation to attend a FAM (familiarization) trip at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa located in Bastrop, I had to check it out.

Stacy Seaborn, the resort’s catering manager, welcomed a group of over 20 event planners from Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio for a day and half of leisure time and information gathering.

The well-manicured Wolfdancer Golf Course, located on the property, is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program course as of January 2012. The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses awards certification to recognize golf courses that protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and provide wildlife habitats. The course’s famous 12th hole has breathtaking views of the entire property.

Spa Django, named after Texas music legend Django Reinhart, features natural herb treatments (lavender, peppermint and rosemary) with ingredients that are grown on property.

The welcome dinner was held at LBJ Pavilion, an ideal spot for receptions, considering the space can be made to feel rustic or more romantic depending on your choice of décor. The catering team went all out, sporting their rich-colored linens and rustic centerpieces from Brenda Abbott Floral Designs.

After an invigorating walk down by the river, the next morning I rented a ElliptiGO — a cross between a bicycle and an elliptical machine — and went for a ride around the property. While it takes some time to get the hang of, it’s fun. The resort is test piloting them for future rentals — currently they are provided at no charge.

From an event planning perspective, the resort is a perfect locale for a destination wedding. There are several amazing locations for a wedding ceremony, including the amphitheater (interestingly carved steep into the side of a hill adjacent to the Guadalupe river), as well as a small waterfall area near a pond adjacent to the private house, which serves as the resort’s master or presidential suite. 

Gorgeous trees decorated with chandeliers or handing lanterns? Yes, please!

The Pecan Terrace is a great space for a bridesmaids’ luncheon as it creates an intimate environment overlooking the great lawn of the resort. Either the Butterfly or Hummingbird Gardens would really wow guests for a cocktail reception or intimate seated lunch, as both are set among a mass of wildflowers that attract their namesake creatures.

For corporate business, Lost Pines Resort has over 60,000 square feet of indoor space and 230,000 square feet of outdoor space. Lost Pines Ballroom is the largest indoor space and would be perfect for exhibits and trade shows. Participants in conferences will want to bring their families and partake in the many — and I mean many — resort activities. Of particular note are horseback riding at Renegade Trailhead, the Crooked River Water Park and rafting or kayaking at McKinney Roughs Nature Park. All activities can be booked through the Resort Reservations desk.

The resort hosts nine dining options, including Firewheel Cafe, Stories Fine Dining Establishment and Sheller’s Barrelhouse Bar. Probably one of the coolest aspects is the rustic fire pits in several well-placed locations where guests gather around to eat s’mores. Rest assured the food will be a crowd-pleaser, with ample farm-to-table selections. Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa has dedicated his team to buying local and sustainable goods for all the resort restaurants and catering.

I’m currently sitting in a wooden rocking chair located off their back lobby porch. And I have to admit, it’s hard to fight dozing off, considering the relaxing breeze and Texas music tunes softly playing. This is the life!

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CultureMap contributor Deborah Elias is the founder and president of Elias Events. 

By Natasha Baker

TORONTO |
Mon May 14, 2012 5:05am EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) – Planning a wedding? A new web app lets the bride and groom-to-be create a social website that connects guests with each other before the big day.

Called Weduary, the web app provides a simple way of creating a modern-looking wedding website, and allows the couple to invite guests using Facebook.

The site tells guests which of their Facebook friends will also be attending and points out people at the event who may have common interests and mutual friends.

If a guest is attending alone, the Flirt section of the site shows other singles who will be there.

“We’re giving people a cheat sheet on who to meet at these big wedding events,” said Brit Morin, CEO of Brit Co., the digital lifestyle brand behind Weduary.

In addition to connecting guests, the site provides details about the date and time of the wedding, hotel information, and a link to the couple’s registry.

Each guest also gets their own profile.

“It says which hotel they’re staying at, when they are arriving to the event, their favorite story of the bride and groom and what their cell phone is,” she explained.

Information on the site can be useful to help guests to co-ordinate travel plans, pitch in on registry gifts, or split accommodations.

Morin said that she came up with the idea while planning her own wedding last year.

“Not only were a lot of the templates, themes and web designs a little bit dated, but we also didn’t find anything that was social in nature,” she said, adding that couples are increasing opting for non-traditional wedding registries.

“We’ve seen a lot of websites catering towards inventive registries like donation registries, or registries to fund the purchase of the first house, or their honeymoon,” she explained.

Morin believes the wedding industry is ripe for innovation. Her company is also working on an iPhone app that will harness real-time communication between other guests at weddings.

Other popular wedding websites include TheKnot.com, and WeddingWire, which provide free wedding website building tools, but without the social component.

An app called SocialTables connects with Facebook to let guests see other guests attending the event and allows hosts to create seating arrangements, but it is not exclusively targeted to weddings.

About 70 percent of brides create a personal wedding website, according to a survey conducted last year by websites TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney)

Toyota and Honda again topped Planning Perspectives’ annual supplier-relations list, but they’re trending downward — in contrast to General Motors and Chrysler, which are improving. Ford and Nissan remained about the same as last year.

The 12th annual survey by the Birmingham-based research company, released today, asks Tier 1 auto suppliers about how the automakers treat them. There are 17 variables, including how much help automakers give, how well they communicate, how involved suppliers are in the product-development process and how concerned the big companies are with supplier profits.

Toyota and Honda dropped to their lowest scores ever (296 and 293, respectively), while GM and Chrysler achieved their best numbers to date (251 and 248). Ford rated a 267, down from 271 in 2011, and Nissan earned a 256, up slightly from last year’s 247.

“Right now, there’s enough business that suppliers don’t have to take nonsense from OEMs,” said John Henke, president of Planning Perspectives, using the industry shorthand for “original equipment manufacturers.”

“They can go someplace else,” he said. “It isn’t the old power games with the OEMs being the kings who can demand from the serfs, like they did in ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. It’s very different today.”

Because Planning Perspectives began collecting information about BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen in 2010, there’s not enough information to include them formally in the ranking. Henke said the three German manufacturers will be added in 2013 or 2014, but had they been included this time, BMW would have been No. 1 with a score of 307; Mercedes would be No. 2, with 300, and Volkswagen, last, with 247 — all three scoring lower than they did in 2011.

That Chrysler saw the biggest score increase of all the car manufacturers — 27 points on the index — is bittersweet, as the company mourns the loss of former purchasing chief Dan Knott, who retired last month then died of cancer two weeks later. He was credited with significantly improving Chrysler’s relationships with its suppliers.

Scott Kunselman, Chrysler’s senior vice president of purchasing and supplier quality, said he was “very pleased” that work the company is doing has improved its relationship with suppliers, adding that it “still (has) a long way to go.”

“Based on input from our suppliers, we are currently piloting several new programs that we feel will continue to move the needle in the right direction in 2012 and beyond,” he continued. “Strong supplier relationships are a high priority for Chrysler.”

Tony Brown, Ford’s vice president of purchasing, said: “We view strong supplier relations as a competitive advantage. Although our overall score has improved 65% since 2007, this year’s results tell us we have more work to do to regain our momentum.”

And Bob Mowery, GM executive director for supplier relations and compliance, said: “Improving supplier relations is a No. 1 priority for GM. We’re very encouraged by the survey results and the noticeable progress we’re making. … Despite these solid results, we’re not letting our guard down. There is still more work to be done because we’d like to be No. 1 in all areas.”

The survey queries suppliers in the U.S. — regardless of where the corporate headquarters are — serving plants in North America, according to Henke.

Contact Zlati Meyer: 313-223-4439 or zmeyer@freepress.com