Blog
Newly Engaged? Stop. Read This Before Booking Your Destination Wedding.
The biggest destination wedding mistakes happen before couples even realize they're making them. In this free guide, Illusionz Destination Weddings & Illusionz Travel share industry secrets, hidden costs, common planning pitfalls, and expert insights that every...
How to Plan a Destination Wedding and Honeymoon Together
Without Planning Two Separate Trips By Shawndra Long | Certified Wedding Planner & LGBTQ+ Romance Travel Specialist Illusionz Travel, LLC| Illusionz Destination Weddings shawndralong.com There is a question that newly engaged couples are starting to ask more and...
How To Know If You Can Trust a Travel Advisor Before Booking
Author:Shawndra Long | Certified Wedding Planner & Travel Advisor, Illusionz Travel, LLC There is something vulnerable about handing your vacation — or your wedding — over to someone else. You are trusting them with your time, your money, and in many cases, one of...
What It Really Means to Work With an LGBTQ+ Affirming Travel Advisor
By Shawndra Long | LGBTQ+ Romance Travel Specialist | Certified LGBTQIA Wedding Planner Planning a destination wedding or honeymoon should be exciting—not stressful. But for LGBTQ+ couples, the joy is often mixed with invisible concerns: Will this resort actually...
How to Vet Your Travel Advisor — And Why I Hold Myself to That Same Standard
By Shawndra Long | Illusionz Travel, LLC Let me guess: you’ve thought about booking a destination wedding or a dream vacation through a travel advisor, but somewhere in the back of your mind a little voice asked, “But how do I know I can actually trust this person?”...
What LGBTQ+ Couples Should Know Before Booking a Destination Wedding Abroad
Your love story is yours. The wedding should be too. More LGBTQ+ couples than ever are choosing destination weddings — a private beach in Mexico, a cliffside villa in Italy, a lush resort in Jamaica. And why not? Destination weddings are intimate, memorable, and often...
From IT Boardrooms to Destination Weddings:
Why I Didn’t Choose — I Multiplied By Shawndra Long | shawndralong.com Picture this: I’m sitting in a virtual strategy meeting, deep in a conversation about digital banking platforms and product roadmaps. My laptop screen is filled with sprint backlogs and stakeholder...
From Hampton Roads to the World:
If you’ve ever dreamed of saying “I do” on a sunlit beach in the Caribbean, renewing your vows beneath the cherry blossoms in Kyoto, or finally planning that group trip your friend group has been talking about for years — you’ve come to the right place. I’m Shawndra...
Shawndra Long
LGBTQ Certified Wedding Planner
Shawndra is a Certified Wedding Planner known for her attention to detail and creative vision. She specializes in designing personalized weddings that reflect each couple’s unique style and story.
With strong organizational skills and a calm, professional approach, Shawndra ensures every event runs smoothly from start to finish. She is dedicated to turning dream weddings into beautifully executed realities.