Looking for questions, comments to share with Sandals/Beaches weddings!

You will find most of this is true with many of the resorts in one form or another! As the weddings are on their property and many times the brides will hold the resort responsible for outside vendors that the bride has contracted or that the outside vendos have caused issues for other resort guests ( I've heard horror stories of photographers screaming at resort guests to get out of the way of a picture(imagine your on your honeymoon or vacation and that happened to you!), male photographers following the bride into the changing rooms at spa's when other female guests were getting changed. Florist or DJ's that pull a no show and the bride blaming the resort and demanding that the resort staff be pulled to do her wedding/reception and or fix issues with outside vendors. This is all when the bride booked teh vendor independantly of the resort!I could go on & on with the stories I've heard).

For those sort of issues many resorts now allow no outside vendors!

Almost all resorts also have specific time slots for the weddings- this allows for organization & to be sure that everything goes perfectly!

And lastly- of course you bring your own flowers- however again you can not order real flowers and have them delivered to the resort.

It comes down to a matter of quality control!

I too hear that the WC's can be hard to work with for some brides- however my agency has no problem getting answers in a timely manner! we work closely with the WC's and have found them very professional & accommodating !

I encourage you to look around the forum as you will see that 1) the Sandals/Beaches brides have almost unanimously stated that even with the restrictions that they would still do the wedding exactly where thay had it- as everything really come together perfectly and 2) you'll see that the same restrictions/issues at most all other resorts or other restrictions/higher prices!

TA Jennifer- email me your address and I'll send you the link to the pictures from the resort. They are still availble online for another couple of weeks (middle of June they will be taken off).

I'll email you some from my family members too.

Thanks,

Kelly

TA Jennifer- Thanks so much for your feedback. FI and I have decided to go for customer control and look to a different island and resort for our nuptials and reception. As enticing as Sandals seem (discounts and customized packages), I'm trusting my gut and avoiding Sandals at all costs. If your company works with resorts other than Sandals, I will be more than happy to work with you as you've provided such great support throughout my search. Thanks again.

I'm crazy busy this week though and don't have time to go looking through the link ( as much as I love looking at wedding pics!) to match pictures up. If you could just email them over as sandals and guest pics of the same shot that way I can forward them on to show Sandals what the brides are talking about.
 

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Originally Posted by kelly1214

TA Jennifer- email me your address and I'll send you the link to the pictures from the resort. They are still availble online for another couple of weeks (middle of June they will be taken off).

I'll email you some from my family members too.

Thanks,

Kelly

Actually

Based on our past emails I would say that you may be better off having a wedding outside of a resort & using an on island wedding coordinator!

That way you do have the control that you desire and can still satisfy your other desires such as staying at a resort at the caliber that you would like and having your guests stay guests staying elsewhere, especially if you still want an all inclusive resort. At an all inclusive there will be limitations on what they can & can not do plus there will be the cost of transfers and day pass fees for the guest to come onto the resort for your wedding ( if tehy stay elsewhere).

If you do non all inclusive most resorts charge a surcharge for guests that do not book at the resort.

Working with an island wedding coordinator will provide you a much greater degree of control as they can customize your date/time and place( it all depends on your budget) without having to worry about how your wedding affects the other guests of the resort ( resorts have to balance the needs of their other guests along with the desires of the wedding couple!). Your guests can stay where ever they want, as you can also!

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Originally Posted by AutismPrincipal TA Jennifer- Thanks so much for your feedback. FI and I have decided to go for customer control and look to a different island and resort for our nuptials and reception. As enticing as Sandals seem (discounts and customized packages), I'm trusting my gut and avoiding Sandals at all costs. If your company works with resorts other than Sandals, I will be more than happy to work with you as you've provided such great support throughout my search. Thanks again.

Just wanted to let you know that I posted an update about my meeting- it's under May sandals & Beaches updates! We didn't have time to get to everything and as I was waiting for the pics from brides to show the difference that was one area that wasn't covered.

There are some new things coming down the pike though that many of you will find interesting and really good news!

I just wanted to say thank you Jennifer for asking for everyone's feedback and sharing it with the resorts! The next thread I'm going to read is your May update

I know I'm too late to provide feedback for your meeting, but had I seen this thread earlier, I think my number one complaint would be consistancy. The way I look at it is that every resort/destination has it's pros and cons and what may be desirable to one bride may be a deal breaker for another. So I think all brides need to understand that no one resort will be able to please each and every bride - that's why we have choices That being said, I think brides would have a much easier time planning and making decisions if the information provided was consistant. It may not always be the answer they want, but if it's consistant, it would at least eliminate a lot of the confusion. It's hard to make decisions when what you are told by your TA is different than what is on the Beaches/Sandals website, and that is different than what your WC tells you, etc.....this relates to everything from the pictures that the WC's send out during the planning process, to the pricing, to the rules as far as what's allowed and what's not.

Just my .02

Thanks TA Jennifer - the information you are always able to provide is very helpful!

Hi, can I see that thing in writing that says you can have an outside photogarpher on the resort?  Please... thank you for the support

Kimberly

I am a future Sandals bride and if I knew they were so strict about the use of flowers and tulle on the gazebos I would have took my business elsewhere. I am the bride and I have a vision that I am trying to create, but with no options except for Martha Stewart, it makes it very hard. I have seen pics of the gazebos with tulle and the look beautiful now its not an option.