Kristin113

Quote: Originally Posted by Mmack hello paulinaj! I am new to this site too. I thinking of having my wedding at the Rennaisance too. Can you send me any pictures from your wedding? Any help would be great. Thanks!! Hi Mmack... I also got married at the Renaissance in July 2008. We had an excellent wedding, it was everything we ever dreamed about and our family and friends are still raving over it almost 2 years later. If you would like any additional information or to see my pictures, send me an email and I would be happy to share with you since I know how difficult this whole process can be. Kristin [email protected]

Well, originally when we first got engaged we though that we could have our wedding for between $10-15k......needless to say I was in for quite a shock when I found out how expensive weddings are in Aruba!! The prices for the reception (food & drinks) alone is almost double the price per person we would have paid in NYC for a wedding, but we really had our heart set on getting married in Aruba. So, probably by the 3rd month of planning we decided to throw our budget out the window and just focus on having everything we ever wanted, after all...we'll only do this once Now that almost all of the planning is done and once we buy a few last minute items, our total is probably right around $30k. It is still cheaper than a wedding here in NY, so we really aren't too upset with going over budget.

Monique Idlett - She is his publicist and longtime girlfriend. They had a daughter together in Nov. 2007

For all the Aruba brides out there, I just wanted to let you know that Timbaland just got married on the Renaissance Private Island. It seems as though they had the entire hotel reserved just for the wedding this past weekend. I am getting married there next month and was trying to get in touch with my wedding planner over the weekend, and now I know why I was told "he took a short vacation" LOL Well, here is an article on the wedding and hopefully they will have some pictures soon. Timbaland Weds Longtime Girlfriend in Aruba - The Boombox Music Blog

We are having a Welcome Party the first nigt everyone gets to Aruba so we can inform people about what's going on then and we also made itinerary's that will be going in the OOT bags letting people know all of the important dates/places and times. We also put our cell phone number on them as well since not everyone is staying at the same hotel, just in case they really need some info. But I think for the most part when people are on vacation they will want to be doing their own thing. I really wouldn't be to worried about keeping track of 50-60 people, you will drive yourself crazy....and remember this is your vacation too )

I love B, probably because it looks so similar to mine, but am I seeing the prices right? Are they really charging you up to $2000 for those flowers

Quote: Originally Posted by MEE Hey everyone! I was wondering if I could get some opinions from you... My fiance and I are exchanging vows in Aruba (we are actually getting married in the U.S. at the JOP like 3 months before).....which I hope people won't think is a ridiculous idea.... Anyway....due to short notice, we may only have immediate family in Aruba when we exchange our religious vows. So... Has anyone in here only had about 6-8 guests at your DW? If so, what did you do for the reception? We would really really like music and all of that, but don't know if that will be weird with only 6-8 guests, mostly parents/grandparents. I would love any advice/opinions/past experiences!!!! Thanks! Hey I just noticed that you are exchanging your vows in Aruba and so am I. Just so you know we just went down yesterday to get our marriage license and we will be getting married at the JOP next week, so it is not ridiculous that you will be technically married 3 months before Aruba. It is just so much easier to do it that way, I thought. As for having only 6-8 guests, I think it is a great idea to have a steel pan band plus an ipod for your first dance, father/daughter dance, etc. When we first started planning our DW, I didn't think we would have alot of people come and that was what we were planning on doing, but now that we have 28 guests we are still having the steel band for the ceremony and cocktail hour and then a DJ for the reception. Have you decided on where you are going to have the wedding? Last year when we were in Aruba we saw a couple get married on the Renaissance Ocean Suites Beach and there was only about 6 people there, but it was set up really nice off to the side and they had speakers setup b/c I assumed they provided their own music. My point is, that I really dont think you have anything to worry about, your wedding will be beautiful and fun no matter how many people are there.

Your best and probably easiest way to match your colors is to got to a print shop and ask them to look at their PMS book. It is the Pantone Matching System book. In there you will be able to find the color you want and get the exact color combination for either RGB or CMYK printing. It will tell you the exact numbers to plug in, and don't worry about what they look like on screen, they will print to the exact color you saw in the book. I have about 10 sets of pantone books here at work, if you would like to post a color block of the colors you are trying to print I can try to match it up for you and give you the color codes.

I am desperatley looking for some cheap beach towels to put in our OOT bags. Twice this past week, Kmart sent me emails that they had beach towels on sale for $4 and both times I tried to order them, it tells me that they are not available. AGGGHHHHH!! I am getting so frustrated! Does anyone else know of some other places I can get a good deal on beach towels?

I also didn't really want to register for alot since we have pretty much everything, so I decided to register for a few things at BB&B and then the main regisrty was at TravelersJoy.com. My mom wasn't sure if people would really understand the honeymoon registry, but my shower was this past Sat and most people got me stuff from TravelersJoy.com. It was great b/c we will actually get the $$ but we are using it towards all of the stuff we asked for while on our honeymoon (dinners, massages, excersions..etc) Everyone thought it was a great idea and loved that they were able to give us stuff that we really wanted. Here is our link in case anyone wants to see how we worded everything Honeymoon Registry for Kristin Mullin & Anthony Romeo | Traveler's Joy Oh, and just so you know - we still got about 5 lenox picture frames, 4 sets of wine glasses, 2 sets of champagne glasses....and a whole bunch of other stuff we didn't ask for. I think people are always going to buy you what they "think" you'll like

I found that booking straight through the hotel, they wanted us to hold rooms as well. I had no idea how many people would show up, so I decided to make a group reservation through CheapCaribbean.com (which I have used before) and with them I only had to guarante 10 people fly down on the same day (which I knew I had just in our immediate fam) to get the group rate. Then as it got closer everyone else was able to call the TA and just be added to our group reservation at the same price. BTW...I also found from other girls that are getting married in Aruba this summer, I was able to get the cheapest prices for my guests packages by booking w/ CheapCaribbean.com I couldn't believe how much others were paying since they booked the hotel and air seperately. You might want to check them out.

When planning our wedding, I found out from the TA that the cheapest days to fly are Tues & Wed which is why most of our group is flying down Tues. As for the resort, the price was the same for any day but we decided to have ours on Thursday, since it was easier to book all of the vendors we wanted, and since some people still wanted to go from Sat-Sat, the mid-week wedding worked out for everyone. It's not like haveing a wedding here in the middle of the week, when your on vaca everyday is Saturday LOL

Leslie... I know that it is easier said, than done, but you have to try and ignor everyone that tries to bring you down. I went through the same exact thing b/c my FI's family was pissed that we decided to have DW. We have been engaged now for over 9 months and they are still causing problems over it. Some people can not understand that it is your day and that the two of you have to do what is going to make you happy. My only advice is to try and not let them get you down or change anything that you want for your wedding.......we had to learn this the hard way.

Quote: Originally Posted by Hartyt509 i just read all this OMG how did u stay so calm i'd have been ready to fly down and beat the shite out of them !! Glad you have another hotel, you can now tell the other one to and then slam them on here lol other people should know that this seems to be their standard practice. Glad you got it sorted thou x Oh you better believe I will be letting everyone know what happened to me (but once all of the plans are finalized w/ the Ren...LOL) and to think I recommended so many people to that hotel and I though they were great.....but in the end that was the most shady shit I have ever seen. And trust me, they are very luck that I wasn't down there, I could have killed someone I was so mad!! But they will get there's and everything happens for a reason

Quote: Originally Posted by carly That is GREAT news! And such a quick resolution! YAAYYYYYYY! I know I can't believe it either, I think I'm still in shock. My FI had to literally track him down over there and get his personal cell, but who the hell cares if we seem crazy LOL

OMG, GIRLS!!!! My fiance just got off the phone w/ the WC at the Renaissance and they said that we can book there. They already put us down for that date. They have wedding all weekend but he said to call him back on Tuesday and we will finalize everything. THANK GOD!!!!!! I don't know what I would have done. And thanks you so much for letting me vent to everyone, I think I would have exploded if I didn't have all of you girls to talk to.

Quote: Originally Posted by carly Can you tell us which resort you were using to see if there is a possibility of someone knowing another suggestion? What about leaving the resort for the wedding. An example is that MoBride got married at the Riu in Jamaica, but she took her reception to a nice Jamaican restaurant and she was EXTREMELY happy with that choice. Is that an option for you? Have the ceremony and go elsewhere for the reception? Also, I wonder if they saw that you were seriously going elsewhere if they WOULD come down in price, evne though they say its non-negotiable. The hotel I am booked at is the Bucuti in Aruba. Right now I am trying to get in touch with the Renaissance to see if they have my date open. Yeah, I guess if I have no luck with booking at another hotel, I can try looking into restaurants. Oh, and she realized that I was serious in the end b/c she started out w/ an attitude, but in the end she was appoligizing and explaining that I am not the only person this is happening to. She told me that this is the reason why they don't like discussing the menu w/ couples untl a month before. And I asked her how people could even budget for their wedding w/o knowing the menu price and she said that she has had people cancel b/c of this. So, I just said "well that's good to know" and that I don't really know what we are even doing for our wedding at this point. But my fiancee is calling the Ren now since he can call international....I hope there is someone in the wedding dept that can let us know if the date is open

Quote: Originally Posted by becks Oh No!!!! I am SO sorry! Could you have the meal catered in from an outside caterer? Is there anything we can do to help? Thanks for your offer but I don't think there is anything anyone can do at this point. I don't even know what to do myself. I just tried calling another hotel down there, but my cell dosen't allow international calls, so I will have to wait until I get home tonight. Oh, and nope they don't allow outside food or vendors.

Quote: Originally Posted by carly Wow, I am so sorry to hear that. Can your TA suggest any hotels in teh same area? I would def be on the phone with her/him right now begging for help! I didn't book the wedding through a travel agent, but I am about to call another hotel. I emailed them this morning and they haven't gotten back to me (they probably have a wedding going on today since its Fri) buthopefully if they get my email and then a vmail - they will see I am desperate.

Well, I just wanted to let you all know that I just got off the phone with the WC and she told me flat out that "there is no way they will lower the price". The reason is because the restaurant is in the process of being sold and it is no longer apart of the hotel, so we are basically screwed. And to make things even better, their new menu is absolutly pathetic!! and we can't even add additional entrees to the buffet like we thought we could, becasuse the new chef "thinks that it is a waste of food". So, I am on the hunt for a new hotel. Wish me luck and I'll let you guys know if I can get anything this close. Thanks again for all your help

Quote: Originally Posted by AllureEventDesign Kristin, do you have any communications between you and the hotel coordinator in which the menu you selected is listed as well as the price? if you do, you can fight them on this and SHOULD. I always try to receive written confirmation of whatever my client has confirmed with the hotel so that when this sort of situation happens, we have some sort of recourse. Another question, did the hotel coordinator provide you with a BEO (banquet event order) before yesterday? this is a document which lists all your menu and bar choices, as well as event times, locations, dates and number of confirmed guests per event. I say fight them on this and keep in mind that you will get farther by being polite but firm. I hope this gets resolved. Yes, I have all of this in writing ststing exactly what we ordered and that the price was $77pp for the food. But she pointed out that on the bottom, it states that "food/beverages are subject to change w/o notice"

Quote: Originally Posted by carly DEF do not cancel until you find an alternate place. Sometimes we need to put the anger aside (hard, I know), but you don't want to not get married. I really would talk to the WC. Perhaps there are other menu options that you could choose. Or turn it into a cocktail reception with light hor d'ouerves. I think canceling that resort would be the most satisfying thing to do at this moment, but in the long run, that choice might be wrong. And did you say $100/pp for open bar - like $3k just for the open bar and THEN you also would have to pay $100/pp for food? That whole deal seems crazy. I wish I knew a place in Aruba for you. Thanks.... she should be calling me in a half hour so hopefully I will have good news later. I know, I am paying so much for food and drinks but that is actually the norm in Aruba. But I feel like they are taking advantage now that it is so close to our day now.....I am very curious to see what she tells me lata. I'll keep you guys updated and thanks for the help

Quote: Originally Posted by carly Oh my. That is horrible! I would ask her what your options are. I don't think you should stick withthis place that doubled their prices 3 months out. But that's just me and sometimes I do things to spite. Perhaps a TA can chime in with some options for you. I know I don't what to stay with them either, so I emailed other hotels last night and this morning but I still haven't heard back from them. I am just worried if I cancel with her, what happens if I cant get re-booked at another place?? We already have 30 ppl booked to come down w/ us

I really don't think I should have to cut back on anything, since this is what I agreed to. And it's a buffet to start with, usually a buffet is a large selection of different food to choose from. I think only 2 trays would look pretty cheap, but thanks for trying to help

I don't know what to do, so I hope some of the girls here can help me out before I kill someone. It is only 4 months away from my wedding in Aruba, and everything is already booked. I got an email from my WC yesterday at 5pm saying that the prices for all food have changed and I have to decide if I want to change my menu. Our buffet menu which consisted of 3 appetizers, 6 entrees, 2 sides and 3 deserts went from $76pp to $112pp(not including open bar, which is $100pp)!!! Has anything like this happened to anyone else?? I emailed the WC and she said that on the contract, it says that food/drink prices are subject to change. I was aware of this, but all along she told me that they never go up much, and that I should just expect a slight increase from the 2007 prices. This is alot more than a slight increase, it's almost 50% more!! She is going to be calling me today at work in about an hour, but I really don't kknow what to so if she dosen't budge on the prices. Should I say I am going to start looking at other places? What if I can't get another hotel this close, I am still going to have to work with this lady.