berliewed08

WOW!!! that's exciting. Lucky woman!!

I lot of the above documents can be found on the web buy searching to name of the place. I believe the first document in the first post is from the USVI gov. website.

Thanks I'll request my one free monogram once I finally set a destination. lol

There's a very high chance that I will no longer be a St, Thomas Destination Bride. After a long talk with my Matron of honor/wedding planner/sister. I re-evaluated what I wanted out of my wedding and how I was going to get it. So here it goes... My close family and friends together to celebrate our wedding and a mini vacation. A warm and or tropical destination. Affordable- cheaper and more intimate than a traditional wedding. A place where my FH and I haven't been to. (as a couple) A new place for our family member. Something memorable. This is why we thought the USVI would work for us, but now realize that St. Thomas may not work for two groups of people that we really want there. 1. My Maid of Honor / Best friend who lives in NY and who is also planning her own NYC wedding. ($$$) 2. His best man/his brother- who live in Hawaii, but is now planning-paying for costly travel for his in-laws and other family members(2 months before our wedding. AND He lives in HI it would take him 3 planes to get to St. Thomas just to stay for 3 days. ($$$).. We don't want our family spending over $1500 per person and we can't afford to help pay for more than one other person. We have now decieded on a DW wedding in the Continintal United States. Any suggestions. My family lives in New York, his in Texas. we still want to keep the numbers down. We were thinking New Oleans, LA, Hilton Head, SC.... I still will me a St. Thomas bride at heart. perhaps for the Honeymoon?

My sister asked her friends who have been to St. Thomas for so feedback. I know alot of this information you can get if you search a site like tripadvisor but thought it would be a good idea to have some of that information here. expecially for those brides who are undecided. Because I have never been to the USVI I don't really know what things are like there, (i.e. if staying at one hotel/villa makes it easier to get to other things like resturants etc.) Do not get discourged by the first woman's comments. Remember why YOU choose St. Thomas!!! I am thinking of having my wedding in St. Thomas . I think you and your husband/boyfriend went there last year. If so you, where did you stay and do you recommend the hotel. Do you have any suggestions on where to stay, what to do, where to eat, what to avoid?[/color] Response 1 Dear Future Bride, Well, as much as I loved my trip to St. Thomas and St. John , I would not readily recommend having a wedding there. Because the islands are very hilly and steep hills at that, it was a pain in the a$$ sometimes to get around. If you are very old or very young or out of shape it may be challenging. For instance, we stayed on St. Thomas but spend most of our time on St. John . To get there, we had to take a shuttle down to street level because our hotel was so high up and the hills so steep that we couldn't walk down. When we got to street level we took a taxi to the ferry. We took the ferry across then took another taxi to the beach. Then we'd have to do it all over again on the way home. It was a pain. My sister, her husband and there 2 year old child are actually there as of yesterday so I'll see how they manage getting around when they come back. For them, I recommended renting a car because they would definitely need a car seat for the baby unless they could find taxis with car seats wherever they went. I imagine it may be difficult. Regarding the hotel, I can't even remember where we stayed but I wouldn't recommend it anyway because we found that some rooms were kinda run down while others were nice. Basically, it was inconsistent and also, getting around the hotel was a pain because of the steep hills. You either had to walk which was like a workout, or take the shuttle which takes forever. But otherwise, like I said, we really loved St. Thomas / St. John mainly because the beaches were absolutely gorgeous. Navigating it though, was a chore. Hope this helps. If you have anymore specific questions, feel free. --------------------------------- Response 2 Hello future bride, I stayed at the Frenchmen's Reef (a 5 star property owned by Marriott at the top of the mountain). They have a nice gazebo in the garden that they use for weddings. I loved the property - absolutely beautiful!!!! They have a huge winding swimming pool at the top edge and it looks down at the island and the ocean. The property also has its own private beach and they have chairs located between the bar area and the beach which hang from a pole and swing in place - so you can enjoy a drink and the ocean breeze while swaying back and forth. We went to one restaurant in town which served delicious stewed oxtail and rice with peas but I cannot remember the name. For those who are into shopping there are tons of shops in town and you get great deals on expensive watches - but not really our thing so we mostly hung out at the property. Horseshoe Bay was the most beautiful clear clean beach I have ever seen and we had great jerk chicken cooked right on the beach in a steel drum. The cons are that they drive on the opposite side of the road and the roads are scary. I would recommend taking a cab everywhere because there are a lot of steep hills and extremely tight winding roads which travel along the side of a cliff and barely allow enough room for 2 way traffic so its not safe for those whom are not native and not use to driving in such conditions. Hope this helps. __________________

Leaving St. Thomas, My DW location is likely changing. but that's not the topic of this post (i'll post another). My sister has asked a number of her close friend you have visited St. Thomas for some feedback. I really like hearing from people I know and trust vs. crazy Tripadvisor responses which vary greatly. Getting this feedback helped because it made me realize that it not just Tripadvisor. Peoples experinces Actually do vary. Below are the replys we got.... I actaully think these two girls stayed at the same place. Do not get discourged by the first woman's comments. Remember why YOU choose St. Thomas!!! Kim(berliewed0 is thinking of having her wedding in St. Thomas . I think you and your husband/boyfriend went there last year. If so you, where did you stay and do you recommend the hotel. Do you have any suggestions on where to stay, what to do, where to eat, what to avoid? Well, as much as I loved my trip to St. Thomas and St. John , I would not readily recommend having a wedding there. Because the islands are very hilly and steep hills at that, it was a pain in the a$$ sometimes to get around. If you are very old or very young or out of shape it may be challenging. For instance, we stayed on St. Thomas but spend most of our time on St. John . To get there, we had to take a shuttle down to street level because our hotel was so high up and the hills so steep that we couldn't walk down. When we got to street level we took a taxi to the ferry. We took the ferry across then took another taxi to the beach. Then we'd have to do it all over again on the way home. It was a pain. My sister, her husband and there 2 year old child are actually there as of yesterday so I'll see how they manage getting around when they come back. For them, I recommended renting a car because they would definitely need a car seat for the baby unless they could find taxis with car seats wherever they went. I imagine it may be difficult. Regarding the hotel, I can't even remember where we stayed but I wouldn't recommend it anyway because we found that some rooms were kinda run down while others were nice. Basically, it was inconsistent and also, getting around the hotel was a pain because of the steep hills. You either had to walk which was like a workout, or take the shuttle which takes forever. But otherwise, like I said, we really loved St. Thomas / St. John mainly because the beaches were absolutely gorgeous. Navigating it though, was a chore. Hope this helps. If you have anymore specific questions, feel free.--------------------------------- Hello, I stayed at the Frenchmen's Reef (a 5 star property owned by Marriott at the top of the mountain). They have a nice gazebo in the garden that they use for weddings. I loved the property - absolutely beautiful!!!! They have a huge winding swimming pool at the top edge and it looks down at the island and the ocean. The property also has its own private beach and they have chairs located between the bar area and the beach which hang from a pole and swing in place - so you can enjoy a drink and the ocean breeze while swaying back and forth. We went to one restaurant in town which served delicious stewed oxtail and rice with peas but I cannot remember the name. For those who are into shopping there are tons of shops in town and you get great deals on expensive watches - but not really our thing so we mostly hung out at the property. Horseshoe Bay was the most beautiful clear clean beach I have ever seen and we had great jerk chicken cooked right on the beach in a steel drum. The cons are that they drive on the opposite side of the road and the roads are scary. I would recommend taking a cab everywhere because there are a lot of steep hills and extremely tight winding roads which travel along the side of a cliff and barely allow enough room for 2 way traffic so its not safe for those whom are not native and not use to driving in such conditions. Hope this helps.

Quote: Originally Posted by AnnR I feel your pain (as I sit here alone in my random hotel room)! Except I'm going on 12 years on the road ... I can't believe it! I do like what I do - but it's a lifestyle I will be happy to give up once this baby arrives. I don't know how you ladies do it. My sister traveled for 10 years and my FH is on his 2nd year. Before we decied to have children he will have to find something local, and not the Co. defintion of within 100 miles.

Quote: Originally Posted by amandalovesryan I work at TLh, where do you work? Im not familiar with TLh, I'm at Mercy in Norristown.

I'm a Speech Pathologist. For the past year I've worked in a local hospital. I work primarly with adult patients with swallowing and langauge problems cause by brain injury/stroke. But before that I worked in homes and schools with children with disabilities. I want to open my own Late Night Dessert Cafe, I'll even do a few wedding cakes. Reading some of everyone's jobs makes me feel like I'm reading my resume, much of our careers have a lot in common. it's cool. (my FH is an IT Consultant)

Glad so see you here. Please stop by the St. Thomas roll call post.

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Happy Planning.

My FH and I are also trying to keep cost down. I have yet to contact Angela or any other WC as I don't know the cost and am not sure if it worth it. I just want to stay somewhere where everyone is comfortable, where i can take beautiful pics of my big day etc. etc. I was also thinking of the Marriot so any pictures from there would be great. No pressure.

I like the one with the the last two, the last one a little more, it's simple and the green leaves give it a tropical feeling. (not they all don't feel tropical

Congratulations on your engagement and welcome to the forum!!

Welcome. I'm also a St.Thomas bride. Look forward to chatting with you.