lm3682

Hey, I know there are some ladies considering Grand Cayman and I wanted to suggest a property that I haven't seen mentioned much on the forum. Grand Cayman Beach Suites (used to be the Hyatt) is a smaller hotel and I was quite impressed with my initial discussions with their onsite planner, Marina Flynn. This was actually the hotel we stayed at on the trip we got engaged, so it was a strong contender for the wedding. We ended up going in a different direction but this property was my second choice. They can host the ceremony and reception on site, and actually have a few location options for both, depending on the size of your group. Marina, the planner, was very responsive and seemed very flexible with my numerous requests and options. I had started with about 15 properties on various islands and this was a close second to my final decision. I wanted to recommend it because we very much enjoyed our stay there and I was impressed with Marina. We considered most of the larger Cayman properties and thought this was the best option on the island: Ritz - too expensive for me and my guests Westin - helpful wedding planner and great beach but the rooms/hotel get poor reviews Marriott - geared toward business travelers and they do multiple weddings a day (when we were walking on the beach, they had two going at the same time, at opposite ends of the property) Caribbean Club - I emailed twice and actually called and spoke to a live person but never received a call back from the manager about a wedding there I've attached the general wedding info Marina sent me for anyone who's interested. Happy planning!

She got back to me pretty quickly with this email: [email protected] Her name is Mercedes Miatello

I did a ton of research planning a trip to Greece I went on a year ago, so here are the highlights in regard to your questions: 1. Look into the itineraries fairly closely before booking anything. Many hit great ports, but you are only there from 8-noon, or 1-5. With loading and unloading the ship, that's hardly any time at all to enjoy a place the way you should. For this reason, we chose not to do a cruise and to spend 3 days or so on three different islands in Greece. 2. It's my understanding that American cruise lines offer greater service, and usually better food, than European lines. You'll pay a little more, but for me it would be worth it. If you're looking at the European lines, Costa has some very good itineraries and they have sales occasionally (I'm somehow on their email list) 3. Time of year - May is great - very nice weather, but not stifling hot and the crowds haven't descended yet. The Med gets super busy in the summer (June, and especially July and August), to the point that it's not even enjoyable with all the throngs of people. September would also be a nice time for the same reason. I agree with checking out cruisecritic.com to get more information.

Heather - I just got a note from the WC at Maramao, which is the restaurant at Mosquito Blue. I've attached the menus and pricing here. Sit down menus are priced from ~$30-$60 per person. Open bar is $35-$55 per person for 2.5 hours. I don't think it'll work for us, but might for you. It looks great. We just might be pushing the capacity limit (of 80). Happy planning! Maramao menus pricing.doc

Also interested - Heather, please let me know if you hear anything and I'll do the same

Also interested - Heather, plase let me know if you hear anything and I'll do the same

Also interested in what decorations you took with those. And I guess you pre-measured the tables/chairs before ordering sashes? Great website

Thanks LeShay - what was their server/setup charge for the welcome dinner?

I'm so glad everything went well. Love your sarcasm with the DJ oversight guy. How annoying that they have that charge

Thanks LeShay...looking forward to part 2

So I've just spent the last two hours reading this series of posts and hear two things - we all really like Paradisus and it's really hard to pin them down on costs. So for those who have just had a wedding there or are very close and have most pricing determined, how much over budget did you go, not because of changes you made, but because of unforseen expenses or ridiculous expenses that you couldn't get around? I don't know if I can handle not knowing the exact cost going in - I'm a contracts person and document everything in writing so there's no surprises or confusion. On a side note, thanks for all the great info. I'm off to read LeShay's wedding review next.

Yep, I guess we'll just have to figure out who are absolute musts to be there and focus on them. Maybe people will surprise me. And I guess the upside would be a cheaper wedding for us! Glad to know I'm not the only one concerned though...

For those of you who have recently sent out STD's or invites, do you expect the rising cost of travel to significantly affect the guests that can afford to come? Have guests that you didn't expect money to be an issue raised the the concern of the cost to attend? I already feel like I'm asking guests to pay a lot to attend my wedding. Now that it'll likely be even more expensive with soaring airline costs/fuel costs, is it a more difficult request to make? I can see some people thinking it's just plain rude given the economy. I don't need everyone there, but am hoping most people can still afford to come. (No location confirmed yet, but will almost certainly be Playa del Carmen) Thanks!

Hi Tried searching on this topic but obviously "beach" and "reception" are in almost every thread. So I'm seeking AI's in Cancun or PDC that offer beach dinner receptions or at a minimum an outdoor reception (i.e. under a palapa but still open-air). I will likely have a large group (80 or so). I really don't want to do a reception in a ballroom or one of the specialty restaurants that are all air-conditioned. I did have Ajua Weddings price out a beach reception that was not at a hotel but it was crazy expensive (the open bar alone was about $80pp) Does anyone know which hotels offer these and more importantly, did you have your reception there? Thanks!

Hi - Just created a login. Looking forward to spending some time on here!