ultimateme143

sorry i forgot to add, i did the book from scratch with the pictures from the photographer and from family

The cake was from a picture that they had, but I changed the color. Once you get your 'cake book' you will see that you have so many options and colors. I think the cake ended up costing me like $750 that was for 40 people. so i think that worked out to about $18 a person. it was nice through because we ended up saving the chocolate shells instead of the top layer. I had yellow cake with a dark chocolate and raspberry filling. Apparently it was really good, but i dont remember. lol

Wedding Album (Donnelly Copy) - Wedding Photo Book

Avoid Kevin Williams at all cost!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by classadiva Oh no!!! You should contact the Atlantis immediately and let them know!!! He is on their list of recommended vendors. You chose him in part at their suggestion. I would contact your wedding coordinator and let them know what is going on. If he has failed to deliver what he promised, he should be taken off of their recommended vendor list!! Also...if you paid him with Amex or even another credit card company...see if you can dispute the charges. I am sooo sorry. Thanks for your concern. I have contacted Atlantis with no luck unfortunetly. No one is getting back to me. To be honest i am just so frustrated. I have emailed the coordinator and i have sent an email through the Atlantis website. No Answer from anyone so far. But i am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt that it was the holidays. But it has been almost a month and I have sent numerous emails.

Dont use Kevin Williams - Quality Images. He took my money and I have not heard from him. $4000 for a copy of the pictures on a disc, but no books. I dont know what to do.

Congrats!!! We got married at Atlantis as well. It was wonderful. Happy planning

I would try one of these. I received a quote from Wild Flowers back when I was planning and they were much better then Floral Arts. I didnt go with them because at the time there website was not up and I thought it was too good to be true. That they were going to be cheap looking. But it looks like they do good work. The Nassau Florist, Nassau Bahamas - Flowers for weddings and events Wildflowers - Weddings in the Bahamas, Wedding Decor and Flowers, Event Planner

I am truely not the type of person that would bad mouth anyone. But I feel that a warning is nessesary in this case. My wedding was held on May 2, 2009 at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas. The resort supplied me with a list of recommended vendors. Since there was hardly any information available about most of them, I asked who they thought was the best. They suggested Kevin Williams. In the begining he was great. I never waited more then a day or two for him to get back to me through email. He even called me once to introduce himself, and verbally verify everything. We negotiated a package that included 4 hours of photography, 1 12x12 60 page book, 3 8x10 'parents' books, 4 5x6 'gift' books and a copy of ALL pictures. This for a grand total of $4000. Now, I dont know if that is a good price for what I was suppose to get. But he worked with my price range and we agreed $1500 upfront, $2000 the day of and $500 once I received the proofs. He was great the day of the wedding and everything went smoothly. I received a copy of the pictures and was pretty happy with them. I spent hours picking my favorite pictures and sent my picks to him within two weeks because I was hoping to give the albulms to our parents for Christmas. Over 3 months ago he sent me a copy of the albulm proof. OMG I hated it!!! Just the poor effort of it made me so upset. It was as if he clicked 'fill in the blanks' and random pictures were put on pages. Not to mention creases of the book going right through peoples face and pictures that I did not choose. So instead of just saying, I dont like it - fix it. I spent hours righting down all the changes that I wanted. I was very detailed and specific. Basically, I designed the book. The letter to say the least was long. But didnt leave Kevin with a need to create a new design. This was over 3 months ago. Here is where I am sooooooo mad, frustrated, disappointed, upset.... he did not get back to me for over a month (even after 2 additional emails sent). He did not get back to me until I finally contacted Atlantis to let them know. He sent me this email saying that he never had someone so disapointed and he didnt know how to respond. He also included that becuase I am changing so much, that there would be an additional fee. BULL****. Its not my fault the book was terrible. I even questioned myself and asked my husband, mother in law, friends and coworkers. They all agreed. I have sent 3 more emails asking when I would receive the new book proofs and I have heard NOTHING. I have included the fact that I wanted the books by December 15th in ALL of my emails. So now I am asking myself, 'what do I do now?' I have paid him $3500 already. I am considering taking the pictures that I have and bringing them to someone to get printed. I have made a book on Shutterfly, but its just not a wedding albulm. It is going to cost me well over $500 to get all these books made (I wouldnt include the gift books). Do I ask for a refund? Or do I keep on trying to get this guy to give me what I paid for?

My hunny and his mommy danced to Rob Stewart 'Forever Young' I didnt like the idea at first, but it was sweet at the wedding.

I'm so happy for you. I'm glad it worked out. You are going to have a GREAT time. Let me know if you have any questions when it comes to your menu. That was the hardest part for me.

I am more then happy to help. 1) I did use one of the photographers that they recomended. His name is Kevin Williams. They give you a whole list to choose from, but he sent me sample books and was willing to work with me in my budget. He ran me $4000 but that includes my 60 page book, 3 parents books, 4 miniture books and all the rights to the pictures (so I can print them where ever and when ever) 2) The $150 can be used for up to two events. Between the bar/cocktail food/dinner I promise you that you will spend more then $150 a person. I think ours was like $200 without the Welcome dinner. The Welcome dinner was so great, they put us in a private room and it seemed like they brought in special waiters just for us becuase they never left. 3) You can use who ever you want for your vendors. But as you know Atlantis is very big, so the people that they get you in contact with know the property very well. Plus they are recommended by the resort, so you know you are dealing with professionals. They give you more then one option, so you can choose who you want. 4) When you make your selections for music, they give you a list. Do you want a band/dj/Sax/Calypso/violin ect... I chose a DJ ($450 per hour) and Calypso ($400 I think)for the cocktail hour, you can give them all your requests of songs. They do this all the time and Atlantis is not a cheesy place so you can trust them to give you the best that they have. I loved the fire dancer also ($600). That made it more then just a party but a show. 5) The thing that I liked about Atlantis was that you get to choose whatever you want. Colors, flowers, type of cake, food, music, decor, setting, location etc...There really is no limit to your imagination that they cant pull off. See a picture, send it to them, get a quote and its done. I originally started with a budget but then I ended up having to cut it in half. So what I had was the best that I could do with my budget. I ended up cutting a lot. But I wouldnt of had it any other way. It couldnt have been more perfect. Its was so organized and I didnt have to do anything. They knew what needed to be done. 6) Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Somthings might seem crazy to pay for, but it is top of the line. The only thing that I wish I knew in advance was the lighting (they give you lighting for out door receptions) but the lighting was red/orange. It just didnt go with the blue/white. So I wish I could have changed that.

Hi Classadiva Here are some pointers and answers to your questions 1) $150 minimum: Negotiating lower was never an option. We were well above it and didnt have anything crazy. We had a buffet because it was outside. And because we also had a welcome dinner at Carmines which was so amazing. Everything is a per person price, so if you are going to have 100 people be careful becuase its going to get REALLY expensive. We invited 80 and only 40 came. 2) They do still require all the guests to stay onsite. But the group rates are REALLY good. The ones that stayed 3 nights payed $199 a night at the beach tower. I had some guests stay only two nights and it wasnt a problem, but I thinks its because the majority were staying 3-5 nights. The only thing that I warn you about it if you reserve 10 rooms for 3 nights, then you must book at least 30 nights total. So if some people only stay 2 nights and you reserved the room for 3 then the extra night needs to be made up else where. Its confusing. I didnt know that and almost had to pay, but I ended up the exact amout I reserved. I thought it was just the total amount of rooms, not nights. 3) You can hire your own vendors, but they have to be from the bahamas or else you have to pay for a work permit. My suggestion is if you want to bring your own photographer then just say he/she is one of your friends taking the photo's. But the DJ is through Atlantis. They give you a whole list of vendors to go through. Becareful with Floral Arts. They are pricey. I spent $3500 and things were not what I expected. 4) You have to purchase the cake through them and I tell you that was the biggest shock to me when it came to price. Like I said everything is a per person price. My cake was $17 a person. Thats $782 for a 40 person wedding. (that included the 15% service charge they tack onto everything) 5) The site fee is $3500 now. They were pretty strict on that as well, but feel free to ask. 6) Atlantis assigns you a coordinator. Carolyn was mine. She was great. No matter how many changes or emails I sent she was always happy to help. I promise you they treat you like royalty there. But keep in mind that you are dealing with Island people. They are care free and easy going. You might not get an answer in an hour, but you will get one by the next day. she made all my reservations for me and for my family 7) I thought my wedding was perfect. They threw upgrades at us left and right. Room, chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, breakfast the morning after the wedding etc...Everyone there knew we were there to get married and were so loving to us. Hope it helps. you can check out www.shaunkristenswedding.shutterfly.com to see pictures

some pictures to enjoy

Hello fellow Atlantis bride. We got married on May 2nd at Atlantis as well and I was wondering how your wedding went.

My most memorable moment is kind of weird. I was a total wreck the morning of. I was sick all morning from nerves and anticipation. I could not calm down, no matter what I did. I took a walk on the beach, went to the spa etc... But the wierdest thing was that just as I was about to turn the corner to walk down the aisle I was completely calm. It was like because I knew I was about to see Shaun again (since we hadent seen each other since the night before) I knew that nothing else mattered. I was going to be okay and I never felt so relieved in my life.

I had a really hard time too. Try Macy's. Look under Fashion Jewelry. I think there are a bunch of nice ones on page 2. I got my jewelry there. They run from $40-$80. I went with the Givenchy, it sparkles and went perfect with my dress. Good Luck

Silly me, if you really want to check out some pictures you can go to www.shaunkristenswedding.shutterfly.com

Dont worry, its natural. You think your a mess now. I warn you that the night before and the morning of you will probably be even worse. Not to scare you, but dont worry. Just remember that they are happy tears. Its an emotional time and I am sure you have put your heart and soul into planning your wedding so its also nerves and worrying about things going right. But another warning is that not everything is going to be what you imagined it to be (meaning flowers, food etc...) But the day will be perfect because in the end your standing next to who is now your husband. Its a great feeling. To make you feel better I pulled a 'Steel Magnolia, Sally Field' moment. (I hope you saw the movie or else you wouldnt understand) But when she flips out and starts screaming "I'M FINE!!!!" It was the night before the wedding and we were all out to dinner and everyone kept asking me how I was feeling etc... but finaly after about 10 people I freaked. My family thought I was crazy, I started crying like a baby and ended up leaving everyone and going back to my room to watch a movie and empty the mini bar alone. But as soon as it was my turn to walk down that aisle I was cool as a cucumber. So dont worry, your not the first and you wont be the last. So cheer up, have a glass of wine, put on some party music and dance like no one is watching. lol Congrats and good luck.

oh I forgot to add that we had the welcome dinner at Carmines. It was amazing. SO much food. family style Italian food and seating. I would deffinetly reccomend it. We had 36 at the welcome dinner, 40 at the wedding.

I have returned from my May 2nd wedding at Atlantis. I have a few complaints but over all its was wonderful. Floral Arts was over rated. The website is beautiful and they seem to do good work, but it must be for people that have no budget. I picked one of the centerpieces that was on the website and I was totally ripped off. The picture has all white flowers with NO green and mine was half flowers and the rest green fill. I did the turquoise and white draped arch for the ceremony and it was small and so cheap looking. My bouquet was suppose to be white hydranga with light pink roses. The roses were HOT pink. The bridesmaids bouqets were suppose to be shells filled with the same but they were all roses and there were only about 5-6 of them. so it looked undone. I spent $3000 and got nothing that I wanted or expected. BUT... things did look pretty. and to be honest the day went by so fast that you dont even notice all the details. So my suggestion is to keep it simple, depending on what locations you chose. The DJ BLEW!!!! When you get there, the coordinator will have you sit down with all your vendors. We sat down with the DJ and told him that we wanted top 40 hip hop and r&b songs with a couple 70's-80's songs for the older crowd. Well, all they played were old songs. If music is important I suggest you make a song list and tell them not to go off of it. Matthew Sweeting was our minister, and he was great. I highly reccomend him. Kevin Williams was our photographer. I havent received any pictures from him yet. But I do warn you that he is a little traditional. Just tell him what your looking for and he will make it happen. Just be very clear and dont be afraid to be blunt. The hotel was great. They totally took care of us. Special things were sent to our room, all requests were taken care of right away. Not to mention the nice upgrades when you get there. We had our ceremony on west beach and the reception at the royal overlook. The royal over look was really nice, but the beach wasn't so. but then again, I was so nervous and so wrapped up in getting married that day that I barely noticed. But I do recommend the overlook for a group of 30-40 max. Any more then that its too crowded. oh... and I forgot, the fire dancer was great. Lots of fun and everyone thought it was great. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I would post pictures but I am a spaz and cant figure it out.

ebay has a bunch. Just search under starfish necklaces. Hope this helps good luck!

wow our dates are so close I am getting married on may 2. I can't believe it's almost here. I totaly agree about what you said about people being on the fence. I always say you get what you pay for. Atlantis is so easy to work with. The only issue anyone should have is having to decide what you want. They just offer so much. Even things I never would have thought of.

Thank you for all the info. I do have a couple a. I am having the reception at the royal overlook too. I have 5 tables and a sweetheart table. Is there enough room to dance? What was your favorit menu item or if you wouldn't mind your whole menu (I know that's a lot of info so I would understand). I too can not wait to see your pictures. Congrats

OMG!!!! Those are beautiful. I say they are worth every penny. I would be all over them if I wasn't going barefoot on the beach. You let your FI know that I said it was ok. LOL