Willow188

Hi all! My wedding was on March 6 on St. Thomas, and I thought I would post my experience and advice to help anyone with their planning. We had our welcome party the night before the wedding at Bolongo Bay, and it was beautiful! Lorie was amazing, and it went really well. We were originally going to have it on the beach, but it rained that day and all of these AWFUL bugs came up and started attacking people. (My legs looked diseased.) So she moved it to the restaurant which was still beautiful, and we were still able to have the bonfire outside. The only thing that upset me was that we paid for a steel drummer to play for three hours, and he played for maybe 20 minutes and used a recording for the rest of the time. I could have just brought CDs to play on their syste and saved several hundred dollars. The ceremony was at the Wyndham Sugar Bay's St. John Terrace. It went really well, but I definitely had to be the organized one. Monica at the Wyndham was very nice, but she didn't really know what was going on. She forgot to put a few items out before the wedding, and so the top of her head is at the bottom of our video. I'm glad our photographer and cantorial soloist knew what they were doing because she didn't. She wasn't even around to cue the processional. However, everything was gorgeous, and I was very happy. We had a dinner reception later that night at Herve restaurant, and, while it was the best part of the day. So gorgeous and the food was amazing. Even if you don't have any wedding activities here, you should definitely recommend it for your guests. I would HIGHLY recommend using Ashley Photography. She was SO nice and full of ideas for amazing photos. She worked very well with the guests and made us both feel so comfortable. And she's very flexible - if things get changed around she'll just go with it. Extremely pleased. A few things I learned: - If you're going to ship anything down to the island, do it way in advance and be prepared for it not to get there. We were pretty lucky that only one of our four boxes disappeared, and it was full of the least important stuff. Because we had shipped it down early we were able to quickly re-order everything in time. - The Superior Court is still operating like it's 1970. They use typewritters and have have everything in manilla folders instead of computer files. Make sure you confirm that they received your license application well in advance. - Be super organized! All in all, I'm SO happy with the wedding!

Hi all! It's so weird to see that everyone has a 2012 wedding date! I'm getting married in March, and I can't believe how fast it's coming up! I'm getting married at the St. John Terrace at the Wyndham and then we're having dinner downtown at Herve. I wanted to do Havana Blue because it's AMAZING, but the buyout was too much for just 35 guests. We're going to take the parents there for a thank you dinner a few nights before the wedding though. I love the Wyndham, but the all-inclusive package was a bit steep for some of our guests. Even though it comes out to be worth it for the trip, people had sticker shock. (It starts at around $400 for two people.) The welcome party/rehersal dinner is going to be at Iggy's at Bolongo Bay. I looked at having guests stay there for about two seconds before I saw how expensive the so-so rooms are. Totally not worth it. But the welcome party is going to be awesome! (Tara, did you ever hear from Bolongo?) Beach barbecue buffet, steel drummer, tiki torches and a beach bonfire. Yay! I'm sure you guys have heard this before, but the vendors are AWFUL at returing calls or messages in a timely manner. However, now that it's getting close to the wedding they're responding right away. (Except for the photographer. We're using Ashley Photography, and I'm starting to get REALLY nervous about that.)

We did end up going with Diane, since we just couldn't swing the $2000, and I found out the you're required to get married in the synagogue. It's gorgous, but I was really set on an outdoor wedding. We're doing our ceremony at the terrace at the Wyndham and having our reception at Herve. How are you getting your guests from one thing the the other? I'm thinking those shady taxis are the only way to go, but I'm still looking for alternatives.

I had planned to take my wedding dress on the plane as my carry on, but the airlines (Delta) said that they might take it from me when I get on board. How are you getting your dress there?

I met with EJ from Paradise Pictures, and he seemed like he'd do a great job. We're actually using Ashley Photography, though. Someone pointed out that the photographer is going to be with you for your entire day, and I liked the idea of having Ashley there rather than EJ.

I'm getting married in St. Thomas in March, and we're only inviting close family and best friends - about 50 people, and it's looking like 35 will be there. I've read that you can't invite people to the bridal shower who are not invited to the wedding, but my family is saying they want to throw me one anyway. What do I do? I really REALLY want one, but I don't want to look bad. Plus, there are a few people I didn't invite to the wedding, and they're upset about it. (But that's a whole different story.) I don't know if they would be more insulted about being invited to the bridal shower and not the actual wedding. HELP!

Me too!

Vanessa - I'm having my welcome party at Iggy''s, and Lorie the catering coordinator is sooooooooo hard to get a hold of. Honestly, just keep calling and e-mailing her. I had always heard that island vendors run on their own schedule, but it's so unbelievably frustrating!

I met with Eric Johnson and Ashley Armitage, and we booked Ashley. She's been soooo nice, and she's even given us advice on other vendors and venues. Check out her site at www.ashleyphotovi.com

TaraBinki: Thanks so much for the information!!! Since I'm getting married in March, I'll let my guests know about the renovations and room changes if they want to stay there. Â Gatorgirl: Have you talked to Lori Leonard at Bolongo? She's the one in charge, and she's been pretty good about answering my questions.

TaraBinki: How has it been for your working with Brian? I'm ultra paranoid that I'm going to come across as a Bridezilla, but I find him to be short at times.

GatorGirl - That's strange. I'm definitely only having my ceremony and a small cake and champagne reception on the terrace right after. Originally we were only going to do the ceremony, and whereas I"m sure the Wyndham would rather we had the whole thing there they never said it was required. We booked one of their terrace packages, and then made adjustments from there. I think it was just the St. John Terrace package. One tip, though: they charge you a $500 fee to have your wedding during sunset, but the sun sets on the other side of the island! They say it's because you still get the colors, but I think that's dumb. We opted to do it earlier and then have dinner at around 6:00 p.m. on the side of the island where the sun DOES set. Â

I'm getting married at the St. John Terrace at the Wyndham Sugar Bay, and then we're going to have dinner and dancing at Herve downtown. I liked the Frenchman's Reef, but I didn't find their staff to be helpful at all, and I've heard from several vendors that you have to work with only there's and they jack up the price. That being said, it is a very pretty hotel, and the gazeebo is gorgeous. I wished that I could have done my welcome party at the Rum Bar terrace, but unfortunately they don't rent that out. Â Depending on what you're looking for, I'd check out the Wyndham and Bolongo Bay. I've also heard that Mafolie is beautiful, and if you're looking for a lush, tropical forest-type setting then definitely look at Villa Botanica.

Really?! The minimum at Herve is $6,000 and there's a 20% tax/gratuity on top of that. Everything else is included, no site fee. However, it's $500 per additional hour after 3 hours, but I think that's pretty typical for just about any venue.

There's background music at Havana Blue, but there really isn't a dance floor, and I really want to do the first dance, daddy/daughter dance, etc. I wanted to find a place where I can control the music, but still a restaurant atmosphere, so we're doing a buyout of Herve.