caroleandchad

Oh and my dress came totally clean from the trash the dress session. Its PERFECT. Even all of the reception spills and bottom of my dress came totally clean!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that supposedly the reason wedding can't take place on the beach area in front of Schooners anymore is that the weather last year washed a lot of the beach area away and they said its just too narrow now to set up chairs/arches/photography right there, so the only spot to get married on the beach is to the left of the property. Which I personally ended up liking better. It was alot more private, and the deck/stairs going down to the beach in front of schooners is not very pretty in my opinion. They REALLY need to stain the deck, it is gray and cracking and surrounded by weeds. Also, Julluella- as far as scuba diving, my husband and I went, and it was tons of fun.. HOWEVER.. **ALL brides*** beware that they only allow a CERTAIN number of people reserve the "included" scuba and snorkling trips. They FILL UP FAST! We were very dissapointed that we only got to dive one time, because everything was already full. Also, you cannot dive until you go to their orientation, so as soon as you can, go to the dive shop and reserve the days you want to go. I had NO idea that all the scuba trips would be booked. My husband specifically got certified for this trip. (looks like we will have to go back) .... the one dive we did get to go on, was pretty cool. It was a little dark because there was not much sun, but it was still fun... and we saw 3 sharks! 1 HUGE shark swam right past me!

Thank you Mellissa, the trash the dress session was so much fun. Such a great way to see the island and have fun together. I did my own hair and make up for the wedding as well as the trash the dress session. It didn't really hold the curl like I wanted it to because it was just a little humid from the rain but it worked out ok. I had eyelash (and hair) extensions done on the day before I left for the trip and of course now Im addicted! hahaha, it was just a good touch I wanted for the wedding and now I want them all the time. Photo's- I beleive you can "re-arrange" your money with Beaches, I know I did that. I had booked and paid for the Vision in white and ended up cancelling it and using those funds for other things.. (band, private reception dinner, etc..) Food- Im with Brandy.. no matter what you pick will be GREAT!! Nail polish- thank goodness I didnt find that because I would have HAD to add that to all of my bags its soooo cute!!!!!!! I already miss wedding planning so much:(

Thank you Melissa, yes feel free to request. Maybe someday I will load them all on here! Yes the arch used to be 650.00 when I booked it. Then another bride on here said that it had gone down so I called and they reduced it to the 350.00 price. Goes to show you, for SURE keep checking with them for "specials" I booked everything ahead of time except the band and pictures. I also had no idea until Brandy mentioned it that I could give my guest a choice on dinner if we had over 17 people.. which worked out GREAT because I had several people wanting chicken and several wanting beef. I just got the regular DVD they filmed the ceremony.. cake cutting and first dance. They did have me do the first dance early so they could film and go, which was kind of awkward because we had not even really started the reception, it was kind of a "posed" first dance and that was the only one we did.

Hi future brides!! I just got back from Beaches and got married on June 4th, I read and read and read and researched and researched everything before I went. I am also an X travel agent so I had some inside help with information. I have alot of pictures on my facebook if you would like to see let me know. I will say that when I first decided on this resort I had my heart set on doing the Vision in white package and after reading TONS of information I changed everything, and I am VERY glad that I did. I did do the Arch for 350.00 (at the time I booked it it was 650.00) but a girl on here said the price went down, I called and they reduced mine! It is alot of money to pay for a short amount of time, but it really creates a private setting as you are saying your vows, and it blocks you from any beachgoers. Not to mention that it looks soooooooooooo pretty in all of the pictures! I saw a wedding the Friday night before mine and she did not have the arch and I will say it did not have the same "beach wedding" feel to it at all. If you have it in the budget and considering it, you wont be sorry! I did no spa experiences just because the prices I could not wrap my head around and I did my own hair and make up because I wanted to make sure I liked it, and actually it was kind of fun having the "girls only" in my room getting ready right before the wedding. I didnt pre-purchase any wedding package ahead of time, simply because I have stayed at Sandals before and I know the photography is not top notch and I wanted to just buy only what I liked. I did do the DVD though. I ended up purchasing 38 pics for about 750.00 a few days after the wedding. My friends took photos of us getting ready. I also did the trash the dress session with tropical imaging 2 days after the wedding and it was a very fun experience. Music, I was not intending to book the galpso band however I had heard good things about it and when we got there, I saw a reception with them playing and it was SO neat I booked them for the 1st hour of the 2 hour reception at a price of 500.00 (yikes) If I would have budgeted for that I would have done it the whole 2 hours it was GREAT! I played our ipod on the player for the 2nd hour and there is no fee for that. Flowers- I didnt like the BB flowers for the bouquet at ALL, I made my own "real touch" flowers from hobby lobby and took them with me. The BB tables are JUST fine! I saw a vison in white wedding and I would have been sooo mad if I paid 400.00 more per table for that, not worth it at all. The BB ones are nice! If you have more than 17 people you can allow your guest to pick out of 2 choices, I picked chicken or beef and everyone said the chicken was great and I had the beef and it was 5 star quality!! Very very good and well presented! I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions!! I feel like all the girls on here helped me so much I for sure need to return the favor! Congrats!

Hi there! Yes feel free to request me. Oh and yes I saved alot of money doing the BB and upgrades. I did add the white arch, rose petals on the sand, decorated the other 2 tables with bb, the Galpso band for 1 hour, the 2 hour private dinner, and the DVD. (and of course the sand ceremony that they forgot) no big deal. I did not do any photo package ahead of time however I bought like 38 when I was there and it was about 750.00 for that. I didnt want to purchase anything til I saw them. I also did my own hair and make up just because I was scared I would end up not looking like I wanted. I was fine with that. It was actually kind of fun because the girls came to my room and we kind of got ready together!

Of course, just send me a friend request and let me know you are a future bride:) I would be happy to add you. OI will be adding more pictures in a few weeks.. my husbands grandparents had a great camera and I am still waiting for those as well as the ones from Tropical Imaging that should be here in a few weeks. Oh and I am so happy that I changed to the BB package, the tables were very pretty!! I had originally booked the Vision in white package but after reading ALLLL the info on this thread I changed it and just did the upgrades I wanted.. like the Arch, 2 extra BB tables decorated, the band.. etc... I actually went the day I got to Turks and looked at a few tables that were decorated and in my opinion it just was not worth the extra charges. I was able to put that money towards doing the 2 hour private dinner instead, which was AMAZING! Timswife.. I was also sooo worried about it being hot, I brought small fans and had my mom put them on the chairs right before the ceremony but nobody really used them until the private dinner... the breeze from the ocean kept us cool during the ceremony.. but then again it was a bit cloudy that day. I guess it just depends on the weather that day. I would see if you can request Stacy as your wedding coordinator when you get there, I have read she is great!

Thank you! Brandy If you would like to send me a friend request I would love to add you. I will be posting tons more pictures on there very soon. I ended up taking your advice and doing the band also, I LOVED it!!!! You were right, it was a great touch!! It was sooo funny when I was at the resort and adding the band I said to my husband.. "oh ya Brandy said the band is great" and then later I was like... "Brandy was right the 2 hour reception was perfect" and then a bit later... "Brandy was right the food at the reception was AMAZING" ... finally he said.. "you act like you know "Brandy" real well, like she is your best friend" hahahahaha

Hi everyone! We got back last night and I am already so sad it is over haha, I want to do it all over again every year! The weather there for our trip was a bit disappointing as it rained and was cloudy pretty much every day, and a few days it was a downpour for most of the day. I was very very lucky that the ONLY day it did not rain was on the Saturday we got married! My heart went out to the bride I saw get married Friday night in the light rain and she was having her reception by the pool and the downpour drenched their reception and they were all running into the lobby. I know this is not normal for Turks so I was hoping it would pass and it did for our wedding. It was soooo pretty and an amazing wedding on the beach. Resort- we stayed in the French Village luxury walkout room. When we got there they gave us two beds, so we switched with another guest on our trip. French village was perfect for us, very pretty pool/swim up bar and REAL close to the amazing coffee shop and AMAZING Sushi bar. The room was nice, like everyone has already said they are just "nice" nothing spectacular. If I had it to do over I would not do the "walkout" as it was literally just a few blocks of tile surrounded by bushes and yes we had tons of mosquito's in our room, I had a pretty bite on my face after night one. Our guest that were on floor 2 and 3 had NO mosquito's at all. The resort is amazing, very clean, very very nice. The only thing I could see they need to revamp is the Caribbean village pool. Our resort was booked to capacity and it never ever felt crowded at all. It was perfect. Food- the food was sooooo good!! There is sooo much food everywhere and is very very good food. The Sushi bar, Kimo's Le pitit Chatea were are favorites. The coffee shop serves melted chocolate every day at 5pm and tons of fruit, warm cookies, marsh mellows and muffins for dipping. Oh and at Schooners if you order crab legs 24 in advance you can have a HUGE tray of crab legs for everyone. Wedding- we had Comanaci ( I think thats how you spell her name) as our wedding coordinator. She was nice but I was NOT impressed with her work. She forgot the sand ceremony, had the wrong color rose petals that I purchased. Didn't call me to let me know that the large boardwalk was open or not after I requested it. Never called me back after I called to see if we could get the rain parasols they have for sale there. (they sell them for 20.00 each in the wedding office I knew this because I saw another bride and her wedding party using them in the rain Thursday night) Then she told me she would pick me up from my room at 345 because the wedding was at 4pm. At 4pm I was calling around trying to find her, the sales office finally had her call me back and she told me just to walk to the lobby and she would get me there. Wow. Anyway, I didnt sweat all of this stuff because it was just little stuff and I was not about to get angry at a thing on my wedding day. But I did have her refund my sand ceremony. She also played one song after the ceremony and thats it even though we gave her a playlist. The other weddings I saw played music during the signing of the paperwork and picture taking. Anyway, just be prepared to go with the flow, thats what I did and it was fine. Ceremony was GREAT, Pastor was GREAT, the vision in white arch was Sooo pretty and worth every penny. We did our own dinner at Schooners the night before the wedding, they set up a large table for us and it was perfect all you have to do is make a reservation. With 19 people the latest we could do it was 6 and it worked great. Reception - we did a 2 hour private reception on the large boardwalk. They NOW HAVE GORGEOUS WHITE FABRIC DRAPING FROM THE SMALLER BOARDWALKS/GAZEBO'S, it is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty, and it is brand new. They didnt have it in yet for the large boardwalk so I couldnt have it because our party was too large for the smaller locations. We had 19 total. If you have a smaller party and can use those locations its gorgeous. Reception food was super super super good and Brandy was right, 2 hours was plenty for us, after that everyone was ready to party party party. The cake was great as well. After the reception we partied it up at Cricketers and then carried it on to Liquid. TONS of fun, I stayed in my dress because I LOVE my dress and the bottom was nearly black in the morning haha. Photos- Beaches photography is the same as Sandals photography.... BLA.. no good. Pretty sure they just grabbed the first person that came to work that day and gave him a camera and said go shoot the wedding. He could hardly speak English. I bought some of the pictures because of course I wanted to have some official wedding pictures but my guest had great cameras and their pics are just as good if not better. Luckily I knew this going into this vacation because I have had pics done at Sandals before so I did not purchase a big package and booked with Tropical Imaging for a TTD that following Monday which was so fun and I should get those pics back in a few weeks. Anyone have any good tips on how to clean the dress? The ocean didn't do as much damage as my reception dance a thon at liquid. I am not real good at loading pics but they are on my facebook, possibly this link will work? http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150228356748257.333687.585963256#!/profile.php?id=585963256 Let me know if you guys have any questions!! Hands down the best all inclusive I have ever ever stayed at!!!

Sophia I couldn't help but laugh at your weather freak out! hahaha Very valid concern yet very typical right before the wedding bridal break down. Thank you Krys for calming our weather fears, everything you wrote was very well put and very true. I saw a bride in Jamaica get married under a pavilion in the POURING rain last year, and I thought to myself how bad that must have been, but I could tell they made the best of it and enjoyed each other. We just have to keep that in mind just in case! Lauren, great pictures! How hot was it while you were having them done?? Im clearly having a "Im gonna sweat to death" bridal breakdown. haha Sophia what are you doing for music. I think Brandy had mentioned before she felt like it would have been too quiet without the band and I for sure don't want that. I am willing to hire one, I just dont know if I should do a DJ or the band, or just keep it with IPOD music.

Thanks Brandy, I wanted to do exactly that, meet her for pictures right after the ceremony but she was already booked, I tried almost a year ago. (So that answers the question earlier.. I would book as SOON as you can if you know you want to use her). Glad we atleast get to do the TTD a few days later. That is a good point about the food.. I think I will stick with just the 2 hour reception. How was the weather at 6? Still super hot and sunny? What kind of music did the band play for you? Sorry for all the questions.. Im just having last minute thoughts!

Hi everyone, we leave on Wed. so just finalizing everything, the only thing I am really unsure about now is the music and reception time. Looking for suggestions/advice... Our wedding is at 4pm on the beach and I have booked a 2 hour reception. I have heard about bringing an IPod/player for music and then again there is the option of DJ or Band? Also, not sure if the reception should start right at 5 or if we should add some sort of cocktail time to it before the 2 hour starts? Also as far as music for the actual ceremony.. do we pick that out and bring it? First dance? Thanks everyone for your help!! I am sooooooo glad I booked Tropical Imaging for 2 days after the wedding.. I really really wish they could shoot our whole wedding Finally done with the pre-wedding stuff.. and added a few pictures in my album. I ended up doing the real touch flowers and making my bouquet and my daughters bouquet myself. Turned out cute, now I just have to figure out how to transport! Gift bags are ready and packed!

Brandy thank you soo much for the amazing review! Your pictures were great! We all really appreciate you starting this thread, it has helped me a ton! I have a few questions. 1. Do you think the 2 hour reception was long enough for you? I am debating on doing the 2 or 3 hour. 2. How did you communicate with your guest while you were at the resort? I have heard of doing 2 way radio? Or Cell phone pre-paid Sim cards?? 3. How far of a walk was it to get to TI right after your ceremony for you and your guest? I would LOVE to do that, I am also doing TI 2 days after the wedding:)

TimsWife thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for updating us with this info!! You saved me 300.00!! I had the white arch booked at 650.00 and I called today.. the weddding department told me it was now 250.00 however when they got Monica on the phone she said it was 350.00 (imagine that) the wedding department gave me a price for a plain arch and not the WHITE arch draped in fabric. Well Ill take the 300.00 reduction!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!