Hi everyone! We were married at the Suites on July 19th, 2012. It was so wonderful! I'll share a few details and the link to our highlight video so you can see some of the venues. I start back teaching this week, so don't have time to write a full review, but feel free to PM me any questions! All in all, it was perfect! Nicole and Tiffany REALLY know what they're doing! I was also getting frustrated with late responses, but I just typed out everything I wanted, and they followed it to the letter, and it was better than I ever expected!

Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOTrWV9-tVg

70 guests

Tuesday- Welcome party on the beach with 2 hours of bonfire and national bar and mento band (loved it!- They set everything up nicely and people commented that they felt like they were in a movie!)

Wednesday- Nicole ran a rehearsal, then we had dinner at Calabash- delicious!

Thursday- Wedding day: The groom and I went with our photographers to the Rose Hall Manor for one hour of photos. This was HOT, but we love the photos.

Ceremony was at 5:30 on the beach- weather was very nice

6-7: Cocktail hour with open bar and Steel Pans Band on the beach- soooo worth it! This may have been my favorite part of the day

7-11: Private Reception at Aunt Ruby's- this was also HOT, but I didn't want to be indoors when all the Chicagoans came for the ocean! People would just step outside to catch a breeze, and the paper fans we passed out at the ceremony also helped.

DJ Kevan was awesome- I sent him some song ideas ahead of time, and he played them all. We paid him extra to play until 11, which Nicole allowed. It was the perfect amount of time, actually. I was really worried that 11 was an early ending, but some of us went on to the disco, but most people ended up crashing.

Hair- Mervina at the salon was great! All my bridesmaids had their hair done at the salon, and everyone was very happy!

Make-up- We brought a Chicago area MUA with us. She did 12 girls, and the make-up stayed in the heat. She is great and available for travel: http://www.deannaraeartistry.com/

Photo & Video- We brought down Chicago photographer and videographer Heather Stone and her assistant, Kai. They were amazing and captured 3 days of dinners, pool time, and of course wedding day. They are also available for travel: http://heatherstonephotography.com/

Flowers- We used Tai Floral. I wanted simple flowers, so we had only a draping of crystals with orchids on the back of the provided huppa. That was it in terms of ceremony decor. We got engaged in Madrid, Spain, so I wanted to bring some "Spanish" element into the day, so the bridesmaids carried Spanish fans and Tai Floral tied on some small flowers to the fans. I was also very happy with my bouquet! For the reception, we brought our own lanterns, paper flowers made from our favorite books (we are both English teachers!) in vases with votives for the centerpieces, and bookmarks for seating assignments. We did not get anything from Tai Floral for the reception.

Best of luck to all the other brides! You will LOVE it there, and you will have a dream wedding!