*The official St. Lucia Brides CHAT thread*

[LilyRose]

Welcome to the forum Jess M!

Congratulations!

 

I am glad to find another Anse Chastanet-Jade Mountain bride here!  You are the first I met since I registered on BDW!

I am Canadian too and will get married in July 2011.  What is your date ?  I am getting married at Jade Mountain but our guests are staying at Anse Chastanet.

 

Would love to stay in touch with you to help in the planning!

 

LilyRose

[BBSL]

Hey, I was on this thread a lot earlier as Beach-bride, but have had to register again!

 

I got married in St Lucia in October, so would be happy to share any info. 

[Julee]

Looks like we're going to be heading there a week earlier due to flights and such.  Can you recommend any good places to stay that are affordable.  We don't need an AI but something close to Castries, air con, clean and such would be great. 

 

Also, still trying to source out a good photographer.  Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

[MrsWilliams1111]

Hey St. Lucia ladies. So I've been busy planning and trying to figure out a way to make it as minimally stressful as possible, lol. So, I realized that trying to juggle my guests between both accomadations (Sandals Grande and the Bay Gardens Hotel Resort) is becoming more complicated than I thought. I began to wish I could just use one accomadation for organization purposes. Most guests want the all inclusive, but we don't have all couples/people who want to share beds. Some of my guests may want to bring thier kids as well. So my TA suggested that we look at another All Inclusive resort that could better fit the varied needs of my guests, such as Almond Morgan Bay. I want to make a decision rather quickly, so I'm doing alot of research on the resort (although I'm being careful not to put too much weight on reviews-Thanks LilyRose!). But it seems like it may be a good fit (and it's certainly cheaper than Sandals). Me and fiancee were looking towards Sandals because it was recommended by someone ( who went there on another island), so we weren't set on it anyway. But who knows, lol, I may change my mind again

 

BBSL-please give us a all the details of your wedding in St. Lucia! I know many of us would love to hear more first hand accounts of being married on the Islan.

[JessM]

Hi LilyRose!  Exciting that you are getting married at Jade Mountain, it looks amazingly beautiful.  We chose Anse Chastenet for that reason too and are excited that it's a smaller, more eco-friendly resort with some pretty spectacular views too!

 

We haven't confirmed everything just yet, but it's looking like our wedding date will be either July 20 or 21 most likely (this year - so coming up soon!) ...just starting to work with the resort now and getting our guest numbers finalized.

How have your interactions been with the resort so far?  I would appreciate any advice you can offer. 

 

BBSL I would love to hear how you wedding was - where on the Island did you get married?

[JessM]

MrsWilliams1111 - I had a friend who got married at Almond Morgan Bay a couple of years ago.  She had a wonderful experience there and her photos are really beautiful.  Hope that helps with your decision making!

[LilyRose]

Thanks JessM, 

 

The communication with the resort has been great so far, Karolin, the owner, write to me personally. I am planning a phone meeting with her in the near future as she suggested it. I have found a lot of infos on their Elope to Paradise webpage and as well on their Facebook wedding's page. Have you visited these webpages yet?  My wedding date is July 11th.  I have reserved more than one year in advance but the time flies by so fast...

 

Where are you doing your reception? Anse-Mamin, the AC restaurant by the beach ?  We are doing the ceremony at the Jade terrace but do not know yet for the reception.

 

Talk to you soon, 

 

Lilyrose

 

 

 

[Kasia]

Hello ladies,

I'm a Polish national and was wondering if anyone here could help me? I am trying to find out exactly what sort of documents I need in order to get married in St Lucia - the organisers say it's passport and birth certificate's authenticated translation. I am trying to find out if an apostilla or anything else is needed for the translation. If any of you knows and could share his info with me, I'd be extremly grateful.

thx!
Kasia
 

[MEve]

Hello everyone,

Julee :  I found that often, the resort/hotel where you'll have the wedding might impose their own photographer.  You can chose your own, but there are fees to pay to bring in your own.  Sandals is particularly stiff (of course they say you can do WHATEVER you want...you should have to pay extra for it ;-))

 

Kasia :  I can't help, as I am in Canada, I can have all the documents done in English...my guess would be to call a notary and ask if they can do it in an official way, and if they can't, who could.  Hopefully they won't charge you for asking a question over the phone :-)

 

So I am no longer looking at a villa.  The different personnalities of our guests makes it very complicated for the room sharing and meal planning.

There was the National Bridal Show this weekend in Toronto, and we went. (Yes, we!  My man wasn't too hard to convince).  Most vendors were totally in your face, almost stripping you down to make you try a gown/tuxedo whatever it was that they were selling.  Awful.  BUT...we found our travel agent.  So it wasn't pain for nothing.  It's a company that specializes in Destination Wedding.  It's called Wedding by Oceans.  Something like that.  We talked to what we learnt afterwards was the founder of the agency.  I did a lot of research already, as we all did.  And so I was asking lots of questions about specific resorts and hotels in St.Lucia, and I can tell you, there was no BS.  She's been to St.Lucia and has years of experience in the travel industry and destination wedding coordination. (my gosh, I sound like I work there and trying to pitch it :-))  FYI, their facebook page is better than their website.  She was praising Jade and Anse Chastanet, but she knows not everybody has that kind of budget and so is also very good recommending other venues such as villas or family-owned smaller hotels and the likes.

 

BBSL :  seriously, you are going MIA now, leaving us all hanging as to where you had your wedding and how it was!!!  PLEASE!!!??? ;-)

 

Talk soon,

MEve

[Julee]

Thanks MEve. I'm lucky since I'm doing it at a private villa and I don't think they have any restrictions or will make me pay an additional charge.