*The official St. Lucia Brides CHAT thread*

[poohbear1201]

Hello Brides and Brides to be...

 

This goes out to the brides...does anyone have pictures of their St. Lucia (Sandals) wedding? Would you care to share?? I am hoping to confirm my wedding really soon in St. Lucia...

 

Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated??

 

Where are all the St. Lucia brides??? Is there anyone left on here???

 

Many thanks

[wilsonj2]

Which Sandals are you choosing for your ceremony/reception?  It is VERY hard to find pictures of ceremonies, but I have found a few.  My TA has some on her Facebook page....Leslie's Vacations Honeymoons and Destination Weddings.

 

Originally Posted by poohbear1201 

Hello Brides and Brides to be...

 

This goes out to the brides...does anyone have pictures of their St. Lucia (Sandals) wedding? Would you care to share?? I am hoping to confirm my wedding really soon in St. Lucia...

 

Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated??

 

Where are all the St. Lucia brides??? Is there anyone left on here???

 

Many thanks

[Kristy!]

Glad to see this thread is up and rockin' again.  I got married almost two years ago (May 23rd) on Pigeon Island.  We did everything through Villa Capri (I just adorable Kris Wanger!) and has our reception dinner at Jacques in Castries.  I still come around the forum, so feel free to PM me about anything.  Oh, and I HIGHLY recommend chartering a catamaran for those who want to do a group outing.  It cost $500 for a 50 person boat (there were 34 of us) for 4 hours, and this included the crew and music.  We had the staff at the villa put together sandwiches and rum punch and we bought beer, water, and other snacks to bring on as well.  They provided snorkeling gear too.  It was definitely the most talked-about part of the trip because it was so much fun.  We chartered the boat from Carnival.  (No, not THAT carnival!)

 

Originally Posted by Julee 

I haven't logged on in a while but am glad that I have.  Our wedding is planned for June 2011.  We've rented out the Villa Capri and will be having the wedding on site with reception to follow also on site.  Just wondering if anyone has sourced a good photographer yet.

I'm so excited to see that someone else is getting married at Villa Capri.  Loved it!  Definitely have them buy all the food and everything.  I made the mistake of thinking we'd just do it ourselves and it was a lot of work. 
 

We won photography and videography from this forum (KLK Photography and Blue Sky Videos), so we lucked out in that category because they were amazing.  I think before I knew about that though, we were going to go with someone named Ray.  I think the website is www.karaymedia.com  I hope that's right.  Seriously though, any info you need, please PM me.  Oh, and I did not care for the transportation people Kris used.  My Dad ended up getting in a fight with them which was so unexpected because he's not like that at all.  They just nickeled and dimed everything.

 

Originally Posted by 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.

Are you looking for a place to stay just on your own?  My parents stayed at Harmony Suites after the wedding.  They got a great price on Expedia and they could walk to almost anything in Rodney Bay.  It also has the best restaurant on the island right there, The Edge.  So yummy!
 

[JessMarie]

Hi there!

 

I'm a newbie to this forum:)

 

I got engaged over the holidays and we are planning to elope to St. Lucia for our "weddingmoon" in April 2012.  We really wanted to get away from everything- and because I have two children we knew that if we had guests come we would always be concerned about entertaining them (esp my kids).  And we never get time to ourselves as it is now.  So eloping is the way to go for us.  We will have a huge reception the week after we get back though to include everyone.

 

As of right now, we plan on (haven't booked yet) staying in Soufriere- and want to stay at Stonefield estate villas http://www.stonefieldvillas.com/index.html

 

The reviews on trip advisor are amazing, and we love the views from the private villas.  Because it is just us, an AI resort isn't really appealing -there is a restaurant onsite and we have no problems going into town and getting groceries. 

 

I still am wondering though if I should utilize the free wedding through the estate or use a wedding planner.  We plan on hiring a private photographer, and really dont care about the cake, music, etc.  What does matter to us is location options, and communication (this is most key to me).

 

Anyway, thought I would say hi here and see what everyone else is planning!

[wilsonj2]

Welcome and congrats!  I don't know much about Stonefield Estates, as I'm getting married at Sandals, but I'm sure it will be beautiful!  If you don't care that much about all the little details, it seems like it would be easier/cheaper to just go with the free wedding.  I agree that spending a little extra on a photographer is the way to go.  Happy planning!
 

Originally Posted by JessMarie 

Hi there!

 

I'm a newbie to this forum:)

 

I got engaged over the holidays and we are planning to elope to St. Lucia for our "weddingmoon" in April 2012.  We really wanted to get away from everything- and because I have two children we knew that if we had guests come we would always be concerned about entertaining them (esp my kids).  And we never get time to ourselves as it is now.  So eloping is the way to go for us.  We will have a huge reception the week after we get back though to include everyone.

 

As of right now, we plan on (haven't booked yet) staying in Soufriere- and want to stay at Stonefield estate villas http://www.stonefieldvillas.com/index.html

 

The reviews on trip advisor are amazing, and we love the views from the private villas.  Because it is just us, an AI resort isn't really appealing -there is a restaurant onsite and we have no problems going into town and getting groceries. 

 

I still am wondering though if I should utilize the free wedding through the estate or use a wedding planner.  We plan on hiring a private photographer, and really dont care about the cake, music, etc.  What does matter to us is location options, and communication (this is most key to me).

 

Anyway, thought I would say hi here and see what everyone else is planning!

[MEve]

Hello all,

JessMarie, congrats on the engagement!  I am also an April 2012 bride.  With people having their guests change their minds at the last minute, eloping seems really appealing right now!  If it's only for the 2 of you, I think you'll find very easy to get good deals.

 

I haven't been in the chat for a while.  Lot happened for us in the last month.  We were originally suppose to get married in January or February 2012, but we decided to post-pone as my fiance got cancer.  He is fortunately somewhat out of the woods, but we discovered that having children will likely be more complicated for us...meaning $$$.  So in view of all the expenses with the wedding, April 2012 it is!  We found great DIY invitation pocket folds from Cardsandpockets.com and I am now just waiting for them to have a sale to buy them.  Afterall, I do have lots of time!

 

For our AHR, I am starting to have cold feet!  The reason for me to have our wedding in the Caribbean was to keep it to a very low number of people.  Not that I am anti-social or anything, but by now, I've seen lots of my friends' weddings (some even got to their second one), and I just didn't want to have to deal with all that stress.  Now I'm finding that the AHR alone is stressing me out!  We want to have an open bar (although I find the boose is always diluted.  I had 11 gin+tonic at a friend's wedding, and kid you not, I was still walking straight with my high heels at the end of the night!), but the list is long, mainly my fiance's list.  Some people from his extended family he can't even remember their last names!!!  Anyone having that kind of problem???  We still have ways to go, so maybe he'll be able to streamline by then :-)  How do you convince your fiance to narrow down his list???

[JessMarie]

MEve- I'm so sorry to hear about your fiance's cancer diagnosis- I myself am a cancer survivor- my fiance and I started dating during the last of my radiation treatment and after my last surgery.  Unfortunately for us I cannot have any more children (I have two from a previous marriage when I was VERY young) but Matt loves them like his own:)  I am very lucky.  Best wishes for a speedy treatement and recovery!

 

As for our AHR- the whole thing is really overwhelming to me.  My fiance and his family are HUGE and they want to invite everyone and their friends.  I really want something small and spectacular so I don't have to worry about money as much and everyone can have a great time.  I am def not one for huge crowds.  We haven't talked about a guest list, and I don't think I will have much trouble convincing Matt to narrow it down, I do worry about his family. 

 

They are footing the bill for the AHR- well, kind of...they have a set amount of money they would like to give to us to use as we see fit (house, savings, wedding, etc) so really, while they are paying for it, I do not want to spend more than is worth it to me.  And having 100+ people seems just too much to me.

 

My next step is to start researching whether we want our AHR at my fiance's parents house (large, nice grounds) and cater/bar there or whether we want to rent somewhere for an evening party.  I'm not sure what will end up being more cost effective.

 

I sent away for a TON of wedding invite ans STD samples so we have some options. I may try to make my own though too..I am crafty but not sure I have the time or energy.

[Monica Mai]

Hi JessMarie,

 

Welcome to the forum. I will be getting married this April in Soufriere... so in a couple of months I will be able to answer some of your questions . My soon to be mother-in-law and stepson will be staying at the Stonefield -- that resort was recommended by the Jalousie plantation (where all our guests are staying) and offers free shuttles to the beach. I think it would be a beautiful place to elope. Our wedding will be at Ladera and we are having a pre-wedding dinner at the Jalousie.We also took advantage of the free wedding option Ladera offered and the hotel has a wedding planner that I just told her everything I wanted and so far no major issues. We are bringing our own photographer too and filmographer also since a lot of guests will not be able to attend we decided on splurging on a filmographer to capture the wedding.  We are not having an AHR either due to cost.  One thing I discovered (and it could just be my own personal issue because we have about 15 guests attending) about the free wedding was a couple of hidden costs, such as having to pay to use the hotel's club cars to transport our guests to the wedding pavilion-- I guess it would have been no cost for just us two, but with the additional people we are having to pay $150-- which I guess in the grand scheme of things is not alot of money, but still not something I had budgeted for initially.  Happy wedding planning!!

 

Monica Mai

[JessM]

Hi all!

 

So it's official, our wedding date is set for July 20th 2011 - just received confirmation from the resort today.  Very exciting - it's going to come so fast too

 

LilyRose - we booked through a TA and AC Vacations, we found they had the best rates and I wanted to use an agent to make the process smoother since we were booking as a group.  We have 11 guests (including ourselves) staying on the resort, and 4 guests staying off the resort coming on for the wedding day.  I spoke with Karolin at the resort she was really helpful.  We aren't planning to do a private dinner for our guests, I think we'll just reserve a section of one of the resort restaurants - Aspara sounds really nice.  We are thinking about chartering a sailboat for our guests though, as a thank you for attending - maybe the day before or the day after the wedding.

I totally agree with you about booking a group, we encountered more difficulties than expected.  All of our closet friends and family knew about our plans way in advance and everyone seemed to be on board, but in the end, a number of people complained about the price.  I do understand where people are coming from, but I was certainly more stressed about booking than I thought I would be because of this. 

Oh well, in the end it's about the couple getting married and and what you want, that is the important thing to remember!!!

 

I'm starting to plan for the AHR, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as well.  We initially wanted to do it at one of our parents' houses, but now I'm having second thoughts about that - even if we get it catered I worry it'll put too much stress on our parents as the hosts.  Alternatively if we have to rent a venue, this can get pretty pricy too.  We'll have to weigh our options a bit more and see what works best.  We are thinking of holding the AHR about a month after the wedding.  When is everyone planning to hold your receptions?

 

I'm also thinking about doing gift bags for our guests staying on the resort, with some cute items like flipflops, sunscreen, maybe a personalized welcome note, stuff like that.  Is anyone else doing this?  I'm wondering about shipping this stuff to the resort in advance but I'm a bit worried about the cost.

 

More planning to be done and only 5 months away...wow.

[LilyRose]

Hello dear ladies!

 

I'm back from Africa now so hopefully, will have more time to plan!  I am going to try my dress today...In fact, I tried my dress in September while I was visiting Montreal.  I ordered it in Vancouver in December after an intensive hunt, and no other dress was beating the Montreal's one.  So, I never get the chance to try it again and it will arrive only in May.  But the store really liked the dress (according to the pictures) and I just learned this week that they have ordered one sample in store!  So  I am heading there today to try it and chose a veil and the bridesmaid dress color. I hope I will have the same good feelings about the dress!  So nervous now!

 

JessMarie, Congrats and welcome!  Seems like according to your description, you won't need a wedding planner.  I have read a lot of reviews about weddings there (Trip advisor) and I think that your resort will be able to manage everything for you. Yeah!

 

Wilsonj2, glad to see that the planning is going well. It's so good to see this thread being alive now.. I have waited so long! hahaha!

 

MEve, I think that you will like getting married in April.  Less expensive and less crowded! "Rien n'arrive pour rien!" And more time to plan!

Believe me, I got engaged on Valentine's Day last year and the time flies by for sure!

 

JessM, congrats on your confirmed date!  You will get married 9 days after us!  Since I am back in Canada now, I will email back the resort and plan a phone meeting with Karolin.  Are you taking the catamaran cruise or the sailboat ?  I found the price very expensive for the catamaran so I need to work to find a compromise.  I agree with you, a cruise would be the best thank you we could give to our guests.

 

And I agree with you all.  There is always extra costs we need to consider. Set up, activities, champagne, etc. Even if my guests are AI, we need to pay a surcharge per meal (I think it's 50$ per person) for the wedding reception.  It makes sense since the wedding meal will be more elaborated that the AI meal but I was wondering if it's the same for you. A lot of people think that the wedding does not cost anything to the married couple since everyone pay their own trip but after organizing my own wedding, I can see that this is not true!

 

Regarding the AHR, we really wanted to have one.  When we choose to have a destination wedding, the idea of a AHR was reassuring to us.  But because we were not sure of our schedule after the wedding (fiancé is working overseas) we decided to not put anything about it in the invitation.  And I am glad I did.  I do not feel the need now to do a big AHR!  I do not know if it's because I want to really splurge with our guests in St. Lucia or the additional costs of having at AHR but.. I'm not feeling it now.  I won't be able to beat or imitate my wedding at Jade Mountain in any AHR!    And since our families are in Quebec, our friends in BC and all over the world, we would need to do many AHR or make travel our families for it.  So, we are thinking to maybe do something really informal in our next trip in Montreal (outside BBQ or maybe a get together in a restaurant) to see everyone and share some pictures.  I really think that AHR are great, I just do not think it would work for us so I am glad to spend more $ in St. Lucia with our guests.

 

I found my OOT bags, I got an awesome deal on it!  I am a huge fan of LUG products. (I have them all ..almost!) So I have ordered at a special price the Eco Shopper reusable grocery bag.  It looks very good and the color is unisex (I choose the grass green).  I know that it would be the kind of product I would use myself after the wedding.  It's not personalized but I will add some color and a tag on the handle or the front pocket.

 

http://www.luglife.com/Eco-Shopper-Foldable-Tote

 

 

 

LilyRose