*The official St. Lucia Brides CHAT thread*

[Monica Mai]

Hi everyone! It's getting closer and closer to everyone's special day!! Hope everyone is enjoying the planning process. I am loving being married !!   Still haven't changed my last name though.. I am trying to make it a priority for this month ha ha!!  If have finally posted some pics on our wedding website of St. Lucia, Ladera, and Jade Mountain. Just got to www.monicaanddennisherring.com and on the Gallery page there is a drop down field and you'll see an option for Ladera, Jalousie, and Jade Mountain. Check them out. Everytime I see them, I so wish I was there again.  Enjoy every minute ladies!!

 

Monica

[wilsonj2]

It's been quiet on here!  I guess everyone is as busy as I am...We are only a month away!  I still have so much to do, but I'm trying to relax and just enjoy.  I still don't have shoes and my fiance has nothing to wear.  I am working mostly on OOT bags right now and trying to work out every day to firm up before the wedding. 

 

Lilyrose, are you getting excited?  I cannot believe how close we are to leaving!  I arrive the day after you get married.

[bondgirl0072010]

Hey wilsonj2! If you're looking for barefoot jewelry (barefoot sandals) for the ceremony, I'd be happy to design them for you (if you're interested). I've included some pics below. Also, I'm not sure what color you'd like your fiance to wear, but we found a beautiful pinstripe linen "Stay Cool" brand at Joseph A. Bank (JOS). The material was still comfortable to wear in the extreme heat on the beach! I've included pics of his suit as well. His groomsmen wore tan pants and "Stay Cool" white crisp shirts. 

 

Originally Posted by wilsonj2 

It's been quiet on here!  I guess everyone is as busy as I am...We are only a month away!  I still have so much to do, but I'm trying to relax and just enjoy.  I still don't have shoes and my fiance has nothing to wear.  I am working mostly on OOT bags right now and trying to work out every day to firm up before the wedding. 

 

Lilyrose, are you getting excited?  I cannot believe how close we are to leaving!  I arrive the day after you get married.

 

[Melissa W]

Hi St. Lucia brides!! Thank you for all your posts they have been soooo helpful!!  I am so glad I found this site.  We are getting married at Smugglers Cove on April 28, 2012.  I thought a destination wedding would be easier to plan but it has been so tough!  We are in the process of locking in group rates and sending out our save the dates in a few weeks (hopefully).  Any advice, tips, or knowledge of the resort would be great!  Looking forward to sharing with everyone on your dw journey!

[Melissa W]

MEve,

 

Thank you so much for posting this review.  I have been going back and forwth with Smugglers cove and your review helped put my mind at ease a little more.  I love the wedding gazebo and the fact that the Waterside restaurant is next to it.  I have several questions about the resort that I would really like to ask you about.  Please let me know if that is ok and I will send you my email address.  I orginally loved the Windjammer from pictures and reviews but the rates were too high for us to justify for our guests.  Thanks again!  I was also wondering if you picked a wedding location yet?
 

Originally Posted by MEve 

Hello everyone!  So I am back from St.Lucia.  Girls, I can tell you, you won't be disappointed!  It is fantastic!  We stayed at Smuggler's Cove, and visited Almond Morgan Bay and Windjammer.  So here it is, for current and future brides!

 

St.Lucia hotel reviews:

 

Smuggler's Cove review: we stayed there from April 1st to April 4th.  This time of year is considered "lower season", so out of the 4 restaurants, they close one per night on a rotation.  One of the restaurant is the buffet (The Cove), so nothing too spectacular, but it's great for breakfast.  The dinner there was ok, nothing too fancy and lots of heavy food (fried fish, fried rice, potato/meat/gravy, etc.).  Lunch there is better, sandwich bar, limited selection of salads, some other varied dishes.

Cafe Asia is the adult only restaurant.  It says on the website to be Thai, Japanese, but the influence is a mix of Indian/Caribbean.  Didn't really see the Thai or Japanese in the dishes.  The food was good.

The italian restaurant is basic italian food.  Pasta, risotto, pizza.  Again, not much salads on the menu. (it's just that at some point, you crave some greens...)

The Waterside Grill, well, that was pretty great.  Set over the water, with the waves crashing below you, the menu is varied and more high end.  This restaurant can be booked for private reception, no matter the number of guests.

The beach is small, but secluded and seemed to be used only by the hotel guests.  Nice beach, not too crowded at this time of year.

The rooms are hit or miss (my fiance said I was more picky than him on that, which is rare).  The rooms that we had in the 440 range (we were there with friends) were clean, but rough around the edges.  It needed some finishing touches.  However, we saw the standard rooms that were recently refurbished, and now that I wouldn't be embarrassed for my guests to be at.  Also, they have a few oceanview or oceanfront rooms (like 7 or 8) and those are very new inside, with massive bathrooms.  They are located in an adult-only area.

In terms of wedding at Smuggler's Cove:  we met the wedding coordinator, and she is great. The wedding gazebo is one of the nicest I've seen.  White, airy, set on a cliff overlooking the bay (absolutely no chance of getting people in bathing suit on your wedding shots), totally isolated location.

 

Pros: all-inclusive, the unspoiled look of the beach, possibility of renting a whole restaurant, the intimate location and beauty of the wedding gazebo.  Nice professional staff.  They seem to be continually working on the property, fixing things once at a time.

Cons: after a week, the food might get boring, need to be specific in the room selection as to not get the older ones.

Neutral: the beach vendors are actually quite fun, friendly and lively.  They aren't aggressive or pushy.  Only a few are present on the beach each day, so not overwhelming.

 

 

 

[wilsonj2]

Chelsea, your jewelry and pictures are beautiful!  Thanks for the recommendations, but I just can't make my fiance wear a suit, although it would look really nice!  I just want him to be comfortable, so I think we're going with a linen shirt/pants combo from www.islandimporter.com .  I think I'm just going barefoot and will pick up some sparkly flip flops somewhere.  Less than a month...can't believe it!

 

 

 

[wilsonj2]

Just wanted to share my recent purchase...if you're having a small wedding and want a nice gift bag, these are a great deal and high quality!  I ordered the medium tote bag from Lands End and had them all monogrammed (I only needed 5, so I wanted to do a nicer beach bag).  They are $25.50 and if you buy 3 or more you get $5 off each!  Then I googled for a coupon and also got $10 off and free shipping.  They have lots of pockets inside, and they come in a ton of fun colors.  I ordered each woman their favorite color.  Now to fill them with goodies! 

 

Question....Has anyone ever had problems taking gift bag items through customs in St. Lucia?

 

[MEve]

Hello every one!

I'm so glad I logged back on just on time  and not miss any one before they leave!  Life has been really hectic.  I got a job in Ottawa (which is 5 hours away from where we live), so I'm going back and forth to Toronto most weekends.  Living in 2 places 440 km apart takes up so much of my time!  I'm now settled in my "weekdays" apartment and finally have some time to come back on the forum!

 

So here is the update from our planning:

Wedding date, check!  April 4, 2012, 2 pm.  We wanted 4 pm, but apparently, that's already taken.  Suspiciously, all 4 pm slots have been taken for the week we'll be there.  Yeah right.

Wedding venue, check!  Smugglers Cove.  If they can finally spell our names right, that would be great.

Honeymoon, Ladera is still on our list, we added Sandals as a possibility.  We are also considering flying or boating to another island.  I wanted Turks and Caicos, but I can't seem to find a direct route.

Invitations, almost done!  We are wrapping up this weekend with a hotel info insert and wax seal on the pocket folds.  We designed our own postage stamps with the St.Lucia parrot on them, so we are waiting for that to be delivered.  Considering the postage workers strike right now, who knows when we'll finally be able to mail everything out... 

 

I found a company through which we can organize group transportation, instead of the expensive taxis.  We felt bad putting people in taxis and them having to pay the $50 per person to get to the hotel (which is at the very top of the island).  The company is called Solar Tours.  I saw a minibus of them when we were there, and I noted the name down.  They also have a great website.  We will take the helicopter, so we can put the Welcome bags in people's rooms before they get there.

 

We didn't end up going with a travel agent.  They couldn't match up the prices we got directly from the resort, since we are all land-only.

 

Melissa W, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.  I'll message you my email address.

 

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited for the July brides!  It's coming so fast!

[MEve]

Solar Tours and Travel.  Just realized there's another company called Solar Tours...not the same.

[LilyRose]

Hi ladies,

 

Sorry for being so quiet!  I am now leaving for St. Lucia in one week!

Busy, busy, busy!

I just gave our final numbers to the resort which is great considering the time of the  year and the venue.  We have 19 guests travelling with us and 17 of them are all-inclusive (Air Canada Vacations) for 8 days at Anse Chastanet.  We are staying just next door, in the same resort, at Jade Mountain.  Lot of fun we gonna have with our guests!

 

Also, I decided to go with Mikael Lamber as a photographer.  I have to pay a surcharge since I am not using the resort photographer. I have been in touch with him by emails and Skype, and I think that I will be very pleased with my pictures. Mikael lives in St.Lucia and do wedding shots all over the island.

 

I will catch up after I come back and let you know about my experience!

 

Talk to you soon!

 

Marie