Beaches Turks & Caicos Wedding Questions

[Kendall]

Hi everyone!

 

We are getting married May 2011 at Beaches in T&C. I'm hoping to get some guidance from some of you ladies who have already done all of this. My TA has been of little help.

 

1) We are planning on doing the Beautiful Beginnings package. We can still get married at any location on the resort, right? When do we pick our location? When we arrive in Turks and meet with the Wedding Planner?

 

2) We are interested in a private reception. We were told the deck of Scooners isn't available to us because our group is only 17 people and we would need 75 to book that. Does anyone know what our other options are for a private reception?

 

3) When do we pick our menu? I'd like to put menus and favors at each place setting (which I understand incurs a $250 set-up fee) and although I have 11 months, I don't want to wait until the last minute so I can have the menus printed.

 

4) How is the rehearsal dinner handled? Is that included? My TA said we don't really have a true "wedding rehearsal" but I have seen posts of people saying they had a rehearsal dinner, etc. I'm confused.

 

I would appreciate any help you can provide. I understand that I have plenty of time, but don't want to wait until the last minute on some of these things.

[JenniferSS]

That's a shame that your TA can't answer your questions- it just makes it really stressful on the both of you- TA & bride! I'll help out a bit as I have a few minutes!

 

1. You pick your location at the resort - don't worry. BTC is quite large and they only do 1 wedding an hour so you'll have your choice of teh entire property ( please keep in mind that they will not shut down any public spaces such as a restaurant that is scheduled to be open just for your wedding/rehearsal/reception)

 

2. There are several decks out by the water that would be able to accommodate your group! You could also usr the roman gazebo looking thing out by the French Village pool- that would be very private and pretty!

 

3. There is a fairly set menu for the reception- although they may be able to work with you on some of the items. Just let Monica know that you would like to see the menus. You can book & pay for this at any time- preferably being all set & paid at least 45 days prior so they have time to order everything in! If they are just small favors & menus you can have someone place them on the tables for you after they are set up & there will be no fee. (That is as long as it isn't something messy that they have to clean up after! )

 

4. The rehearsal isn't a traditional run through if teh wedding- however th night before many brides chose to have everyone get together and have dinner together. If you have a group or group code and meet the minimum # of rooms you get the rehearsal dinner for free for those booked under the code or group.

 

HTH!

[winnie]

Hi Kendall,

 

1) We did the VIW theme and we knew we wanted to get married on the beach infront of Schooners. The beach was nice but can get crowded. Alot of people are standing around watching but the onsite wedding coordinators do their best to move people out of the area. It didn't bother us so much that people were watching but most of our ceremony pictures had bystanders in them! Other locations i know that were available for the ceremony are the Gazebos. I believe there are two gazebos locations. Meagan on this forum was married at the gazebo location and i'm sure she'll be able to tell you more about it.

 

2) How many people are you expecting? There were three locations that were available to us: 1) adult jacuzzi deck, 2) gazebo lawn and 3) Iguana pool. However, on the day of our wedding, there was another private reception going on at the Roman gazebo looking thing/bridge at the French Village thing that TA Jennifer mentioned. We chose the adult jacuzzi deck because of the size (perfect for 24 people) and during cocktail hour, our guests were able to watch the sunset by the beach!

 

3) You usually pick the menu 60 days before the wedding so they have time to order everything in (as per TA Jennifer) and yes, we had to pay for a set-up fee to put our favours at each place setting.

 

4) We didn't have a wedding rehearsal. It's pretty basic and the wedding coordinators instruct you right before the actual ceremony what to do. We did however, have a rehearsal dinner as it was included because we had 10 rooms or more booked. We did it as a welcome/rehearsal dinner so that everyone can get together and have dinner together.

[Girasole]

Hey Kendall - sent you a PM, let me know if you have more questions

[Kendall]

Thanks everyone so much for your help! We are expecting about 17 guests. We are hoping to get everything planned and paid for prior to going so that when we get to the resort we only have a few things to finish up. I really appreciate all of your help!

[jerri-lee]

HI Kendall!

 

1) We just got back (wedding day was May31st)and also did the beautiful beginnings package, We chose the gazebo because we got married early in the day and it is so hot, the backdrop is still gorgeous! you get to look at all of the locations and choose once you are there and meet your on site coordinator. (we had patricia and she is wonderful and so helpful!)

 

2) We did the private reception and had 12 people. I think the gazebos were the best option. nice and private and the settings are beautiful. You are also overlooking the ocean, it was perfect. I have pictures if you would like to see!

 

3) You can pick the menus beforehand, ask her to send you the package options! there are also all the spa choices and any other extras in it. we did the 'wedding extravaganza' spa package, it was so worth it!

 

4) We didn't do a rehersal dinner but you can pretty much 'make your own' at any of the restaurants.

 

I have pictures of a lot of the wedding stuff, let me know if you have any other questions! the weather in may was perfect for a wedding!

 

Hands down the best decision i made was hiring tropical imaging for my photography. we did a trash the dress shoot after the wedding, my pictures are my favorite thing about the whole trip! Brilliant | Turks and Caicos | wedding photography | beach portraits | video | Caribbean destination weddings

[hockeymom97]

Hi Kendall!! Congratulations and welcome to the forum!! I'm sorry to hear that your TA has not been able to help you. I think that you can still move your reservation over to a different TA if you aren't happy with who you're currenly using. I booked with TA Jennifer and she is wonderful to work with and if you've read thru this forum at all, you'll see she has tons of info and is super helpful. JMHO

 

jerri-lee -- congrats and welcome back!! Have you done a review or posted any pics yet? I would LOVE to hear more about your wedding, and I'm sure other Beaches T&C brides would love to see as well!!

[Kendall]

jerri-lee, I'd love to see your photos! Who did you use at Tropical Imaging? I have an email into Ileana. I love the stuff they do!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks hockeymom97, my TA did give me a brochure similar to the one you're speaking of - has the different packages, costs and then some of the meal selections, etc. in it.

 

You ladies cleared up much of my confusion. I'm glad we can walk around the resort before picking our location. I was concerned about the reception location also - wondering if we could do something private ourside. Did either of you do that?

[jerri-lee]

I Did use ileana! the pictures are fantastic, here is the blog!

 

The Wedding / trash the dress of Jerr-Lee and Seamus | Brilliant by Tropical Imaging

 

 

Thank you Heather! I am still trying to figure out how to add pictures to my review! you would think being a computer engineer it wouldnt be so hard for me, lol

[KimberlyAnne]

 

1. When you arrive at the resort, you are met by a beaches rep, and given some documents to go over by the time of your meeting with your Beaches WC who actually greets you on your arrival.  You will be given an appointment with your WC either that day or the next day to go over the particulars of you wedding ...

 

2.  Scooners is one of the popular restaurants, which is closed maybe two days a week, which weddings would be scheduled.  You WC will walk you thru the resort and show you each site your ceremony and reception could take place.  You will have many to choose from  and all of which are beautiful locations!  We changed ours twice!  If a location you pick happens to be a restaurant, they will not close the restaurant for your reception.  So they will tell you what is available the day of your ceremony.  

 

3.  You can get in touch with Monica for menu's, and we had some with specific food allergies, and they worked well with, we had a great menu to choose from for our rehearsal and reception. And they were very accommodating up and until the end!!  

 

4.  You really do not have an actual  "wedding rehearsal", but while you meet with you WC, all your guests are being gathered and taken to your "rehearsal dinner" .  All this is worked out with your first meeting with your Resort WC..   They will prepare and hand you an itinerary for you and all your guests for each event with instructions if needed!