Beaches Resort and Tropical Imaging Turks and Caicos May 2010

[jerri-lee]

Pictures are coming!

 

I would’ve lost my mind if it wasn’t for this site! It was absolutely the most helpful tool I had in planning the perfect wedding!

 

Customs and Check-in were simple and quick and the Beaches transfer were waiting outside, gave us cold water and we were off!

 

The Resort- I thought it was great! It was our first all inclusive and I am not sure I would do that again but I can’t say one bad thing about it. We love to explore and see the culture of the places we visit and being at an all inclusive it’s hard to justify leaving when there is everything you could imagine right there! We loved going sailing and kayaking and spending days on the beach. It’s really a beautiful place.

The resort was big but easy to navigate! We didn’t do the orientation and quickly became comfortable with our favorite spots and places to go.

Our room was nice and had a balcony overlooking the beach which was all we cared about! We were booked into the French village originally which had beautiful rooms but we immediately switched to the Caribbean village because we wanted a beach view and a balcony more than a brand new room.

 

The food was good, I overate pasta way too many times! I loved the French restaurant that was adults only and Marios as well. Breakfast was always great, we ate at reflections a lot in the mornings and Arizonas is fantastic for lunch, as well as the pizzas!

 

We spent a lot of time on the beach. The sand and ocean were unbelievable, snorkeling was fun and the views were just perfect. We took the kitty kat excursion which was really fun too, of course my husband won the beer drinking contest, .

 

We had friends staying off the resort at the Ocean Club and at Villa Del Mar where we spent a lot of time as well and I loved those places too. I don’t think I saw one bad location while we were there! Restaurants outside of beaches are pretty expensive but the food is unreal!

 

 

 

 

Planning the wedding- We booked in January for our May 31st wedding. We booked through destinationweddigns.com and they were just so awful resulting in all of my guests having to stay off of the beaches resort. They also were not helpful in picking resorts or anything, I did more than they did. We did not use them after the trip was booked for anyone else. I would recommend booking directly through the resort for the best deal.

 

At Beaches, we spoke with Monica for a few preliminary decisions but she deals with so many brides (they have up to 10 weddings a day) that she was hard to get a hold of but still nice. Once we got there we made all of the final decisions and had Patricia who was amazing as our planner! You receive a big binder the day you arrive with all the details and then meet with her and finalize everything. No stress! We went with the beautiful beginnings package and kept it very simple but it was just absolutely beautiful and perfect. We had white flowers and our reception was in the gazebo overlooking the ocean, the cocktail hour before was on the lawn next to it. It was just perfect. I just used the orchids they gave us, they were nice. We also did the $300 raw footage DVD. It was perfect for us and we love watching it!

 

 

Spa -A few days before, my husband got a facial and manicure and pedicure and I got a exfoliation (which was amazing!). I got a manicure and pedicure the morning of our wedding and had my hair and makeup done while my husband got a sports massage. We booked the wedding extravaganza package which was totally worth it, the day after our wedding we had a couples massage that was so relaxing.

 

Our wedding time was at noon. We got married in the covered gazebo which had the most beautiful backdrop and our reception was in the gazebos overlooking the beach, i loved it so much. it was beautiful! It was hot but we had an amazing time and locations and had the rest of the day for our guests to hang out and play on the resort (while we went to do a “trash the dress†shoot with Ileana from Tropical Imaging). Then we returned and met everyone for dinner and partying the rest of the night!

Turtles is a great bar to hang out at, we met so many wonderful people and had so much fun dancing!

 

Photography- Beaches photography isn’t great…. We used the resort photographers for the ceremony because third party companies are not allowed on resort. She did get a few great shots but each picture is 20$ and they aren’t anything exciting. We bought 4 of them because she was irritated my friends were taking pictures and they weren’t able to get a shot of all of us on the beach.

 

Send me a PM with your email address if you want me to email you the link. I wouldn’t buy any package through them but I would book tropical Imaging without a doubt.

 

Brilliant by Tropical Imaging- we did ‘trash the dress’ photos with them after our ceremony while our guests hung out on the resort. .I can’t begin to explain my experience with them. It was my dream come true. I did a boudoir session with Ileana a few days before and the ‘Trash your Dress’ the day of. I am in love with them. My sister even booked her own photoshoot with them last minute after hearing about mine! The Wedding / trash the dress of Jerr-Lee and Seamus | Brilliant by Tropical Imaging . I would recommend using Brilliant by Tropical Imaging to anyone wanting pictures taken in Turks and Caicos. It was so much fun to go all over the island and see the culture and get to take pictures in the ruins and beaches and by the conch shack and palm trees and docks. It was surreal. On top of getting these unbelievable pictures to cherish forever, my husband and I got to have this romantic excursion and have so much fun taking the pictures. I had so much fun with Ileana too I just miss her!

 

If you want to see any more of the pictures or have any questions definitely PM me!

[JanineA]

Hi Jerri-Lee! I must admit I saw your pics over the weekend (I check the website everyday so I saw your BD first and your sis, then checked back and saw your pics). They were marvelous! I can't wait to work with Ileana, I always look at the blog to get inspiration and ideas! You were a very beautiful bride! Can I ask for your ceremony did you use your own script? Congrats on your beautiful nuptials! Thanks for sharing this review!

[jerri-lee]

Hi Janine! Congrats to you too!

 

thank you so much, Ileana is pretty much the most amazing person. She is so easy to work with and makes you feel relaxed immediately! I loved talking to her and doing the pictures with her, she has the greatest ideas and is really good with direction! It was the best part of my trip, we had so much fun with her and it was so romantic doing the shots.

 

I have to add to the review, that was my first draft, i'm not a writer, lol. I did use their script for the ceremony, it was very nice and very simple and it is literally about 20 minutes long. you are done pretty fast but i loved every second!

[jerri-lee]

PS i love your blog, i am so excited to read it!

[Michelle-2]

Congratulations Jerri-Lee. I am getting married at Beaches Turks & Caicos April 14th and I just booked Ileana with Tropical Images. I have read so many great reviews and saw great pictures. I am totally confident and excited to have her do our pictures. Not sure if I am going to do a TTD session yet. We are having an AHR, so... But I saw your TTD pictures - AMAZING!

[Tennyt1]

Awesome pictures!!!!

[JanineA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerri-lee PS i love your blog, i am so excited to read it!

Thanks! The more I hear everyone stellar reviews of Ileana the more relaxed I get. I was initially nervous cause my BD shoot will be my first time meeting her. But as more and more brides share their experiences and I email with her I am beginning to feel more like I will be with a friend that day.

[hockeymom97]

Thanks for posting the review! Can't wait to hear more!!

 

I have already contacted Ileana from TI to do our wedding and am trying to work out the timing. Our wedding is at 11am - this was not my choice, but it was the only time available when we booked) - and Ileana is saying that it's an awkward time to do pictures right after because the sun will be high, we'll be squinting, etc. So I'm interested in what time you did your pics with TI and how long did he photo shoot last off the property? I know the time isn't ideal, but I don't want to have this huge gap inbetween the ceremony and pics either because by then my hair and makeup will be a mess, lol

 

I'm going to look at your pics now!!

[jerri-lee]

Heather, i had the same problem! i was so confused about how to handle this, my wedding was at 12 but in the end it worked out perfectly and i still got the sunset pictures i wanted (you definitely want them!)

 

We did the wedding at 12, then cocktail hour then reception which brought us to about 3:30, it was so hot but you dont even care. Then my husband and I (and all of our guests actually because they weren't staying at the resort) went back to our room and we brought champagne and everyone changed into bathing suits or whatever and we hung out there for about an hour (it suddenly downpoured for about an hour but cleared up). at this time, i took off my dress, relaxed with everyone for a few and then touched up my hair and makeup (wiping off all the sweat, its so hot) then got dressed again. We left with ileana at 4:30 while our guests played on the resort! we got back by 7:45 and met all of our guests for dinner and dancing the rest of the night. it was perfect!

 

the only thing i would recommend is not drinking too much or at all before the pictures so you don't have any crazy faces, lol, i would have! water is key!

[jerri-lee]

I should also tell you that my beaches pictures are in the middle of sunlight and we are all squinting in the beach ones so later is definitely better, even if you decide to do it a different day. you can't pass up those sunsets either!