Beaches ~ Turks & Caicos Roll Call!

[CandM2012]

Brandy...great job!! 

 

The brochure looks awesome!  Love the idea!!

[mistibuard]

Brandy,   I'm doing our group shots with Tropical Imaging. Ileana mentioned walking over to the Somerset and we'll take a few group shots there.   Urmysunshine,   To my knowledge (and maybe a former bride will correct me), during the 30 minute cocktail reception you'll do your first dance, cake cutting, father-daughter dance, mother-son dance, etc. It's whatever you want to do!!

[Jordana]

Well Ladies - I have finally found the time(althought now trying to complete last min details on our at home reception set to happen in 2 wks) to complete that Review of the Beaches Turks that hopefully will benefit some of you.

 

My husband & I booked the Governor's Honeymoon Suite- well worth it. Absolutely gorgeous. Perfect location in the Caribbean Village. Large & Spacious with 2 balconys (perfect for our large group for gathering) full stocked bar, sitting area, separate bedroom, walk in tiled shower, nice jacuzzi tub. Girls definitely bring your IPODs - IPOD docking station in this room was perfect.

 

Our Suite was room 810.

 

FOOD - Was amazing, having travelled to numerous Caribbean resorts prior I was a little concerned about the food for our group. Trust me when I say that there is something for everyone. We never had to wait longer then 15 mins for a table even with a group as large as 26, and we never really had any difficulty getting 2 large tables together. The resort is very accomodating. The pizzas just great especially for just ordering a few and then they are boxed & you can take them right to beach.....try the jerk chicken & mango (was such a hit we are recreating for our late night buffett at the reception here) Le Cafe de Paris- amazing specialty coffees - I am a Starbucks fanatic and I was starting to panic about going to be having caffeine withdrawl, no worries the "Beaches Caramel" is amazing..........The hibatichi restaurant was just awesome , Fortune cookie was our chef and with a large group it was perfect so interactive. The Sushi was some of the best I have ever had ( try the Rocky Road :-) Barefoot on the Beach was great for Breakfast

Just remember that you are at a Caribbean resort and there is what you call being on "island time" its definitely not the expedited service that we receive or expect but you are on vacation and we were not disappointed.

 

The wedding co-ordinator - PATRICIA REID - She was amazing. I know that Monica attempted to sell me all these additional things before I went and then tries to get you worried by saying that they may not be available once you arrive. Ok girls trust me when I say that this is just a sales pitch..........What ever we wanted or didn't want Patricia made happen. She wasn't pushy or rude and completely understood our expectations. We made Spa appointments for ourselves and our wedding party without any issues. She was constantly there checking up on us and calling us just to make sure everything was up to par even after our wedding. She definitely went above any of my expectations and is very experienced. She assisted us to the best of her ability even without spending $6000 on a package.

 

CONCERIGE- Having booked a suite we were introduced to "ENOCK" . Regardless of what anyone states that tipping is not necessary, if you hook them up I know that they will take care of you. ENOCK ensured that as our room was the gathering room that when we requested additional bottles of rum, tequilla, ameretto etc, a case of budwiser, coke, water, 3 bttles of champagne on the day of the weddin that it happened. Whenever he saw us around the resort he was calling to see if there was anything we needed. He definitely took well care of us.

 

LOOT BAGS- were a hit. Everyone used the beach bags and the double insulated cups with straws people were coming up to our group asking everyone where they got them from. Our group could definitely be identified by our cups. I would also recommend bringing your own snacks down. As everyone congregated in our room I ensured that our room was fully stocked. Including, nuts, trial mix, sour candies, chips etc. Beaches does offer snacks for sale in rooms but I wasn't about to pay $8 for a small bag of peanuts.

 

BEACHES PHOTOGRAPHY- Not worth the expense or the aggrevation. My sister-inlaw took pics with our camera and they turned out better then the Beaches Photographer. We did receive the complimentary 5 x 7 but not without much hassle and speaking with Particia after they lost our photos.

 

TAXIS on ISLAND- very expensive, we spent $150 for 9 people to travel to the church for the rehearsal that was only approximately 3 miles away. In the end we rented some jeeps for our groups and toured the Island ourselves - well worth the $144 US per Jeep for 24hours from HERTZ rental.

 

GOLF- my husband and the guys went golfing. Defintely look into rates after 1pm they are cheaper. The guys had an amazing time and said the course was great.

 

CEREMONY - We were married in Our Lady of Divine Providence Church on the island

 

RECPETION DETAILS -Initially I couldnt wrap my mind around paying the extra for a cocktail reception or for that matter the full reception like you had stated at an all-inclusive resort. Basically what you are paying for is the convience of having a location all to yourselves and the bar and servers set up at your location.

In the end we ended up going with the BB package(most elegant & simple) it was perfect especially with the location of our 1 hr cocktail reception that we decided on. We had 23 guests + 3 kids and then ourselves. We paid the additional $25 per/person for the 1 hr cocktail reception and it was definitely well worth it. It was a private location- boardwalk overlooking the Ocean with 1 table decorated and then they set up additional cruiser tables for other guests to mingle. There is quite an extensiive selection of hot & cold Hors d'heures plus cheeses, fruits and dips. They also supplied a set up bar & bartender for that hour. We did our speeches at this location & cut the cake too.

I then made a request to Patricia to see if it was possible to make a reservation at a restaurant that we had loved. This is not something they typically do but she completely came through. They had all of our tables set up together and we paid nothing extra. She escorted us to this location once our reception was complete.

I know that they list all these additional costs and quite honestly it is ultimately your own decision but coming from someone who was concerned about every little detail right down to the particulars of the loot bags for my guests, everything turned out perfect. The setting alone is enough without all the extras. And girls dont hesitate to ask your wedding co-ordinator for things once your down there.

 

Hope this helps girls, I could have gone on and on......BEACHES was everything we had hoped for and more.......You won't be disappointed, the expense was def. worth it.

Good Luck

Jordana

[Brandy]

Oh Jordana!!! Thank you so much for the wonderful review!!!!!

[Brandy]

Jordana, how did you distribute your oot bags to your guests??

[mistibuard]

Thanks for sharing Jordana! Truly appreciated!

[hockeymom97]

Love the review Jordana - sounds like you had a wonderful time and everything was perfect! And I'm so glad to hear that they were able to accomodate your requests once you were at the resort. I am so tired of the high pressure sales pitches from Monica!! I just keep telling her, No - we will decide later, lol.

[LaurenMarie]

Great info, Jordana!  Thanks for re-confirming that we can still book anything we want once we arrive and meet with the actual wedding coordinator!  What a relief!!

[urmysunshine]

Thanks misti!  I just hand't read anyone mentioning that, so I was getting worried!

 

Originally Posted by mistibuard 

Brandy,   I'm doing our group shots with Tropical Imaging. Ileana mentioned walking over to the Somerset and we'll take a few group shots there.   Urmysunshine,   To my knowledge (and maybe a former bride will correct me), during the 30 minute cocktail reception you'll do your first dance, cake cutting, father-daughter dance, mother-son dance, etc. It's whatever you want to do!!

[Jordana]

 

Hey Brandy, believe it or not I had a whole separate suit case with just the things for the loot bags. By the time we arrived at the resort, had lunch and was able to finally get into our suite it was around 3:30. Jason & I spent an hour putting the bags together & attaching the welcome letter & wedding events itinerary and then everyone attended our suite & had drinks. It was then that we welcomed everyone and distributed the bags.