Beaches ~ Turks & Caicos Roll Call!

[melissa43]

Hi,

Thank you for the review.  Your pictures are great.  Can't wait to see more.  How did you get the upgrade to the Parrot Cay?  Have you ever been to a Beaches or Sandles before? We also booked the Honeymoon Caicos Premium king hoping to get an upgrade to one level.

We are getting married Jan 2012.   I have my fingers crossed to get the Parrot Cay Suite.   
 

Originally Posted by TheHogans 

Hmmmm....I guess the pictures posted! We had originally booked the Honeymoon Caicos Premium king, but we were upgraded to the Parrot Cay Honeymoon suite. All of my guests were in the turquoise rooms, and even those were very nice!!!! Our room was wonderful with one exception....we had ants ALL OVER the bathroom wall/sink when we first arrived. We called the concierge desk and they came in and sprayed them with something and then told us, "Close the door and don't go in for a bit." We weren't too happy at that point (to say the least), but didn't let it get us down. We went out to dinner, and when we came back the ants were gone...no further problems for the rest of our stay. 

 

The food on the resort was awesome! I've stayed at plenty of all inclusive resorts and have always found the food bland and repetitive. Beaches was sooooo different. The food was fantastic! My bother in-law and hubby LOVED the jerk station, and I pretty much had pizza every day for lunch. 

 

I had Evette as my wedding planner....she was friendly and nice, but seemed too busy to give us her full attention. We had to track her down the day we left to get a copy of the marriage certificate we had signed at our ceremony (I guess they are supposed to automatically give it to you after the reception) and our sand ceremony. I honestly don't think we would have gotten either had we not found her. May is a really busy month, so I know she had a full plate. Also, there were weddings going on everywhere, but they did a good job of making us feel special. The actual wedding ceremony was a complete blur, but the marriage officiant was really wonderful. He added nice touches to the vows that really made it sweet and meaningful even though we did not write them ourselves. We had the "Island Paradise" theme and the arch was absolutely GORGEOUS. We were married on the beach at 6:45pm, and it was just perfect. I'm waiting for pictures from my photographer, and will post them when they arrive. I was not too impressed with the bouquet that came with the package....it was kind of small and just really underwhelming. I ended up using a bouquet from Wedideas that I had brought with me. We did a 2 hour seated dinner after the wedding. The place settings and cake were very pretty.....I've heard mixed reviews about the cake flavors, but we LOVED ours!! We had vanilla on both layers and it was delicious

 

There is just too much to write!!! I'm sure I'll think of some other details to add! 

 

[MTruvillio]

Hi TheHogans, love hearing about your experience.  I wanted a later wedding time since the light for pictures is the best and was told by my TA/Wedding Coordinattor that 5 pm was the latest wedding that Beaches does and I had to pay $600 for that time.  I see you got married you were married at 6:45 pm.  How did you swing that?  Did you have to pay extra?

 

I would love to see pics of the ceremony and the arch you described.

 

Thx!
 

Originally Posted by TheHogans 

Hmmmm....I guess the pictures posted! We had originally booked the Honeymoon Caicos Premium king, but we were upgraded to the Parrot Cay Honeymoon suite. All of my guests were in the turquoise rooms, and even those were very nice!!!! Our room was wonderful with one exception....we had ants ALL OVER the bathroom wall/sink when we first arrived. We called the concierge desk and they came in and sprayed them with something and then told us, "Close the door and don't go in for a bit." We weren't too happy at that point (to say the least), but didn't let it get us down. We went out to dinner, and when we came back the ants were gone...no further problems for the rest of our stay. 

 

The food on the resort was awesome! I've stayed at plenty of all inclusive resorts and have always found the food bland and repetitive. Beaches was sooooo different. The food was fantastic! My bother in-law and hubby LOVED the jerk station, and I pretty much had pizza every day for lunch. 

 

I had Evette as my wedding planner....she was friendly and nice, but seemed too busy to give us her full attention. We had to track her down the day we left to get a copy of the marriage certificate we had signed at our ceremony (I guess they are supposed to automatically give it to you after the reception) and our sand ceremony. I honestly don't think we would have gotten either had we not found her. May is a really busy month, so I know she had a full plate. Also, there were weddings going on everywhere, but they did a good job of making us feel special. The actual wedding ceremony was a complete blur, but the marriage officiant was really wonderful. He added nice touches to the vows that really made it sweet and meaningful even though we did not write them ourselves. We had the "Island Paradise" theme and the arch was absolutely GORGEOUS. We were married on the beach at 6:45pm, and it was just perfect. I'm waiting for pictures from my photographer, and will post them when they arrive. I was not too impressed with the bouquet that came with the package....it was kind of small and just really underwhelming. I ended up using a bouquet from Wedideas that I had brought with me. We did a 2 hour seated dinner after the wedding. The place settings and cake were very pretty.....I've heard mixed reviews about the cake flavors, but we LOVED ours!! We had vanilla on both layers and it was delicious

 

There is just too much to write!!! I'm sure I'll think of some other details to add! 

 

[MTruvillio]

I am so excited, I just booked Ileana at Tropical Imaging for my Beaches Upgrade Package Trash the Dress photo shoot after our wedding.  I originally thought about doing the TTD a day or two after the wedding but I knew I would want my hair and make up done again and it would cost more.  Plus I want to spend some time just chillin on my honeymoon.  We are going to get married at 4 and then do the photo shoot as the sun sets. 

 

I am not sure if we are going to have any guests yet but if we do, now I am trying to figure out what to do with them (especially if they don't stay at the resort) for 3 hours while we are gone.  Is anyone else planning a photo shoot right after the wedding and if so, what's your plan?  Will Sandals let us postpone the reception until later that night?

[LaurenMarie]

Yes, I think they will accomodate that.  I believe (and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong) that Brandy did the same thing you're planning to do.  I would just tell them you want the reception held 3 hours after the ceremony, and your guests can go hang-out at one of the bars or lounges and then meet with you all after the photoshoot.

 

Originally Posted by MTruvillio 

I am so excited, I just booked Ileana at Tropical Imaging for my Beaches Upgrade Package Trash the Dress photo shoot after our wedding.  I originally thought about doing the TTD a day or two after the wedding but I knew I would want my hair and make up done again and it would cost more.  Plus I want to spend some time just chillin on my honeymoon.  We are going to get married at 4 and then do the photo shoot as the sun sets. 

 

I am not sure if we are going to have any guests yet but if we do, now I am trying to figure out what to do with them (especially if they don't stay at the resort) for 3 hours while we are gone.  Is anyone else planning a photo shoot right after the wedding and if so, what's your plan?  Will Sandals let us postpone the reception until later that night?

 

[TheHogans]

I'm not totally sure how we were upgraded!! When we went to check in, they just told us we had been upgraded and brought us to our room! All of the rooms are very nice though, and I am sure you will be pleased with whatever you end up with. 

 

We did end up paying the extra $600 for the twilight time slot. When we met with our wedding coordinator at the resort she told us we were the last wedding of the day and could pick whatever time we wanted to have the ceremony. 

[Brandy]

If you plan to do one of the private receptions, the latest they let me push it back was until 6:00

I had purchased two photo shoots with TI, the wedding day and the trash the dress, the wedding day was for 3 hours of coverage and the TTD was an hour, what we actually had to do was shorten the wedding day shoot and lengthen the TTD, so we had about an hour for the wedding day right after the ceremony and she got us back to the resort by 6 for our private reception and then we did 3 hours of shooting the next day for our TTD

 

Originally Posted by MTruvillio 

I am so excited, I just booked Ileana at Tropical Imaging for my Beaches Upgrade Package Trash the Dress photo shoot after our wedding.  I originally thought about doing the TTD a day or two after the wedding but I knew I would want my hair and make up done again and it would cost more.  Plus I want to spend some time just chillin on my honeymoon.  We are going to get married at 4 and then do the photo shoot as the sun sets. 

 

I am not sure if we are going to have any guests yet but if we do, now I am trying to figure out what to do with them (especially if they don't stay at the resort) for 3 hours while we are gone.  Is anyone else planning a photo shoot right after the wedding and if so, what's your plan?  Will Sandals let us postpone the reception until later that night?

 

[Stella5511]

Do any of you past Brides happen to have the address to Beaches T&C, or better yet Stacey-Anns? Im trying to send her a Thank You card, and cant find it anywhere....

[MTruvillio]

Thanks for the information Brandy.  You mentioned a private reception, is there another alternative?  Sorry just now getting into all of these planning details and not sure about the packages, etc.

 

BTW, I love the way you wore your hair and just might have to use one of your pics to show the hair dresser .  Your photo's are beautiful.  TI really did a great job.  I bet you are really pleased.
 

Originally Posted by Brandy 

If you plan to do one of the private receptions, the latest they let me push it back was until 6:00

I had purchased two photo shoots with TI, the wedding day and the trash the dress, the wedding day was for 3 hours of coverage and the TTD was an hour, what we actually had to do was shorten the wedding day shoot and lengthen the TTD, so we had about an hour for the wedding day right after the ceremony and she got us back to the resort by 6 for our private reception and then we did 3 hours of shooting the next day for our TTD

 

 

 

[Stella5511]

MTruvillio,

We got married at 2pm, then had pictures done while our guests got drinks and cooled down at Turtles Bar and Lounge. We then had a 1 hour private cocktail and orderves on the jacuzzi deck overlooking the ocean at 4pm.

It was beautiful and perfect in every way. The food was incredible, and we had our dances and everything there. Afterward, our whole group went and freshened up and met back at Schooners at 6pm where we all had dinner and they served us our cake. I hope this helps.

 

[Brandy]

Thank you MTruvillio!

Yes the other option, if you dont want to pay extra for the private reception, is to have your dinner/reception at one of the resorts resturaunts, which doesnt cost anything, you just have to make sure you make reservations.

 

Originally Posted by MTruvillio 

Thanks for the information Brandy.  You mentioned a private reception, is there another alternative?  Sorry just now getting into all of these planning details and not sure about the packages, etc.

 

BTW, I love the way you wore your hair and just might have to use one of your pics to show the hair dresser .  Your photo's are beautiful.  TI really did a great job.  I bet you are really pleased.