I need information about having my 2012 wedding in St.Thomas please help...

[TaraBinki]

JQLong - Our wedding is exactly two months after yours at the Marriott! aha July 20, 2012! So excited and I totally hear ya on the marriott prices.. have u booked your hotel block yet? We haven't either...we are doing a welcome reception at Iggie's (bolongo bay) the night before and a sunset catamaran through them for the rehearsal dinner just for wedding party, parents etc. Havana Blue is expensive I agree and we have been working with Kate for a while so I agree with ms.foxxy! They just opened a new bar below Havana Blue called Sandbar I'm SOO excited it looks amazingg!

 

Ms.Foxxy how many ppl are u expecting at the reception at havana Blue?  are u doing the buyout? I'm a lil worried about hte dance floor but I'm hoping we can open up the provado room so its more space

[JQLong]

Hey Tara!!! That is so awesome. MARRIOTT BRIDES UNITE!!!! I'll be sure to tell you all about our wedding when we get back. Yes, we have already made our deposit and booked a block of 10 rooms. I was worried about the pricing of the Marriott for all of my guests so I have inquired at Bolongo Bay. Lorie from Bolongo has already gotten back to me with information about our reception/party and I hope to get info about the rooms next week. While the Marriott has what I want as far as elegance for our wedding, Bolongo seems to be the place to party! Good luck with your planning and keep us posted! JQ

[MsFoxxy]

We're keeping it pretty small.. about 15-20ppl.  We plan to just use the privado room for our dinner.  We're not really having a full blown "reception" with music and everything, since we're only having a few ppl.  We're having a full reception with about 120 ppl in Atlanta when we get back from the honeymoon... that way we can still celebrate with those that weren't at the actual ceremony.

 

I am a little worried about when we'll get the pics and video back.  It says 3-4 weeks for the photos in the Marriott packages, but we were really hoping to have them sooner because we want to show them at our reception in Atlanta.  And we really want to hold the reception 2 weeks after the ceremony-- RIGHT after we get back.  )

[knootbaar]

Hey everyone,

 

Has anyone had their reception at the Wyndham?  I am just looking at getting pricing and what their options are.  We are only having about 20 guests which isn't enough for the actual private dinner.  Does anyone know of any othe options???  Thanks!

[hmpinma]

Ms. Foxxy,

My fiance' and I are looking at Havana Blue as well for our reception. I have fallen in love with the pictures. Are you having a DJ? How many people are you expecting? How much if you don't mind me asking was the deposit. Have you found a photographer? My fiance' and I are in love with Elisha Orin. However, for a June 2010 wedding she charges $4300, which is more than we anticipated spending. Does anyone have any reviews? Tried her? Just curious if you have any helpful suggestions. Thank you. 

[TaraBinki]

JQLong - How much is your block of rooms for people to call and book at the Marriott if you don't mind me asking? What are they paying per night for which types of rooms? I'm nervous about the rates since we haven't done that yett! Bolongo has some really bad reviews online so it scares me telling people to go there when other ppl claim its rundown and dirty ya know?

 

Hmpinma- We are having a big reception (estimated 100-150 people) at Havana Blue..its to die for! The food is amazinggg Havana Blue deposit for the buyout requires 50% up front...not sure what it is if you aren't doing the buyout option. We are having DJ Eric Snow for the night..he has great reviews! His Deposit was $250 and we are having him from 5-11 ish. We have booked Elisha! She is soo wonderful so far and our wedding isn't until July 2012! She lets you break up the deposit so we did the initial $1,100 to book her...she is expensive but I think its worth it! We are probably going to add on a photobooth for the night, trash the dress the night day and depending on $ her husband for video.

[JQLong]

Hi Tara....the deposit for the block of rooms was $500.00.  Our guests have until April 2012 to booked their rooms...otherwise we could be on the hook for the remaining rooms (yikes....I'm sure we wont have a problem).  The good thing is the room block would include me and my fiance so....we only have 9 rooms to book.  As far as the room types, the guests have the option to get ocean view rooms or resort view and the option to stay at the morning star side.  I thought I was doing something special by going "off season" and gettig married in May....the rates are honestly not that competitive, but I really like what they had to offer.  I know what you mean about Bolongo Bay....I read some of the reviews....Marriott had its own bad reviews but I understand its hard to please everyone all the time.  Once you book your date & if you decide to do a block of rooms, the Marriott will give you a wedding site for your guests to booked their rooms.. It's pretty neat because you can put you own pictures up.  My fiance and I have yet to take "engagement" pics but will tweak our site before sending the STDs.

 

JQ

[JQLong]

Oooops...One last thing.  The room block deposit will be returned to us (they say after the event but I am going to push for sooner!)

[MsFoxxy]

hmpinma:

Our deposit for HB was 50% of the balance, which was like 1089.00 for us since we're having 17ppl max.

 

JQLong:

Thanks for the info about blocking rooms.  Do they still give the discounted rates available to the general public to your guests?  I know right now there's a Spring Discount for 40% off if you go to the normal Marriott Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Resort website to book.  Do they offer that discount to your guests or is it a different discount?  That is the only thing I'm worried about... I'm worried that there will be bigger/better discounts through the regular site than what they'll offer on the 'blocked' rooms.

[MsFoxxy]

Oh.. and I forgot to mention... the HB price includes a per person fee for the meal (ours was 90pp) + a cocktail hour before dinner (15pp) + 22% (or 21%, can't remember) service charge.  We're being billed on consumption for alcohol/drinks, because about half of our party doesn't drink.. so it really didn't make sense to buy an alcohol pkg/ pay a per person fee for an open bar.