Paradise Island Site Visit- Ideas and Questions

[MrsWeiss1211]

Lanajoy!  Don't worry about feeling overwhelmed.  It's totally normal in the beginning.  Once you make a few of the "big" decisions (like the venue and date) out of the way, the rest is so much fun! And this website is really helpful.

 

Having said that, I would still encourage you to find someone to help you especially on the wedding day!  You don't want to have to be the contact person for the flowers or cake.  Often times the place you book for your wedding while have someone on staff to help you out.

 

and Welcome!

[jake]

Lanajoy - I am using ann marie williams from weddings in the bahamas to plan my wedding.  so far so good.    just a recommendation if you want to research a wedding planner.  my wedding is in may 2012 at sandyport.

[MissBubbles205]

I just wanted to check up and see if you could give me any more insight on the Cloisters and Luciano's? This is exactly my fiance and I's plans and seeing that you was just recently married there, any information would be amazing!! Are main big things we are curious about now is the Cloisters fee and what it includes? And also how much the wedding cake costs. 

 

Originally Posted by krazedtrader 

Was in the Bahamas last weekend for a mini vacation and got to meet with a bunch of vendors! Planning a wedding is so much fun!

 

Wedding Planner - Anne Marie Williams

 

I love Anne-Marie, she is super maternal, very detailed oriented and willing to go above and beyond.  We were really lucky that she was doing a wedding at the Cloisters and Luciano's the weekend that we were there and we were able to stop by before the wedding to see the setup at both locations.  Throughout our time with Anne-Marie, she was following up with the pick up/drop off and other details for the wedding that day which was awesome because it means that she is very detail oriented.  She also had the 3 string quartet play for us so that we can decide whether we wanted to go with just the violinist or a 3 string and having 3 definitely makes a difference!

 

Ceremony - Cloisters -  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.  What more can I say?  I can't imagine being married anywhere else

 

Reception - Luciano's  - I didnt expect Luciano's food to be so delicious, we were sooooo pleasantly surprised.  The Seafood Wellington was unbelievable and we will probably be advising everyone at the wedding to order it.  The Coconut Panna Cotta was also very yummy. The staff were extremely accommodative, willing to make changes and checking with us after every course.  The outside area is also very spacious. The lights come on after sunset which gives it a very romantic feel, especially when combined with the lights on at the Atlantis across the harbor.  Like the Cloisters, I can't imagine a more perfect setting.  My fiance was sooo happy with my pick

 

Cake - Swiss Pastry Shop - We had to pay $25 for cake samples which isnt common in NY, but very common in the Bahamas.  Either way, the cakes by Manfred were delicious, but be careful because the cakes he provides at the tasting are whipped cream with sponge cake.  If you want fondant, he usually makes it with pound cake which means that it will probably taste different from the cake samples.  If possible, I would ask to taste their buttercream and fondant cakes as well.  

 

Flowers - Wildflowers - Can't say much yet but Natalie spent 2 hours talking with us.  She will be doing a sample setup for us to see if we like it. Anne-Marie uses Wildflowers for 90% of her weddings.  I'll give more feedback on them when I see some samples.  However my first impression is that you should know what you want and don't want because they may over recommend

 

Makeup - Regina - Recommended by Anne-Marie.  I paid $100 for a test, but i looooved her.  She put eyelash extensions on me and it was gorgeous!

 

Overall we had a really great experience and can't wait to have our wedding in Dec!

 

[porcell14]

Miss Bubbles -

 

I had my reception at Luciano's and would recommend them without any hesitation!  Great food, excellent service and beautiful view!  Let me know if you have any questions!

[MissBubbles205]

Thank you for your response!!.. How many people did you have at your reception? Do they put you at one huge table or multiple ones. Would love to see pictures if yall took any. )
 

Originally Posted by porcell14 

Miss Bubbles -

 

I had my reception at Luciano's and would recommend them without any hesitation!  Great food, excellent service and beautiful view!  Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[porcell14]

 

 

We had 37 guests total so we requested 4 tables at Luciano's, plus a long table for favor bags (I gave out mini rum cakes) and one small table for the wedding cake.  We used the Tivoli Garden area, which was plenty of room.  Our wedding coordinator decorated the area with the white linens/lights/lanterns and I delivered the table numbers in frames, table overlays, menu cards, starfish escort cards and tray and the favor bags.  All my communication with Sue Lawrence and Nadia at Luciano's was very prompt and courteous.  Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what we did:

 

 

 

[MissBubbles205]

Aww.. Love the pics, thanks for sharing!!!.. Great idea for the favor bags and menu/table starfish.. Soooo cute!! I may have to borrow some ideas. ) 

May I ask if you rented out that certain area or if you just requested tables for your set number of guests and then paid per person for dinner+taxes and gratuity?

How soon did you start communication with Luciano's for your reception dinner?

[porcell14]

Steal away!  That's what this site if for - that's how I got all my ideas!  I think we put our deposit down with Luciano's about 6-8 months out - it was about $500 and it just secured the date.  This part was done through our wedding planner.  But then we worked directly with Luciano's from there on.  We contacted Luciano's about a month before the wedding to finalize the space, layout and menu.  As long as they have the date, they don't need much time to go through the details.  They just need final count 48 hours before the event.  There was no extra charge for using that area - we just paid per person.  In fact, it was Sue at Luciano's that recommended that area to me.  We also chose to do open bar for our guests but instead of paying a flat rate per head, we just let the bar tab run up and paid it at the end of the night.  We also prepaid for a bottle of red wine and bottle of white (+champagne bottles for toasting) for each table.  We figured this would cut back the alcohol bill.  18% gratuity and a 4.5% setup fee is included in your quote so you only need to tip on top of that if you want.

 

A few things I learned though:

 

1.  If you are doing escort cards and table numbers, make sure you specify which table is which (if you are going to have different amounts of people at each table).  For example, I told them to set up four tables - 2 tables of 9, one table of 8 and one table of 10.  I provided Luciano's the table numbers in frames and the starfish escort cards.  They set it all up, but my dad ended up at a table with one less seat and he thought they forgot his seat!  Even though there was another table with an extra seat at it.  They fixed it right away, but it was totally my goof!

 

2.  If you have any supplies to drop off they day before, or just have an opportunity to stop by, make sure there are no big boats anchored in front of the back patio.  This happened to me.  When I arrived the day before, there was a big rusty barge that blocked the whole view of the Atlantis.  I was of course upset, but my pregnant sister was even more upset.  The view and atmosphere was the whole reason we picked Lucianos!  They said it wasn't their boat so they were unsure if they could move it but Nadia bent over backwards to track down the portmaster and requested them to move it.  So in the end it turned out fine, but if I hadn't stopped by to see it, it may have been there for our reception!  

 

Despite any hiccups, all the staff at Luciano's were so gracious and accommodating.  They really were awesome and I think your wedding will be awesome there!  Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions :-)

[MissBubbles205]

Thank you SOO SOO much for the information!! I took notes. )  Do you know if they do long rectangle tables? I was thinking they did one long table so everyone could sit together, but maybe I need to think about deciding on table plans for round tables.

 I sent an email to Luciano's yesterday, I can't wait to start the process.

 

And thanks for the heads up on the big rusty boat!.. I'm sure I would make a special trip just to make sure that doesnt happen to me. Thank God you noticed and it was removed before the reception!!
 

Originally Posted by porcell14 

Steal away!  That's what this site if for - that's how I got all my ideas!  I think we put our deposit down with Luciano's about 6-8 months out - it was about $500 and it just secured the date.  This part was done through our wedding planner.  But then we worked directly with Luciano's from there on.  We contacted Luciano's about a month before the wedding to finalize the space, layout and menu.  As long as they have the date, they don't need much time to go through the details.  They just need final count 48 hours before the event.  There was no extra charge for using that area - we just paid per person.  In fact, it was Sue at Luciano's that recommended that area to me.  We also chose to do open bar for our guests but instead of paying a flat rate per head, we just let the bar tab run up and paid it at the end of the night.  We also prepaid for a bottle of red wine and bottle of white (+champagne bottles for toasting) for each table.  We figured this would cut back the alcohol bill.  18% gratuity and a 4.5% setup fee is included in your quote so you only need to tip on top of that if you want.

 

A few things I learned though:

 

1.  If you are doing escort cards and table numbers, make sure you specify which table is which (if you are going to have different amounts of people at each table).  For example, I told them to set up four tables - 2 tables of 9, one table of 8 and one table of 10.  I provided Luciano's the table numbers in frames and the starfish escort cards.  They set it all up, but my dad ended up at a table with one less seat and he thought they forgot his seat!  Even though there was another table with an extra seat at it.  They fixed it right away, but it was totally my goof!

 

2.  If you have any supplies to drop off they day before, or just have an opportunity to stop by, make sure there are no big boats anchored in front of the back patio.  This happened to me.  When I arrived the day before, there was a big rusty barge that blocked the whole view of the Atlantis.  I was of course upset, but my pregnant sister was even more upset.  The view and atmosphere was the whole reason we picked Lucianos!  They said it wasn't their boat so they were unsure if they could move it but Nadia bent over backwards to track down the portmaster and requested them to move it.  So in the end it turned out fine, but if I hadn't stopped by to see it, it may have been there for our reception!  

 

Despite any hiccups, all the staff at Luciano's were so gracious and accommodating.  They really were awesome and I think your wedding will be awesome there!  Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions :-)

 

[porcell14]

Yes, they definitely do long tables too so you'll have your pick.  So excited for you!  I'm sure it will be beautiful!