Updated Grand Cayman Weddings Thread

[Juliette Heath]

Hi Maria,

I have not used this site before so am not sure how it works exactly (I think I just sent a message to the wrong person!!) but this is Juliette - previously of Save the Date!  One of my other fabulous brides happened to see your post and she was kind enough to contact me and let me know what you had written, I was not even aware of this site!!  I am so very sorry I was unable to let you know that I resigned from Save the Date a few weeks ago prior to which I was on vacation, I really did not expect this to happen but to cut a long story short I felt I was not left with any other option.  It all happened so quickly that I was not able to contact everyone to let them know how to contact me but I had thought that someone would have been in touch by now, again I am so sorry, I was hoping that people would look for me on facebook - thank God for modern technology!  The good news is that I am starting a company with my father in law and am still able to be your planner if you are happy with it being with the new company.  You can contact me at [email protected] for the meantime, I am still in the process of setting up the website and domain names etc.  Am so glad to be in contact and hope to hear back from you!  

[Juliette Heath]

Hi Maria,

I have not used this site before so am not sure how it works exactly (I think I just sent a message to the wrong person!!) but this is Juliette - previously of Save the Date!  One of my other fabulous brides happened to see your post and she was kind enough to contact me and let me know what you had written, I was not even aware of this site!!  I am so very sorry I was unable to let you know that I resigned from Save the Date a few weeks ago prior to which I was on vacation, I really did not expect this to happen but to cut a long story short I felt I was not left with any other option.  It all happened so quickly that I was not able to contact everyone to let them know how to contact me but I had thought that someone would have been in touch by now, again I am so sorry, I was hoping that people would look for me on facebook - thank God for modern technology!  The good news is that I am starting a company with my father in law and am still able to be your planner if you are happy with it being with the new company.  You can contact me at [email protected] for the meantime, I am still in the process of setting up the website and domain names etc.  Am so glad to be in contact and hope to hear back from you!  

[SuiteElite Band]

Hi Beautiful Brides to be!

My name is Pam from 'The Suite Elite Show Band' in The Cayman Islands.

Suite Elite are the top suppliers of live entertainment for Island Weddings here in The Caymans since 2005. My musicians perform for 8-10 Weddings per month for both local and destination clients. If you need any advise on your entertainment planning I'd be more than happy to assist you. I can supply professional Soloist's, Lounge Duo's & Trio's for your Ceremony, Cocktail and Dinner, right through to high-energy Party Bands for your reception. We perform all genres of music for all age groups from Jazz, Soul, Motown, Disco, Pop, Rock, Reggae & Calypso. 

To point you in the right direction I can also give you great advise on Cayman's top locations for your Wedding, which event planners to use, decor ideas, flowers & hair......... in fact just about everything you'd need to know about planning an Island Wedding. 

I work close with The Ritz Carlton, The Westin, Celebrations Ltd and many more leading vendors who can make your special day fantastic.  

You can view my band website at: WWW.SUITEELITE.COM

Drop me a line if you need any help, Id be delighted to hear from you!

Warmest Regards, Pam

[ktlb826]

She was on vacation for a few weeks - try her at [email protected] - her Save the Date account isn't valid anymore. 

[kbrannock22]

Hi, 

This is my first post.  I got engaged in July and have been trying to narrow down places for my destination wedding in June 2013 and I think I have finally settled on the Cayman Islands!!!!  Now that I think I have chosen a location, I feel extremely overwhelmed.  I have seen a lot of advice about different planners, and like a few people have mentioned, I think the majority of the planners are on vacation right now.  I'm not sure if I need a planner or can afford one, but I have emailed a few that were mentioned.

 

I would like to have a beach wedding ceremony and a reception at the Grand Old House.  I am hoping to have my guests stay either at Sunshine Suites, the Westin, or the Villas of the Galleon and have the ceremony at either the Villas of the Galleon or the Westin.  Then arrange transportation for a small reception at the Grand Old House.  I am having approximately 18-22 guests.  

 

Can anyone give me advice?  I see very few people who do multiple sites for wedding and reception and I'm not sure if there is a reason for this.  I just love the way the Grand Old House looks and the gazebo for a reception, but I can't go all the way to the Grand Cayman and not get married with my toes in the sand on the beach .  Also, it seems that there are restaurants within walking distance of these hotels.  Are there any that are recommended for a rehearsal dinner?

 

Also, big question...Photography.  I absolutely love Aaron Rebarchek and his blog.  How many of you destination brides actually do a full day for 8 hours?  My mother (who is helping pay for the wedding) thinks its weird to do photography getting ready and during the reception, but I think its pretty typical nowadays.  Anyway, I am thinking that maybe I can negotiate and just do 4-5 hours and then a TTD the next day  Any thoughts?  Or any photographers that are similar to him that maybe are just a little less expensive ??

 

Thanks so much!!!

[uhura526]

Originally Posted by kbrannock22 

 

Hi, 

This is my first post.  I got engaged in July and have been trying to narrow down places for my destination wedding in June 2013 and I think I have finally settled on the Cayman Islands!!!!  Now that I think I have chosen a location, I feel extremely overwhelmed.  I have seen a lot of advice about different planners, and like a few people have mentioned, I think the majority of the planners are on vacation right now.  I'm not sure if I need a planner or can afford one, but I have emailed a few that were mentioned.

 

I would like to have a beach wedding ceremony and a reception at the Grand Old House.  I am hoping to have my guests stay either at Sunshine Suites, the Westin, or the Villas of the Galleon and have the ceremony at either the Villas of the Galleon or the Westin.  Then arrange transportation for a small reception at the Grand Old House.  I am having approximately 18-22 guests.  

 

Can anyone give me advice?  I see very few people who do multiple sites for wedding and reception and I'm not sure if there is a reason for this.  I just love the way the Grand Old House looks and the gazebo for a reception, but I can't go all the way to the Grand Cayman and not get married with my toes in the sand on the beach .  Also, it seems that there are restaurants within walking distance of these hotels.  Are there any that are recommended for a rehearsal dinner?

 

Also, big question...Photography.  I absolutely love Aaron Rebarchek and his blog.  How many of you destination brides actually do a full day for 8 hours?  My mother (who is helping pay for the wedding) thinks its weird to do photography getting ready and during the reception, but I think its pretty typical nowadays.  Anyway, I am thinking that maybe I can negotiate and just do 4-5 hours and then a TTD the next day  Any thoughts?  Or any photographers that are similar to him that maybe are just a little less expensive ??

 

Thanks so much!!!

a lot of the venues actually come with a planner in their packages. Mine does.  You don't have to necessarily do everything a la carte in that situation. I believe Grand Old House has a resident planner. I don't know how you would even do a destination wedding without one.  They are local and would be able to get your vendors streamline and organize you for your special day.

 

I am not doing photographer for a full day but rather 3 hours.  I do not see the need nor do I want 600 pictures of the wedding. I am putting together one album and that's it lol   I'm using Janet at Better Angle.  Aaron was already booked! So if you are going to get him, you might want to book him ASAP.

 

There's a lot of recommendations on this very thread for places to hold your rehearsal dinner also that's where your planner would come in as they can advise you on places to do that as well.

[agm04]

I think we're going to have our photographer (Heather Holt) for 5 hours.  Got the 4 hour package and will add 1 (maybe 2) hours.  We're also going to have a few flips (the little video cameras) floating around.  I couldn't see paying what it would cost to hire a videographer, but at least this way we'll have a little video of the day.

[agm04]

Originally Posted by ktlb826 

 

The fiance and I leave tomorrow morning for a week in Grand Cayman! I'm so excited! We will be visiting and picking a venue, doing a cake testing, and visiting some of the hotels to decide where we want to stay for the wedding week. I'll report back!

 

We are planning on sending Save the Dates as soon as we get home (so early Oct. at the latest). I don't want invititations to get lost in all the Christmas mail either, so I was thinking of sending them in November and asking for RSVPs by early March. Is that too early to send invites? Or do you think it would be better to send invites in January? I feel like for a destination wedding it's ok to send them earlier, right? I want RSVPs in as soon as possible!!

Tell us about the trip!  What did you decide on?

[ktlb826]

Originally Posted by kbrannock22 

 

Hi, 

This is my first post.  I got engaged in July and have been trying to narrow down places for my destination wedding in June 2013 and I think I have finally settled on the Cayman Islands!!!!  Now that I think I have chosen a location, I feel extremely overwhelmed.  I have seen a lot of advice about different planners, and like a few people have mentioned, I think the majority of the planners are on vacation right now.  I'm not sure if I need a planner or can afford one, but I have emailed a few that were mentioned.

 

I would like to have a beach wedding ceremony and a reception at the Grand Old House.  I am hoping to have my guests stay either at Sunshine Suites, the Westin, or the Villas of the Galleon and have the ceremony at either the Villas of the Galleon or the Westin.  Then arrange transportation for a small reception at the Grand Old House.  I am having approximately 18-22 guests.  

 

Can anyone give me advice?  I see very few people who do multiple sites for wedding and reception and I'm not sure if there is a reason for this.  I just love the way the Grand Old House looks and the gazebo for a reception, but I can't go all the way to the Grand Cayman and not get married with my toes in the sand on the beach .  Also, it seems that there are restaurants within walking distance of these hotels.  Are there any that are recommended for a rehearsal dinner?

 

Also, big question...Photography.  I absolutely love Aaron Rebarchek and his blog.  How many of you destination brides actually do a full day for 8 hours?  My mother (who is helping pay for the wedding) thinks its weird to do photography getting ready and during the reception, but I think its pretty typical nowadays.  Anyway, I am thinking that maybe I can negotiate and just do 4-5 hours and then a TTD the next day  Any thoughts?  Or any photographers that are similar to him that maybe are just a little less expensive ??

 

Thanks so much!!!

Hi! Ok I think I can help - I actually just got back from the island and did lots of investigating! I am getting married on Seven Mile Beach - probably Governor's Beach - with my toes in the sand And then shuttling people over to Grand Old House for the reception. Desiree at GOH is great, but there is no beach there as you probably know. Governor's Beach is directly next to the Westin beach and it's GORGEOUS. It's very wide and the sand is perfect. My planner, Juliette Heath, recommended it and we are 99% sure that's where it will be. It's also a public beach and is FREE to use. The Westin beach is beautiful, but they will probably charge you site fees. We are also getting a room block at the Westin and Sunshine Suites (which is right across the street from the Westin, but cheaper).

 

We didn't eat at any of the restaurants in walking distance from there, but there are a bunch. We ate at Tukka, which is prob a 30-minute drive, and it is AMAZING. I think we are doing our rehearsal dinner at Ristorante Pappagallo which is also beautiful, and about 10 minutes from 7 mile beach.

 

We are also using Aaron for photos and Picture This for vidoegraphy! So many similarities! He said that most people do 4-6 hours of photography (I think we are doing 6). And for a Trash the Dress, he just charges you for 1 extra hour of photography (even though the shoots usually go longer than an hour), so it's a pretty good deal.

 

Bottom line, if you do the wedding and reception all in one spot, you may be fine using the on-site planner. But if you have them in separate places I would recommend hiring a local planner. We are so happy with Juliette and her price is very reasonable compared to some of the other planners on the island. It was great meeting her in person and her local knowledge just makes me feel better about everything. Let me know if you have any more questions! Sounds like our plans might be very similar

[ktlb826]

Originally Posted by agm04 

 

Tell us about the trip!  What did you decide on?

 

Here are most of the things we decided on! It was a great trip! Let me know if you guys have any other questions

 

Originally Posted by ktlb826 

 

Hi! Ok I think I can help - I actually just got back from the island and did lots of investigating! I am getting married on Seven Mile Beach - probably Governor's Beach - with my toes in the sand And then shuttling people over to Grand Old House for the reception. Desiree at GOH is great, but there is no beach there as you probably know. Governor's Beach is directly next to the Westin beach and it's GORGEOUS. It's very wide and the sand is perfect. My planner, Juliette Heath, recommended it and we are 99% sure that's where it will be. It's also a public beach and is FREE to use. The Westin beach is beautiful, but they will probably charge you site fees. We are also getting a room block at the Westin and Sunshine Suites (which is right across the street from the Westin, but cheaper).

 

We didn't eat at any of the restaurants in walking distance from there, but there are a bunch. We ate at Tukka, which is prob a 30-minute drive, and it is AMAZING. I think we are doing our rehearsal dinner at Ristorante Pappagallo which is also beautiful, and about 10 minutes from 7 mile beach.

 

We are also using Aaron for photos and Picture This for vidoegraphy! So many similarities! He said that most people do 4-6 hours of photography (I think we are doing 6). And for a Trash the Dress, he just charges you for 1 extra hour of photography (even though the shoots usually go longer than an hour), so it's a pretty good deal.

 

Bottom line, if you do the wedding and reception all in one spot, you may be fine using the on-site planner. But if you have them in separate places I would recommend hiring a local planner. We are so happy with Juliette and her price is very reasonable compared to some of the other planners on the island. It was great meeting her in person and her local knowledge just makes me feel better about everything. Let me know if you have any more questions! Sounds like our plans might be very similar