Updated Grand Cayman Weddings Thread

[agm04]

We just got back from our wedding and honeymoon, and it was pure perfection!  I cannot say enough about Caribbean Club/LUCA, and Juliette at Five Star Events.  They seriously went above and beyond and made every single part of our day perfect.  I wouldn't change a THING.  For those of you who are undecided about a venue - you should really consider Caribbean Club.  Since it is made up of 3 bedroom villas, we moved to The Ritz for our honeymoon.  After 2 nights there we canceled the remainder of the reservation to move back to Caribbean Club.  I have never stayed somewhere so wonderful, and the staff makes it even better.

 

Craig from One World was our DJ - he was awesome.  Eugenio Leon played the harp - also awesome.  Our rehearsal dinner was at The Wharf, we used Tropicana Tours for transportation to the rehearsal dinner, Nicholas Bell played the steel drum for our welcome happy hour, Stephanie Ford did my hair and makeup (LOVE HER).  I really have no complaints whatsoever!  Heather Holt was our photographer.  If anyone has any questions, please ask away!  Here's one picture - we won't have them all back for a while.

[agm04]

 

 

 

 

[yogi1212]

 @SB250 The SAME THING happenend to me dealing with the Westin's planner. The first question I asked her was if we had to stay at the westin in order to have ceremony there and she told me no. So we moved forward with discussing my vision etc. Then as she takes for ever with getting the contract to me she finally says I have to book 30 room nights or wait 90 day before my date. I'm not risking waiting until 90 days before my April wedding to book the ceremony with them and their room rates are too expensive for my guests. We are staying at Sunshine Suites and will probably do the ceremony at Governors beach which is a nice beach and its next to the westin beach. If I were you I'd just go with Tiki Beach.

[yogi1212]

Originally Posted by agm04 

 

We just got back from our wedding and honeymoon, and it was pure perfection!  I cannot say enough about Caribbean Club/LUCA, and Juliette at Five Star Events.  They seriously went above and beyond and made every single part of our day perfect.  I wouldn't change a THING.  For those of you who are undecided about a venue - you should really consider Caribbean Club.  Since it is made up of 3 bedroom villas, we moved to The Ritz for our honeymoon.  After 2 nights there we canceled the remainder of the reservation to move back to Caribbean Club.  I have never stayed somewhere so wonderful, and the staff makes it even better.

 

Craig from One World was our DJ - he was awesome.  Eugenio Leon played the harp - also awesome.  Our rehearsal dinner was at The Wharf, we used Tropicana Tours for transportation to the rehearsal dinner, Nicholas Bell played the steel drum for our welcome happy hour, Stephanie Ford did my hair and makeup (LOVE HER).  I really have no complaints whatsoever!  Heather Holt was our photographer.  If anyone has any questions, please ask away!  Here's one picture - we won't have them all back for a while.

Your pictures are beautiful!!  I'm probably going to go with Juliette as well. I wanted to ask you about the labor set-up and break down costs. I feel that the quote she gave us is a bit pricey for setting up chairs and an arch for a group of 30 so I wanted to get your thoughts. she told us $750CI. was your cost similar? The reception will be at Ristorante Pappagallos so there wont be any set-up need for reception. Also, can you give me an idea of the transportation costs with Tropicana Tours to get your guests to and from different locations?

[agm04]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yogi1212 

Your pictures are beautiful!!  I'm probably going to go with Juliette as well. I wanted to ask you about the labor set-up and break down costs. I feel that the quote she gave us is a bit pricey for setting up chairs and an arch for a group of 30 so I wanted to get your thoughts. she told us $750CI. was your cost similar? The reception will be at Ristorante Pappagallos so there wont be any set-up need for reception. Also, can you give me an idea of the transportation costs with Tropicana Tours to get your guests to and from different locations?

 

Thank you so much! She is worth EVERY PENNY, I absolutely adore her. I was also a bit bummed by the setup/break down costs. We paid $950CI for the wedding day (she also brought some rental stuff and set it up for our welcome happy hour the day before, which was a separate charge) - we had the canopy and 70 chairs, as well as some cocktail tables and such for the reception at LUCA. It's a lot of money, but the more I thought about it, the more I was okay with it. I also figure that no matter who is doing the setup you are going to get charged for it, and I'd rather pay someone I trust. Here are the things that went through my head that sort of helped - 1. I don't want to be the one doing it. 2. She's spent a LOT of hours working with me, and if all I paid her was the planning fee, it would be an insane bargain. 3. It was HOT out there, and she was working really hard during the hottest part of the day. 4. When it was all over, they were right on top of getting everything broken down, which meant no one else had to be. I honestly have zero regrets, but I do agree that it seems pricey on the surface. Totally worth it, though! As far as Tropicana goes, I *think* it was $8 USD per person for the round trip transportation, but it may have been 10. Sorry! My MIL actually took care of the rehearsal dinner stuff, which is the only thing we used the bus for, so I'm not 100% sure. They were great though.

[yogi1212]

Originally Posted by agm04 

 

 

Thank you so much!She is worth EVERY PENNY, I absolutely adore her. I was also a bit bummed by the setup/break down costs. We paid $950CI for the wedding day (she also brought some rental stuff and set it up for our welcome happy hour the day before, which was a separate charge) - we had the canopy and 70 chairs, as well as some cocktail tables and such for the reception at LUCA. It's a lot of money, but the more I thought about it, the more I was okay with it. I also figure that no matter who is doing the setup you are going to get charged for it, and I'd rather pay someone I trust. Here are the things that went through my head that sort of helped - 1. I don't want to be the one doing it. 2. She's spent a LOT of hours working with me, and if all I paid her was the planning fee, it would be an insane bargain. 3. It was HOT out there, and she was working really hard during the hottest part of the day. 4. When it was all over, they were right on top of getting everything broken down, which meant no one else had to be.I honestly have zero regrets, but I do agree that it seems pricey on the surface. Totally worth it, though!As far as Tropicana goes, I *think* it was $8 USD per person for the round trip transportation, but it may have been 10. Sorry! My MIL actually took care of the rehearsal dinner stuff, which is the only thing we used the bus for, so I'm not 100% sure. They were great though.

Thanks so much, this is really helpful to me. As I continue through the process, I'm sure I'll have more questions I hope you'll stay connected to the forum for us upcoming brides!

[agm04]

Originally Posted by yogi1212 

 

Thanks so much, this is really helpful to me. As I continue through the process, I'm sure I'll have more questions I hope you'll stay connected to the forum for us upcoming brides!

Glad I could help!  I will definitely do my best to check in and hopefully I can help you guys out!

[samie]

For those of you in the planning stages here's some advice that I hope is helpful to you:

 

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Wedding Venue: Consider The Grand Cayman Beach Suites. Marina Flynn the on-site wedding planner is the most fab person you will ever meet and best of all she is free when you book the venue (and the venue is super affordable). She will help book and manage your vendors prior to the wedding (at no additional charge!). For the day-of she did everything from pinning on the men's flowers to building a custom heart of flowers in the sand to making cold towels with eucalyptus oil that her servers passed around. Marina made all of our dreams come true! You have to at least call and consider her - you can feel free to say Samie sent you! She's like family now!

• Hemmingways (onsite at the Beach Suites) did the catering and they were super flexible allowing us a custom menu and our guests are still raving about the food. 
• At the Beach Suites there are no room minimums but they provided a discounted room rate (for our guests that wanted a more affordable place to stay the Sunshine Suites was just perfect and super easy to work with). 

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Rehearsal Venue: At the suggestion of our US wedding planner for the rehearsal dinner we contacted Red Sail Sports and reserved the catamaran from SafeHaven to The Rum Point Club Restaurant (by booking all 40 tickets for the scheduled sail; not booking a separate charter. We actually ended up with 60 in attendance. They can take up to 70 with the restaurant's approval). It's a 45-minute sail each way... then had dinner at The Rum Point Club Restaurant. It was the most wonderful way to kick-off our wedding weekend. Rum Point was private and the food was great - everything from steak to chicken and 3 fresh catches.

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We worked with these other vendors and just loved them.

• Wedding Videography: Aaron Rebarchek from Picture This - of course a wedding video is a wedding video but the highlight trailer he did was just amazing and it's one of the best investments we could have made. He was great to work with. Our guest video messages were also really special and he captured all of them!
• Wedding Photography: David Wolfe of David Wolfe Photography and Melissa Wolfe of Better Angle Photography. David is the best technical photographer on the island and his wife's creative outgoing personality complimented him well. Their pictures gave us two different perspectives and lots of angles that we just loved.... They also became our best friends that weekend. (e.g. David even made me a fish taco at the reception.) Just great people!
• Trash the Dress: Aaron Rebarchek for video and Rebecca Davidson from Picture This. Rebecca was a lot of fun - in our trash the dress shoot she got all of her clothes soaked but got some amazing pictures. She and David Wolfe compete head to head for best photographer on the island and they both have very different styles and personalities -- so find your match by talking to them! 

      

       The best advice I got from a friend was to receive all my wedding photos and videography before I left the island.

       There will be a charge because they edit in order; to go out of order you need to pay overtime but it's worth it!

 

• Hair/Nails: Spa-to-Go - Helen and her staff handled hair and nails for the 10 ladies in my wedding! They came to our hotel and the pricing was still affordable; way better than going to a spa with all of us.

• Music: The Suite Elite Show Band. We hired their steel pan player for the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony and then their 6 person band for the reception. They are bar far the best musicians on the island. They are a bit pricey though.
• Furniture: Massive - we rented benches for the beach ceremony and colored runners that matched my bridesmaids for tables and they were just great. They were super affordable and high quality. Just be planful though you have to go to their office by the airport to fill out paperwork when you get to the island (you can stop at the Rum Factory on the way- LOL)
• Flowers: Every Bloomin' Thing - I can't say much (because Marina did everything here) but absolutely beautiful!
• Cake: Hemmingways (and it was really delicious - three separate layers with different flavors).
• Transportation: Websters Transportation. While they may be a little more expensive than the other choices (I was annoyed they wouldn't negotiate much) the quality of their vehicles and their flexibility was worth every penny. More specifically, we were over an hour late coming back from the rehearsal dinner because we had too much fun and they waited and no additional charge.
• Bridal Brunch: Eats Cafe - it's a diner and I'm a diner girl at heart. Carlos gave us a separate dining room and it was great food - we ordered off the standard menu (no buffet) and for all 30 of us it was only $800 US.

 

Happy to answer any questions - 

[pzl101]

WOW, the set up is beautiful! congrats!

Originally Posted by agm04 

 

 

 

 

[agm04]

Thank you! We had SO MUCH FUN!