Sheraton Nassau

[ArielleS]

Hi,

 

I'm new to the site and am planning a Destination wedding for October 2012 in the Bahamas.  My travel agent suggested the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort and so far it looks like it is definitely an option!!  I just wanted to know if anyone else has planned a wedding there or has any info on it.....   Thanks!

[iGotsGills]

Hi Arielle -

 

My wedding review (linked in my tagline below) has a lot of info on the Sheraton.  I did my wedding there.  I wasn't thrilled.

[ArielleS]

Thanks!  It's funny, because I keep searching for reviews from people who were married at the Sheraton Nassau Resort and I've come across your's on several of the websites .  I appreciate all of the detail you gave on your review, very informative!!  The planner I've been speaking to at the hotel seems to be pretty upfront about things, and did disclose that they sometimes do have weddings scheduled half an hour apart (which I'm hoping will not be the case when I book mine!).  I love the photos that I've seen of the beach weddings there, it's exactly what I've pictured so I'm really hoping that it all works out.  Other than the planner that seems to have mislead you, it seems that you had a pretty good time there otherwise?  Let me know if you can, I appreciate you responding on this!!!  

[iGotsGills]

My guests definitely did have a good time!  The hotel accommodations were great for all of them!  And the food was quite good as well.  Another thing that I would caution is to be sure that there is some sort of plan for keeping uninvited guests out of your reception.  My planner did not do a very good job of this; we had our reception in the Dolphin Grille, which is next to the pool.  We kept having people screaming over our toasts (no, they do not close the pool for the reception) and kids wandering in asking to partake in the festivities.  So that was a bit of a negative.  Everything that was non-wedding related was great though, and the ceremony location was awesome, it just started out badly because of bad planning.  Also, the photographers in the package were very "meh."  When I look back, I wish I would have had better shots (to be fair, a lot of that was due to the fact the the other wedding was shooting in some of the locations we wanted to shoot in, but they photographers didn't do much to process the raw shots either).

 

I guess it all depends on your planner and the time of year you book.  I can, however, say say don't work with Tekeyo.  He will tell you everything you want to hear but you can never be quite sure if it is the actual truth.  I would rather have it given to me straight than be unpleasantly surprised when its too late to change anything.

[iGotsGills]

Also, some of the outdoor wedding facilities are a little worn, which wasn't a *huge* concern to me (i.e. some of the fans weren't working in the reception area, you could see rust on the lighting, etc) but if you don't plan on doing a site visit and perfection is important, I thought I'd tell you in the name of full disclosure.  I thought a few pics that weren't done for sales purposes may be helpful for you to see:

 

(The ceremony itself was beautiful)

 

(The part of the beach they cleaned up for photos was in use by the other couple, so we had to have ours taken with the seaweed)

 

(Looking in before we arrived)

 

(View out!)

 

(You can see how close you are to the pool here.  That group stayed in and around the pool for our entire reception, and felt free to wander in and out)

 

(Reception later)

 

(Standard linens, I brought the floating candles, vases, and loose orchids for the centerpieces myself)

 

(You can sort of see the rust on the speakers in this shot; just providing for full disclosure.  This didn't really bother me)

 

(My favorite part of the night was watching my guests work together on this!)

 

 

 

[iGotsGills]

One more and then I'm done!  The lighting in the Dolphin Grill is not dim-able, so you have about this level of light throughout:

[ArielleS]

Thank you SO much for posting these pics!!  It's definitely a good thing for me to see actual pics, rather than just what's posted to websites.  And I appreciate the full disclosure on the details, all things that I will keep in mind for sure.  The site where your ceremony took place looks amazing, and your dress is beautiful too!  Thanks again for all the insight, I'm still going through the contract they sent me before I lock down the date by sending in my deposit, so hopefully I will know soon enough if this is the place for us - thanks again!!

[iGotsGills]

Good luck, Arielle!  Don't be afraid to ask to amend the contract to ensure that you are safeguarded for everything you want, if you do end up going with Sheraton.  And I am happy to give insight anytime you'd like a sounding board  To paraphrase what I just posted to another thread, I did not hate my wedding; I definitely have a lot of great memories from it.  It was not, however, the best day of my life and I am coming to peace with that a little more everyday.  A lot of what was great about it absolutely DID have to do with the Sheraton.  Everything that was not, however, also had 100% to do with the Sheraton.  C'est la vie!

[lauren478]

I am getting married there January 6, 2013. I have read your review, and other reviews and have decided to proceed. I am dealing with Cora as a wedding planner. A lot of things you said did not seem that big of a deal to me, but I do wonder about things like photography, flowers, the centerpieces, and how you decided what to use?  Did you like the wedding photographer that came with everything, or did they miss a lot of the action? I don't see a lot of "formal" wedding pics from your wedding and wondered if you didn't post them, or just didn't really have many. Thanks! 

[iGotsGills]

Hi Lauren -

 

Hopefully you got an answer to this already, but I am just seeing this now:  the photographers in the package do NOT stay for the reception.  I am sure you could pay more to have them stay, but we chose not to.  

 

As far as the centerpieces/flowers go: other than the flowers on the altar (paid extra) and the bouquets (this was a huge point of contention), we brought all of our own centerpieces, decorations, etc.

 

I hope this helps!