Hello, my fiancé and I are planning on getting married in the caribbean next year, between august and November(prefer nov). We have narrowed our search down to Curacao, Barbados, or Grenada. We are obviously looking for nice beaches-for the wedding, as well as a desent amount of culture, nightlife, shopping, and good restaurants for us and our guests. Has anyone been to any of these islands, or even better, gotten married on any of them? Any info on these islands as well as hotels would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

Having been to all three islands and without knowing what the flights are like from where ever you are based, I would say Barbados first, followed by Grenada and last choice Curacao.

I just think Barbados has the better infrastructure, great beaches, very good dining options and hotels that are well used to arranging weddings. I think Barbados is the more glamorous destination of the 3. Grenada is less developed, less nightlife or great shopping but does have some great hotels and restaurants plus some fab beaches. Curacao, not sure about really. It certainly has the culture, shopping, nightlife, some great hotels and to a lesser extent great restaurants IMO, the best beaches are more isolated from the facilites you need for a wedding (as far as I recall).

I agree with Odin.

If you have the time/money, you can always do a day trip over to Grenada from Barbados as part of your vacation.

Barbados is by far the best choice and there are also many companies who can assist in the planning and execution of your wedding and give you the peace of mind necessary for your wedding day. I can personally recommend Elegant Events as a good company to work with in Barbados.

I think Curacao would be a really romantic retreat. Lots to see and great food. However, Barbados has so many nice hotels and restaurants, a good nightlfe and endless beaches. And it may be easier to get married there, making it a better fit. Congratulations!

LaLuna at Grenada.

Now, it's more of and adventure than the other islands, and getting married, there's a ton of stress. Don't know you or your party, so that's up to you. But Grenada offers WAY more diversity. Beautiful beaches. Water falls. Rain forests. INCREDIBLY nice people AND food. Barbados if you want British efficiency. Grenada if you want an adventure. (They're both British island BTW).

Thank you for all of your input-greatly appreciated. We were originally leaning toward Curacao, as it will be more economical for our guests, but have recently read some things that are slightly deterring us. Has anyone actually been to Curacao. We have read that the mosquitoes on the island are out of control, and this worries me, as our wedding will take place outdoors. Also, if we decide to get married here, we are trying to decide on a hotel. We have narrowed our results down to The Avila Hotel, and The Marriott Beach Resort and Emerald Casino. Has anyone stayed at either of the resorts, and could provide me with any feedback on them, or the mosquito issue. We were also concerned about the nightlife here. We are expecting about 50 guests, ranging in ages from late 20's to early 60's, want to make sure that there is plenty for all of our guests to do, including good bars/clubs, and restaurants, as well as plenty of culture and beaches. Any additional info on Curacao is greatly appreciated, Thanks again in advance

We went to Curacao in May, 2009. We stayed at the Lions Dive. We liked the hotel and the location. We were upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment. The hotel has 3 good restaurants on site and several more within walking distance. They offered a free daily shuttle to a local grocery store. We did not encounter any mosquito problems when we went. Our apartment had the dining room table on the balcony. No problems.

I felt the night life was lacking. We really needed a car to get around to some of the local hangouts. There are a few just down the way by Moomba Beach. Our first night there was a beach party going on, but it catered to 20's and was not our style.

We did enjoy the downtown area. Clean with department type stores. They have lovely linens that are inexpensive. I bought a ton of stuff for Christmas gifts.

We like tours, so did a beach hopping tour, an East/West Island tour and a beach dinner at the Avila hotel. We also did an intro dive at the Sea Aqurarium, no certification required, that was awesome.

Though we did have a good vacation, I really didn't care for the Island in general. Not enough activities to keep us busy and the beaches/snorkeling were not great. It is also quite diffucult to get there from many US departure points. We had to fly Continental to Aruba and then take a puddle jumper on Insel Air to Curacao to avoid an over night in Miami with American.

If you're interested I have our vacation pics on our site at:

http://community.webshots/com/user/kvrlvn

Oops. Wrong link.

http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn

I do not recall a particular mosquito issue in Curacao, over and above the usual one you encounter on tropical islands. Insect repellent is necessary in the evenings or at night. We stayed at the Marriott which was a very nice hotel, beach right in front was rocky but if you walked along to the end (right) it became sandy. We did not care for the food in one of the restaurants, Portofino.

Thanks for all the info-Odin-did you stay at the Marriott recently, we are considering the Marriott for us and our guests, but want to make sure the rooms are nice-read some horror stories online about them. How do you think the Marriott would be for a wedding, we are considering having the ceremony and cocktail hour on the beach, and the reception somewhere around the pool-thoughts?? We are also still considering Barbados, currently looking around for hotels there-Thanks again

Also, not sure of your age, or what time of year you went, but how did you feel about the nightlife in Curacao-again our guests are mostly in there 30's-want to make sure that there is plenty for everyone to do-TIA

We have been to Curacao and stayed at the Marriott. We did not have a problem with mosquitos in February. But during the rainy season ANYWHERE in the Caribbean (which means Nov)you may get bug bites. Some hotels keep a can of bug spray in your closet. Otherwise, you can bring your own.
There are lots of places to dine, watch the sunsets with a cocktail, go dancing or whatever your guests may be interested in or have the energy for in Curacao. In fact, there's even gambling if anyone is interested. And the locals are so friendly! Our room at the Marriott was bright and very comfortable. I do think everyone would enjoy their stay there. It's a big beach - see if you can find some pics. Nice for the wedding itself and a cocktail hour. The pool area would make for some nice interaction amongst your guests.
I truly don't think you can go wrong with with Curacao or Barbados. If price is a consideration for your guests and it's very important for them to be there, that may be your deciding factor. You sound like a very caring person. It is YOUR wedding, however, so do make sure you get what you want as well!

Hmm i am ok with destination, but i am organizing mine own wedding, but i am afraid of mistakes, what is the biggest wedding mistakes you did? To let me know, to take care

We got married in Hawaii, and planned it ourselves. I don't think we made any "mistakes", however, we had one problem that was a strange one. They had temporarily moved the offices where you would get your pre-wedding stuff done - and no one seemed to know where it was! We did eventually find it! Very unusual, although do make sure all of your paperwork is in order. We heard other couples being turned down as they hadn't followed instructions.
We would have chosen a different photographer.
The most important thing to know is this: When you are in the islands, you are in an absolute paradise with the person you love and you're getting married and there's nothing better!

I find great blog post about biggest wedding mistakes http://www.longlivestartas.com/bigge...ding-mistakes/

"what is the biggest wedding mistakes you did?"

First wedding - Marrying the man I chose.

Second wedding - listening to everyone else and NOT doing what we wanted to do just to save the peace.

I noticed that was on the list of the link you provided.