Friends getting married/where???
Apr 15th, 2006, 08:47 AM
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Friends getting married/where???
A 30 year old friend is getting married (never married before). She wants somewhere nice but not too expensive, and I am helping her look. So far, Cancun/Cozumel, a cruise, and Jamaica are out. For the bride and groom--including trip and wedding maybe $5,000. Anyone have any ideas? They have said next April. She really wants a beach wedding but not in the US. She would love to be able to have her wedding on one island (i.e. St. Thomas) and the family stay there and then she and her husband go to another island for the honeymoon. For that price range, can that even be done? Let me hear your ideas and great hotel recommendations!!!!!
Apr 15th, 2006, 11:31 AM
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Cayman is a very popular option for weddings where people want to invite friends and family down.
A great hint is to plan it just after Easter, as rates drop sharply, and you can also negotiate better group rates at that time.... so for an April wedding, a couple of weeks could make a big difference to the budget.
A great hint is to plan it just after Easter, as rates drop sharply, and you can also negotiate better group rates at that time.... so for an April wedding, a couple of weeks could make a big difference to the budget.
Apr 15th, 2006, 03:23 PM
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I know you said US destination is out but I'm going to offer this as a resource anyway. I visit St. Augustine FL usually once a yr and the beaches and surrounding area is quite beautiful and romantic. The beaches are endless and there are accommodations to meet every pocketbook. Might be worth thinking about and this would save more towards the honeymoon. One place in particular that is breathtakingly beautiful at sunset is the area around Crescent Beach along A1A. Check out Channel Marker 71 Barrier Island Inn and Restaurant. Website for all info if interested www.visitoldcity.com
Good luck.
Good luck.
Apr 15th, 2006, 04:56 PM
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My BF and I are getting married in Barbados in May. The one thing that really surprised me is how expensive the actual wedding is. I want a VERY simple wedding on the beach with 2 guests, no flowers, no music, no food, etc and the least expensive I could find is over $700 with photographer being an additional $600 for the minimum time available. We could have found a slightly less expensive photograher but ohterwise are going bare bones. That is a big chunk of a $5000 budget and doesn't even include dinner or guests. From my experience planning this wedding,I think it would be hard to pull at that price including airfare, wedding, reception with guests, etc AND going to another island. Maybe I'm just not a good bargain hunter though...
I do remember someone talking about planning a wedding at an AI and all the guests were staying there also and they mentioned something about there being no charge for food and drink b/c it was an all inclusive? I guess in a way, your guests would be footing the bill for your reception but if that isn't an issue it may work?
Good luck!
I do remember someone talking about planning a wedding at an AI and all the guests were staying there also and they mentioned something about there being no charge for food and drink b/c it was an all inclusive? I guess in a way, your guests would be footing the bill for your reception but if that isn't an issue it may work?
Good luck!
Apr 16th, 2006, 05:28 AM
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There are certainly bargains to be had for getting married in the Caribbean. And as others have pointed out, your first step is for your friend to plan the wedding after the middle of April and/or Easter, which is when the low season or at least shoulder season rates generally kick in.
Your friend can also save money if she chooses an island that is easier to get to and can accommodate larger jet aircraft, thereby spending less money on airfare. These islands would include St. Thomas, St. Martin, Jamaica, Puerto Rico. And to a lesser extent, Antigua, Aruba and Barbados. From St. THomas, she could then take a quick ferry over to St. John in the USVI, or Tortola in the BVI if she wants an island less developed and commercial than St. Thomas. Ditto for flying into Puerto Rico and ferrying to Vieques or CUlebra.
$5000 is certainly doable for a couple to have a wedding and spend a very nice week down there on a honeymoon. If the wedding couple intend to pay for other guests it would clearly be more, but from your post it seems that the $5000 is just for the couple.
I got married in Antigua in 2003. Our wedding party took over a small hotel for a long weekend, Fri-Monday. The hotel didn't charge us for decorative flowers & greenery, for the location, or for anything else above & beyond their rates, which already included breakfast & dinner. The hotel provided all of my flowers. We arranged for a couple of friends to be photographers for us, both of whom are amateurs but we were really pleased with the results. The only charge for the actual wedding was for the wedding license and for the woman who performed the ceremony--around $125, I think.
I also wanted some local music for the ceremony, so we hired a local church choir who donated their time and we made a donation to their church--somewhere in the $100-200 range. They were more than pleased with that donation, and we also invited them to have some hors d'oeuvres and drinks at the bar before they left.
So, it really can be done on a budget--it just depends on what your friend wants--how many whistles and bells, how many people she want to pay for, how casual she wants to be. Most large resorts have wedding coordinators and many hotels offer wedding packages. For example, take a look at the charming Ti Kaye Village hotel on St. Lucia www.tikaye.com. They offer a nice wedding package that becomes complimentary when a certain number of people stay a certain number of nights. It's an intimate place that gets consistently great reviews and the rates are very reasonable.
Most mids-size to large all-inclusive resorts offer "free" weddings with a weeklong stay, but a weeklong stay at these places can run anywhere from $3500-10,000 per couple, depending on quality, room category, etc.
Your friend can also save money if she chooses an island that is easier to get to and can accommodate larger jet aircraft, thereby spending less money on airfare. These islands would include St. Thomas, St. Martin, Jamaica, Puerto Rico. And to a lesser extent, Antigua, Aruba and Barbados. From St. THomas, she could then take a quick ferry over to St. John in the USVI, or Tortola in the BVI if she wants an island less developed and commercial than St. Thomas. Ditto for flying into Puerto Rico and ferrying to Vieques or CUlebra.
$5000 is certainly doable for a couple to have a wedding and spend a very nice week down there on a honeymoon. If the wedding couple intend to pay for other guests it would clearly be more, but from your post it seems that the $5000 is just for the couple.
I got married in Antigua in 2003. Our wedding party took over a small hotel for a long weekend, Fri-Monday. The hotel didn't charge us for decorative flowers & greenery, for the location, or for anything else above & beyond their rates, which already included breakfast & dinner. The hotel provided all of my flowers. We arranged for a couple of friends to be photographers for us, both of whom are amateurs but we were really pleased with the results. The only charge for the actual wedding was for the wedding license and for the woman who performed the ceremony--around $125, I think.
I also wanted some local music for the ceremony, so we hired a local church choir who donated their time and we made a donation to their church--somewhere in the $100-200 range. They were more than pleased with that donation, and we also invited them to have some hors d'oeuvres and drinks at the bar before they left.
So, it really can be done on a budget--it just depends on what your friend wants--how many whistles and bells, how many people she want to pay for, how casual she wants to be. Most large resorts have wedding coordinators and many hotels offer wedding packages. For example, take a look at the charming Ti Kaye Village hotel on St. Lucia www.tikaye.com. They offer a nice wedding package that becomes complimentary when a certain number of people stay a certain number of nights. It's an intimate place that gets consistently great reviews and the rates are very reasonable.
Most mids-size to large all-inclusive resorts offer "free" weddings with a weeklong stay, but a weeklong stay at these places can run anywhere from $3500-10,000 per couple, depending on quality, room category, etc.
Apr 16th, 2006, 10:58 AM
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It would depend on what she would like to include in her wedding package. We did a destination wedding for our daughter in St. Thomas in June 2004. We stayed at the Wyndham Sugar Bay which is also where the wedding was held (would NOT recommend this property to stay, was daughter's decision). The wedding was held on site (they had the choice of on the beach or out on a veranda with gazebo). Minimally decorated, daughter's flowers, cake, champagne toast, photographer, violinist, wedding coordinator, no formal reception and cost was still a little over $6000 (for daughter & SIL) for trip and wedding. When I include the photographer, that was for the photographer to take the shots.
I would have preferred to put more money out on a nicer wedding at a nicer resort, but this what what our daughter wanted.
If your friend has a $5000 budget, I guess what I'm saying is that she may have to consider if location or the resort/wedding site/ceremony is more important. She may want to go to St. Thomas (for example) but she wouldn't be able to do her wedding at, say, the Ritz. She would be lucky to still get the cost that we did for Wyndham.
If it were me (depending on what I wanted for a ceremony), I would go to a lesser expensive location and get the best resort/ceremony location that I could afford.
I would have preferred to put more money out on a nicer wedding at a nicer resort, but this what what our daughter wanted.
If your friend has a $5000 budget, I guess what I'm saying is that she may have to consider if location or the resort/wedding site/ceremony is more important. She may want to go to St. Thomas (for example) but she wouldn't be able to do her wedding at, say, the Ritz. She would be lucky to still get the cost that we did for Wyndham.
If it were me (depending on what I wanted for a ceremony), I would go to a lesser expensive location and get the best resort/ceremony location that I could afford.
