Hello all,
So here is the deal. My fiance and I would like to get married at a tropical locale. However, since we have such wonderful friends and family we are expecting about 30-50 guests to follow us.

Therefore, what we would like to do is choose an affordable hotel (like an all inclusive or a Marriott, Hilton, etc.) and stay Wednesday/Thursday-Friday with the whole gang, and then Saturday re-locate to a more luxurious hotel (just my fiance and I check in) where the ceremony and reception would be and the guests would meet us later. (The idea here is that after the reception Saturday all of our guests would return back to thier hotel and fly home Sunday. Meanwhile, my fiance and I would continue our honeymoon at the 'more luxurious hotel' in private).

Here are a few things I think are important:

1.) So-So hotel needs to be someplace that has a direct flight from JFK or Newark
2.) So-So hotel should be on the larger side - advantage if it has a casino,nightclub,beach activites, or it is near a town to give people some options to break out on their own. (Alot of my fiance's fraternity brothers are coming so we need to keep them busy).
3.) So-So hotel should be a not so difficult travel time to the nice hotel (under 1 hour)
4.) Nicer hotel can't be 'that' small. Think something four seasons like. Luxurious but not completely isolated. I think I draw the line at something like Ladera. Not having a tv for 7 days might put me into shock (unless there is one in the bar

Ok, please send your suggestions my way. Oh yes, and estimated wedding date will be first weekend in November, if this matters.

THANKS!

Sorry, one more thing. We would consider Mexico also. We loved the Westin in Los Cabos for example, but I think that's too long a flight for 4 days.

Thanks!

Great plan to get married in the Caribbean--my husband and I planned a similar long weekend (Friday-Monday) for our wedding in Antigua with 40 guests.

I would have just one different suggestion for you. In order to plan your perfect honeymoon, you might want to consider getting married at the "so-so" hotel and then fly off to another island entirely so that you're not limited in choosing your honeymoon from islands that are a direct flight from NYC area airports. Many of the more romantic or exotic islands would require a connection or ferry of some sort--Nevis, Anguilla, Grenada, etc, and none of these islands have casinos. Just a thought.

For easy access from NYC, you might choose Antigua, St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, or Barbados. Of those, really only St. Maarten and PR offer decent casino life. Puerto Rico is also helpful because it is essentially the gateway to the rest of the Caribbean, so you'd just be one flight away from nearly any island you'd want to visit for your honeymoon.

I don't know if St. Kitts is a non-stop flight from NYC or not, but the Marriott there is very large and with a casino. Curacao also has gambling, and the Marriott on that island is well-rated.

St. Thomas has the Wyndham with an all-inclusive option, but I don't think there is gambling on the island. You can then get married either over at the Ritz, or on the island of St. John, which is a ferry ride away.

Grenada is a beautiful island and there is a nonstop flight out of JFK. There's no gambling there, but there are lots of other fun things to do. The Rex Grenadian (AI), the Flamboyant, or the Grenada Grand would all be good choices for your guests, while you and your new husband could check into LaLuna (www.laluna.com) or Spice Island Beach Resort (an AI, but I can't remember the web address). The island is gorgeous, LaLuna and Spice are both upscale, with LaLuna showing an exotic and slightly rustic edge and Spice showing a gracious and more straightforwardly luxurious edge.

what about someplace in the bahamas? i know there is gambling there, also the flight is direct.

i'm not all too worried about having a really romantic spot. as i said, isolation scares me. plus, we like to play tennis and volleyball, etc. so would probably prefer to stay at larger place with athletic facilities. (that is why I said something like 4 seasons).

Thnks!

St. Thomas is direct from NYC & Marriott's Frenchman's Reef has a good wedding planner & you could escape to the Ritz-Carlton on the east end of the island (it was good enough for Oprah Winfrey.)

http://tinyurl.com/8qlwb

I think there are direct flights to Grand Bahama island in the Bahamas, and I think it has many reasonably affordable hotels/resorts there, and there's definitely casinos.

How aboutBermuda? Only a short direct plan ride...Though, weather starts to get cooler in Nov. Sept. would have been perfect