My fiance and I are planning on an October '98 wedding/honeymoon somewhere in the Caribbean. Have thought of St. Lucia, Aruba and Hawaii, but are not sure which to choose. Any other suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone been in my shoes, please help, October is just around the corner. Thanks in advance.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Since you are getting married in October, be aware that is the hurricane season, my choice would be Aruba, it is out of the hurricane belt, always sunny and warm, lots to do, beautiful beaches, friendly folks and most of all safe. You could even do the ABC s ,Aruba, day trip to Curacao, and a day trip to Bonaire. For lots of info on Aruba go to (olmco.com/bbs) it's a great bulletin board and you will get unbiased opinions on every thing. If I can help with any questions dont hesitate to E Mail me. Harriet

My wife and I honeymooned in St. John in August 1997
and it was excellent. We rented a 2BR/2BA home with a Jacuzzi for about $900 per week. Try some of the following web sites for a better look:

www.caribbeanvilla.com
http://cyberrentals.com/CAR/
http://usviguide.com
http://caribehavens.com
http://www.st-john.com/homerentals
http://ivacation.com

We rented from Private Homes for Private Vacations. Type in the title as a keyword and call Mary Phyllis (owner) to get free brochures.

My word of advise is to call as many places as you can to get color brochure information in the mail. Make sure you find out the age of wherever you stay because some places will send you a picture of when the home was new.

If you go to St. John you will definitely want to rent a vehicle for the whole week. A Suzuki Sidekick runs about $300/week.

Good luck in your search.

John

Although I agree that Aruba would be an ideal place for a wedding you should know that you cannot be married in Aruba unless you are a citizen of Aruba or have a civil ceremony before coming to Aruba.

Congrats!! My husband and I got married Oct. 23, 1995 at the Sandals in Negril, Jamaica. We brought about 20 people with us. It was wonderful. I was alittle nervous about hurricanes (95 was a very active year) but by the end of Oct. the season is usually winding down. Sandals did a wonderful job coordinating the event and everything went without a hitch.
I haven't been to St. Lucia or Aruba, but I have been to Maui. Hawaii is my favorite. You can't go wrong there either.

I would if possible stay away from October. You are taking a big chance since it is the rainy season. I was recently on an island in October and it rained 10 days out of the two weeks I was there, UGH!!! I would go to Hawaii. You might even want to consider Cancun. I lived in the U.S. Vrigin Islands and saw so many couples on their honeymoon being rained out.
On line you can find out the requirements to be married on any island. Most of the hotels have wedding packages and they can include flowers, music, video, cake, meal and anything else you might desire. Best Wishes!!!

Have you considered Barbados at all? It's down near St. Lucia (both out of the hurricane belt which is a concern in October), but it's much more "Caribbean" than St. Lucia. I haven't been to Aruba, but have heard on many occasions that it's very arid and windy - to the point that the sand can sting you. Barbados has incredibly beautiful beaches on the west coast and lots to do. I also think the people are the friendliest in the Caribbean - been there 16 times, and been to quite a number of other islands. If you want more info, e-mail me directly. Congrats! Enjoy it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author: L Chauvin ([email protected])
Date: 2/25/1998 8:25 am


Message: ------------------ Hello, We were married at Sandals Ocho Rios
on Feb 10th, and I was wondering if you want to compare notes- Very
rushed meeting with the wedding coordinator when we arrived at the
resort--rushing to pick music,flowers. etc.) Not organized-not detail
oriented-- ------- I was very dissapointed in the photos- which we paid
$140.00 extra to have a package of 13 taken. They all were dark~!! The
photographer and wedding coordinator said it was the lab.......I will
take the negatives to a lab today to see what they say- but I don't
think it's the lab....I studied photography in college- and the pictures
are terrible!!! Also, the video was very poor quality- my voice was cut
off in part of the video, and the rest of the video you could not hear
the voices of the minister my husband and myself -Granted- we were
married on the gazebo on the water- yet they should have adjusted their
microphones! We cannot re-create the moment The other dissapointment
was that the whole ceremoney, "reception" and photography was very
rushed- The ceremoney was at 4:00- the best part was the ministers'
words, then we were wisked away quickly to a reception area - we sat
down and then the wedding coordinator orchestrated the cutting of the
cake- the champagne toast, the dance quickly...then the photographer
said he wanted to take photos-(photos should have been taken first!!!!.
I think we were in the reception area for a whole 1/2 hour-( The whole
thing was not the typical "slow jamaican way".... our wedding was the mo
st rushed part of our trip I thought that after the photos were taken,
we would be able to go back to the reception area, and have some drinks,
yet they had already cleared everything away. I was very mad but blew
it off in anticipation of the "great photos and video" we would be
getting-- I was expecting great photography- a great video- The
experience was fine, but not as great as it should have been, or as they
advertised- I called Sandals customer service when we returned, ( 4 days
ago) , yet no return call- I plan on writing to "Butch" the owner to
complain and get a refund of the wedding fee and photography fee.. I
have been to "Couples" in Ocho Rios several years ago, and wish we would
have gone there to get married. The only reason I didn't choose this
resort was because I had been there with a different person, and thought
it would be tacky- I am glad they are opening a Couples in Negril-
because that is where we plan to go next. The service- just everything
at Couples was perfect-I have not one complaint about Couples- It is fun
and very elegant-best service! Sandals always has something to sell you-
and not all of the employees are friendly- To top it off, two nights
before we left- our room had no hot water- and the water was brown- When
I called they said they were fixing the hot water heater-and did not
accomodate us to take showers in another room- as they said they were
booked. We got a decent rate for Sandals -$1,200. pp including air-
Thank god we didn't pay more- The only positive I can say is that they
did upgrade us to a grande lux room when we first arrived ( when I asked
for a complimentary room upgrade) (But all the rooms at Couples are more
elegant and romantic- Sandals rooms are very plain and lower end-the
bathrooms were run down as well-) Yet , when we arrived at sandals- some
received champagne-some didn't- very unorganized-I didn't get offered
champagne- It was like herding cattle at Sandals- Couples takes more
time for individual attention- Couples was much more friendy- much
better service- just better-- I do not recommend Sandals to anyone- Do
yourself a favor and go to Couples- they do not advertise like Sandals-
but they are 100 time better- My neighbors were married at Couples, and
their wedding video was awsome compared to ours- Couples really took
time to make everything in their wedding perfect-- --------------------
Thanks, Lynn in MI [email protected]

Been to both islands. St. Lucia is far more beautiful. It has mountains, and lush tropical foliage. Aruba, however, is a flatter, desertlike island. The beaches on Aruba are nice, wide and go for long stretches, but St. Lucia has the background views.

We were married in Grand Cayman. Information gave us the name of a couple who arranges everything for you . They will plan as much or as little as you want. We had a photographer who was reasonably priced and provided us with 36+ pictures which were all very good. I would check the weather this time of year. Also it only took one day for all the paperwork to be arranged. Barbados also has a short filing time to be married and it is a beautiful island. Since it is further south it may have better weather that time of year. St. Lucia requires you to be a resicdent on the island before you can apply t be married. Plan on spending at least two weeks here.

I read one response that said to stay away from October - are they kidding? Anyway, we honeymooned on Maui in October ('97) and saw many couples getting married at the resorts. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency and saw at least one wedding per day. In any event, Hawaii will not be cheap, but the weather there in Oct. is absolutely fantastic.

Why not get married on a Caribbean cruise?
Carnival Cruises has very good offers and this way you can get married, cruise and go to lots of Caribbean Islands and all your relatives will enjoy it. If you need more information, email me.