I have been scouring through existing messages and have gathered some great information on wedding destinations, but was hoping to gather some feedback on my specific criteria, as a lot of what I have read seems more applicable for a couple with no guests. I am planning a Caribbean wedding in early 2005 (Jan-March) with about 20 guests. This is what I am looking for:

-upscale wedding ceremony/reception location, preferably a resort that parents & wedding party could stay at, with other accomodations nearby for other guests to choose from (if ceremony/reception location hotel rates exceed $350 or so)
-exceptional service
-on the beach, or very close to
-nice pool
-excellent food
-onsite wedding coordinator
-lots of activities, food options in the area for guests
-beautiful clear water for snorkeling
-easy access from US
-sophisticated nightlife
-some shopping

Basically, we are looking to plan a 3-4 day event, with something like a beach BBQ or local casual restaurant on Friday night for everyone to meet and get to know each other, wedding on Sat, and snorkeling/boat rides/other fun activities our guests can take part in during their stay. Most guests will probably make this their yearly vacation trip. I do not believe that any of our guests will be taking children along.

After the wedding, my fiance and I would like to then move to another island that is more secluded and romantic to spend our honeymoon. At this location we are looking for an elegant resort with no kids to just spend our days lounging by the pool or beach, sipping frozen drinks.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

$350 or so for a room for upscale with excellent food in Jan - Mar is not doable...Rates are sky high in season...

For upscale, that is Jumby Bay in Antigua or Cap Juluca in Anguilla..or the Ritz Carlton in St Thomas, or Royal Pavillion or Sandy Lane in Barbados...

andy-
Thanks for the suggestions. As for prices at a resort, my fiance and I are willing and able to pay up to around $750-800 per night, as are our parents. I was very interested in the Ocean Club, Paradise Island (this type of place would be my ideal), until they said you have to book 10 rooms for 3 nights each. We can afford our part, but not enough of our guests would be able to pay that amount. If it wasn't for this restriction, I would love to have my wedding there.

Sorry, just wanted to word things a little better - we would like an upscale resort to host the wedding ceremony & reception, with nearby hotels with rates $350 or under to house the majority of our guests. Thanks!

If you are interested in Grand Cayman Islands, the Ritz Calrton is suppose to open on Seven Mile Beach this year, hopefully in the Fall: http://www.residences-cayman.com/htm...construct.html

Congrats!

My fiance and I are getting married at Old Bahama Bay in on Grand Bahama island this may, the rooms look amazing and everyone on message boards compares them to FS Nevis. It is secluded on the West End of the island so it is quite and has very few rooms. With 20 guest s you'd have a decent % of the resort booked.
They give a 20% discount for wedding guests and if that is still too pricey for guests they can stay at our lucaya. Best of all they have new suites for you and your husband to stay in.

Most importantly, there are regular, affordable direct flights to freeport so guests won't go broke getting there.

For our honeymoon we are flying to Great Exuma to enjoy the brand new Four Seasons, but I have heard Harbour Island is beautiful as well when you stay at Pink Sands.

Good Luck.

I saw something that may interest you while I was in St. Thomas last year.
The Ritz Carlton has wedding ceremonies on the property and we watched several during the week that we were there. I was crying in my lounge chair every afternoon watching the beautiful brides!
Anyway, one couple hired the Ritz yacht for their reception. After the ceremony, all of the guests boarded the yacht and they went off into the sunset for a beautiful reception/sunset cruise.
You would probably have to mortgage your first born but it might be worth looking in to!!
Good luck!

Ritz Grand Cayman would be perfect.

Also, check out Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands....

Congrats!

with regard to the Ocean Club - I was part of a wedding there recently - I have been to many destination weddings in recent years and have to say that this one really stood out. The bride and groom's family stayed there but arranged for the majority of guests to stay in nearby hotels as the prices st Ocean Club were prohibitive for many - the reason I mention this is because the bride and groom did not rent anywhere NEAR to 10 rooms there and were still able to hold their event. I would suggest approaching the resort again and discussing this with the manager. I am sure they would LIKE to have you reserve 10 rooms in order to hold your event there - but I would imagine that further discussions would yield a compromise. It could be that because your event is small - the one I am referring to had roughly 70 people - they would PREFER some sort of room/price guarantee but it may pay to try and work out some sort of deal with them. Even though the Ocean Club is hardly in need of funds - any reasonable business would prefer 4 people in a room and 20 people eating and drinking for a premium - than no one at all.

Sneep, when was the wedding you attended? That might be part of the explanation. OC and many other high end resorts change many of their rules for the high demand season starting December 20.
Cindy Crawford was married at the Ocean Club, by the way...but in the Jan-Mar time period, I really doubt you'll find rates anywhere near $350 regardless of the number of rooms booked. Last time I stayed there in the summer (low season) the standard rooms in the new wing were $800.
But it's a great resort IMO.

the wedding was during high season about a year ago and when the bride began the planning process she received a similar ultimatum from the wedding planner there. After several more discussions with management an agreement was reached. I am not solid about the stipulations of the agreement of course - in many cases a hotel will insist on an increase of services to make up for 'lost revenue' on the several rooms that you do not block and pay for. In the case of this larger wedding it may not have been difficult to make up for the 'lost revenue' with decor, food and wine choices etc.
It might not hurt to try again and mention where you may be willing to spend more money - book one of the spa suites, hold your rehearsal dinner there, arrange for more elaborate decor - all of this won't save you any money of course - but it may gain entry to the resort for your wedding without having to pay for 10 rooms that no one will use or promoting the financial ruin of your close friends! you never know.

Congratulations! I just put together a destination wedding for over 40 guests in June 2003 and it was the smartest thing I could do instead of planning a wedding stateside. At first we were planning a more upscale to-do, but as we had heart to hearts with some of our family and friends and discovered that what we wanted was out of their price range, we decided to scale back and put the money that would have gone to the more upscale accommodations toward our guests' accommodations so that everyone who was important to us could be there, regardless of their financial state. This could be an option for you, and then you and your fiance/new spouse could take a fabulous honeymoon together. If you have any specific questions about planning a larger destination wedding, feel free to ask.

Except for the temperatures at that time of year, it would seem that Harbor Island would be perfect for you. You and your wedding party could stay at Pink Sands, which is small, upscale, and intimate, and your other guests could stay elsewhere on the small island where folks use golf carts to get around. If you went closer to March than to January, it could still work for you. Check out www.islandoutposts.com/pinksands. No matter what you decide, I hope you have a beautiful and unforgettable wedding.

I have a great suggestion for a really memorable wedding.

There is a relatively new resort in Grenada called Bel Air Plantation. While I have not stayed there I had a lunch and dinner at their restaurant a few weeks ago. Wonderful restaurant, great food and a pretty setting. I did not know of the resort until I was in Grenada and staying in another hotel. The manager showed us some of the villas and they are without a doubt some of the nicest I have ever seen. Just beautiful and much larger than a traditional hotel room.

It is a small resort, I would guess about a dozen or so villas. One of them we saw was a two bedroom unit. It had two large bedrooms,and each had it's own huge bathroom with a whirlpool tub.

Anyhow, after reading what you are looking for my thought is that you could almost book the whole place. It would be like having your own private resort!

Since it is a new place you could probably get a good deal for multiple bookings.

Best wishes for a wonderful wedding wherever you decide to go.