Wedding in June
 

I'm researching/planning on having a wedding June 2007. We're probably going to have 50 of our family/friends attending with lots of children.

We're looking for a resort that can accomodate everyone and not overly expensive for our guests (under $300/night). We'd love to find somewhere small and intimate. Any suggestions?

And for those of you who've been, do you think the ferry trip from St Thomas to St John is too much of a hassle for people, especially families with small children?

And what has your experiences with the weather in June been?

Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I was married in June 2003 in Antigua with about 40 guests in attendance, including several children ages 6 months to 13 years. My husband and I chose the Long Bay Hotel on the east coast because when we had vacationed there the year before, we had fallen in love with the place.

They can accommodate up to 55 people, I believe, in their 20 rooms and a handful of cottages. They gave us a very handsome per person rate because we rented the entire hotel for a long weekend of 3 nights/4 days. The rates included breakfast, dinner, taxes and service charge, and certain water sports. They gave us a certain rate for everybody 12 & up, half price for kids 2-11, and the two kids under 2 stayed for free. They even worked with us to give a special rate to a family of 6 who got to stay at the reduced rate of only $300/night for the entire family.

It's definitely small and intimate. The staff there are fantastic, the food there is generally very good to excellent, the beach is beautiful and calm, so perfect for children. And the best snorkeling from shore on Antigua is right off Long Bay Beach.

They decorated their beachfront gazebo and set up chairs for the actual ceremony, which was held at sunset on the summer solstice. We opted to use only flowers & greenery located on the hotel grounds, so there was no charge for flowers for the ceremony or the reception.

We did opt to hire a local church choir to provide music for the ceremony, and the woman who runs the front desk baked a beautiful and delicious wedding cake for us. We hired a small band to play during the reception dinner.

If you have more specific questions, please let me know. You can find more info at www.longbayhotel.com and you can read reviews at TripAdvisor.

congratulations islandbride,
as you are already looking at the usvi i would like to suggest www.secretharbourvi.com. it is a wonderful resort. and does have an intimate feel to it. staff is very friendly and helpful. large, nicely furnished rooms w/ full kitchens & large decks/patios. the rooms are all condo style from studio to 2Br. its on a wonderful beach that is great for kids and has some excellent snorkeling off to one side. their blue moon cafe is very good and does 3 meals daily (they have a really fun beach bar too). the condo kitchens make getting caffeine in the am, snacks, lunch, etc very convenient. there are 2 groceries nearby. as it happens i gave a wedding shower on the beach there last june. (the weather was hot.) blue moons kitchen did some catering for me. their platters were nicely done(pretty and food very fresh and tasty).
and then there were the cupcakes. the chef used his wedding cake recipe with the butter frosting. they were unbelievably delicious. i asked for half to be white half to be chocolate. both excellent.
re ferry to st.john. do you want to stay over there or do a day trip?
caneel bay and westin may be more than you want to spend but as far as getting over i guess it would depend on what time planes arrive on st. thomas and how intrepid your guests are. you will need to taxi from the airport to red hook which takes 30 mins to and hour+ depending on traffic. then the ferry takes 30mins. then another taxi to your resort. i can see where this might seem like a bit much if i had little ones and luggage... a day trip when ppl are fresh and don't have suitcases would be very easy from secret harbour which is about 5 mins from red hook ferry dock.

You might look into The Buccaneer on St. Croix if USVI is an option. Might be able to strike a good deal in June and it's a nice spot for children as well as adults. There are others here who have planned/are planning weddings there. Try a search if you're at all interested.

Thanks ejcrowe. I will definately take a look at Antigua but I guess I should have specified that I was looking at the us virgin islands.

We've also looked at secret habour. I just find it so hard to decide without actually seeing it firsthand. Thank you Virginia for your insight on the ferry to St John. Thats exactly what I needed to here. I think it is a bit of a trip for our families attending, so we'll try to keep a focus on St Thomas. I'm sure a day trip to St John will be better suited for those who want to check it out. (Same thing goes about St Croix)

Thanks again to everyone who has been so nice to help!

Consider Cayman... I know of one place that can offer you luxury beachfront 2BD condos (for up to 6) in June 2007 for about $350 a night... down to about $200 for a beachfront suite (for 2 people).

Cayman ain't that expensive :)

We are also favoured as a top destination for group weddings, at least for those who don't like the AI "cookie cutter" weddings :)