akittrell

WOO HOO!!! It's official! We booked our DW yesterday with Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica!

Quote: Originally Posted by sherri akittrell, Tho I realize you are interested in all inclusive, you may want to consider other alternatives as the hotel route seems to be more expensive over all. You have lots of options in STT! You may even want to consider a villa and have your private wedding right there! Ck out: Caribbean Villas: Caribbean Villa Rentals by McLaughlin Anderson Villas Virgin Islands Plenty of villas to choose from! How many people guests do you expect for your wedding? This number can also play a roll in your planning! Good Luck in your search! BTW, I have worked with April prior to her going to Frenchman's Reef! She is a very nice person! A wonderful friend..... Hope you don't mind my input! Thanks for the advise, but as of yesterday we've decided to go with Jamaica. We are trying to book Sandals Whitehouse today! The AI option just seems to be the best and easiest way for us to go. Thanks again!

I'm getting married January 28, 2009. We haven't booked anything yet as our location has been a difficult decision to make. As of today, we are closeer than ever and may be booking with Sandals Whitehouse. It'll just be the two of us, but we are having a reception in Feb. in our hometown. So far I've reserved the reception hall at the Church, purchased some of the flowers for the reception & the wedding ceremony itself, and some thank you cards that I got a killer deal on! $1.00 for a pack of 50 at Wal-Mart!!! Oh and I have bought some glass globes and red flower floating candles for the centerpieces at the reception.

It looks like we are closer than ever to deciding on a location!!! We are leaning towards Sandals Whitehouse. Keep your fingers crossed that it'll all work out, and we'll be able to book it soon!

Quote: Originally Posted by 09bride Akittrell, I am a St. Thomas Bride getting married at the Wyndham.. if you have any questions you can PM me Thanks I really appreciate it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jen5372 Aki-Im glad you got to feel better for a bit!! What ideas do you have for locations for your DW? Im sure january is a good month for availability!!! Im from Buffalo-so in my mind January is FRIGID!!! I bet its gonna be great to go to a DW in winter-I think you are gonna be fine with availability!!! Good Luck! We are looking everywhere honestly that isn't in the US. Simply b/c in the US, even in the southern most tip of FL it's too cold in Jan. and we wouldn't be able to get in the water and enjoy it. We just want to get married on a beach somewhere and be able to enjoy the water. We've ruled out Mexico b/c of their requirements for marriage ceremonies. We would like something that is AI and so far we've looked at Jamaica, USVI, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, DR, and Puerto Rico. We've run into problems with some resorts already being book for the entire month of Jan. for wedding ceremonies or they have some slots available but not the one we want, which is their last time of the day. But even the ones that do have our ceremony date/time available and is within our budget we are struggling with reviews from other people. I've gone on tripadvisor.com and read reviews on each resort. I know to take everything people say with a grain of salt, but when ppl have the same negatives issues with other ppl all within the last few months it concerns me. One of the places for example, Sandals Bahamian Resort, has horrible reviews on tripadvisor.com and then I've search for Brides that may have married there on BDW and it came back with 0 search resorts. Hmm..... I just have no clue what to do. I'm literally just stuck.

Quote: Originally Posted by SgtPepperette Do any of you have siblings? I think that is whats making it hard. I have 3 sisters, they were step sisters, but legally became my sisters in the last year. We have become pretty close in the last year or two, and it would be nice to have them there. I do have one sister. She and I are pretty close even though she is 11 years younger than me. At first, I did feel really torn b/c I'd love for her to be there and I can tell that she would like to as well. BUT, she's still in high school and we can barely afford to pay our way much less hers, plus she'd be missing school. After I talked with her she's ok with it and understands. I've included her in a lot of the planning for the wedding ceremony and reception we are going to have when we get back home. I'm going to do something super special for her to honor her at my reception, but I haven't quite figured that out yet. Anyone have any suggestions for that I'd be really appreciative! Like I said before, this is your day and ultimately you have to do what both makes you happy and your day special.

My FI and I are the only ones that will be at our DW. Unfortunately, we have some family members who aren't being supportive of our decision. We both feel that it's OUR day and we will be the only ones to remember the details of it forever, so we want to do what makes us happy. Good luck to you both in whatever you decide!

YAY! I just completed my order for one too! Too cute! THANKS FOR SHARING, not to mention, it lifted my spirits a bit! Today I've been really stressed thinking that we aren't going to be able to find a nice location for our DW that we can afford and still has our date available. :`( *trying to stay positive*

Quote: Originally Posted by starchild That website has to be another name for Customized Girl. Anyone used them before? The products/layout is the same. Great deal though! I thought the same thing when I visited the website...I ordered from customized girl last year. It must be owned by the same ppl!

Quote: Originally Posted by Yvette I was going to suggest the Marriott too. It took us a few months to really decide on where to stay. We looked at Bolongo & the Marriott too. We decided on staying at the Wyndham, they have a decent deal right now. They are offering AI for 5days/4nights, for 2 it's $1275. Not a bad deal, you just have to keep a look out. We chose the Wyndham for a lot of reasons but mainly b/c we are staying on St Thomas but getting married on St John so the ferry ride will only be a 15-20 min ride. I've heard great things about the Wyndham so that is always a plus! Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca Legal ceremonies have to be performed in Spanish with a judge, someone usually translates. Symbolic ceremonies can be in English. Thanks Yvette for the info! That is a pretty sweet deal! I'll keep that in mind! Bianca thanks for clearing that up for me! I contacted TA Dina through the forum Tues. night and I spoke to her in more detail Wed. She seemed super nice and knowledgable! Y'all keep your fingers crossed for me that she'll be able to help us pick a location!

Thanks! I'll let you know what I find out and what we decide on!

Quote: Originally Posted by futureeilen Marriott Frenchman's Reef also offers all-inclusive. It's sort of hidden when you search for prices - it's called Escape! Inclusive. The package also offers unlimited ferry transfers to Downtown Charlotte Amalie - nice perk! (they cost $6pp/way otherwise) We were down there in May and stayed at the Marriott for a couple of nights (we didn't do all-inclusive), so let me know if you have any questions on the property. It was gorgeous! Unbelievable views. We saw a couple of weddings, too - they looked beautiful. FWIW, one of the WCs for Marriott just moved in next door to my future in-laws on St Thomas...her name is April and they said she's really nice! Very ironic, since we were going to call her about Marriott weddings during our stay, but decided to hold our wedding at the in-laws instead...then she moves in next door 2 months later! Weird. Anyways, can't hurt to give her a call. Good luck!! Thanks for the info! I'm going to check it out as well as some AI resorts in some other locations. The general consensus seems to be that the USVI is a little more pricey and not as many AI resort options. I'll PM you if I need her number once I've finished checking it out.

Quote: Originally Posted by LadyP if you search out USVI or St Thomas I am sure you will find the answers you are looking for. We have done most of the researching already. Happy hunting. Any particular search engine you are using? Google just hasn't been much help at all for me. Thanks for the help!

Quote: Originally Posted by monicabrandon2008 I wanted USVI for the same reasons as you and those are the only 2 AI I found as well. I quickly turned to Mexico because I love Mexico. We immediately applied for passports as well as our guests and we all got them in 1-2 weeks. Also, I planned our wedding in 6 months. Mexico has SO many great AI's , you may want to give it shot. First, pick what area and then start emailing the resort to see what dates they have available. I just got married under 2 weeks ago at Dreams Tulum and it was perfect! Hope this helps. Thanks for the advice Monica, and congrats on your wedding! Is it true that when you are married in Mexico your ceremony has to be performed in Spanish? I'm getting mixed info on this. This is the main reason we haven’t looked at any of the resorts in Mexico. If it's not true then I’m going to start looking at the resorts there. It makes me feel better to know that you were able to plan a successful wedding within 6 months. We just got engaged two weeks ago, and we only have 6 months to do our planning. I'm really starting to get anxious as I never would have thought we wouldn't have a location picked at this point.

THANKS jkcz0702!!!!! Just so you know, I'm not completely computer illiterate...I actually came across that site, but for some reason I didn't think it was their official site. I'm going to go check it out now! Thanks again!

I think we are leaning more towards the USVI for our weddingmoon, but I'm having a hard time finding many all inclusive resorts. So far, I've found Bolongo Bay and Windham Bay Resort and that's it. I know there has to be more AI Resorts than these two.?? We are considering the USVI over other places simply because we don't have to worry with obtaining passports or the extra expense for them. However, we aren't opposed to any other location except Mexico. We don't like the fact that their law requires your ceremony to be performed in Spanish. I'm just really starting to stress. I feel like I'm going in circles with my research because I keep hitting dead ends due to budgets or no availability issues. Our wedding is 6 months away and I've accomplished NOTHING! It's not like I've waited until the last minute either; my FI proposed two weeks ago. I started wedding planning the very next day. I don't know maybe I'm expecting too much from this process, but I just thought I would have accomplished something in a two week time period. *sigh*

Does anyone have the main website for the Gran Bahia Principe? I've never heard of this place until seeing pictures on a post earlier today. I'd like to check into this resort and see where all they have locations, but I can't seem to find their official web page. Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by Christi I can't see my reps either, but it says I have 10...kelly and kim..I'm going to rep you to see if you can see it... Christi, I got the rep you gave me. Thanks! Also, thank you for helping us solve this mystery! FYI to anyone still confused...once you get a rep you will see a green or blue rep square at the bottom of the User CP page. If you don't it at the bottom of that screen then you haven't received any yet. I guess you just have to check that page frequently. Now, I'm going to see if I can figure out how to do a rep myself, and return the favor!

I hate that no one responded. I would to know myself if anyone has had any experiences with this resort location. As you can see, I'm still undecided on my location. It's tough trying to decide. Good luck to you!

Congrats! I'm fairly new to the forum myself! You'll learn a lot on here, and find many helpful people! Good luck with your planning!

Welcome and congrats! Good luck on your planning! You'll find that this is a great site!

I don't see a rep option under my usercp either. I'm assuming I won't see that under my usercp until I get one.?? Wow! There's so much to learn on here!

Congrats and good luck with all the planning!

Congrats and good luck with all the planning!