brookedanielle

My solution to this problem was to create pocketfold invites. So I've got the main invite, and then inserts for the ceremony in St. Thomas, the AHR, and then an RSVP card that's got both events on it. I am still in the rough draft process of writing it out, but so far it's like this... Brooke and Glenn will be married on Sunday the Sixth of June Two-thousand and ten St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (Parents of the bride or hosts of AHR) invite you to share in the celebration of the marriage of their daughter June 18, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. Michael's Banquet House Latham, NY Then my ceremony insert: Ceremony - St. Thomas, USVI 6/6/10 - Wedding Ceremony on the Beach - 8:00 A.M. Please feel free to join the bride and groom for a week in paradise. They will be on-island from June 3rd - June 10th. For more information on accommodations, travel information, and activities, please visit their website: And then my Reception insert: Reception - Latham, NY 6/18/10 - Reception - 7:00 P.M. A reception given by the bride's parents will be held at Michael's Banquet House after the newlyweds return from their honeymoon. Please join us for a night of celebration with a formal dinner, drinks, and dancing. (address of AHR) Sooo... long post. But that's what I've got so far. I would love any input or suggestions, as it's a work in progress.

Welcome to the new brides! Thanks for all of the officiant suggestions! We ended up booking an officiant through Island Wedding Services. I'm a little less than three months away from my wedding, and we still haven't picked out a location. We want to be on the beach, but we don't want to have to pay the site fee that most of the beaches charge, for a 10 minute ceremony. Does anybody know which beaches are free to get married on? I know I've come upon this information somewhere before, but I can't find it now. Thanks!

Rum balls! =] Things that would keep with the same local theme... coffee, tea, hot sauce, candy take a look at this website, they've got some good options! St. John Spice Company good luck!

Hey! I e-mailed you about 2 packages of each the blue and green luggage tags from my email address [email protected] - feel free to get back to me on that email address. Thanks! -Brooke

Wow! Amazing pictures!! Congrats! May I ask, what beach did you get married at? and what time of day was your ceremony?

Lola, My sister and brother in law live in North Greenbush! Sooo crazy! I absolutely love that you've been to a wedding at my AHR location! We've been there a couple times for planning, but I can't wait to see it all setup for the big event! How's the planning going for your AHR? Have any professionals hired? I'm sooo excited about our DJ (out of all things to be excited for, right? lol)

Thanks again for posting this, I ran out today to get these. First target I went to had ONE left. The next target had about 30 left, and I went ahead and cleared out about 25 of them. Here's a photo of all the colors available at the target near me.

Thank you so much for posting this! I've been searching for affordable decent towels for months! Heading out to Target now.

Congrats & Welcome! I am also a St. Thomas bride - June 2010! Good luck planning, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

Quote: Originally Posted by Reya Here is what we used: WE LOOK FORWARD TO CELEBRATING WITH YOU. PLEASE RESERVE YOUR SPOT ON THE BEACH BY FEBRUARY 1ST, 2010 NAME(S)_____________________________ __ Can’t wait to feel the sand between my toes. I accept the Invitation. ___# ___ Toasting from afar, there in Spirit. Regretfully Declining ___# I love this one! Cute and creative. Good job!

Jennifer - Chairless ceremonys do happen. I am a chairless ceremony bride myself. In my opinion, it comes down to how badly you want the chairs. If it's what you want, it doesn't really matter what the officiant thinks of how the chairs will settle in the sand etc. Always keep in mind its YOUR wedding! The cost factor may be the make or break on that decision. Toni - I am in the same boat. As much as I wanted chairs... the cost is just ridiculous. What I've seen is about $5-10 per chair plus at least a $200 setup fee. I can't justify it. My issue is... How will my guests all see though? What if my 6'2" brother blocks my 4'9" best friend's view? I've got about 30 guests and this stupid chair issue seems to be what is stressing me out the most.

My bridal shower is scheduled 10 weeks before my wedding! I know that seems like it's really early, but the month of April seems to be extremely busy with Easter and family birthdays and such, and then May is cutting it too close considering we are leaving the 2nd of June for our wedding. So we picked the last weekend of March (which omg it's so close already). Just check out your schedule, and remember to not do it too close to your wedding, you'll have enough to think about in the weeks leading up to it.

Thank you so much for putting together this thread! It's really helpful to have prices for things all in one places, so easy to make comparisons.

Nice pocketfolds! Good job.

I am! My party dress is sooo much less formal though. Our wedding will be on the beach in the a.m. and our "reception" won't be until dinner at our villa that night. I bought a knee length CK white dress... it screams "island chic". And the best part? It was originally $130, and I got it on sale for $30. I will be making use of my wedding dress again at my AHR a few weeks after my ceremony though.

With all of the things that we need to transport to the wedding, this is not good news at all. Too bad Southwest doesn't fly to the Caribbean - two free bags would be so amazing!

That's so sweet that he proposed AGAIN! Now there's a story worth telling the grandkids.

So I've been on the search for an officiant, and for some reason I'm not having much luck. For those brides who didn't end up using a coordinator, who did you use as your officiant? I feel like I don't want to hire a coordinator JUST to have an officiant, because it will cost more money. Any suggestions?

It depends on how much you want to spend on your bags. I found some great decent sized bags. I haven't put them to the test at the beach yet, but they are thick cotton canvas... $4 per bag. here's the link: 100% Cotton Canvas Shoulder Tote w/ Multiple Pockets | CYMA Bags The only downside, they only come in yellow. I didn't mind too much, not my wedding color, but I decided that not everything had to match. They're really nice bags. Good luck!

Welcome to the Newer St. Thomas brides! This board is such a great resource, and the ladies on here are so very helpful. Good luck in planning your weddings! Ashley: I'm so sorry to hear about all of the difficulties you faced on your wedding day, but glad to hear that you didn't let them ruin your special day. Thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us.

Lola, Wow, it's a small world! I'm not in Cohoes anymore, moved 10 miles south this passed June. Our AHR is right down the road from where we were living in Cohoes, at Michael's Banquet House. You know, I never looked at 11 North Pearl, but I had considered going to the wedding show that was held this passed weekend there. When is your AHR?

I, too, am having a formal AHR. Like many others I've got 150+ attending, while only about 30 attending the DW. We are doing the wedding attire, pictures from the wedding, and possibly video if we can figure out how to set it up. Our DW after-party will be much less formal. We're getting married in the a.m. then having beach time and a day sail, then dinner back at our villa, so the AHR is really important to me and the fiance. But mostly to my fiance. I was surprised at how insistent he was upon having a formal AHR. My AHR venue does almost everything, which is spectacular. Centerpieces, linens, catering, cake, no need to decorate because it's already beautiful. These things together were the reason why I chose this particular venue, I don't really have to stress about the AHR. Which is perfect, considering we come back from our wedding/honeymoon on a Tuesday, then our reception is on that Friday. As for invitations... I've been pondering this too... I guess it depends on how and who you're inviting. Everybody that's invited to my AHR, is also invited to the DW, I didn't want to exclude anybody. So I believe I'll be sending out 1 invite, but in a pocket folder invite (probably from cards and pockets), in order to have separate cards to make each event's info clear.

Beautiful bouquets - I'm definitely interested. I PMed you.

You know, I was just getting on this board to say the same thing! I just picked up pedicure sets from Target's $1 spot (includes nail clippers, emery board, and toe separator) I bought their first aid kits too, I agree -they're great because they are so much smaller than the J&J! I also saw Webster's Spanish-English dictionary in the dollar spot for anybody who's been looking for those! Also - $4 beach towels! Haven't picked these up yet, I'm hoping that I can get them even cheaper at the end of the season. I have a feeling that I'll be visiting Target a lot in the next couple months.

Crystal - We don't have a wedding coordinator as of now. We've been going back and forth about it - but we haven't really decided exactly what we want yet! I've been chatting with Sherri *Weddings The Island Way*, and she is awesome! As for a photographer - we've got someone coming from NY with us. If that falls through though... I'm thinking about contacting Gary Felton. Are you staying at the Ritz too? Anaiah - Great, helpful reviews! I may just be PMing you soon!!