kafarm

For must haves, I cant really say to much more other then really good food and great spot for the ceremony and pictures. Really good food is important and I think reliable service is to. The Versailles gardens is the spot at Ocean Club if it wasnt for this location, Im not sure that place would stand out to us. A few of the trip advisor reviews didnt make me feel well of the service and food. Versailles Garden, Paradise Island Attractions, Paradise Island Tour, Versailles Gardens

Hello my name is Josh, Im attempting to help my FI (Khara) out with getting our wedding in order. I need to take some of the stress off of her. We are planning for a mid November wedding but could move it back if we really have to. My FI and I are looking for a smaller more intimate place for our wedding. Our guest list will range from 10-20 people max. Some of our guest/family need to take it easy on the pocketbook so options for them to stay near by, if our place is to pricey, are a must. We had our hearts set on El Careyes but with all the violence and possible second wave of swine flu. Add on top of that the 2 1/2 hr drive from the airport we are not sure it would work our for the best. The people we plan on having will be coming from all over the U.S.. The planning on transportation alone is making it almost the breaking point for El Careyes. At $260 for a 6 person van ride each way, its looking like it could cost around $2k just for transportation, way to much. I would like to add that El Careyes almost called to us in a way. We loved the look and authentic feel that it has. To be honest, most of the places on Playa side feel more modern and touristy then we like. We have looked at Tides on the Playa side. While it is a tad high on the cost side, we feel we like it the best out of all the options we have looked at over there. But again even their transportation cost are $300 round trip, make the option that much more difficult. We have looked at many places over in Playa but just dont feel the connection. Everything from El Dorado/Azul and a number of other places, none of which seemed right for us. The Azul Villa was another option we though about, not only for the privacy but our other guest could stay in the same resort and enjoy the all inclusive options but the $ numbers really didnt add up for us. We have debated back and forth on the pros and cons of all inclusive. The problem is the resorts we tend to fall in love with dont really offer them and if they do there tends to be a huge hangup from another perspective. Then we thought about trying the Bahamas like the One & Only Ocean Club, but the reviews about the soso-food and cost and lazy service. Its still on the short list ONLY because it has one of the best options for wedding locations. We fell in love with their garden wedding location. We thought Atlantis would work for our guest but even thats not as cheap as we thought they would be. We also looked at other island locations but the flight/transportation cost for some just didnt work at all. As for our wedding, we want very low key. We plan on having a friend preform the ceremony and we plan on that only lasting 5 mins or so. We would like everyone to stand around us in a circle or something very low key. We just want it as simple as possible. The overall idea is to make it more of a fun trip for everyone then an actual wedding feel. Cabo is an area we really havent looked at to hard but have heard its a pricier area as well. Esperanza is the one place to stand out over first looks but they are already booked for our time slot. Im not sure what other places to keep an eye on that have the appeal we look for. So if anyone has any suggestion for ideas we are all ears. We talked with a few travel agents but they all push for the big Sandals/Beaches style resorts that we dont even want to think about.

Just wondering if going with a travel agent is worth it, what are the advantages and cost of going with one? Thanks

Anyone been to any of the "One & Only" resorts? We are just looking over the Ocean Club but the reviews Iv been reading seem like this one is the worst out of the bunch.

Khara Nov 15 2009 As for the location thats the issue, to many options, but we are working on it