Monica Mai

Hi everyone! It's getting closer and closer to everyone's special day!! Hope everyone is enjoying the planning process. I am loving being married !! Still haven't changed my last name though.. I am trying to make it a priority for this month ha ha!! If have finally posted some pics on our wedding website of St. Lucia, Ladera, and Jade Mountain. Just got to www.monicaanddennisherring.com and on the Gallery page there is a drop down field and you'll see an option for Ladera, Jalousie, and Jade Mountain. Check them out. Everytime I see them, I so wish I was there again. Enjoy every minute ladies!! Monica

Hi everyone!! Just checking in with everyone to see how the planning is going? Does anyone have a Facebook page? I have a ton of St. Lucia pics if anyone wants to see. Monica

Hey everyone!! Hope everyone is enjoying your planning!! LilyRose -- we brought our own citronella candles with us to burn. I bought two packages of three and just fit them in my suitcase. I think I did see coils, but we've never used those before so we just stuck with what we had. Julee -- I'll check with Ladera and see if I can get a name for you about the flower vendor. I am so excited for all you!!! If anyone wants to check out our wedding pics, here's a link to the online gallery our photog set up for us. The password is tropics. http://christinehallclient.com/gallery/williams-herring There's a TON of them so just browse at your leisure!! Monica

Hi everyone! Thanks for the sweet comments everyone!! LilyRose I was so happy about my flowers!! I did not have to import them, my hotel was able to work with a florist in Castries to get them for me. So I would definitely check with Jade and they should be able to do the same thing for you. Everyone take bug spray!!! My hubby didn't get bit at all, but I was eaten ALIVE!! My legs looked absolutely horrible and my hubby referred to all my bites as "wounds" ... better safe than sorry. I didn't see that many bugs but then in the morning I would have a ton of bites so my advice is to just spray some bug spray everyday even if you don't see any bugs. I am still suffering from my bites after two weeks. LilyRose at Jade Mountain what we did was bring some citronella candles and we lighted them in the bathroom (that's where we saw the most bugs) and around the pool and that seemed to help. Definitely make sure you keep the mosquito netting around the bed completely closed off. .. . some pesky mosquitos would get in and those suckers were HUGE!! Enjoy the planning ladies!! Monica

Hello ladies!! I am back! We got back really late last Friday . .. and have been going through St. Lucia withdrawals all week. The wedding was absolutely A-mazing and each and every one of you ladies are going to be so happy you decided to choose St. Lucia as your destination wedding spot!! I am so glad we decided to wait to the wedding there. When we first got there is was rainy and dreary. .. which I was a bit upset about but by the end of the week things started to clear up. The Friday night pre-wedding celebration was great! Weather was perfect. Wedding day Saturday started off extremely HOT and then the rain clouds rolled in.. . but, we were able to make it through the pictures, ceremony and the cocktail hour with no rain!! We originally had planned the reception dinner for outside by the pool, but by then the rain came in and they had to move everything inside. The restaurant has an open concept and no air conditioning and after the rain (it lasted maybe 30 minutes) it was super hot and muggy. At the dinner table I had my dress all hiked up!! Ha Ha! The only regret I have is that I didn't like my hairstyle for the wedding. . . .so we might take some additional photos .. . but I'm waiting to see how the all the photos look. and then we went to Jade Mountain!! Oh Lily Rose you have chosen the most beautiful and ultra luxurious hotel EVER!! We loved every single minute of our stay there. You should definitely try and have the ceremony at the celestial terrace... from up there you have the Pitons in the background and also you have views of the most beautiful sunsets. Message me any questions you might have. We loved it so much we are planning a vow renewal there in 5 years!! Just be ready to climb up and down stairs!!! If anyone's interested in sneak pick of our pics check out our photogs blog.. . . www.christinehallphotograpy.com .. . when you get to the site click on blog and scroll down.. . the first shot of us is us standing on a small dock -- the title is St. Lucia wedding. I'll post more over the weekend for yall! Monica!!

LilyRose are you getting excited? Did you book a package at Jade? We are spending the honeymoon part of our weddingmoon at Jade and booked the Total Romance package. Your wedding is going to be soooo amazing. Are you going to have the ceremony at the Celestial terrrace? Happy planning to you and cant wait to see your pics!! The architecture of the place is A-Mazing!! Monica

Oh MEve!! So sorry to hear you're having to go deal with all this. We didn't do group rates b/c the hotel we recommended to the guests (Jalousie Plantation) required at least 10 rooms booked and 50% nonrefundable deposit down and we didn't have enough people who were coming. We kinda already knew who was going to be able to come or not (my pushy friend I told you about earlier pretty much just invited herself to the wedding but thats another story). We had about 40 people say they were going to come, but now its only 18 including us. We didn't do airline bookings either just because all our guests are coming from all over the US and using different airlines. I agree with Julee about travel agencies.. . .after my dealings with my travel agent, I have vowed to never ever use one again. Maybe you should look into other hotels/resorts. . . .one of my friends is getting married at Windjammer this May and another co-worker of mine stayed at the Calabash Cove and said it was great-- she had a villa right on the beach. I've been working like 12 hour days this week plus working on wedding stuff so feeling kinda run down-- thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. Got great news from the hotel though!! I requested their "ultra-exclusive" hilltop suite months ago and just found out we are guaranteed the room!! It was an additional area for pictures and I'll be able to make my grand entrance through this beautiful wooden door rather than walking up some steps. SUPER HAPPY about that piece of news!! Spending this weekend buying some cute outfits and PACKING! Monica

My Saturday was supposed to be a fun day of wedding planning with one of my friends (who is coming to the wedding also). So she comes over and I show her all my wedding stuff I've purchased--the starfish favors with tags, etc. She comments that she likes them, but is then like you know I could have just made these for you and how much did you spend on them b/c I would have done them for you and you wasted your money. I mean what do you say to that? Then when we went to the hair trial, she was like telling the hairstylist what to do and taking over.... On top of that my FI HATED my wedding hair style and said I looked like a rooster (it was a bit poofy) . . . . Let's just say after my looong day yesterday, I had a couple of stiff drinks On a more positive side, I completed alot of things on my to-do/to-get list!! Only thing left really is to work on the playlist, get some baby pics(we are putting baby pics of us out at the pre-wedding event) and I guess now, figure out a new hair style... Here's my countdown: 14 Days till we leave 20 Days before we say I Do.

MEve!! Wow what a wonderful spontaneous trip!! I'm in agreement with LilyRose about your room situation if that is possible. Since they are close friends and family I could see the justification for the extra cost. We were unable to get my MIL and step son at the hotel we booked our guests at and they are going to be at a different hotel from us and the guests and are now having to worry about transportation back and forth from the hotels ... it might be worth the money to pay the extra dependant on how much taxi costs are back and forth. Had my hair trimmed to just get all the split ends taken off and my stylist recommended using a creamy based hair serum down in St. Lucia to combate frizziness and humidity--just wanted to pass it on to you ladies. I'm kinda in the last stages of the wedding planning process . .. Have my first and only DIY project this weekend--- recruiting a friend to help me wrap pink ribbon on the handles of the raffia fans I bought for the guests. Having my hair trial this weekend also. Really all I have left to do is order the menu cards, buy more beach attire and PACK!! Everyone have a great weekend!! Monica

Oh Meggers!! What a fabulous present from your mom!! One of my friends just spent her honeymoon there and LOVED it!! I am partial to St. Lucia since we are getting married there, but we'll be at the Southern part of the island. So ecstatic for you!! Monica

Hi April Brides!! Hope everyone's getting their last minute tasks scratched off your to-do lists. I am kinda just in limbo at work . .. should be working, but checking out the forum instead. ha ha. I've still got lots to do and we leave in 20 days!! My goodness!! Monica

Fabulous job!! You are going to have the wedding of your dreams!! Thanks for including a link to the frames you are using for table numbers. I have been thinking about doing the same thing and didn't know where to begin looking. Cannot wait to see your wedding pics -- they are going to be A-mazing. Monica

Just wanted to add me to the list! April is fast fast fast approaching! Brandy Wedding: April 2 Leaves: March 30 Beaches Turks & Caicos Teneshia (Tennyt1) Wedding: April 2 Leaves: March 30 Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, Jamaica lsmith211 (leah) Wedding: April 5 Leaves: March 31 Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay JA Christina Wedding: April 7 Leaves: April 2 Riu Ocho Rios, Jamaica Laura Wedding: April 9 Leaves: April 6 Riu Negril, Jamaica Monica Mai Wedding: April 16 Leaves: April 10 Ladera Resort, St. Lucia Lesee(Elese) Wedding: April 18 Leaves: April 14 Paradisus Palma Real, Punta Cana, DR Meggers (Megan) Wedding: April 19 Leaves: April 12 Barcelo Maya Palace, Riviera Maya Mocha(Sherri) Wedding: April 22 Leaves: April 16 Moon Palace, Riviera Maya Tris (Trista) Wedding: April 28 Leaves: April 23 Gran Bahia Principe, Runaway Bay Jamaica

OH MEve!! I love those!! So sparkly and fabulous!!! I'll post a pick of my shoes soon!!

Looks like the tags for the OOT bags didn't post.. . so here they are

Since I am still recovering from the flu and resting in bed, I thought I'd share some wedding stuff with my fellow St. Lucia brides!! These are my OOT bags. I really love them! I got the bags from LL Bean --- ordered them online and got free shipping whoo hoo! Then took them to my local mall and had them embroider them. I am giving one large tote to each couple and there are two kids attending so I thought it would be cute to give them each one. Due to the size and the money, I decided not to fill them with anything, but I did order some tags that I am going to attach to them with ribbon. Here are the tags I am going to attach to the bags. And here are my guest favors. I am putting them on top of each menu card at each guest's place setting at the reception. I am so happy how these turned out.These still have the original date on them, so I ordered tags with a black border and writing that have the new date and I am just going to add the new tags with the this one so both dates will be recognized.

I've only heard rave reviews about havianas so I thought I'd get a couple for me for the weddingmoon. So glad you like them too!! I'm going to wear them to our pre-wedding dinner on the beach-- I have this cute white linen dress I am wearing to it. For the ceremony I splurged about bought Jimmy Choos!! The ceremony is on a pavilion so I won't have to worry about sinking into the sand.

So question for yall -- what are you going to wear while you're getting ready for the big day? I've seen brides with cute white tracksuits with Bride in sequins on it and think that's super cute, but being in St. Lucia a tracksuit would be way too hot to wear. Was wondering what you ladies have thought of. Thanks!! Monica

Fiancee gave me his cold and I am feeling absolutely miserable today and stayed home for work. Been stressing about how to get my dress and his suit on the plane. . . so found online at wallybags.com a garmet bag that is waterproof and is specially designed for wedding dresses and can hold a wedding dress + tux and other garments with pockets for shoes. It also has a lock on the top to keep the garmets on the hangers and can be folded in half and put in the overhead bin if it must go in there. It was kinda pricey at $170 + shipping, but now i have the ease of mind of knowing both the dress and his suit will be protected no matter what and will not get crumpled. Picked up the OOT bags from being embroideded and they look fabuous!! Will post some pics as soon as I feel a bit better. Ordered a handheld steamer from shoprowenta.com -- my hotel does not have their own steamer, but said they could send it off someone. I was like no thank you to that option-- my dress is not leaving my sight for anything. So went ahead and bought my own-- it was like $29 or something like that. One thing my bridal boutique told me about steaming a wedding dress was to make sure you do NOT steam it directly with the steamer. Make sure you wrap some cheesecloth around the head of the steamer when you steam the dress so the steam doesn't directly hit the dress. Ordered a couple of bathing suits from victoria's secret and some coverups too. Mailed the necessary docs to my wedding planner to get our marriage license. My fiancee was married before and they needed a certified copy of his divorce decree with raised seal. When I mailed it to St.Lucia the post office told me it would take like a week to get there and I am from NC-- just FYI for any of yall needing to mail anything down there. It cost me like $6.00 to mail it-- was a document of 5 pages. Will be ordering my menu cards and havianas this week and that should be it. One funny aside I thought I would share. Fiancee who has had absolutely no input about the wedding since he had no desire to be . .. told me over the weekend he was starting to panic about having to pack for the wedding. I was like really? You are panicking about packing? I am stressing out about our pre-wedding event, wedding, dress, hair, makeup, guests, photographer, filmographer, favors, OOT bags!! All I could do was laugh at him and tell him to get over it. Hope all is well with your wedding planning!! Monica Mai

Welcome Futuremrr! I am getting married at Ladera resort next month. We are bringing our own photograhper and filmographer. Our wedding package includes an arch and I chose pink and white ginger lilies for that-- I originally chose pink bouganvillea when the original wedding was to be in Nov of last year--had to reschedule the date because of Hurricane Tomas, but was told April was not the time when pink bouganvillea was in season. For my bouquet I am doing different shades of pink orchids. What I did was to just send pics to the wedding planner that the resort provided with pics of the flowers I wanted and she could check with her florist to find out if they could get them. Did the same thing with the cake--just sent a pic of the one I wanted and they said they could do it. I also checked with the wedding planner at the resort that once I got to the island and went over everything and didn't like something if I could change things and she said yes to that too. Monica Mai

Found this video on St. Lucia. Has some beautiful video of the island and It features the hotel where my wedding will be held!! http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r-video/26782206/detail.html Enjoy!

I think the flight attendants will too. .at least I am keeping my fingers crossed and hope for the best. I am bringing a handheld steamer since the resort doesn't have one so it'll all work out in the end.

Oh thanks so much for letting me know. I feel much better now about it!!

Thanks so much for the encouraging words!! I originally wanted calli lilies, which of course aren't indigenous to St. Lucia and to have them imported was extremely expensive because I couldn't just buy enough for the bouquets -- had to purchase alot of them so decided against it. It would have been about $400 to get them imported. Just wanted to let anyone else know if you import flowers in you'll have to buy a large quantity which may or may not be what you need. One thing my wedding planner did say was that she was contacting a couple of florists in Castries to see if they could accomodate the flowers-- so if any one has problems with flowers that might be an option to give to your hotel. Will definitely keep you posted -- should hear back next week if they can do it or not.

I'm getting married next month and my worst fear is how I am getting the dress to the island!! Please post any news. I am flying American Airlines. . . .