Monica Mai

Got a call from our wedding planner at Ladera today and went over everything and everything is working out like I want except the flowers . . .with the original date there wasn't a problem getting the pink bougainvillea on the wedding arch, but there won't be enough in April .. so going with pink and white ginger lillies instead.. I'm going to remain positive and not let this get me down. I requested pink and white orchids for my bouquet and she is sending a request to Castries to see what they can do-- keep your fingers crossed for me!! Monica

Fmichelle -- LOVE your OOT bags!!! So glad to read that many of you are flying your photographers down too!! All my co-workers think I was crazy when I told them I was bringing our own photographer. LOL!

@wilsonj2 -- Ohhhh yeah we will have a dj and dancing so it should be perfect!! I am not going to stress about that any longer!! My to do list for this weekend is to drop off the OOT bags at the mall to get embroidered with St. Lucia and the date 4.16.2011, order new tags for my favors (they currently have the first date in november on them) and begin my packing list!! 45 days left till the big day and only 39 left till we fly down there!! Getting sooo excited. Hope everyone is doing great!! Monica

LilyRose what a great idea!! Looks like I am the first to take the plunge!! So I tried on my dress again .. .. haven't tried it on since last October. . . it zips up, but it's a little tight around my middle...nothing that can't be fixed by April. Question for you guys-- we are having a pre-wedding dinner at the Jalousie right on the beach. The event coordinator there suggested I get a tent since St. Lucia is known for having short rain showers ... the tent is 20 feet x 40 feet. Along the 20 feet side the caribbean buffet will be set up. As of right now, there will only be roughly 20 people attending .. .does anyone think this is too large of a tent? I tried to stake out the size in our backyard just a bit ago, but just couldn't really picture it. The FI was no help either. My fear is that the tent will be too large for the group and will look empty. Any and all thoughts will be welcome. Happy planning to you all!!

Love Love Love those boarding passes!! I did similar ones for our Save the Dates. You are going to get so many wonderful compliments on them!

Hi everyone!! I am an April 16, 2011 bride! . . .originally a Nov 2010 bride, but Hurricane Tomas hit St. Lucia and we had to reschedule. I have to admit it was devastating, but so happy April will be here so soon. We are getting married in St. Lucia at the Ladera Resort... staying there for 7 days +5 more at Jade Mountain!! So exciting. Due to the change in date we lost a couple of previously booked guests--including my sister who is pregnant and will not be able to make the trip. So right now we have 15 booked including us. We are having a pre-wedding dinner at the Jalousie Plantation -- outside event on the beach serving a caribbean buffet, dj, and fireworks!! Super excited about that!! The wedding at the Ladera is going to be at their Wedding Pavilion in b/w the two Pitons, with a plated dinner at the hotel's restaurant and dancing afterwards at their bar where they have live music--definitely saved us some money with that. After reading everyone's posts about their April weddings has gotten me re-excited about my wedding too!! Happy wedding planning to all!! Monica Mai

Hi JessMarie, Welcome to the forum. I will be getting married this April in Soufriere... so in a couple of months I will be able to answer some of your questions . My soon to be mother-in-law and stepson will be staying at the Stonefield -- that resort was recommended by the Jalousie plantation (where all our guests are staying) and offers free shuttles to the beach. I think it would be a beautiful place to elope. Our wedding will be at Ladera and we are having a pre-wedding dinner at the Jalousie.We also took advantage of the free wedding option Ladera offered and the hotel has a wedding planner that I just told her everything I wanted and so far no major issues. We are bringing our own photographer too and filmographer also since a lot of guests will not be able to attend we decided on splurging on a filmographer to capture the wedding. We are not having an AHR either due to cost. One thing I discovered (and it could just be my own personal issue because we have about 15 guests attending) about the free wedding was a couple of hidden costs, such as having to pay to use the hotel's club cars to transport our guests to the wedding pavilion-- I guess it would have been no cost for just us two, but with the additional people we are having to pay $150-- which I guess in the grand scheme of things is not alot of money, but still not something I had budgeted for initially. Happy wedding planning!! Monica Mai

Thanks Wilsonj2 for the support! I understand exactly how you feel about trying to accomodate everyone else and then they decide not to come!! I know it can be disappointing, but keep focused your wedding day is about you and your soon to be husband-- plan everything around you two because it's the one day where it can be only about you two!! We rescheduled the new wedding date to April since it was my sister's spring break but then she told me (after we already changed the date so she could come) that she was pregnant and wouldn't even be able to make it to the wedding because she'll be too far along in pregnancy! I also am experiencing the HIGH costs of St. Lucia-- everything is sooo expensive!! We booked through a TA for the travel insurance, which definitely came in handy.. . but I've been looking at special offers our hotels offer now and feel like we kinda got ripped off a bit. I personally feel as if I had a crappy TA because I pretty much did all the research and work about the trip. . .for any brides thinking about booking through a TA my advice is to research research research prices and make sure they price match what you find if the rates you find are lower online. I though a TA would automatically have the best and cheapest rates, which was not always the case. If we weren't having to pay out of pocket so may guests including us we definitely wouldn't have used the TA and just bought travel insurance from a company. What are you guys using for your wedding favors? If you are looking for any beach totes I bought some boat totes from LL Bean and will have St.Lucia embroidered on it and our wedding date. Looking at the prices for beach totes on knot.com and other wedding sites, LL Bean was just about the same price--so I went with them since I know they have excellent quality. I also bought some starfish favors at www.shorechic.com. That site is FABULOUS if you are looking for some beach favors/pieces for the wedding. I was very happy with their service, quality, and time it took to reach me. I have one of the starfish on my desk at work and everytime someone walks by I get compliments on it. I also bought raffia fans to put on the chairs for each guest at the actual ceremony. I bought those super cheap from oriental trading. . . no complaints except they are definitely not all the same size-- which wasn't a prob for me since we do not have that many guests coming. . .but believe me they range from xsmall to small to medium to large, but for the price definitely worth it. .. .Dont know how I'm going to get all that stuff there .... Good Luck to you all. Monica

Hello St. Lucia Brides!! I have been MIA for awhile. . ..the worst thing possible happened to me. Hurricane Tomas hit St. Lucia the end of October and I was not able to get married in November at the Ladera Resort. So my first word of advice to any of you ladies planning your wedding during Hurricane season, make sure you have travel insurance. We were so lucky to purchase it through our TA (the fiancee thought it was a waste of money) but we were so relieved to have it. The down side of it though is that due to the change in date alot of our guests couldn't make it any longer. My sis will be 8 months pregnant on the new wedding date and cannot fly to come to the wedding. Also, you have to rebook everything pretty much immediately or the hotels won't work with you. Particularly Jalousie plantation-- we had to fight fight fight with them to honor our rates we initially booked. It seems the Jalousie was bought by another high end hotel group and their rates skyrocketed. After much fighting, they agreed to honor our rates we had for our guests who knew right away they could come. Unfortunately we had to wait until this year to find out if my new step-son could go since the wedding was around his standardized tests at school, by the time we were able to book the only rooms left were over $1000 a night and then two days later while we trying to figure out what to do, the hotel completely sold out!!! Jalousie did recommend another hotel, Stonefield Villas that give free shuttles to the beach at Jalousie so we are having to put my inlaws and stepson there. . .. Good news, we rebooked everything for April 16, 2011. We are spending 7 beautiful days at the Ladera (where the ceremony will be held) and 5 more nights at Jade Mountain!! We recommended all the guests to stay at Jalousie Plantation and we are having a pre-wedding caribbean buffet dinner there the Friday before the wedding. I loved reading everyone's posts about their upcoming weddings!! Monica Mai

Hi all! My wedding day is 38 days away!! Everything seems to be coming together though. Things done: All travel arrangements have been paid. FI suit bought and tailored. FI ring bought My band has been ordered OOT bags Buri Fans To do: Monogram OOT bags menu cards Final fitting for dress One question . . . .I need help with figuring out how to get my dress on the plane. Is anyone going to just try and see if they can get the flight attendant to hang it up or put it in a suitcase?? Thanks!! Monica

Congrats!! I am getting married next month at the Ladera Resort. . .then our last three days of the weddingmoon we will be going to Jade!!

It's been awhile since I've been to the forum. Trying to find a group tour for my wedding guests of the island. Does anyone know of any?Cosol Tours was recommended by a friend who has been before, but they only pick up people from Castries and we will be in Soufriere. Any recommends would be greatly appreciated. Â Monica

Help on OOT bags. What to put in them? How to hand them out? Any thoughts would be great. Â Thanks!

I am doing Brazil Butt Lift. . .it's a Beachbody product (they also distribute P90X). . .it's GREAT! The workouts are short around 30 mins. .there is a cardio one and scultping one for upper body. After one week, my fiance could tell a difference. Â Â

Kat, I love your website!! I used wedsite too and thought it was really user friendly. I wouldn't change anything you have done. It's perfect. My website is monicaanddennisherring.com. Happy planning!! You're going to be such a beautiful bride!! Monica

Quote: Originally Posted by bestforlast Hi All – I am new to the forum. I am in the very beginning stages of planning my weddingmoon (destination wedding/elopement) for October 2010. Yes, I know it is hurricane season but we are willing to risk it. It will be just my fiance and me. I’ve been to many Caribbean islands, but I have always wanted to go to St. Lucia. I’m a little overwhelmed by all of the resort options. Let me tell you a little about us and our preferences and maybe you can help me sort this out. I’m 35, he’s 55. We’re both very young at heart, active, and healthy. We are very athletic. I did an Ironman last fall and he’s training for one this year. We love to eat (good thing we exercise so much) and finding great restaurants, whether it an ethnic hole in the wall, a fabulous brunch, or a 5-star restaurant is one of the highlights of our travels. While we are very active, we also appreciate down time. Our ideal resort will have access to activities like snorkeling and jet skis, but will also have a great beach where we can just relax and read. We are both extroverts and enjoy being sociable, but I envision this trip as being a little more solitary than most cruises we’ve been on. While it is nice to get to know new people, for our honeymoon I think we want to just by ourselves more than we ordinarily would. We are also early birds who don’t really do the nightlife thing. When I think of St. Lucia and a beach getaway, I’m thinking ocean front. In looking at some of the resorts – they all blend together at this point – it looks like some of them are not right on the beach. We would love one of the rooms with a missing fourth wall and an outdoor shower but not at the expense of being oceanfront. Luxury accommodations (nice furnishings, sheets, towels) are high priority. We would love to wake up and see and hear the ocean. That would be a dream. Finally, we aren’t opposed to all inclusive if the food is good. Neither of us drinks more than a glass or two of wine a month, so we are concerned that we won’t get our money’s worth at an AI. If anyone can shed some light on the differences between the different areas of St. Lucia, that would be appreciated. Maybe I can start by narrowing it down that way. Thanks everyone! BTW, we are professionals and can spend a little more than we ordinarily would on this trip, but my frugal side prevents me from wanting to pay more than $500/nt. Thanks in advance! I'll be getting married at Ladera this November, but a co-worker of mine is headed to St. Lucia in Sept and will be staying at the Calabash Cove. From reading your post and hearing what she has talked about, I think this might be a good fit for you. Check out their website if you get a chance.

I am getting married at the Ladera this November, but one my co-workers is headed to St. Lucia in Sept and is staying at the Calabash Cove, which is right on the beach. That place sounds like it might be a good fit for you and your fiancee.

YAY other Nov 2010 brides!! We are getting married in St. Lucia on Nov. 27, 2010 at the Ladera Resort. Our colors are dark pink and gold. So far we have booked our trip, sent out our save the dates and magnets. I just ordered my dress (YAY) and it should be here the end of June/early July. My next item on my looong to do list is pick out the invitations. My goal is have the invites out by May and have all RSVPs back by June so I can get an accurate head count on everyone who is coming. We are having a welcome dinner at a different resort where the guests are staying the day before the ceremony in addition to the reception.. . so need to figure out how many are coming. Looks like about 25 people.

Hi there! I don't know much about the RUI Palace Aruba, except that when we went to Aruba in the fall of 2007 we thought it was the most beautiful of all the resorts from the beach. We stayed at the Hyatt down a little ways, but the RUI Palace was extremely impressive. One other thing I can tell is that we met a couple during a tour who was staying there and they told us that it was very beautiful inside, but another friend of their's who was also staying there had a room that had not been renovated and was unhappy. The couple we talked to had a renovated room and loved theirs. Hope that helps.

Quote: Originally Posted by Amymarie So jealous of your wedding location, it will be beautiful! Great save the dates, it is rare to see black in a destination wedding and i love it. Thanks! We thought the black made it a bit more classier. So glad you liked them!

Quote: Originally Posted by Diva I LOVE the boarding pass idea!! Where did you get those made? Thanks so much! I used The Stylish Scribe-- the website is The Stylish Scribe, LLC Custom Invitation Design in Reno, Nevada . . . Jessica (the owner) was completely professional, and I would highly recommend her. She even printed my guest addresses on them for me and the return addresses . . .so all I had to do was stuff them and stamp when I got them. Good luck with your planning.

Mel -- your dress is stunning. I love all the detail on and the train is a vision.

Quote: Originally Posted by amandalsu I finally got mine ordered. I had a hard time finding something I liked. It will be in mid April so I hope the alterations aren't too extensive. It is a really good length so at least it won't have to be hemmed. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your dress!!

Here's a pic of our Save the Date Magnets we had done. Also here's some pics of our Boarding Pass Save the Dates. I bought these cute wedding cake stamps from usps.com that were $0.61. . .I was able to mail the magnets and the boading pass invites for that postage.

Shae - I LOVE your wedsite!! It looks so fabulous. You are going to be the most beautiful bride!