Soon-to-be-Mrs.D

Oh I didn't know she was pregnant! Maybe that's why she hasn't gotten back to me for the vegetarian dish! She's great though - so accomodating and sweet. You really had a lot planned for your guests! How many people did you have again? We are having close to 75, and are trying to keep down costs where we can, but we will probably do a brunch for everyone on Sunday as well. I'm so excited -- just under 6 months away  Now I'm trying to find shoes... I'm gonna go barefoot on the beach for the ceromony, but am torn between flip flops or heels for the reception. Since we are doing the reception on the croquet lawn, I don't want heels sinking into the grass. We'll see. I have to decide soon though!

Nice we have the same entrees! We will have a vegetarian option as well, but still aren't sure what that will be. You'll love it! Â We are doing a snorkling trip the morning of the rehearsal dinner, then everyone is invited to the rehearsal dinner that night. We are doing bachelorette parties here (actually, CJ is going to VEGAS on Thursday, lol, that's what makes this all real to me right about now!). No one else is certified to scuba dive, except for CJ and I and we plan on going one day while we are there... which we also did when we were here back in Feb and it was AWESOME... except for the fact that 5 out of 6 people on our boat were throwing up because of sea-sickness! You have a lot planned - that's great! You're guests will have a great time. Â We plan on getting there Tues, March 15 and leaving Mon, March 21 (getting married Sat, the 19th).

Hi Janine, Did you say that you've been to the Somerset before? it's pretty large, so I'm sure they will have no problem accomodating your 41 guests... I WISH all my guests would stay there, but for some of them its a bit of a stretch. Â Yes, our rehearsal dinner is going to be a beach BBQ, which everyone is invited to, put on by Kissing Fish Catering (owned by the same people that own Bay Bistro)... we ate at Bay Bistro when we were there and I thought it was really good. So we are doing a very casual BBQ, buffet style through them with a bonfire and music. Should be really fun! Â As far as a cake goes, both our families want us to have one as well.... but we are not doing it. It's not worth it to us. We've asked Lauren if we could do an ice cream sundae bar (bc we both LOVE ice cream!) and she quoted us a price on that, so we're pretty sure that will be it for dessert! Lauren is fabulous... we're actually having a few appetizers that weren't on the menu (fried mac n cheese!) and she's totally receptive to new ideas. We talked to her aout the cocktail hr for about 45 min last week - she's so patient and willing to give you what you want. As far as the entrees, we are going with caesar salad (the presentation was awesome) and filet mignon or local red snapper. They were both fantastic! My fiance doesn't even eat fish, but he tried the red snapper and actually liked it and ate the whole thing! You and your chef guests will not be disappointed

Hi Misti - OMG another Somerset bride?! I love it! We'll actually be arriving on the 15th when you are leaving, and staying til the 21st... how funny would it be if we crossed paths?! Hope your planning is going well!!! We were down at the somerset in February and it's really amazing - such a beautiful property with AMAZING food Best of luck in planning! How many people are you having at your wedding? We are having about 75. Â Talk soon! Brianna

Nsblum, that's too funny about the orchid blooms with LED lights - she probably sent me a picture of what you had for your wedding - very pretty! We'll probably still do the tall vases on a half of the tables... I've emailed Aimee to ask how tall they are (I'm hoping they are higher than eye level so that people can all see eachother). Then the rest of the tables will have lower centerpieces and either the lanterns or hurricane vases with candles. Ahh I'm nervous about candles though if both you and Janine say they blow out.... we'll see. I just really liked that look. Janine - your centerpieces sounds really pretty too! You're lucky to have the opportunity to have a mock built for you!! I guess I kinda just have to trust that EA will do a good job - I mean, weddings are probably the bulk of their business I would imagine. Â Ummm yea I was a huge fan of NKOTB back in the day, but am pretty sure I don't really want them playing at my rehearsal, lol. I'll have to ask Monique who else she recommends. We're doing a beach BBQ by the kissing fish catering company. We're VERY excited for this!!! Â As far as the tasting goes, we had samples of two appetizers, two salads, two meats (rack of lamb and filet), two fish (local red snapper and chilean sea bass), a number of sides and a variety of desserts... we are thinking about not doing a cake - neither of us is really a fan of cake and we always notice that no one eats it anyway! That's too bad they messed up your flavors though - sounds like you took it easier than I would have! At least they discounted it in the end... Â Janine - Lauren recommended 20 dozen for 75 people... and you got 16 for 40 people? Was it just enough, too much? Nsblum said she ran out - I definitely don't want that to happen! We have two stationary items, then 20 dozen passed apps (about 6 different types). Sounds like we might have to add more! Â No, not all of our guests are staying at the Somerset. Pretty much only immediate family is staying there, then most others are staying at the Sands and Sibonne. I believe a few others might be staying at Beaches because they wanted the all-inclusive option for a week. We recommended Sands and Sibonne as more economic options since they are so close to Somerset. Â Nsblum - I'm actually in upstate NY, near Saratoga Springs... but I'm down in the city all the time (4 of my bridesmaids live in NYC)! Would love to meet up sometime next time I'm there!

HI! Thanks so much for all your input! I'm so happy that you enjoyed Press Gang- I was really nervous going with a band we've never seen, especially since music is such an important part of the wedding! Your post calmed my nerves about them, so thank you! We were going to do a steel drum thing for our rehearsal as well... but I'm still unsure about that. Â Aimee from EA has been very responsive to each of my 1000 emails as well, lol. We are going to do half the tables with higher centerpieces on top of a tall vase, with either small vases with floating candles or vases with floating flowers and LED lights on the bottom (her suggestion). The other half of the tables will have smaller, low center pieces with the same floating candles or floating flowers. I was nervous about the candles blowing out, but we really like that look! We haven't even looked at other flower shops as Monique said this is the one that they use the most... so I really have nothing to compare to with price. Â We kinda thought the same about the cocktail hour... I had the feeling we aren't ordering enough, and the last thing we want is to run out! We did a tasting there back in Feb and were blown away by the presentation and the taste of the food. Lauren is great! Â That is AWESOME that you are doing a trash the dress session with Ileana - can't wait to see the pics! You will LOVE her! Â Keep in touch and if you have any other thoughts/suggestions let me know! Thanks, Brianna Â

Janine, I think Aimee from Environmental Arts is great - she's so on top of things and gets back to me very quickly. Her prices aren't so bad, I just think she's trying to get us to order more than we might actually need. She has wonderful ideas though! Â Monique told us about the band Press Gang after she saw them at a wedding in June that was held at the Somerset. She said they play one a week at a bar called Shark Bites I believe. I've asked her for a play list or the types of music and haven't heard back yet, but she said they are pretty upbeat when she originally told us about them. We've been back and forth about just getting a DJ because music is important, and at least we'd be able to give a DJ a list of songs. We'll probably end up using an Ipod in between their sets - it's definitely nerve wracking not ever hearing them before.... we have about 75 people (mostly a younger crowd) and good music will definitely keep the party going. Â We are using TI for pictures - originally we requested Ileana as she did our engagement pics when we were down there in Feb. She was booked, so we are going with Andy, Kellie and Preston for videoography. I'm sure they will be great! Â Good luck with your wedding in Nov!!!! Any helpful tips?! We just spoke with Lauren, the chef, the other day about our cocktail hour options... I'm so excited! Keep us updated!!! Â Brianna

Hi nsblum! I'm getting married at the Somerse tin March 2011 - I'm so excited I can't think of anything else. I'm sure I'll feel the same as you as soon as it is over I'm just going through trying to get estimates on flowers now, and we have a band booked (Press Gang) who I don't know anything about. Monique, our coordinator, assures me that they will be great; however, I have to say that I am very nervous about going with a band I have never heard before! Who did you use for your band/DJ? and your flowers? Monique recommended Environmental Arts, but they seem a little pricey... any thoughts/suggestions you have would be great! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Awesome - I just checked the JetBlue site, and it doesn't allow you to book just yet. But that will be perfect for my wedding in March 2011!

Has anyone ever heard of the band Press Gang? Our wedding coordinator at the Somerset booked them for us, as we requested a fun lively band. I'd say about 75% of our guests are in the 27-32 year old age group and are definitely ready to party. Originally we had the Island Boys booked, but the wedding coordinator said they weren't really our style as they play only carribean music. We're looking for a mix of that AND popular music from here in the US. Thoughts on Press Gang?

We are getting married at the Somerset 3/19/11 with approximately 75 guests.... we went on a planning trip back in February 2010 to scout out places. This was the first place we had an appointment with and I fell in love with it right away. We plan on getting married on the beach, holding our cocktail hour out by the pool overlooking the ocean, then the reception on the croquet lawn. The property is immaculate and the guest rooms are amazing (though pricey). Most of our guests are staying at the Sands, which is two properties down and more reasonably priced. There's so many beautiful hotels, and you really can't go wrong anywhere on Grace Bay Beach - it's just gorgeous! I can't wait for my own wedding!

When I spoke with Ileana, she highly recommended Andy, David and Kellie since she was unable to do our wedding (we are booked and paid in full with Andy and Kellie as photographers and Preston as the videographer). We couldn't be more pleased and are VERY excited for our wedding at the Somerset in just over six months from now! I check the blog daily for updates

I LOVE HER! I am getting married March 2011, but we had her do some engagement photos for us back in February during our planning trip. She made us feel so comfortable and her pictures were AMAZING. We had let her know that our date was 3/19/10, but made the mistake of not putting down a deposit right away. A month or so later she called to let us know that her manager ended up booking her for another wedding for that same day without consulting her. Needless to say, we are missing out on having her do our wedding. Andy and kellie, who I haven't met, will now be covering - their pictures are amazing too I'm looking forward to meeting them down there, but my advice to brides would to be book as soon as you know you would like one of the vendors down there. There are only so many to choose from, and they seem to book up quickly!

Good Afternoon Everyone! I am new to this site and wish I had found this sooner! I am getting married in Turks and Caicos March 19, 2011 at the Somerset. We took a planning trip back in February and fell in love with the place right away! We are having a pretty large wedding - up to 100 guests. So far we have our photography booked (Andy and Kellie from Tropical Imaging) as well as our band. The band we are using is the Island Boys - has anyone heard of them or know if they are good for weddings? We like cover music, with island "flair" mixed in too. When we were down there we heard a lot about them, but were wondering if there were other bands worth considering... I can't find any websites or information on wedding entertainment. I've also book my hair/makeup with Shenique - who I hear is amazing. But she's expensive! Just wondering if there are any other wonderful (less expensive) hair/makeup artists that my bridesmaids could use. My wedding coordinator, Monique was on vacation last week so I'm sure I could just ask her when she gets back, but I figured you guys would be a great resource too! Thanks so much in advance for your help! Brianna