Samuela

I recently got married on Vieques and it was beautiful! My husband and I married at the villa La Dacha and it couldn't have been a better choice. I like the Martineau estates too, but they were out of our price range due to it being high season still. Plus the owner wanted to charge us a ridiculous fee for having a wedding there. Our wedding was small (only 7 of us total), so there was no way I was going to pay a $500 event fee or $20/person (which ever was more) for absolutely nothing except to fill his pocket (nothing was provided for this fee, it was just an event fee). The one we were looking at was the Playa Martineau. Plus, La Dacha is very secluded and quiet because it only has one other house next to it and there wasn't even anybody there during our stay. I see Michele Franco messaged you. She did my hair and make up and did an amazing job! So I'd say go with her and you won't be disappointed! For our officiant, we used Doug McHoul and he was really nice and helpful. Our flowers we got from Vieques Flowers & Gifts and they turned out better than what I had imagined! Plus we rented an arbor from them which was covered with local flowers and it was even more beautiful than the pictures on her website. I planned my own wedding because hiring a wedding planner just wasn't very practical for our small ceremony. Denise from Vieques Flowers, as well as Michele Franco, proved very helpful in finding anything I couldn't find on my own. I see you may have decided to hire Sandy from Weddings in Vieques. I actually talked to her myself, but like I said, it wasn't practical for me to hire her for such a small group. I hope she works out well for you. I've read mixed reviews on her, and since I didn't actually use her, I can't really give my personal opinion. The one thing I didn't like about some of the info she gave me was that I wasn't allowed to pick a photographer. My idea of a wedding planner was someone that already had several ideas or options available, but that you were allowed to choose from. She has a couple photographers that she uses, but she would not allow me to view their work and choose which photographer's style I liked better; she chooses the photographer for you. Everything may have turned out just fine, but I'm very picky about that kind of thing and didn't want to chance my wedding photos being something I wasn't happy with. In case you haven't fully decided, I found two other wedding planners- Beaches & Bliss and Boda Weddings. I did not contact either of them about planning my wedding, except I did email Marilyn from Boda when I was trying to find an officiant. She was very nice and referred me to Doug. The only other advise I would give is that when inquiring about services down there, don't tell them initially that it is for a wedding; several of the places we had contacted jacked up the price once they realized that it was for a wedding. Also, reserve a car at least a couple months in advance! I reserved our car 3 months in advance and barely found one. Most of the cars at all the rental places were already reserved. We rented ours at Maritza's Car Rental. Just a word of warning about them, you have to have the total cost of your rental held on a credit card when you pick up the car. We did not know that in advance, and since we were paying cash for everything, we almost became stranded because we didn't have $500 on our credit card. Finally, they let us use their computer to transfer money to our credit card so that we had the funds available. You can pay cash once you return the car if you want, but you have to have a credit card physically on you with funds available when you pick up the vehicle. Also, they will always try to rent you a Jeep (which is more expensive). They don't generally tell you that they have some cars available too. We actually got their Suzuki SX4 which is a compact car, but it's 4WD and much roomier than it looks. We actually loved that car and we really don't like compact cars! It seated 5 tall people comfortably and when necessary, the back seats fold down if you have a lot of luggage. We had two large suitcases, a backpack, and a carry on suitcase which all fit in the back without folding the seats down. It also had no problem going anywhere we went on the rough roads of the island. We did not use a caterer for our wedding, although I did contact a couple (Aguacate and Above & Beyond). Both have good menu options. We thought about hiring a private chef because it would be more practical for a small group. I contacted a couple but one never responded back and the other didn't respond back until two days after our wedding. So we decided to order several plates from Trade Winds. The people there are extremely nice and helpful. We just called them an hour before we wanted to pick up our food. After our ceremony, my mom went and picked up the food and brought it back to the villa and we had a nice dinner overlooking the ocean and sunset! I know this is a lot of info, but I did A LOT of research since I decided to plan it myself. I'm sure there is more info I could give you, but it all depends on what you need. I hope this has been at least a little helpful to you. Good luck and congratulations!