samie

I'd rent the beach at The Grand Cayman Beach Suites (GCBS) (we just got married there). Their wedding planner onsite (Marina Flynn) at GCBS will arrange everything for you including flowers, photographer, a wedding cake made on-site by Hemmingways (very good cake), and a minister (the minister gets a marriage license before you get there and then you sign the paperwork and he goes downtown and files it for you and gives you a copy of it. The US recognizes it.) GCBS offers a package with all of that and you should be able to do it all for around $1,500. There are different all in package options. Definately worth a call to Marina. You can tell her Samie her June 15, 2013 bride sent you.

For those of you in the planning stages here's some advice that I hope is helpful to you: *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Wedding Venue: Consider The Grand Cayman Beach Suites. Marina Flynn the on-site wedding planner is the most fab person you will ever meet and best of all she is free when you book the venue (and the venue is super affordable). She will help book and manage your vendors prior to the wedding (at no additional charge!). For the day-of she did everything from pinning on the men's flowers to building a custom heart of flowers in the sand to making cold towels with eucalyptus oil that her servers passed around. Marina made all of our dreams come true! You have to at least call and consider her - you can feel free to say Samie sent you! She's like family now! Hemmingways (onsite at the Beach Suites) did the catering and they were super flexible allowing us a custom menu and our guests are still raving about the food. At the Beach Suites there are no room minimums but they provided a discounted room rate (for our guests that wanted a more affordable place to stay the Sunshine Suites was just perfect and super easy to work with). ​ *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Rehearsal Venue: At the suggestion of our US wedding planner for the rehearsal dinner we contacted Red Sail Sports and reserved the catamaran from SafeHaven to The Rum Point Club Restaurant (by booking all 40 tickets for the scheduled sail; not booking a separate charter. We actually ended up with 60 in attendance. They can take up to 70 with the restaurant's approval). It's a 45-minute sail each way... then had dinner at The Rum Point Club Restaurant. It was the most wonderful way to kick-off our wedding weekend. Rum Point was private and the food was great - everything from steak to chicken and 3 fresh catches. ​ *********************************************************************************************************************************************** We worked with these other vendors and just loved them. Wedding Videography: Aaron Rebarchek from Picture This - of course a wedding video is a wedding video but the highlight trailer he did was just amazing and it's one of the best investments we could have made. He was great to work with. Our guest video messages were also really special and he captured all of them! Wedding Photography: David Wolfe of David Wolfe Photography and Melissa Wolfe of Better Angle Photography. David is the best technical photographer on the island and his wife's creative outgoing personality complimented him well. Their pictures gave us two different perspectives and lots of angles that we just loved.... They also became our best friends that weekend. (e.g. David even made me a fish taco at the reception.) Just great people! Trash the Dress: Aaron Rebarchek for video and Rebecca Davidson from Picture This. Rebecca was a lot of fun - in our trash the dress shoot she got all of her clothes soaked but got some amazing pictures. She and David Wolfe compete head to head for best photographer on the island and they both have very different styles and personalities -- so find your match by talking to them! The best advice I got from a friend was to receive all my wedding photos and videography before I left the island. There will be a charge because they edit in order; to go out of order you need to pay overtime but it's worth it! Hair/Nails: Spa-to-Go - Helen and her staff handled hair and nails for the 10 ladies in my wedding! They came to our hotel and the pricing was still affordable; way better than going to a spa with all of us. Music: The Suite Elite Show Band. We hired their steel pan player for the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony and then their 6 person band for the reception. They are bar far the best musicians on the island. They are a bit pricey though. Furniture: Massive - we rented benches for the beach ceremony and colored runners that matched my bridesmaids for tables and they were just great. They were super affordable and high quality. Just be planful though you have to go to their office by the airport to fill out paperwork when you get to the island (you can stop at the Rum Factory on the way- LOL) Flowers: Every Bloomin' Thing - I can't say much (because Marina did everything here) but absolutely beautiful! Cake: Hemmingways (and it was really delicious - three separate layers with different flavors). Transportation: Websters Transportation. While they may be a little more expensive than the other choices (I was annoyed they wouldn't negotiate much) the quality of their vehicles and their flexibility was worth every penny. More specifically, we were over an hour late coming back from the rehearsal dinner because we had too much fun and they waited and no additional charge. Bridal Brunch: Eats Cafe - it's a diner and I'm a diner girl at heart. Carlos gave us a separate dining room and it was great food - we ordered off the standard menu (no buffet) and for all 30 of us it was only $800 US. Happy to answer any questions -