Sheraton/Westin Our Lucaya

[~*~Margie~*~]

I have noticed that the Bahamas thread is not one of the more active ones, but I wanted to post here in case there are Brides to be considering the Bahamas for their DW. I was initially a Mexico bride but had to relocate at the last minute do to the swine flu and we ultimately landed on Grand Bahama Island at the Our Lucaya Resort. I wanted to post a link to my review of this resort and while I am certainly not an expert because my planning process at this resort was short and VERY rushed, if anyone has any questions about this resort or weddings there, I will do my best to try to answer them.

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t44177

[~*~Margie~*~]

Just wanted to update this thread and note that Our Lucaya is now a Radisson Resort and no longer a Sheraton/Westin. Additionally, when I had my wedding there, the Sheraton/Westin offered an all-inclusive option, however, it appears Radisson has done away with that option. They offer a breakfast and dinner package add on, but all meals and drinks are not offered. Just something to keep in mind if you really want an alinclusive, but if your open to anything, this really is a BEAUTIFUL resort.

[MrsMiller2b]

Hello Margie,

 

I read your review. Thanks so much for the information. We're planning our wedding on GBI at Our Lucaya. Our main reason for choosing GBI is because my fiance is Bahamian, it's where he was born and raised, and it's where his family lives. However, I'm not sure about some of the vendors there and as you mentioned, they are sometimes on island time and do not move quickly. LOL I am an American and I do things a little different...LOL. Stephanie happens to be our coordinator as well. We haven't talked in quite a few months since I booked since last year and my wedding is not until this year so we haven't been in contact in the mean time. Kendal Knowles is my videographer as well. My fiance's family recommended him of the two the resort mentioned. What did you think about his work? Did you use any of the other local vendors? Who was your officiant? Do you have any other pictures you would like to share? I don't see any other GBI brides on the forum and very few in the Bahamas overall. Any suggestions/ideas you have will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[~*~Margie~*~]

Hi MrsMiller2b, congrats on the upcoming wedding. Its exciting to see another Our Lucaya bride. As I said in my review Stephanie was WONDERFUL, one of the sweetest people I have ever met and she got everything right in such as short time. As far as vendors go, Kendall Knowles, the florist and the Our Lucaya Spa are the only ones I can really comment on. Unfortuately I do not know the name of the florist they used for wedding, I'm sorry. The only flowers I had was my bouquet and it was perfect. I sent a picture of what I wanted ahead of time via email and the florist delivered : ), they were almost a perfect match to the picture (some of the flowers themselves were different due to availablity) the colors were an exact match and the flowers were extremely fresh. The only other service provided by the florist was setting up my chuppa on the beach. I supplied the tulle and the hanging flowers and they assembled it. It ended up not being set up to my exact specifications, however, this was unavoidable due to the wind on the beach and was no fault of the florists. As far as Kendall Knowles, he was wonderful and polite. The video turned out beautiful. We did not have any special requests for him and he chose the music included on the DVD so some of it came across a little "cheesy" but it was a great video, well over half an hour long and commemorated our day perfectly. I am sure he would be open to requests in terms of what you would like in the video and music to use, we just didn't have time for this due to our exceptionally short planning process. One thing I will note is to discuss camera placement and his moving around to tape with both him and your photographer. Kendall did a great job with capturing things from every angle, but in doing so, he popped up suddenly in some of our pictures because it was hard for our photographer to avoid him in the shots she was trying to get. I am sure that speaking with him and working with your photographer, this could be avoided. The DVD was waiting for us at the Front Desk when we checked out of the resort 3 days after the wedding. The Salon and Spa at the Resort is small, and not very impressive at first sight, however, they do a wonderful job. The girl who did my hair (again, no name, sorry) listened to what I wanted (I had no pictures, but pictures would help) and she was able to do a beautiful style that I absolutely loved. Additionally, just before going to the Salon, I broke the comb off of my hair piece and was afraid I wouldn't be able to use it but she was able to secure it perfectly into my hair and it didn't budge. In terms of photography, I brought my own photographer with me so I don't know anything about the photographers that the resort offers. I do have a ton of pictures that I would be happy to share and will try to post them here soon, its a busy day at work and I can't do it today. If you have a facebook account, I'll add you as a friend and you could view my pictures that way, I also have pictures of our trip in general that shows some of the resort. Hope this was atleast a little helpful. Don't worry about the lack of contact with Stephanie, everything will be perfect. I had never so much as exchanged an email with her prior to arriving at the resort and had two short meetings with her 2 days before the wedding and aside from one little miscommunication about getting to the ceremony site, everything was perfect and I give all the credit for that to her..

 

PS..I just noticed you're from Dallas. If you don't have a photographer yet, I could recommend the one I used, she is actually in Austin and she is wonderful.

[~*~Margie~*~]

Oh, and I have the name of the minister at home, I have to look for it. I remember her name was Bronwen Ann but I have to look at the certificate for her last name. She was great, spoke very clearly, added her own personal touches to my self-written ceremony and made it really special.

[MrsMiller2b]

Was your photographer pretty reasonable including the travel?

[~*~Margie~*~]

She was reasonable for my budget. The cost was just the price of the trip/food for her and her husband who is her second shooter, she did not charge any additional fees. We got wedding day coverage and a trash the dress session the next day and we received all images in high res, edited on a disk with rights to print. With airfare and the hotel/all inclusive package it came to around $2000 which was right on budget for me. It may be a little more now because from my understanding, Our Lucaya no longer has the all inclusive option, so there may be more cost in terms of supplying meals.

[MrsMiller2b]

Margie,

 

Thanks so much for all the information. I'd like the contact information for your photographer. I was actually checking into the vendors offered by the hotel for photography. I plan to check out their work but I'm not sure if they offer the style of photography I'd like. I would like to check out your photographer as well.

[~*~Margie~*~]

Her website is Dream Images and her email address is [email protected]

[tlogan00]

Thanks for the info about the hotel name change.