June 6, 2010 Turks & Caicos Wedding!!!!!!

[Bronze8584]

My husband and I were married on June 6, 2010 at 6:00 PM on the Grace Bay beach at sunset in Provodenciales, Turks & Caicos. We had an amazing 7 day trip. 13 of our closest family joined us for the trip, with 4 of them staying at The Sands which was a beautiful resort as well!

 

Here is my review! Let me know if you have any questions!

 

 

Villa Renaissance (10/10): We stayed here from June 3 – June 10, and were married on the beach in front of the hotel on June 6th. This hotel is VERY quiet! We could not believe how quiet it was. There is a little bar by the pool and the front staff is accommodating and helpful. Our room was a first floor ocean front suite, it had a great view, a kitchen with everything we needed, granite, stainless steel appliances, flat screen TV’s, large master and bathroom. It was perfect. The beach is beautiful and pretty much empty!!!

 

You can easily walk to small shops, a VERY close liquor store, and several little restaurants from VR. We enjoyed breakfast a few days at the Saltmills Café which is right across the street. My husband and I did walk to the large Graceway Gourmet down the road (about a 10 minute walk) but it was not fun bringing everything back! We used the hotel’s bikes after that. The hotel has bikes you can borrow for free, and we used them a lot! We would also recommend renting a car if you are going to be going around the island a lot, as taxi’s did start getting expensive.

 

The only bad thing was we were robbed on our 2nd to last night at the hotel. The burglars broke in through the patio door while we were sleeping and stole my purse, our wallets (with our whole lives in them basically), jewelry, camera, and other valuables we had in sight in the living room. They did not bother us, and no one was hurt. The resort was absolutely amazing at helping us through this, and we could not have made it through the ordeal without them, and Nicola from Allied Management and her sweet staff. The police came and took fingerprints and a statement, we did find out that this had NEVER occurred at VR, and everyone was completely shocked. My husband and I would STRONGLY recommend locking ALL, and we mean ALL purses, wallets, valuables, etc in the safe, and leaving nothing of value in sight. We will be back on our first anniversary regardless of this.

 

We also booked our parasailing trip through the front desk and it was amazing!!!! The boat came and picked us up from the beach at the hotel and off we went for a beautiful parasailing adventure. The views from the sky are breathtaking!!!!

 

We also snorkled right out front of our hotel, we saw fish, sting rays, conch shells, sand dollars, etc. SO much fun!

 

Wedding Coordinator (10/10): I did a lot of research on a wedding coordinator before finally choosing Diane with Island Harmony ([email protected]). This was one of my best decisions. Diane is simply amazing! She helped me make all the decisions I needed to make, she kept me on schedule, and answered all of my millions of questions. Her response time to emails was minutes, no longer than an hour to get a response from her. Everything was set up to my liking on the wedding day, my bouquet and my husband’s bout. were perfect (Environmental Artists). Flowers are expensive on the island, Diane worked with my budget and I got a beautiful bouquet of different types or colorful orchids and hydrangeas, it was SO pretty and fresh! It was raining the morning and early afternoon of our wedding day, but Diane assured me everything would be ok, and it was. She helped to calm me down and keep everything in perspective. I would HIGHLY recommend Diane!!!!! She is great!!! She made me stress free and that is priceless for a bride!

 

Wedding Dinner (10/10): When trying to decide on who would host our wedding dinner, I kept hearing great things about Kissing Fish Catering Co. and Bay Bistro ([email protected]). I AM SO HAPPY I chose them! Joan was amazing throughout the planning, helping me with the menu choices, decorations, set up, etc etc. We chose to do our wedding dinner on the beach in front of Bay Bistro, where we had the best meal of our life! We paid extra for the tents, had an amazing private bonfire, private chef (Clive Whent himself!), private server, and a private open bar! They even put my chair ties on the chairs! We had so much food, and Clive even added items to the menu we did not know where going to be there! It was so incredible, we had mahi mahi, hamburgers, jerk chicken, potato salad, salsas, orzo and shrimp, conch fritters, corn, vegetables on the skewer, etc etc etc and YUMMY key lime pie for dessert!!!! The open bar was great, the bonfire was amazing, and we ended our night by making smores and roasting marshmallows as the sun set over gorgeous Grace Bay!!! You will NOT regret choosing Bay Bistro/Kissing Fish. A great surprise was they set up an ipod connection and had music playing for us!!! It was delicious, romantic, relaxing, and the best dinner we could have ever imagined!

 

Tropical Imaging (10/10): Tropical Imaging was one of the reasons I chose T&C as our wedding destination! I came across the blog and was amazed!!! I contacted Ileana who responded quickly and was great about working with our budget and helping answer all of my questions!! We chose the Celebration package, added an additional hour of coverage, and booked our Videographer package. We met with Ileana two days before our wedding and we loved her! She was very professional, asked all the right questions, and we had NO fears or worries about our pictures. We knew they would be amazing. Preston did our video coverage and he is SO nice and wonderful as well. They both worked their butts off in the sand, running around, directing us, and getting all the great shots. We are SO excited to see our video and photos. I have no doubt they will be simply amazing!!!

 

Restaurants:

 

Bay Bistro (10/10): Not only did they cater our wedding dinner, my husband and I went back on our last evening in T&C to actually eat at the restaurant and YUMMY!!! PLEASE try to Conch Won Tons, they are SO good. The food and atmosphere at sunset is so lovely!

 

Horse Eyed Jacks (8/10): We had our rehearsal dinner here; they set up a long table right on the deck overlooking the amazing water! Our server B.J. was so great with our group!!! The food is good, some of my family was not a fan, but I liked my shrimp kabob. The drinks were strong and we had a great time!

 

The Vix (10/10): The Vix is really great! We ate lunch here on our last day; it is a swanky, pricey little place with great service and great food! Try the mashed potatoes and grouper!!

 

Mango Reef (6/10): Mango Reef was not really what I expected, the food wasn’t that great, the service was not so great, and for the price I would rather go elsewhere. We ate lunch here and some people liked their food, some didn’t. We most likely won’t be back here.

 

Saltmills Café (8/10): We ate lunch and breakfast here a few days, it was convenient and had great prices and service. We will be back for sure!

 

Hemingways (9/10): My husband ate here three times, and I did twice. We loved the dinner atmosphere, lanterns, right next to the water with great food and live music!!!! We loved it!!!

 

Tiki Hut (10/10): This place was great! It is located right on the marina with great food, great service, and great drinks! We ate dinner here one night with a large group and they had our food out fast and delicious, we will be back!

 

Night Life:

 

The Gansevoort (9/10): Beautiful bar! We had fun!

 

Mini Put (8/10): This place was recommended by B.J. at Horse Eyed Jacks. It was so much fun, my entire family karaoked, danced, and drank until the early morning hours! We had a great time at this local hangout! Bring bug spray!!!!!

 

Danny Buoy’s (9/10): This place was SOOO fun! We went here twice, live bands, great DJ, great drinks, great fun! Go here if you want a fun atmosphere with dancing, and the place has all the sports games on as well!

 

Casablanca Casino (8/10): The casino has a great free shuttle that will pick you up from your hotel and drop you off after for FREE. We played Blackjack, Roulette, and slots. It is a great casino and free drinks if you’re playing. Some lost, some won, but hey, that’s what happens when you gamble!

 

We had a GREAT trip, remember bug spray, and a collapsible cooler to bring down to the beach. We are already planning on going back in December and again next June! =)

 

I will post my pics once they are posted on the Tropical Imaging blog!!!

[JanineA]

Thanks for sharing your review Bronze. I am gonna have to make a point of remembering to visit some of those restuarants. I can't wait to see you pics!

[wendyjd]

Congrats on a beautiful wedding, can't wait to see photos.

[*Meagan*]

Awesome review! Im sooo sorry to hear you were robbed, that is just awful!!!!

 

I loved Tropical Imaging and Ileana & Preston!!! Cant wait to see your pictures online!!!!

 

Congrats!

[AishaB]

Great review, thanks for sharing and congrats

[MichelleS]

Thanks for sharing, we are getting married July 13th at beaches. Sorry to hear about the robbery, glad to hear your okay.

[Bronze8584]

OUR WEDDING PHOTOS ARE POSTED!!!!!!!

 

Please take a look here:

The Wedding of Gwyn and Trey at Villa Renaissance | Brilliant by Tropical Imaging

[emilyk78]

Gorgeous pics!!

[TanyonL]

Great review. Your wedding was beautiful!

[luchdiamond]

Such a beautiful place to get married.