26 replies to this topic

[marilili]

thanks for the info.  I ended up e-mailing Paula about Blue Parrot.  She gave me some information about Blue Parrot fairly quickly.  These are too many choices to make!!! ughhh  I also received a message on my blue venado post and it seems someone is there on a site visit today!  It's going to be nice to get input from two people!
 

Originally Posted by kellygrrrl 

I had the same thing happen. she often reminds me that she is very busy, so communication is a bit scattered at times, but she does pull it off (even at 10pm - ha! I've had some of those calls). there is no question that Linda goes above and beyond in her level of service, but I was disappointed that some of the vendors she recommended were priced completely beyond what we were looking for (e.g. a florist with $1,500 centerpieces and a $250 setup fee or a $300 cake - we have *11* people!!) I wish she filtered the choices better, but in the end, she is sort of volunteering her help with details that are out of her scope (we're just having dinner in the VIP room). I imagine the vendors she works with for weddings are priced more affordably.

 

on that note, I've also been working with Paula from the Blue Parrot (kindof by accident when I emailed about our group coming for the fire show after Wicky's). she is a DREAM and seems to have the inside track on vendors and pricing and DETAILS, omg SUCH a lifesaver. like paula, she has nothing really to gain from helping me (unless the vendors are giving her some type of referral fee, but I'm such small stakes with this teeny wedding, I couldn't imagine it'd even be worth her time). anyhow, Paula is ALWAYS available, emails me almost daily, got me a florist quote (the best I've seen yet) within hours (it took two weeks via Paula, whose vendors are also 'extremely busy'). Paula does it for the sheer love of wedding planning, and I wish I could return the favor to her somehow.

 

please let us know about your experience, jessi. it will be good to have a compare. marilili, I'm not sure what you're considering, but I found prices to generally be above what our all-inclusive is charging (e.g. for the cake and flowers). I didn't check anywhere else for dinner/drinks, but it seems pretty fair based on US standards. they're less than you'd pay here for an upscale restaurant like Truluck's. oh, at Wicky's, you won't get slammed with outside vendor fees or bogus sunset fees or sky lantern fees, so it would be $1,000 cheaper to move our wedding there based on those alone.

 

-kelly

 

 

 

[JessiTaylor]

oh its great to know there aren't outside vendor fees. im not paying $1,500 for floral centrepieces!!

 

As for blue parrot, it seems that even if you go for the private terrace, it can get a bit loud as a club starts up at 10pm or something. so i assume you couldnt have your own music even if you wanted to?

[marilili]

Are you going to Blue Parrot to Jessi?  I read that too..I wonder how that works.

I didn't even ask if Blue Venado had outside vendor fees either?

 

Originally Posted by JessiTaylor 

oh its great to know there aren't outside vendor fees. im not paying $1,500 for floral centrepieces!!

 

As for blue parrot, it seems that even if you go for the private terrace, it can get a bit loud as a club starts up at 10pm or something. so i assume you couldnt have your own music even if you wanted to?

 

 

[JessiTaylor]

 

Im thinking of looking at it quickly in the day...and then seeing if we can pass quickly after 10pm just to see how loud it gets! I doubt we'll have time to meet anyone officially though. The plan is to rent a car, then buy a local map to establish where all these places are and then see as many as possible haha

 

Giorgia says there is no problem using outside vendors which is great. The wedding planner she's steering me towards has her own preferred vendors i think, but if i find a great company for something there seems no be no problem using it.The only thing you have to use is food and drink, and then i think you can add own decorations/flowers

[JessiTaylor]

 

mmm having got the banquet menu info from linda at wickys, it does seem to be more expensive than blue venado and the alcohol brands not as good.

its strange, i seem to be more interested in value for money here - whereas if i was getting married in england i would fully expect to pay higher prices haha

[kellygrrrl]

ya, it's definitely easy to lose perspective in the throws of all the planning. until I was explaining it to someone the other night, I forgot how you couldn't find reception venues here for under $7,500 (not including photography and flowers). I think you can do what you're able to on price, but ultimately you just need to pick something you WANT. that seems to get lost occasionally, too.

 

Originally Posted by JessiTaylor 

 

mmm having got the banquet menu info from linda at wickys, it does seem to be more expensive than blue venado and the alcohol brands not as good.

its strange, i seem to be more interested in value for money here - whereas if i was getting married in england i would fully expect to pay higher prices haha

 

[JessiTaylor]

picking something i want is the tricky part since i dont know exactly how i want things! i wish id been to more weddings in the past (ive only been to two) so id have a few points for comparison. and i wish id paid more attention to things like colour schemes/decoration at the ones i have been to!

 

Ive never really spent so much money in one go, or on any one thing or event, so planning a wedding and getting quotes upwards of ten thousand dollars (since i have so many people on the guest list)... i feel a bit like im planning an imaginery event with monopoly money. I need to start seeing it as "real" money so i don't start casually saying things like "mmm an extra two thousand dollars for XYZ...why not!" hahaha