Secrets St James/Wild Orchid Weddings 2012/2013

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by Mimi127 

 

Yes I received a quote from them it was pretty pricy.  I also have a partial quote from Floral Fantasy who appear to be a little more reasonable.  I am going to have fresh flowers I just have to scale back to make it more affordable.

 

Let me know if they're more affordable, but keep in mind that since it would be using an outside vendor, Secrets will charge you the $300 vendor fee and $80 day pass per person. I ended up going with Tai Flora to avoid all the extra charges since they're the in-house florist. But if the savings with Floral Fantasy are significant enough, then it's worth it! Good luck!

[Mimi127]

Originally Posted by alexisinjamaica 

 

 

Let me know if they're more affordable, but keep in mind that since it would be using an outside vendor, Secrets will charge you the $300 vendor fee and $80 day pass per person. I ended up going with Tai Flora to avoid all the extra charges since they're the in-house florist. But if the savings with Floral Fantasy are significant enough, then it's worth it! Good luck!

I will let you know what the prices are looking like.  So far the bouquet that I like which I saw on Floral Fantasy's website is $85.  We have decided to get married next door at the Seawind Beach Club which is a part of Secrets.  I did not want to be in the sand (go figure and I want a destination wedding) and I am expecting 30-40 guest so I figured the ball room would look gigantic with a small amount of people.  Seawind recommends that we use Jans flowers but if we decide not to there is a $100 vendor fee.  

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by Mimi127 

 

I will let you know what the prices are looking like.  So far the bouquet that I like which I saw on Floral Fantasy's website is $85.  We have decided to get married next door at the Seawind Beach Club which is a part of Secrets.  I did not want to be in the sand (go figure and I want a destination wedding) and I am expecting 30-40 guest so I figured the ball room would look gigantic with a small amount of people.  Seawind recommends that we use Jans flowers but if we decide not to there is a $100 vendor fee.  

That sounds reasonable!!

[jrebecky]

Originally Posted by kristencanada 

 

I can post some pics in this forum of St James...it was gorgeous, there's honestly not much of a difference between Wild Orchid and St James except for the colours of the room pillows!!..I changed all decor to the purple dendrobiums because I do not like daisies or carnations (they just aren't really "me"), so here is the breakdown for them:

 

bouquet - $100.00

corsages (2) - $90.00 or $45 each

boutonnieres (2) - $50.00 or $25 each

cake flowers - $50.00

centrepieces - (3) - $225.00 or $75 each

 

for my ceremony I have a little logitech iPod dock that is quite loud so I am using that, but for the reception I am using my iPod, made a playlist and rented their sound system

I'm not a big fan of the daisies or carnations either.  That's not actually too bad of prices for your bouquet and the rest of the flowers.  Is that just throught the hotel?

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by kristencanada 

 

I can post some pics in this forum of St James...it was gorgeous, there's honestly not much of a difference between Wild Orchid and St James except for the colours of the room pillows!!..I changed all decor to the purple dendrobiums because I do not like daisies or carnations (they just aren't really "me"), so here is the breakdown for them:

 

bouquet - $100.00

corsages (2) - $90.00 or $45 each

boutonnieres (2) - $50.00 or $25 each

cake flowers - $50.00

centrepieces - (3) - $225.00 or $75 each

 

for my ceremony I have a little logitech iPod dock that is quite loud so I am using that, but for the reception I am using my iPod, made a playlist and rented their sound system

 

Yes, pics!!

[JovienCO]

Originally Posted by alexisinjamaica 

 

 

I'm curious about all of these things as well. I think there is only sand next to the Casita but I'm not sure.

 

Are you planning to do your cocktail hour AND reception on the beach? That's what I'm planning for at the moment. We'll see if I change my mind as things get closer!

 

I'm planning to use the beach (not the Casita) and have them set up a bamboo structure that they'll drape with fabrics I plan to purchase in my colors. The Secrets WC sent me a doc with wedding pictures of various upgrades so this is what I'm using to go off of for now.

Hi alexisinjamaica!  I wanted to thank you for posting the above.  We are definitely in preliminary stages of planning, and Secrets Wild Orchid is in my top two.  However, I wasn't so impressed with the Casita, so its good to know there is a beach option available.  Are you still using the bamboo structure? And did you find out if the beach area is secluded?  Thank you

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by JovienCO 

 

Hi alexisinjamaica!  I wanted to thank you for posting the above.  We are definitely in preliminary stages of planning, and Secrets Wild Orchid is in my top two.  However, I wasn't so impressed with the Casita, so its good to know there is a beach option available.  Are you still using the bamboo structure? And did you find out if the beach area is secluded?  Thank you

 

Hello! We are doing a structure that will look like this:

 

 

 

I hear that the beach area is a bit more secluded, so I'm happy about that. Now that I'm closer to the wedding and have started making final choices with the WC, she informed me that the beach area is fine for ceremonies but they recommend having the reception near the casita where there's more space to spread out and add tables. So that's what we are doing. The tables and chairs will all still be on the sand.

[JovienCO]

Thank you (and sorry if that was posted previously, still reading through the thread).  Your set up will be very pretty!  And I can definitely see having a reception near the Casita (it looks like there's an open sand area next to it). By the way, congratulations!

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by JovienCO 

 

Thank you (and sorry if that was posted previously, still reading through the thread).  Your set up will be very pretty!  And I can definitely see having a reception near the Casita (it looks like there's an open sand area next to it). By the way, congratulations!

You're welcome!! When I was planning there wasn't a ton of info on Secrets so I like chances to help other brides!

 

The WC also told me that you CAN have your reception on the beach right near where the ceremony is, it just gets cramped. But there's a grassy area nearby where they can set things up. We just decided we might as well go with the area that has more space and move over to the casita for that part.

 

Hope this helps and happy planning!!

[muneera0302]

Originally Posted by alexisinjamaica 

 

You're welcome!! When I was planning there wasn't a ton of info on Secrets so I like chances to help other brides!

 

The WC also told me that you CAN have your reception on the beach right near where the ceremony is, it just gets cramped. But there's a grassy area nearby where they can set things up. We just decided we might as well go with the area that has more space and move over to the casita for that part.

 

Hope this helps and happy planning!!

i can't wait to see your set up. my fiance wants to have the ceremony by the casita but i'd rather the beach, just not sure how we are going to decorate all that :-). so i definitely can't wait to show him yours! I also want to wear heels but clearly that won't work on the beach lol we have a major height difference so guess i'll just be short on our ceremony pictures lol

How large is your bridal party?