Turks 2013

[WCorey]

VT Diamond:

     Hey! I am getting married on 4/20/13 at The Alexandra resort! I have just really began the planning so dont have much booked yet. We just booked the venue and are super close to booking the photographer next. Has anyone heard anything about Jon Nickson? He has Eyespice photo. What are you doing for your flowers? I havent began looking into them yet but have heard they are super expensive since they have to be flown in. Was thinking about possibly going with fake ones....do you think thats tacky? Do you have a wedding coordinator? How many guests are you having?

[Tropical Imaging]

Originally Posted by WCorey 

 

VT Diamond:

     Hey! I am getting married on 4/20/13 at The Alexandra resort! I have just really began the planning so dont have much booked yet. We just booked the venue and are super close to booking the photographer next. Has anyone heard anything about Jon Nickson? He has Eyespice photo. What are you doing for your flowers? I havent began looking into them yet but have heard they are super expensive since they have to be flown in. Was thinking about possibly going with fake ones....do you think thats tacky? Do you have a wedding coordinator? How many guests are you having?

 

 

 

I can comment on flowers.   Everything on island that has to be flown in refrigerated is going to be VERY expensive compared to the US.   We see a LOT of brides with "fake flowers" or jeweled pin bouquets or even shell bouquets that they bring in.   Some just may carry a single lily or a couple of gebera daisies etc.   If you are on Pinterest...I have a lot of samples of flowers on one of my boards.   Also check out the Beaches Turks and Caicos thread in the Beaches and Sandals sections.   There are a LOT of brides who have used real touch flowers and have posted samples and you won't believe they are not real!

 

http://pinterest.com/krysmann/wedding-details-from-our-brides/

 

 

Hope that helps

Krys

[WCorey]

Originally Posted by Tropical Imaging 

 

 

 

 

I can comment on flowers.   Everything on island that has to be flown in refrigerated is going to be VERY expensive compared to the US.   We see a LOT of brides with "fake flowers" or jeweled pin bouquets or even shell bouquets that they bring in.   Some just may carry a single lily or a couple of gebera daisies etc.   If you are on Pinterest...I have a lot of samples of flowers on one of my boards.   Also check out the Beaches Turks and Caicos thread in the Beaches and Sandals sections.   There are a LOT of brides who have used real touch flowers and have posted samples and you won't believe they are not real!

 

http://pinterest.com/krysmann/wedding-details-from-our-brides/

 

 

Hope that helps

Krys

Krys,

   Thanks, that does help, however do the brides get them from home and bring them themselves or is there somewhere down in the T& C where I can find good fake flowers? And do most of them do the boquets themselves?

Thanks

[WCorey]

Originally Posted by Danie 

 

Kim the grocery store is about a blocks walk from the gracy bay club (OCW is next door to that) Maybe a little further but theres a round-a-bout (almost across from 7 stars) about one block from Grace Bay Club & OCW. Once your at the roundabout its about one block from there. I don't know the name of the streets but I could find out. I'm not sure where you are staying but if you are at one of them 3 its not a far walk at all. If not and you are renting a car you can drive there. Some stuff is cheap but some expensive but like I said it is worth it. Where are you staying?

Danie,

    I am going to be married at The Alexandra as well as staying there with all of our guests. There doesnt seem to be much on The Alexandra so I was wondering what if any you knew about it? I heard it was not walking distance to the grocery store and "in town". Are other brides renting a car down there?

 

Thanks

[Tropical Imaging]

Originally Posted by WCorey 

 

Danie,

    I am going to be married at The Alexandra as well as staying there with all of our guests. There doesnt seem to be much on The Alexandra so I was wondering what if any you knew about it? I heard it was not walking distance to the grocery store and "in town". Are other brides renting a car down there?

 

Thanks

 

The Alexandria is about 1 mile to mile and 1/2 from Graceway Gourmet Grocery store.  Graceway Gourmet is in the heart of the Grace Bay area shopping district.    You could walk it in easily 20-25 minutes (that would be a slow leisurely walk), we have sidewalks all the way there or you could go on the beach to Seven Stars (tallest hotel on Island) and you're there.   I am pretty certain they have bicycles available for use as well (it would be a VERY EASY bike ride).   Things that are within quick walking distance: next door Regent Palms- they have a fabulous spa and some restaurants, and some great boutiques.  Somerset - also have 2 restaurants (although really one of our favorites is the Alexandria's Mango Reef).  You can go to Bay Bistro Restaurant on the other side of the Somerset and also in the development near Alexandria is a local favorite called Smokey's.  

 

After Bay Bistro you have a bit of undeveloped Beach and then The Sands, some more undeveloped Beach and Point Grace..Le Vele..Regent Grand and a few others.   The Regent Grand is where the heart of shopping complexes are in Grace Bay.  You have the Regent Shops, The Salt Mills Plaza and then further down near the Seven Stars Resort is the Ports of Call /Caicos Cafe area and Graceway Gourmet.   We do see people walking around or biking around.  It depends on how much walking you want to do.   Mango Reef is a big favorite among the locals and expats here and we love the beach area around the Alexandria.   If you want to have dinner at  Coco Bistro or Coyaba or Caicos Cafe in the evening, a car/taxi or shuttle would be better.  But there are lots of options for meals near you.   

 

If you want to make a morning of shops etc I would recommend walking on the beach early down to Seven Stars, and head to the Caicos Cafe Complex and try the Caicos Bakery for the fresh bread and Croissants (the almond croissants are heavenly) and Coffee or head to Graceway Gourmet which has a outdoor coffee area and little shop (best coffee around in my opinion).   Get some ice cream at Island Scoop.  I love the Salt Mills and Regent Shops for unique Island arts/crafts/clothing etc.   We have some nice galleries and the FOTTAC (flavors of the turks and caicos) shop sells Rum/coffee/sea salt all from here.  

 

We really don't have a "town" so to speak, just mainly different areas on island.  While The Alexandria isn't in the Heart of Grace Bay, it certainly is within the area and isn't "Way Out" in my opinion.  Just make sure if you are going to walk, take water (people dehydrate here easily because they underestimate the sun) and don't head out mid day at the sun's peak.  Mind you, once you hit the beach, you won't want to do much else .

 

Oh yes, the Alexandria is within an easy walking distance on the opposite side (towards Beaches Resorts) to one of our more popular snorkeling reefs, by Coral Gardens.   That's a great idea as well.

 

Here are some blog posts of weddings at the Alexandria.  The Mango Reef beach deck is a great location for a reception!

 

http://brilliant.tc/blog/2012/04/turks-and-caicos-islands-alexandra-resort-tricia-and-matts-wedding-day/

 

http://brilliant.tc/blog/2012/06/the-wedding-of-carmela-joquim-the-alexandra-resort-turks-and-caicos/

 

Hope that helps!

Krys

[Danie]

Hi W Corey: congrats on your upcoming wedding. I love meeting new brides. As far as the aleaxandria goes i never stayed there but friend owns one of the condos and from what i have heard its beautiful. I also know its so close to the coral reef where you can actually go snorkiling right off the beach and have lunch at this cute bar restaurant called somewhere. We are actually planning to snorkel there instead of renting a boat. I am not sure if you can walk to the supermarket from there thats something i dont know. But i personally think it is in a beautiful location. I see alot of girls get flowers from etsy.com. I have been lucky though i am having real flowers but im using the island flower and the only flower being imported are the blue and purple dendronim orchids and since they were coming from miami it really wasnt expensive. Im so excited for you and me. I can tell you about jon nickson bc he is my photographer for our wedding. Honestly i was stuck between brilliant and eyespicem i met with both on the island and they both do wonderful work yet different. While i was on the island jon was the photographer for a wedding at my resort and once i was home he sent pictures of that wedding and i was sold. Personally for me it was more within my budget for the number of hours i wanted. I would say look at both sites and contact both business. See what work you like best and what works for your budget. I found both vendors to be more than helpful. Hope that helps. Keep me posted i love talking about planning our big days

[WCorey]

Originally Posted by Danie 

 

Hi W Corey: congrats on your upcoming wedding. I love meeting new brides. As far as the aleaxandria goes i never stayed there but friend owns one of the condos and from what i have heard its beautiful. I also know its so close to the coral reef where you can actually go snorkiling right off the beach and have lunch at this cute bar restaurant called somewhere. We are actually planning to snorkel there instead of renting a boat. I am not sure if you can walk to the supermarket from there thats something i dont know. But i personally think it is in a beautiful location. I see alot of girls get flowers from etsy.com. I have been lucky though i am having real flowers but im using the island flower and the only flower being imported are the blue and purple dendronim orchids and since they were coming from miami it really wasnt expensive. Im so excited for you and me. I can tell you about jon nickson bc he is my photographer for our wedding. Honestly i was stuck between brilliant and eyespicem i met with both on the island and they both do wonderful work yet different. While i was on the island jon was the photographer for a wedding at my resort and once i was home he sent pictures of that wedding and i was sold. Personally for me it was more within my budget for the number of hours i wanted. I would say look at both sites and contact both business. See what work you like best and what works for your budget. I found both vendors to be more than helpful. Hope that helps. Keep me posted i love talking about planning our big days

Danie,

   Congrats to you too! Thanks for the input and information. Its a little stressful planning everything unseen but this sight has def. helped and put me to ease. We actually just booked Jon Nickson for photography. Have you decided on someone for your hair and make up? Who is your florist? Im thinking of using the local flower for everything else but I would like my boquet to be a little more than the local flower so I wanted to price some others out with my coordinator. Let me know if I can help you in any way as well!

[Tropical Imaging]

Originally Posted by WCorey 

 

Krys,

   Thanks, that does help, however do the brides get them from home and bring them themselves or is there somewhere down in the T& C where I can find good fake flowers? And do most of them do the boquets themselves?

Thanks

 

Brides get them from home and bring them down.  We are a small island (less than 20k people live here) so we are very limited in shopping options.  If you are going to go with fake I would check out the Beaches Turks and Caicos thread which gives a lot of names/photos etc of places doing fake flowers.

 

Krys

[Danie]

W. Corey: I love John. Wait until you meet him hes such a nice and funny guy. You both will enjoy working with him. I have actually went with Shenique for my hair and placed the deposit. She prices around 150 for hair and 150 for makeup for the bride but seeing pictures i believe its worth it. The bridesmaids are a littlecheaper but not much. We are using EA flowers which is who my coordinator picked. The bouganville is cheap and again it dependa on what flowers you want imported aome are much more expensive than others. I really think it depends on where their being imported from. Like i said mine are being imported from miami and honestly i would be paying the same here for flowers if not more as my selection would be way bigger. I too will have a different bouquet from the girls. However i wont be using flowers as my centerpieces because i hear that geta very pricey. I have looked at the beaches blog and you would be shocked to see the fake flowers becaise they do look so real. I spoke with aome brides that ordered fake ones from etsy and loved them. You have to do whats in your budget and what works for you. Im excited and i agree it is alot planning something far away because it is so different than planning a wedding from home. But it is exciting. Are you making welcome bags. If so what are you putting in them. I love hearing everyones ideas.

[KIM02242012]

Hi everyone,

 

Just a quick question...who are you guys using for flowers? My coordinator suggested EA flowers, but I'm having a really hard time communicating with them and they seem to not be really responsive at all. Since I won't be meeting them beforehand, I'm getting really nervous about working with them. It doesn't seem like there are other florists on the island...otherwise, I would have gone with another florist. I've heard great things about them and it seems like they do most of the flowers, so maybe it's just me having a hard time communicating with them? I think they do beautiful work, but the poor communication is making me antsy about leaving the responsibility of flowers up to them. Every other vendor on the island (esp. Joan from Kissing Fish) has been fantastic and have not made me feel nervous about planning afar. Any feedback would be great! Thanks!