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(This post is a continuation of the destination wedding planning series)

Source: St. John Weddings

Source: St. John Weddings

I asked professional wedding planners in St. John, “What advice would you give to a bride who is preparing for her destination wedding?”

Popular officiant, Anne-Marie Porter suggests:

  • Work with someone you trust whether it be a coordinator, planner, or friend
  • Leave expectations at home and focus on having fun
  • Look forward to a relaxed and stress-free time
  • Enjoy your honeymoon and expect a good honeymoon
  • Specifically for St. John, you need a permit for marrying on the beach
Source: St. John Weddings

Source: St. John Weddings

Well-known wedding planner, Stacey Mulcare suggests:

  • Invest in a travel steamer ($35-$40) and delegate someone to steam your dress. Test it out first to make sure resort’s water doesn’t stain the dress
  • Do dry-run of make-up and hair (charges apply) to understand how it will look and feel in the conditions (weather, lighting, wind, etc)
  • Choose head pieces that don’t cast dark shadows (veils, tiara, flower, hair off face) v. (hats, gazebo, archway)
  • Most brides don’t visit (around 15% do). Meet the chosen planner to get idea of ceremony and reception site.
  • Specifically for St. John, marriage applications must be in the courthouse 8 working days before the ceremony with $100 fee. If you’re divorced, bring a notarized certified copy of decree. Only the bride and groom can pickup the license, however, after the ceremony, anyone can drop-off the license with officiant’s signature back to the courthouse.
  • Specifically for St John, you can’t ensure total privacy for most beaches but it’s basically private before 9am and after 4:30pm. If you want total privacy, consider renting a villa (costs much more). Remember that sunset starts 6:00pm.

by Christine | posted in Destination Wedding | No Comments »

(This post is a continuation of a Destination Wedding Series using St. John and St. Thomas as an example)

It seems that customers in the wedding industry keep hearing the same message over and over: the price of weddings have gone down because people want less. Well, what if you still want the elaborate wedding on the beach and don’t want to cut out options due to budget? There are several resorts on both St. Thomas and St. John, but Caneel Bay really caught my eye. Resorts are ideal because they have a wedding coordinator and can help plan everything from the ceremony, reception, accommodations, and activities. Keep in mind that going with a resort is more hassle-free but at a bigger cost.

Big Fat Cake Co-Founder, Scott, is standing on a platform in one of several bays at Caneel Bay Resort

Big Fat Cake Co-Founder, Scott, is standing on a platform in one of several bays at Caneel Bay Resort

Caneel Bay grounds

Caneel Bay grounds

When you enter Caneel Bay, you actually enter a national park first. We took a taxi there and immediately saw deer and ferret-like dogs roaming on their grounds. We were told that there would be lots of donkeys but we didn’t see a single one. There are seven beaches on this resort and each one is absolutely beautiful and not crowded at all. The resort is an environmentally-focused hotel founded by Laurance Rockefeller and even has a bomb shelter for some of their important guests. Just to name a few, Al Gore and President Carter have stayed there (not together!).

The most popular times to get married at Caneel Bay is between April-May. FYI, most of Caneel Bay brides make their decisions over the phone and arrive several days before the wedding.

Ceremony at Turtle Bay at Caneel Bay Resort

The most common ceremony site is Turtle Bay for its privacy and breath-taking views. When you're standing at the point where the ceremony would occur, you can hear the water gently crashing up against the rocks.

This view is what you see when standing at the ceremony location.

This view is what you see when standing at the ceremony location. There are seven beaches at Caneel Bay.

The reception can happen at any of their restaurants, like Equator, and even at the Sugar Mill ruins. Reference the wedding photos on their site to see photos of a wedding setup. The Caneel Beach Terrace holds up to 250 guests but they can also accommodate smaller parties.

One of several reception location options that overlooks water and gardens

One of several reception location options that overlooks water and gardens

FYI, if you’re on Facebook, you can add yourself to the Caneel Bay fan page to automatically enter yourself into a chance to win a free four-night stay. This package valued at $4,150.50  includes a free four-night stay, complimentary Full American meal plan, and two ferry roundtrip transfers. A winner will be chosen on October 1st, 2009! Although I’d like to increase my chances by not telling anyone, I thought it would be an awesome story if one of our readers won the sweepstakes! :P

If you don’t do Caneel Bay but would like to have your ceremony at one of the other many beautiful beaches of St. John, you should consult with a non-resort wedding planner.

Next, I’ll share about how to find a non-resort wedding planner in St. John and St. Thomas and advice that they would like to pass on to you!

by Christine | posted in Destination Wedding, Vendors | No Comments »

(This post is a continuation of destination wedding series using St. John as an example)

As the Wedding Report states that the average cost of a wedding has declined again, the destination wedding world has also experienced cut backs. USA today reports that couples are refusing to pay less for their dream weddings and some couples are even trying out backyard weddings (Thanks, Mark & Tom for the links!)

Source: Matt May for USA Today

Source: Matt May for USA Today

So what do you do if you want the destination wedding but you’re budget doesn’t match that of those who got married several years ago? There are many ideas for stretching that destination wedding dollar, but here’s a wedding plan put together with a $10,000 budget in mind. You’ll be pleased to know that we came way under $10,000. I included the assumptions I had to make so you know what goes into these estimates.

Wedding Plan Profile:

  • Total people: 10
  • Time of Year: Early November
  • Total Days: 12

Wedding Plan Costs:

Because these costs vary so much depending on the bride, I made a ballpark  estimate of $4000 (more for elaborate weddings, less for simpler weddings):

  • Wedding dress
  • Wedding rings
  • Vacation activity for you and guests
  • Travel (Booking months in advance, I’ve seen $320/per person for round trip from Washington, D.C. to St. Thomas)
  • Ceremony Music

The following important stuff is estimated at $4050-$4770. What it includes:

  • 12 nights in a waterfront condo on St. Thomas (next to Ritz Carlton beach and the ferry to St. John) – $1920 (May-November) $1920 (December-April)
  • Pastor, marriage license, beach license – $400
  • Photography, Wedding CD, Hair & Makeup, Bridal Bouquet, Boutonnière – $960
  • Stationary from Michael’s or AC Moore (invitation set, programs, thank you’s, stamps)  – $90
  • For the reception, there are several options. For my reception estimate, I used Asolare, a restaurant we really enjoyed while we vacationed there. The restaurant owners didn’t get back to me about a specific reception menu, but I estimated $700 assuming 10 people in your party at $70 per person when you order off the menu. Well-known pastor, Anne Marie Porter also suggests Rhumb Lines or Zozo’s for a fun reception. If you do a rehearsal dinner, that would be another assumed $700.
Source: St. John Weddings

Source: St. John Weddings

What does the total look like? $8770. What does that get you? Accommodations at a condo in St. Thomas and fabulous intimate wedding for 10 people in St. John for 12 days!

Of course costs can go up and down. The biggest factors (you statistic geeks can perform a sensitivity analysis and agree with me) are the costs in the first list above, number of guests, and the reception dinner.  Therefore, if you want to bring the price down, invite fewer guests and go to an inexpensive restaurant.

Next, I’ll share about our stay at Cabrita Point and why I thought it was a good idea for this wedding plan.

Did you do a destination wedding that you could share about? If so, leave a comment or contact us!

FYI, we cannot guarantee the quoted prices by third party vendors. These quotes are subject to change without notice. However, they are good estimates. :O)

by Christine | posted in Destination Wedding, Vendors | 6 Comments »

Anyone who has planned a wedding knows that researching takes a big toll on a person’s free time; therefore it is important to be efficient with your time. I gathered some good information after talking to several St. John wedding planners about what brides can think about before they call a destination wedding planner.

Trunk Bay at Ground Zero

Beach at Trunk Bay

Before calling resorts and vendors of the destination location, take some time to ask yourself these key questions:

  1. Will you be restricted by passports? Make sure you’re not excluding someone you really want there because they are not able to fly out of the country.
  2. How many people do you want there? Typical sizes range from just the couple to fifty guests. The fewer guests you have, the easier it will be to plan.
  3. What time of the year do you want to marry? How does your wedding date coincide with the location’s weather patterns? For instance, in the Caribbean, you’ll want to avoid the strongest part of hurricane season: September and October. Tourism is the highest between Thanksgiving and April so rates are highest as well.
  4. Is it important to marry on a weekend? Weekday options are usually cheaper.
  5. What is the budget and who’s contributing? The bride’s family used to pay for everything but now there is no etiquette to follow. One idea is to set up an arrangement where the guests pay for their airfare, the bride’s family pays for hotel, and the groom’s family pays for the remainder.
  6. Can your guests afford to go? Keep in mind that if you ask guests to pay for their own accommodation and airfare, there may be some guests that you’ll need to subsidize, if you really want them there.
  7. How far away do you want to go? The further out, the less likely guests will be able to make it due to time and cost. If you’re on the East coast, then the Caribbean is a good option but if you’re on the West Coast, Hawaii or Napa Valley would be better.
  8. Can you comply with the legal requirements? Lookup the required legal forms, such as marriage licenses, for getting married through the location’s Department of Tourism. For instance, the US Virgin Islands’ Department of Tourism site states that the wedding couple must submit their application at least eight days before the wedding. Can you take that much vacation time?

After answering these questions, you will be better prepared to talk to resorts and wedding planners for your destination wedding. It’s possible that after you get more details, you may decide that a destination wedding is not right for you. But when you get around to talking to a resort or wedding consultant, be sure to ask many questions. It’s better to ask all your questions up front than to spend countless hours planning your wedding based on assumptions that you’ve made.

What did you learn from your destination wedding planning?

Next, I’ll share about how destination brides are responding to the recession and how they can still have the destination wedding of their dreams.

by Christine | posted in Destination Wedding | No Comments »

Destination Wedding 101

July 7th, 2009

Overlook of a bay in St. John

Overlook of Trunk Bay in St. John

While vacationing this week in St. Thomas and St. John, we came across the most beautiful sites and wanted to take the opportunity to capture insight into planning a destination wedding in the Caribbean. I had previously searched for a Caribbean destination wedding for my sister and found it difficult to plan remotely. If I found an established resort, the prices were ridiculously expensive, I didn’t know to whom I was talking to, and many Caribbean wedding planning websites that I came across were substandard so I didn’t know if I could trust them. Here was our opportunity to do research onsite! I asked locals who were the most well-known and respected wedding planners and vendors and got the opportunity to speak with them. It’s a lot for one post so I’m going to share my experience in St. Thomas and St. John through several posts and share lots of pictures. More to come!

by Christine | posted in Destination Wedding | 2 Comments »