Destination Wedding - Calling fieryred33143!!

Ok for starters, the bride had her ceremony at the Key West Heritage House and Museum.  It was really cute and perfect for smaller weddings.  She had about 45 to 50 guests and it was a little tight but manageable.  Karen, who works at the museum, was a real pleasure to work with.  The ceremony was out in the Garden but the bridal party was able to use the house to exit out into the garden.  They also do receptions there.  The bride had her reception at Hog’s Breath.  She and her husband were looking for something really laid back and that’s what Hog’s offered.  It’s more of a bar atmosphere.  If it were a regular wedding, it would not have worked because it was kind of plain but for what they were looking for it was great.

Other places we looked into:

Kelly’s Caribbean: Gorgeous venue! It is actually right next to the Heritage House.  They have a decent size outside area but they do put tents up for the wedding.  The night that we went to book everything, there was a wedding going on and I was blown away with how beautiful everything was.  The restaurant itself is small which is good because they shut it down for the reception (and the food is excellent).  Note: It is not open to the public during the wedding but you can see everything if you walk by.  If you prefer something more private, that may bother you.

The Truman Little White House Museum: Also across from Kelly’s and Heritage.  It’s a really pretty venue.  There are big white gates in front so it’s a lot more private than Kelly’s.  It’s a bit pricey to rent and you would have to find your own catering company.  But you could always do the ceremony there and have your guests cross the street to Kelly’s for the reception.

Doubletree Grand Key resort: I love this hotel.  Every time we go to the Keys we stay here because it’s away enough from Duval that we can sleep at night but still a close enough drive that we aren’t in traffic for too long.  Weddings here are beautiful.  You can either have the ceremony at the beach across the street, on their poolside, or inside one of their meeting rooms.  I would recommend outside for the reception.  Of course the only downside to the outside reception is that they can’t close off the pool to hotel guests but they do close off the reception area itself so that hotel guests can’t crash the party.  The beach is *ok.* It’s not really a beach…more like sand, some palm trees, and water but it’s still pretty. 

Places we researched but didn’t really look into:

Hemingway House.  If it wasn’t because my friend got married in the Keys this is where I would have gone with my 15 guests.  It’s really beautiful and really affordable.  The museum is great.  I really love it.  The prices quoted are for 30 guests but they can accommodate up to 300.

The Lighthouse museum: We didn’t look too much into this venue because she was working on a strict budget and it was a little more than what she wanted to pay but again a really beautiful venue.

There’s also a church by Caroline street where you can perform the ceremony and then go to the other venues for the reception.

Now, there are also all of the hotels alongside Duval that have wedding packages.  The good thing about the Duval locations is that after the wedding is over, you can continue walking up and down the strip and partying.  There are also really small hotels (if you are having a small wedding) that offer the same garden ceremony/reception packages at really good rates.  I would really look into Kelly’s and see if you like it.  I thought the set up was so beautiful and they all looked like they were having such a great time.

Other recommendations: Be careful where you decide to get your hair done.  I don’t remember the name of the place she had her hair done but it was really expensive and I felt like a drag queen afterwards because that’s who they catered too.  There is a hair salon right up the street from Kelly’s that do a really great job.  We couldn’t book with them because they were already doing a wedding.  I’m trying to research the name but can’t remember right now.

Skip the limo.  The streets are really narrow and its hard for limos to get in and out.  You can rent one of the electric cars instead and get someone to drive you around.  They have electric cars that look like limos and they’re so much fun!

As mentioned with photography, there aren’t many to choose from in the Keys that give you the kind of quality photos you would find in other cities but still pretty photos.  If its really important to you, find a destination photographer.  I’ll ask around for recommendations.  My friend used EZ Wedding Photography

Don’t know much about DJs.  The DJ my friend had was sort of a last minute add-on and he was horrible.  He just sort of stood there switching songs and didn’t interact too much with everyone.