Destination Weddings

[Nicrez]

Other than Mara, has anyone had an Island or destination wedding? Do you guys have some good resources for planning a nice wedding out by the Virgin Islands? Are the Planners out there a bad idea? I am very detailed, and the lack of choices and prices for such choices is said to be pretty tough...?

I am hoping for a fairly stress-free wedding at St. Thomas or St. Johns. My friend suggested that fiance and I get a room on St. John''s hotels (like the Westin), and have the wedding there, and to save, people can stay at St. Thomas, and just make it to St. John via Ferry for the wedding on St. John. Also in contension is a wedding on a boat, or is that just prohibitively expensive?

We don''t want to spend over $15K on this whole thing, as our main goal was to NOT have a $45K wedding at home and just spend less than half on a wedding in a pretty place and make it small, intimate and enjoy it at the same time!

Any ideas??? Jackie Blue, are you oth there?!

 

[jackieblue]

If you have the wedding at the resort where you stay, many places will give you good deals...better than if you'd stayed elsewhere. Based on what you've said in previous posts, I am with the friend who says to try it at the Westin on St. John. Keep in mind that the Westin *is* pricey, though. I think the ferry is easy to do (and cheap too) but I don't know your guest list. Are there older people or people with mobility issues? If you think people are brave enough to drive, there are some gorgeous villas they can rent on St. John, especially if a bunch of folks are willing to stay together. Frenchman's Reef probably does weddings, and you could spend a second week on St. John alone for a honeymoon. Hmmm...Bolongo Bay (on St. Thomas) might be a good spot, and people could stay there. I'm not sure that they do weddings, but they might.

You could also just stay whetever you want and have the ceremony on the beach in Magen's Bay or some gorgeous place like that and have a reception wherever you want. Depending on how many people, you could just hire your own taxi (you know the kind I mean...the open-air sort that holds lots of people) to take you to the wedding and reception.

Honestly, I don't think a boat is that out of the question as far as price, it's just not as practical as even a beach wedding. Not to mention that some of your guests might get seasick.

FYI, we had a destination in Las Vegas, which is a whole different ball game.

 

[Nicrez]

Thanks for the thoughts! Honestly, I have SO much going on in life that planning a wedding is NOT as exciting as I thought it would be as a kid! I am also now suddenly (maybe irrationally) stingy, and a wedding is not what it used to be when I thought good old dad would be footing the bill!!!

Fotting the bill ourselves makes me want to just make this a civil wedding or even a Vegas elopement. The wedding idea on the beach is likely to be very simple, and reception would be something like contails and light food at the Hotel. Honestly, the thought of spending more money on a dress, flowers, etc, makes me sick. I have completely scratched the thought of fancy invites, fancy favors, fawning over bridesmaids etc... I have a Maid of Honor and that's it. Her dress will most likely be tea length and light.

Vegas is STILL an option...

 

[kathio22]

I felt the same, to go cheap because the thought of all this money on a wedding is sickening. However, this day is just once. I looked into a destination wedding where it was going to cost us about $6K for the honeymoon and ceremony...once I added the dress, hair, nails, etc. the bill grew. Instead I am having a small wedding for $10K (including honeymoon) and we are paying ourselves. No offense to many out there that are diamon savvy and obsessed, but why spend thousands on a tangible but not willing to spend some for a party and memory that is once in a lifetime? I had to battle over this myself.

This is how I broke it down to myself:

We were spending $3K (includes spending $) for a honeymoon/vacation regardless
we were spedning $2K on wedding rings regardless.

The other $5K we are spending is for ceremony, reception, DJ, photographer, invites, etc. Now, I will have a bridal shower and receive wedding gifts too. Assume a low # of a total of $2K in gifts. Basically I spent $3K to get married and have a party for memories and future conversations. Not bad at all when you think of it...most importantly are the memories. I can hsow my wedding album to my daughter or in-law when she plans hers, we can have the nervous feeling of dancing together in front of everyone, etc. Worth it to me...

 

[Nicrez]

Kathio, you make a good point, only I suppose my circumstances are different. We just bought a new car (which I felt was unecessary, but he drives to work in another state 100 miles a day, and he's tall...) so comfort factor.

Plus, we want to own a house soon, and any 2 br apartment around where we live is at least $400-450K. We make good money and have nothing to show for it. Monthly expenses spiral to the point that I wonder how we can save sometimes, and we don't even do much!

He has placed me in charge on finances, and my goal as much as it is to enjoy my wedding is just more focused on having something to enjoy for the future! We spent too much (IMO) on the ring, and I just feel that if we spent $15K on this, it would be over in a flash. Also, he and I live together and it could be that that "magic" of marraige is lost on me, as I just want to be with him, and finally have the title to feel at ease. I already said forever when I started dating him, and we both knew this relationship was "the one" very early on in.

Maybe to me, it's just not worth losing that money that could have gone toward a downpayment on an INVESTMENT like a house... Like if my parents suddenly wanted to pay for the wedding, I would now say, you know what? Just give us the cash, and I'll make sure we invest it well. No need for paper swans and lillies and ribbons...

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

 

[moremoremore]

u know what....I always joked (kind of) about getting married in vegas. I really meant it. But he said his mother would just die if she wasn't there. so that was kind of a dumb idea then- I'm going to elope to vegas with MIL in tow? I say GO FOR IT. It sounds so fun and like such a great story. I get SICK...SICK when I think about how much we spent....we got a bit as a gift from both sides, but shelled out the rest ourselves. I was obsessed....I just remember dragging him through the rain in the garment district trying to find a gold ribbon for my menus that EXACTLY matched the little godiva favors...UGH....How do you say wasted downpayment? It took us a while to get the dp $ again...Smartest decision you'll ever make! You can have a blow out party for your 10th to make up for it!

 

[jackieblue]

Nicrez, we spent the better part of a year planning that big, expensive, nest-egg-blowing pageant of a wedding. We cancelled the whole thing and went to Vegas with about 35 of our family and closest friends. I kept the dress and we didn't lose any money. Cut the guest list with a razor, as everyone wanted to go to Vegas with us and we wanted to start a family and build a home. If we had invited more people, we had the potential of overspending there as well.

Our wedding weekend in Vegas was some of the most fun we've ever had. People were extending their weekend stays because they were having too much fun to leave. I spent my wedding day lounging by the pool at the Mirage with some close friends. I got to spend quality time with each guest. The ceremony was just beautiful, and the chapel was gorgeous and decorated with plenty of fresh flowers. We had a reception at one of the nicest hotels in Vegas (including the champagne I had wanted but couldn't afford for the big wedding, a cake from the best bakery in Vegas, and most guests choosing to order filet mignon during our private, sit-down table service) for less than I would have paid for the base price of the photographer.

That was in June. Now our first child is on the way, and we are going to build a home. My sister had so much fun, that she now wants a Vegas wedding too. I am SO glad we sucked it up and cancelled everything. I would not change that decision for anything. Some people were shocked at first, but everyone who came just had a phenomenal time. If people felt excluded or wronged somehow because we had an intimate weekend...well...guess they never did have *our* best interests in mind. (We had never sent invitations or anything anyway.)

Good luck to you!

 

[jackieblue]

I should also have mentioned that I was totally where you are...the planning was no fun anymore. I was to the point where I couldn't wait for the wedding to be *over*. Now that's just wrong. Once we switched our plans, I couldn't wait for the wedding. Ah...

 

[Mara]

Nic your budget is defintely doable. Ours will end up costing around $11k most likely...if I can keep control of the mouse button.

I would definitely suggest you visit theknot.com. I found ALL my vendors through recommendations from knotties who got married in Hawaii. You can easily scroll through, find who people liked, look at pictures, bios etc. If you have a question, post it and people will answer quickly. I have not been let down by the knot at all. I know others have their own favorites but I'm not a true knottie, I don't hang out there at all (too much drama). However, I do go there when I need something answered and it's been great.




I would also suggest that once you figure out if you want to do the wedding destination and it's a place you have NOT been to before, go out there. Go out there, meet your vendors, we did this as a scouting mission last year and it really solidified that YES this was the setup for us. If we had gone out there, realized that it just wouldn't work, vendors weren't good, too expensive, etc...it would not have made as much sense.




But I did the research beforehand on vendors, we made the travel plans, setup the appts with the locals and got a nice vacation and some planning time out of it. Plus it really helps to meet people face to face. Especially if you have a planner...you want to get agood vibe from her. Even if we were using a planner (we are not)...I would still hae wanted to meet the vendors...taste the food, the cakes etc. Everything that you would do locally at home, you should still do for destination.

If you plan to have guests that is. Hehee.




One other thing that's hugely important about destinations...COST and GUESTS. It's unbelievable how much whining we have heard from people in terms of what it's costing them to come out. And of course its not our friends that complain, but our families! At some point it's very tedious and eloping does sound good. Also obviously because of the cost to travel, we are seeing less guests. We invited 100 and 30 are coming. The number is PERFECT for me, and it allowed me to invite everyone under the sun (e.g. read parents friends I don't even know) without it being a hassle since I know they weren't coming. It works out great for us because we'd much rather have 30 great people there than 100 who just came for expensive food.




So make sure to reconcile yourself to less people AND also about hearing about the costs for a little while. We gave people about 8 months notice for travel planning and costs/budgeting etc and we still heard it alot. Most people just joke around but after the 20th joke, you are ready to just have it be done.




Lastly...for a destination wedding, you have to be more laid back than with a local. If I was going to do this locally,, I know I would have been WAY more anal with details than I can be for Hawaii. Alot of trust is involved and patience. People in resort areas are usually more laid back then local, so it may take more time for a call to be returned, or for details to be communicated. You have less control over certain things (e.g good Kauai caterers on the island number at TWO), so you can't be as insane about details and once you make a decision, you have to be 100% on board with it. Some things may not be *as good* as local (e.g. food and cake maybe), but you can make up for it with a truly unique wedding and small touches (e.g. gift bags, welcome kits, local fresh flowers etc) that people will remember more than just the food or the cake.

There's my advice on if you are considering a DW. I honestly am SO happy we have chosen this route (even now..4 weeks out!) but it does take some additional patience and research.

 

[kathio22]

OH MY a 2 br. apartment sells for $450K HOLY MOLY ELOPE GIRL, ELOPE!!! Seriously, if I had it utterly my way I would have a destination wedding BUT my parents and his parents are very poor. If we paid for the family to go it would cost more than having a local wedding of 100, which we are doing.

Nothing wrong with you AT ALL. My fiance spent $5400 on my 1.72 ct platinum princess cut and I thought that was WAY too much and we make well over 6 figures combined. So, I am cheap too LOL. I like to think of it as practical....

 

[Nicrez]

Mara, as always such a long and helpful response. At this point I would like to write myself down int he cheap category, but have to admit that I WOULD spend on a wedding planner if there was a decently priced one in the Virgin Islands.

Mara, you are impressive with your patience and skill at organizing. Maybe you are a born marketer, because I NEVER would have thought of a little gift bag or welcome kit. Damn you're good!

I suppose that at some point I will have to weigh the romantic notion and need for memories with my cheapness. He and I make over six figures together, as we like to pay our fair 40% of that to the government, but making good money STILL doesn't stretch enough in my opinion.

We just got a new car. Fianancing on that, saving for a house (apt), paying for things we don't have time to do, as we work so much, like a cleaning lady (TRUST ME, it's essential!) and then the dinners out, when we are too tired to cook, electric bills, gas, cable, DSL internet, rent, cellphones, insurance (about $2K for LIABILITY ONLY - Almost $4K a year for comprehensive), and now parking for the new car at almost $250/mo. Ok, Breathe...

It's not fiancnially responsible in my mind, as I am slowly seeing the cost of all this being so painful. We considered the destination wedding as a SMALL intimate thing with invites stretching to the 50 people MAX. We have TONS of others, but we assumed a turn out of 30 or so, we already did the numbers. Funny my boss owns an island in the BVI and we considered that at first, until we realized our discount, me being an employee would NOT extend to all, and guests would be spending RIDICULOUS Kennedy-like amounts to go. St. Thomas it was.

Plus as you say, do it in a familiar place, and when he proposed there, it was such an idea, as it would be where he asked and where we tie the knot...sort of symbolic and great because we want to go back, and maybe I can do what you did and meet with caterers, etc while there again. Frankly, I would rather sun myself...

I guess I needed to hear the pros and cons, and start the process without grumbling. In the end, we WILL need a ceremeony, either simple and cheap or not. If I see that the costs would be silly, then I will opt for SIMPLE in NY (or NJ), and be done with it. I think though that he has this nostalgia for a wedding too, because he's getting excited too, and is wondering why I am dragging my feet. SIGH. I suppose because it's no fun spending your own money, when money always feels too short for the things you feel you REALLY need. Plus he's going to grad school next year for an MBA, and there's ANOTHER expense right there. WOW, maybe we SHOULD elope!

Sorry to waiver so much, but I am just trying the flesh out idea of feasibility and such. Again, if I HAD the money given to me to do all of it, I don't know if I would spend it on the wedding...

i will post at the knot and see what ideas I can get. Thanks to you all for the help and mental support (as my sanity and checkbook slowly slip away!) I will do my homework and THEN make a balanced and smart decision. Also, is it wrong to start a wedding fund for our family and friends to contribute to??

 

[Mara]

By the way, Nic....read this:




http://www.theknot.com/keywords/sc_147_527.shtml?HP=cs1a40409




Lots of Destination stuff there..they have a whole section now (was not the case last year)

 

[Bikergirl]

I've done a lot of reading, and finally decided to respond! First let me say I think this web site is awesome - I've learned a lot from reading everyone's posts, and I really enjoy all of the proposal stories and the ring pics.

Now for the destination wedding topic.

My fiance and I had a really hard time deciding what type of wedding to have. He's quite a bit older than I am and has never been married. This is my second wedding. We're both professionals, both have been self-sufficient for a number of years. Neither of our families is chipping in on the cost. We both race bicycles, and our "circle" of friends consists of well over 200 people!

After much deliberation, we decided on a destination wedding. We are getting married in Costa Rica this coming October. We're both VERY excited, and the planner I've been working with is just awesome. We invited everyone who wants to join us, but with the understanding that we don't *expect* anyone to attend, and that they will be covering all of their own expenses. We will be spending 4 days alone together, followed by three days with our friends. Saturday night is our wedding where we will be providing a 5 course meal as part of the reception. Sunday and Monday are "alone" days, after which we will return home.

We're then going to have a big "reception" (actually, a huge party, but reception sounds so much more formal) where my then husband and I will be wearing our wedding attire and will display pictures of the ceremony. We know people who have an awesome sound system, so we're going to be our own DJ's. We will cater food and have a wedding cake, just because we can.

Entire cost of wedding, travel, honeymoon, and local reception - $12,000. That includes airfare, 8 nights at the resort in Costa Rica, the 5 course Costa Rica reception, wedding gown, groom's attire, spending money on the trip, a day snorkelling, a sunset sailboat cruise, a day exploring the rainforest, a dolphin watching trip with a marine biologist, rental of the local reception hall, catering, wedding cake, invitations, and thank you cards.

A lot of people didn't understand our decision (they had big, traditional weddings or always wanted one) but everyone has been supportive. Like I said, I'm incredibly excited and can hardly wait!!!

 

[Nicrez]

WOW! That sounds fantastic and truly unique!!! My old coworker had gotten engaged and she decided to chuck her job as an accounting consultant and have her wedding in Costa Rica, and after the wedding planning, she decided to move down there and open up a Bed and Breakfast!

Hoenstly, all her research made her LOVE the place, and they ended up closing on the B&B, and having the reception there! Sadly, I was not fiancially disposed to go and clebrate with them at the time, but wow would I have!!!

Thanks for sharing and I am sure it will be so amazing. If you can, please join us and post some pictures of your details, as I love having more input on destination weddings. If you Notice Greg & mara's wedding plans, she is getting married next month in Hawaii, and she shared so many wonderful details with us, it was AMAZING!

Glad to have you on board Bikergirl and congrats to you both!!

 

[Bikergirl]

Thanks, Nicrez. We're both WAY excited about the wedding!

Yes, we did hear a lot of whining about the cost. Not a single whimper from friends, but many loud and obnoxious comments from family. It was actually kind of amusing, the way everyone reacted. We just told them they were being selfish because they wanted us to have the same kind of wedding they did, and basically said get over it! In all of the whining and complaints, not one person offered a penny of assistance if we changed our minds and stayed local. People are funny...

Anyway, we're staying at Hotel Makanda. www.makanda.com It backs up to the rain forest, and faces the ocean. There are tons of pictures on the web site. What more could you ask for? My fiance and I are both pretty adventurous, so a week on lounging on the beach would drive us both insane! I think I mentioned before, we have lots of fun day trips planned - a canopy tour across the top of the rain forest, snorkelling, a sunset sailboat cruise, white water rafting - all sorts of adventure!

The days surrounding the wedding will be pretty calm. We have a five course meail planned for our reception, including four wine selections, several appetizers, four entree selections, and of course wedding cake!

I have a wedding coordinator who is with Makanda. She's been invaluable and has made planning a breeze! I've taken a very laid-back approach to the whole thing. It's definitely going to be classy, but casual at the same time. Using local flowers (like orchids...) for the ceremony, so I won't really know what everything is going to look like until it's in front of me!

I would post pics of the dress, but I'm afraid my fiance would discover them... we can't have that!

I know so many people who had a big wedding and didn't enjoy it, and more who don't even remember it! I decided we have better things to spend our money on.

Someone mentioned gift bags in an earlier post - I'm doing that as well. I'll have practical "beach" items, as well as some fun wedding favors to give to each of my guests. Nothing extravagant, but enough to let them know we appreciate the effort to be with us on our special day.

 

[katbadness]

Island destination wedding vs. eloping... hmmmm.... I am seriously considering eloping at this point.

My family lives on the other side of the world and my bf's family all lives locally.

Here's my dilemma...
If I follow the tradition, I'd have 300+ people at the wedding (for so much cheaper than here!) -- all of which will be my extended family and friends of the family plus a handful of his family. If I have the wedding here, then it'd be a 20+ people wedding with everybody in his family and a handful of my family members. Either options just doesn't seem to be fair to either side of family.

So this is why my current thought is to have the wedding be at a location that is halfway between where my family is and the US. And so far, it's looking like it may have to be Hawaii (and Hawaii is expensive....

)

Any other suggestions as to what's halfway between the US and Indonesia?

 

[Mara]

Hawaii isn't that expensive! Well I guess it depends on where you live already but we found that the prices there for everything were the same here at home in California. So we didn't experience any sticker shock.




That said...you can definitely do one of the islands that is not quite as pricey. We found Kauai to be less expensive (and less crowded) than Maui or possibly Oahu.




Be sure you research thoroughly..and you may find some great deals!

We are spending about 1/3 less by having the wedding in Hawaii than if we had it here locally. Most of that is FOOD cost...if we had 80 people here at $90 per head? Ay Carumba! 30 in Hawaii at $65 a head is much more manageable and allows us to focus more on other things. Plus we found our money goes farther in Hawaii. A beautiful cake from a great island-famous baker is only $200 whereas locally it would have been around $500. The flowers in Hawaii for orchids are SO CHEAP...we are having our entire wedding done for around $800. Locally to get orchids..forget it! But to get something else that is more local and cheaper would still have cost us more than $800 and would not be as beautiful as orchids IMO. So there are ways that Hawaii saved us alot of money and it will definitely be more beautiful than having it locally.




Good luck with your decision!!

 

[Nicrez]

Actually from my research, Hawaii IS totally doable! I noticed simple wedding packages on Kauai and Oaha can be $2,500 or so...The priciest package was like $10K... seems a budget for all!

Ok, Mara, cake for $200...WOW! I have been looking at cakes upwards of $1K!!! And that's from a local (but very well known) NJ bakery...

Actually, depends on what KIND of cake you want. Creme with yellow cake, fruits inside, less... Cake with rolled fondant ends up being a WHOLE lot more... but they look sooooo good!

Hawaii is doable, I think if you can get there cheap and/or your guests can too. California to Hawaii can be as cheap as $199 off season. From NY or most of the east coast, you're looking at heck of a whole lot more per person...

Mexican Riviera is also popular with lots of Californians, as well as Puerto Rico and Carribean for Floridians and East Coasters...

 

[Mari]

First of all, Nicres, sorry to highjack your thread..

Katbadness
You could have the wedding in Indonesia (as that would be the cheapest), and then have a party to celebrate your marriage when you get back.
The party could be quite cheap, and you could have a ceremony where you reaffirm your wows to eachother.
That way both sides of the family get to feel like they take part, and it wouldn't cost a fortune.

Just an idea.

 

[Bikergirl]

Another option would be to do something completely different!

I have some friends who were recently married in Scottland. Why? Because his family is all in the US, and her family is all in Eastern Asia. So they chose a location that they could afford, that they had never visited, and that they thought sounded like a fun place to vacation.

They ended up getting married in a castle! They had about 150 guests, close to equal amounts from each side of the family, and the went in the "off" season, so it wasn't so expensive.

Everyone loved it! They were very happy with their wedding, both families saw it as an opportunity to take a vacation and go somewhere they probably wouldn't have visited without a good excuse.

It ended up not favoring either family since it was so far removed from everything. If you like the idea of this, I've also seen wedding packages to Italy that look pretty reasonably priced.

 

[katbadness]

Nicrez --
I apologize. I truly didn't mean to hijack your thread.

For the others --
Thank you for all your thoughtful input. I really appreciate it. These are definite considerations.

(And Italy sounds great, too!!

-- but gotta talk with others on this first

!!)

 

[Nicrez]

I don't care! That's why people input. Maybe I'll have MY wedding in indonesia! LOL

Honestly, it's just a post designed to help ANYONE who wants a destination wedding or is considering it. My friend who just got engaged (ANOTHER one!0 is thinking of it, so I am likely going to redirect them here...

All is fair in internet and chatting...

 

[innerkitten]

15k ...hmmm, I think thats a lot for a simple destination wedding. I think you can do it for less than that. The wedding I'm maid of honor at is costing about 20k and it's going to have 150 guests and all the fixings right here in california. I think if your having a small wedding you will be able to do it for less than 15k.

 

[innerkitten]

P.S. Whens the date?

 

[sorisobel]

We are considering a Costa Rica wedding next summer. Do you have any vendors or links you would recommend? Thanks.

"After much deliberation, we decided on a destination wedding. We are getting married in Costa Rica this coming October. We're both VERY excited, and the planner I've been working with is just awesome. We invited everyone who wants to join us, but with the understanding that we don't *expect* anyone to attend, and that they will be covering all of their own expenses. We will be spending 4 days alone together, followed by three days with our friends. Saturday night is our wedding where we will be providing a 5 course meal as part of the reception. Sunday and Monday are 'alone' days, after which we will return home.

We're then going to have a big 'reception' (actually, a huge party, but reception sounds so much more formal) where my then husband and I will be wearing our wedding attire and will display pictures of the ceremony. We know people who have an awesome sound system, so we're going to be our own DJ's. We will cater food and have a wedding cake, just because we can.

Entire cost of wedding, travel, honeymoon, and local reception - $12,000. That includes airfare, 8 nights at the resort in Costa Rica, the 5 course Costa Rica reception, wedding gown, groom's attire, spending money on the trip, a day snorkelling, a sunset sailboat cruise, a day exploring the rainforest, a dolphin watching trip with a marine biologist, rental of the local reception hall, catering, wedding cake, invitations, and thank you cards."

 

[Ivy]

After months of stress planning a wedding for this July, my fiance and I decided we will go away instead. We will be going to Couples Negril in Jamaica for 8 days and marry/honeymoon there. Let me just say how relieved we are. The marriage "package" is included in the all-inclusive price. Basically, with just some minor pre-wedding arrangements, you just "show up" the day of your wedding. We decided that the end result was to be married and the stress (and expense) was too much for us. Anyone we've spoken to or read about has loved it there.

Check out Couples Negril for more info.

Also, these are some pics of a couple that just married there this past April: Wedding in Couples Negril.
This is not me & my fiance, but it is the exact place were we'll marry.

Though family is a bit sad that they won't be there, they are thrilled for us and our new life together. We will certainly have a get-together w/family & friends when we return.

I'm sure it will be wonderful no matter where you go...after all, you'll be with the one you love. All the best.

 

[Bikergirl]

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with the forums lately.

www.makanda.com is the web site I would start with. This is the resort where we will be staying. Their wedding coordinator is Kimberly, and she has been tremendously helpful! This has been so much easier and MUCH more relaxing than I thought possible. She has taken care of everything. All we have to do is show up!

She's been very patient, too. I wanted to create my own menu for my reception. We must have gone through 8 or 10 revisions before I was finally happy. OK, so I'm a bit obessive.... But she was helpful through that whole process and didn't complain even a tiny bit!

There is a link on their website to local attractions, tours, trips, and things like that. We're not setting an itinerary for our trip (totally stress-free - no set schedule except the wedding and reception), but I have created a list of things we would like to do while we're there. Kimberly also said she could help arrange all of these things once we arrive, as well.

I'm so excited!!!

Good luck with your plans!

 

[dbgaap]

OK, this isn't a TROPICAL island, but.... I can't seem to get away from my idea of Scotland.




You can rent out a castle there and some of them have lots of space is you want to bring guests:




www.landmarktrust.co.uk


www.irishlandmark.com


www.barclayweb.com




These places fall into my criteria of being very affordable, very picturesque and flexible in terms of bringing along some friends.




Also, we're having a pretty simple wedding, so we won't be coordinating all that much, really. We'd go to a nice restaurant afterwards in lieu of having a more standard reception.


Obviously, if you really need sun, the UK isn't a wise bet.


(Although I spent 10 days there a couple years ago and we had outrageous sunshine the whole time)




Good Luck!!!!

 

[kkeen15]

Nicrez, when is/was your wedding?