St Thomas/St Lucia Caribbean Princess Villa vs Beach Wedding

[travelbugbride]

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I'm looking for some advice from any past or present cruise brides :) I'm very interested in getting married on the Caribbean Princess in St Thomas, leaving San Juan March 5, 2011. I've looked into RCCL also, haven't ruled them out. My fiance and I would like to be married at Villa Botanica (1st choice), St. Peters Great House or Magen's Bay. Curious if anyone has used the cruiseline WC or local island WC. I have spoken with Tina from Weddings The Island Way, she seemed good- but does anyone know if you can choose to have another photograher or do they only allow there own? Also has anyone ever experienced missing a wedding due to unfortunate circumstances and what was your back up plan? My fiance is nervous not to use the cruiseline WC but I like the idea of having a bit more involvement in our special day. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to see wedding pics from any of these places in St Thomas. I was also originally looking into St Lucia also - any comparisons???

Thanks,

Jen :D

[gaddgie]

Hi

 

We got married on a Celebrity Galaxy cruise to St Lucia last year.

 

It was a beach wedding arranged by the cruise lines recommended co-ordinator. Everything was taken care of and I do mean everything.

 

On arrival at St Lucia we were escorted of the ship and taken to local offices to complete the licence application. Then taken back to the ship so that we could get ready. Collected again just after lunch and taken to the wedding site.

 

When we arrived at St Lucia the weather was looking a bit doubtful. However by lunch it had cleared up and went really well. When we got back to the ship I found out that they had set up Michaels bar as a make shift chapel just in case it was needed. You wont get that if you use an independant organiser.

 

There was a videographer from the St Lucian Visitor Channel doing an advertiser type video. If I can find the link I will post it here for you.

 

Any other information you need just ask.

[gaddgie]

Hi

 

[Kristin1112]

I am currently planning my May wedding on Lindquist Beach and had all the same questions you do!

 

I'm using Michelle at Island Wedding Services. This is a good option for you if you want to have more control over the vendors. I reserved Minister, Photographer and Videographer through her, then did my own research and decided to upgrade and booked directly (she's fine with that).

 

From what I've read online here and from the photos I've seen, beach weddings (or any place on island) is nicer and cheaper than ship weddings - but it's a matter of personal taste.

 

I'm a research queen, so if you have any more questions - feel free to post them!

 

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

[travelbugbride]

Thanks so much Gaddgie and Kristin!!!! I really appreciate any tips:) Looks like your wedding in St Lucia turned out perfect! Congratulations!!!! We've officially booked our cruise....Caribbean Princess leaving San Juan, PR Mar 6, 2011!!! I have not been able to contact TWE over the holidays and it's been driving me crazy!!! My #1 choice is St. Thomas and 2nd is St. Lucia. I've spoken with 3 WC's from St Thomas and they've all been great, IslandBliss weddings, Perfect weddings of St Thomas and Weddings the island Way. My fiance is very nervous about this, that is why I have been trying to figure out what the ceremony sites are in St Thomas that are offered by Princess Cruises. That being said I think we want to do a villa and then have beachy pics taken after. Does anyone know what and where the options are for the ceremony??:confused: I think Bolongo Bay may be one option, I'm also hoping for Magen's Bay, Lindquist and what villa they offer. Kristin I'm a researcher too and very much a perfectionist, can you tell me what cruiseline are you taking and are you using just the island WC only??? I'm curious if you can book the wedding through the cruiseline but then hire vendors from the island for some important details...like flowers, transportation etc..... Gaddgie where was your wedding located in St Lucia and did you deal with TWE at all???

 

Thanks again and Happy New Year :)

[travelbugbride]

Thanks so much Gaddgie and Kristin!!!! I really appreciate any tips:) Looks like your wedding in St Lucia turned out perfect! Congratulations!!!! We've officially booked our cruise....Caribbean Princess leaving San Juan, PR Mar 6, 2011!!! I have not been able to contact TWE over the holidays and it's been driving me crazy!!! My #1 choice is St. Thomas and 2nd is St. Lucia. I've spoken with 3 WC's from St Thomas and they've all been great, IslandBliss weddings, Perfect weddings of St Thomas and Weddings the island Way. My fiance is very nervous about this, that is why I have been trying to figure out what the ceremony sites are in St Thomas that are offered by Princess Cruises. That being said I think we want to do a villa and then have beachy pics taken after. Does anyone know what and where the options are for the ceremony??:confused: I think Bolongo Bay may be one option, I'm also hoping for Magen's Bay, Lindquist and what villa they offer. Kristin I'm a researcher too and very much a perfectionist, can you tell me what cruiseline are you taking and are you using just the island WC only??? I'm curious if you can book the wedding through the cruiseline but then hire vendors from the island for some important details...like flowers, transportation etc..... Gaddgie where was your wedding located in St Lucia and did you deal with TWE at all???

 

Thanks again and Happy New Year :)

[gaddgie]

Hi Travelbug

 

Happy New Year to you.

 

Other than the initial contract with The Wedding Experience we didnt much get involved with them. We bought an off the shelf package that fitted our needs and they handled everything very professionally for us. I think they engaged the company that advertised in the video. Sorry I should explain that we were asked if we would take part in a promotional video for the Visitor channel and what you saw on Youtube was the result.

 

You may have noticed it wasnt our first wedding so therefore the day and the event were more important to us than what flowers or where it was or who would take photographs.

 

As it turned out we invited our table guests to the wedding and they very kindly acted as unofficial photographers. It was great because we got the hundreds of photos to choose from. Which was great because the official ones were nopt that great and in the end we chose not to have them.

 

The location was Pigeon Point Beach, just below the Sandals resort on the map.

 

Also be aware that we wanted copies of our Wedding Licence, but had to wait approx 10 weeks to get them.

 

The only other quirky thing was that it was supposed to be a non-denominational wedding ceremony but we still had to swear our oaths and vows on a copy of the Holy Bible. Its the caribbean way!!!!!

 

Hope this helps and good luck with your plans

[Dgonza]

I am currently planning my May wedding on Lindquist Beach and had all the same questions you do!

 

I'm using Michelle at Island Wedding Services. This is a good option for you if you want to have more control over the vendors. I reserved Minister, Photographer and Videographer through her, then did my own research and decided to upgrade and booked directly (she's fine with that).

 

From what I've read online here and from the photos I've seen, beach weddings (or any place on island) is nicer and cheaper than ship weddings - but it's a matter of personal taste.

 

I'm a research queen, so if you have any more questions - feel free to post them!

 

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

 

We will also be planning our wedding through Island wedding services. Who did you choose for your photographer and videographer and why? We are planning a half day sail over to Honeymoon beach (St john) then getting married on the beach. We will have lunch and open bar served on the sail boat.

[travelbugbride]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!!! We actually offically booked our cruise today and decided to go with Princess :) I have been speaking with Tina from Weddings the Island Way and she has been amazing! She has already sent me two estimates, reassured my fiance and I that there would be a plan B in order, and answered all of my million questions even though my wedding is over a year away. I love how involved I am in the decisions because that is something you don't get when working with TWE. We experienced very poor customer servicefrom TWE, still waiting for them to return my call from Dec 23rd!!!!! Needless to say we will be putting our deposit down this week with the island WC. I think we will be booking Ej of Paradise Pictures, if you haven't been on their site make sure you check it out! For one hr it is $750 including the pics on cd. I don't know who she is recommending as a videographer. How many people are joining you both on your wedding day? Best of luck to you and your future husband.....if you have any tips for me let me know:)

[gaddgie]

Hi

 

The only other tip I could think of is to make sure you take some extra blank wedding invitations with you. You nearly always meet some friends on the cruise that you would like to invite to the ceremony. Its just a nice touch to give them a proper invite.

 

Also on the day stay calm and go with the flow. There will be enough time and plenty of other can get stressed on your behalf.

 

Best wishes and Good Luck

[seaweavers]

We used Tina with WITW. We bought the CD of pictures and did the video. When I printed the pictures at a local drugstore, they turned out beautiful, great quality. I'm glad we did the video, though it was expensive, - it turned out great. Our experience with WITW was awesome. In my opinion, it is worth it to let her coordinate the photographer, video, cake, flowers and transportation rather than trying to hire these independently. The day went off without a hitch.

 

We were married at the Garden Terrace, which was very private with spectacular views.

 

Best of luck, Heidi

[Kristin1112]

So sorry I've been MIA - hadnt seen these questions coming my way!

 

We too are using EJ with Paradise Pictures and we're using HiDefVideo for our videographer. These arent the ones originally booked - I did more research and found that these guys are the best of the best. Not too much money when you're trying to capture your special day! I picked both of them because of the excellent reviews I read here, plus you cant beat the quality that you see when you look at their work.

 

I'm sure you'll be very pleased with anything you pick on the island...so far my experiences have been great. I also (personally) think you made a wise choice booking on the island instead of through te cruise line...I think you'll pay half as much and get more for your money, plus the attention to detail is there and you'll have more control over everything.

 

What location did you decide on for your wedding? We picked Lindquist because it was so gorgeous and not a lot of tourists go there. We just didnt want a bunch of other people in our pictures, you know? Oh, and we've got about 10 people coming with us. After the beach, we'll head to "location B" (TBD) for more photos, then to a restaurant for lunch (also TBD at this point).

 

I like the tip above of taking blank invites with you...but I say this for another reason - I've seen Ej take pictures of the invite...I'm going to take one with me so he can add that to his series of pictures.

 

Congratulations and good luck!! Promise I'll be more receptive if you have any more questions! :D

[travelbugbride]

Thanks everybody!! I'm pretty excited!!! We decided to go with Villa Botanica! We have about 20-30 guests coming, not all are big sun worshipers so I thought the villa would be great! The gardens and views are stunning!A little pricey but I figure I'm only doing this once right?? We plan to have the villa for 2 hrs, photos at Emerald beach or Brewer's Bay afterwards for some tropical pics with Eric from Paradise Pictures. We may have a light lunch at Emerlad Beach after or just see the sights...not sure yet. Tina has been nothing but wonderful and quick to respond. Erika the owner has been great too! Any other tips let me know :)

[KG1924]

Thanks everybody!! I'm pretty excited!!! We decided to go with Villa Botanica! We have about 20-30 guests coming, not all are big sun worshipers so I thought the villa would be great! The gardens and views are stunning!A little pricey but I figure I'm only doing this once right?? We plan to have the villa for 2 hrs, photos at Emerald beach or Brewer's Bay afterwards for some tropical pics with Eric from Paradise Pictures. We may have a light lunch at Emerlad Beach after or just see the sights...not sure yet. Tina has been nothing but wonderful and quick to respond. Erika the owner has been great too! Any other tips let me know :)

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost to rent the villa for 2 hours? I would love to do the same! Our original plan is not an option anymore so we need to decide on another location fast! Thanks in advance!

[6rugrats]

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost to rent the villa for 2 hours? I would love to do the same! Our original plan is not an option anymore so we need to decide on another location fast! Thanks in advance!

 

VILLA BOTANICA IS AVAILABLE FOR LARGE WEDDINGS, GROUP FUNCTIONS, RECEPTIONS AND PARTIES, for up to 200 persons: FOR 1 to 59 PERSONS: Use of Villa Botanica's facilities only is $375 per hour (with a 4-hour minimum charge). FOR 60 to 200 PERSONS, the charge is then a flat fee of $25 per person. Professional catering, bartending and servers are provided at Villa Botanica by Alex + Nancy, an excellent and reputable team with years of experience on the island...they will be happy to contact you and work directly with you on menus, pricing and all arrangements for your special occasion. Table linens, tableware, tents, musicians, other rental equipment and decorations, etc. will be arranged for your party by Alex + Nancy to your specifications. Should you wish to use your own caterer, there is a 10 per cent charge to Villa Botanica of your caterer's fee. All outside caterers must be licensed in the USVI, and must name Villa Botanica, Caribbean Luxury, and the villa management company as additional insureds on their liability insurance policies. Please inquire for corporate rates for parties at Villa Botanica.

[KG1924]

VILLA BOTANICA IS AVAILABLE FOR LARGE WEDDINGS, GROUP FUNCTIONS, RECEPTIONS AND PARTIES, for up to 200 persons: FOR 1 to 59 PERSONS: Use of Villa Botanica's facilities only is $375 per hour (with a 4-hour minimum charge). FOR 60 to 200 PERSONS, the charge is then a flat fee of $25 per person. Professional catering, bartending and servers are provided at Villa Botanica by Alex + Nancy, an excellent and reputable team with years of experience on the island...they will be happy to contact you and work directly with you on menus, pricing and all arrangements for your special occasion. Table linens, tableware, tents, musicians, other rental equipment and decorations, etc. will be arranged for your party by Alex + Nancy to your specifications. Should you wish to use your own caterer, there is a 10 per cent charge to Villa Botanica of your caterer's fee. All outside caterers must be licensed in the USVI, and must name Villa Botanica, Caribbean Luxury, and the villa management company as additional insureds on their liability insurance policies. Please inquire for corporate rates for parties at Villa Botanica.

 

Thanks!!

[6rugrats]

Thanks!!

 

You're welcome. Looks like a beautiful venue. Good luck to you!