weddings in the caribbean...anyone done it????

[kayleigh81]

thinking of going to jamaica to get married in 2008, has anyone had a wedding in the caribbean??? got any tips or advice?
tia

Hi Kayleigh. We went to Jamaica for my cousin's wedding. They could either get married actually on the beach or in a gazebo next to the beach. They chose the gazebo because after watching someone else's wedding on the beach it became obvious that they could quite likely be surrounded by kids playing football and women with their norks out! The ceremony was nice but there were 5 other weddings going on the same day- it was a huge hotel which might explain that. Literally as we were wondering back to the hotel after the ceremony the next wedding were coming down the path in the opposite direction- it was like a bridal relay!
I think if it was me I would definitely choose a small hotel that could guarantee a bit more of a personal service.

thanks for that, ive heard that it can be a bit of a nightmare doing it on the beach for those reasons.
can you remember what hotel it was that your cousin got married in?
we will have our ds who will be 2 and our neice who will be 5 so we are looking for something which is child friendly

Not in the caribbean, but DH and I got married on safari in Kenya. Was the only wedding, and very private ceremony with just me and DH and our witnesses (official ones from hotel). It was lovely and very romantic.

It was the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios. It was a lovely hotel with 5 pools, 4 or 5 restaurants and loads of bars. Was really child friendly. The only thing wrong with it was that there were so many other weddings.

No but this site looks like it may have good smaller venues

I got married in Jamaica in 1994 - at Boscobel Beach (now owned by Sandals & Beaches) Boscobel Beach Totally designed for kids, fairly expensive as it is ultra all inclusive but you do get a free wedding package.

I got married in their gardens rather than the beach and I chose the last time slot of 5pm - so it was cooler, and by the time the ceremony was over - the beach was empty so we had a video of us walking down the beach - by the time we got to the end of the beachthe sun had set.
It also meant we could go shortly in to a meal & party.

A couple that married early on in the day on the beach got changed back into their swimwear after the wedding - not really marking the occasion but each to their own.

A fantastic wedding day (just a shame about the marriage!)

No, but was married in Mauritius. Chose 4pm for very same reasons as jetsetmum. Our hotel had a policy of not doing more than one wedding a day and i think this is really important. (actually was there for 3 weeks and only 3 weddings including mine) Was made to feel special and not on a conveyer belt.

Good luck

Bro' got married in Jamaica - I think at Round House but will check. We got married in St Lucia - yonks ago - rented house in middle of nowhere and the registrar came out to us, so totally private affair. Go for morning or late afternoon timing - it will be too hot/sun will be too high for good pictures otherwise.

Hi
We got married in Jamaica last year at Sans Souci. But as we used to live in Jamaica and my husband knew the manager of the hotel we asked for - and got - permission to be married on the verandah of one of the massage huts, directly overlooking the sea. It was lovely but all very casual - I was four months pregnant at the time so didn't want anything too elaborate! But they laid everything on that we asked for (cake and bubbly back in the room etc) and it was a fantastic day. My advice would be to ask and see if you could tweak their pre-arranged packages a bit to make it slightly more personal. But I would certainly recommend Jamaica for a holiday - it's a wonderful country as long as you avoid Kingston!!!

Nope - it was Half Moon. Mind you, he said you should look at these www.islandoutpost.com/

august, september and october are the busy season for hurricanes in the caribbean. i would avoid these months particularly.

yes, maried im Granada at La Source. fantastic, I could get married anywhere on the resort, and was married by a female bishop who was lovely.

Dh and I tied the knot in Mobay, Jamaica nearly six years ago. We tried eloping but guilt stopped us!! For us, it was cheaper than having it here and less interference from well meaning folks. Most of it was arranged via email and some finishing touches were done on site. The flowers and the cake was lovely but the video and the photos were amateurish. Ask for samples/past productions before you confirm anything. Our wedding video is now bought out to amuse our friends!! Find time to relax before and after cos you gonna need it

my mum and dad lay on the beach next to a wedding liek a metre away fomr them
they said it was naffola

I think that it why it is important to really look into it, and check all the details - like how and where it takes place, how many a day, etc. Privacy ws the most important thing for us - a private, intimate ceremony for Dh and myself, without lots of strangers onlooking.

why di doyu go abroad?
are your parents divorced or sumat?

We wanted the private ceremony on our own,a nd thought the Kenyan safari was a nice place to do it. Thought we would save money too, as paying for ourselves. However, we ended up with a big catholic church blessing on our return with 100+ guestsm followed by reception - did the family bit after all. I didn't enjoy the church bit - I don't like being in front of everyone talking (odd for a teacher I know) like that, so Kenya was precious to me inm that sense. The party afterwards was fab though

Both sets of parents very much together.

Look on marryabroad dot co dot uk - you can tailor make your wedding package if you want to avoid the conveyor belt feeling

I got married in Cancun with just me dp and my dd1
why ?
no dad to walk me up the aisle (not dead just dead unreliable)so chose something away from hassles and well meaning relatives . --
My pil dont fly therefore agreed no parents not fair one with out the other.
It was lovely the hotel only did one wedding a week unlike others over there.
Recommend it to anybody we had a blessing and a do
for family and friends at home.

i got married in st lucia and would thoroughly recommend the marrying abroad thing. it was so easy and with st lucia all i had to do document wise was supply a copy of our marriege certificate no declarations to show we are single etc. my reasons was as i had always dreamed of getting married abroad and i didnt want to be centre of attention in a church wedding so it suited us. we went out purely me and my hubbie and it was great. we married in club st lucia yet the property wasnt our cup of tea as we didn't have kids or a large group with us. we honeymooned in sandals regency st lucia and i thoroughlt receommend sandals as being one of the best chains i have been to. in my job i do lots of hotel inspections yet sandals has to be one of the top out of all the destinations propertys etc.

sandals main place is jamaica and you can stay at one property and use the facilities of the others if you wish. so you get the best of both worlds. i do have some info books on sandals if they are of interest to you - they are info books not holiday brochures and i am more than happy to post them if jamaica is what you def want to do. my email is [email protected]

good luck in your decisions

PS it was so much cheaper us getting married abroad!