Ah, Paradise

Ah, Paradise

November 27th, 2009 @ 3:01 pm by Mrs. Nachos
Share

When it came time to start thinking about a date and a place, we didn’t really know where to start. I’ve been to Sandals resorts before and they are truly amazing, and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Unfortunately, Sandals was out because it’s adults only, and we have 2 kids joining us. We looked into their sister company, Beaches, which is family friendly, but the choices were limited since they only have resorts in Turks and Caicos and Jamaica.

Most people would think this shouldn’t be a problem. Come on—Caribbean, tropical paradise, crystal blue waters and tons of sun? It sounds great, but they both have marriage residency requirements. If you get married in either place, you have to “live” there for 1-4 days. We kind of wanted to have the wedding early and spend the rest of the trip as newlyweds.

So, we thought, where else could we go in the Caribbean without a ton of restrictions? The US Virgin Islands of course. I’ve been to St. Thomas on a cruise stop once before and it was gorgeous.

Now, we had 3 islands to choose from…

St. Thomas: More touristy, lots of shopping, airport on the island, tons of resorts to choose from, 2nd largest of the 3 islands
St. John: Natural landscape (2/3rds of the island is a US National Park), little shopping, no airport, not many resorts to choose from, smallest of the 3 islands
St. Croix: More historic, airport on the island, very expensive resorts, largest of the 3 islands

We chose St. Thomas mainly because they had resorts that offered both all inclusive and non-all inclusive options. In the end, we went with the Wyndham Sugar Bay because the reviews were incredible, it was affordable, it offered a few different packages and the pictures look amazing.

After looking on Expedia and Bing Travel and actually putting together a daily pricing spreadsheet for airfare, I figured out exactly what days would be the cheapest to fly. I know, I’m a nerd. And a spreadsheet lover. We decided on late April because it was cheapest before May. No hurricanes are gonna ruin our wedding day! And it turns out that we are getting married the day before Mr. Nachos’ birthday.

The wedding packages they offered were reasonable, and we went with the best. We had to splurge on the biggest day of our lives! Plus, we were upgraded to the terrace for the ceremony.

Ah, Paradise : wedding venues 21 Terrace

Now the question is, what do we do after the ceremony? We are not having a reception since we’ll be having a party back home in June. Dinner for 26? Throw on our bathing suits and swim up to the poolside bar? We still have yet to figure that part out.

DW brides: What did you do immediately after your ceremony?

Tags: Venues |

Share |

Latest Gallery Pics

Hot Pink and White with Zebra 36" Lighted Spandex Ostrich Feather Centerpiece

26 Responses to “Ah, Paradise”

1 2 Last

Member

KMSull (message) 6,442 posts, Bee Keeper

Dinner! Even though it’s kind of like a mini-reception, it’ll be fun and you can EAT!

11/27/09 @ 3:04 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Swan (message) 1,046 posts, Bumble bee

Looks great! My aunt lives in St. Thomas, but I’ve never had a chance to visit.

11/27/09 @ 3:46 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Frozen Yogurt (message) 2,685 posts, Sugar bee

Wow, it looks gorgeous! Great choice!

11/27/09 @ 4:05 pm (reply)

Member

alvina (message) 807 posts, Busy bee

the terrace is GORGEOUS!

11/27/09 @ 4:08 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Pretzel (message) 1,893 posts, Buzzing bee

Lol I recognize that spot! we have a family photo from there. There was a wedding that day and i remember how amazing it looked. I am getting so excited for you two!

11/27/09 @ 4:21 pm (reply)

Guest

Jodi

We are getting married in St. John in July with about 30-40 people coming. We were also in the same boat, but decided to have a mini reception and offer dinner to our guests. Good luck planning, and congrats!

11/27/09 @ 4:47 pm (reply)

Member

pvaulter718 (message) 2,116 posts, Buzzing bee

If the resort is all inclusive, could you try and reserve one of the included restaurants for your guests? Or at least reserve a section of the restaurant so everyone could eat together??

11/27/09 @ 5:07 pm (reply)

Bee

Ms Potato Chips (message) 1,193 posts, Bumble bee

Poolside bar! Can I come?

11/27/09 @ 5:22 pm (reply)

Member

tachee (message) 97 posts, Worker bee

I was photographer for a wedding in the dominican republic a few weeks ago (http://spindlephotography.blogspot.com if you want to see the pictures!) and the wedding party had a seated dinner in a side room of one of the resort restaurants followed by a dancing reception at one of the poolside bars (with an ipod playlist). Everyone had a really great time! I loved the look of the dinner as well, with the place cards and one long table. Kudos for planning a destination wedding! The DR one I went to was an excellent time!

11/27/09 @ 5:50 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Mrs. Sea Breeze (message) 972 posts, Busy bee

We did dinner and cake afterwards (at one of the included restaurants) and dancing at the disco after.

11/27/09 @ 6:02 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Miss Cheeseburger (message) 1,020 posts, Bumble bee

omg it’s SO GORGEOUS! I am jealous, but feeling warmer just thinking about your DW (it’s freeeeezing here)!

11/27/09 @ 6:20 pm (reply)

12.

Member

Scudabble (message) 1 posts, Wannabee

Miss Nachos (my favorite snack by the way!),
My friend got married at this hotel two years ago. I can send you some pictures and tell you about our experience if you would like. We had a great time but there were a few things that she wished she had known ahead of time.
I have followed weddingbee since my wedding last year, but don’t know much about how to contact you. Message me if you like more info! Enjoy wedding planning!

11/27/09 @ 6:29 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Nachos (message) 1,733 posts, Bumble bee

@Scudabble: Just sent you PM. Thanks!

11/27/09 @ 6:49 pm (reply)

14.

Member

tea (message) 7,263 posts, Bee Keeper

wow, that looks amazing. are there residency requirements? the boy has been talking about marrying in jamaica for our first official ceremony so i know we need to be there for at least 24 hours to qualify. but i’d love to know more about the u.s. virgin islands [always wanted to go]. would you care to share some info sometime? thanks!

11/27/09 @ 7:50 pm (reply)

15.

Member

skibobrown (message) 1,902 posts, Buzzing bee

I went to a small destination wedding in Anguilla a couple of years ago. They had a dinner reception afterwards at a restaurant that was just a few steps up the beach from the ceremony. It was divine. …then a few weeks later they had their larger reception back at home in Massachusetts.

11/27/09 @ 11:36 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

tigs_pal

We stayed at the Wyndham Sugar Bay in 98–I know, a long time ago It was beautiful, a lovely spot for a wedding! Have a wonderful trip!

11/28/09 @ 12:44 am (reply)

17.

Bee

Mrs. Moonbeam (message) 1,732 posts, Bumble bee

Wow, that will be gorgeous.

11/28/09 @ 2:03 am (reply)

18.

Bee

Miss Nachos (message) 1,733 posts, Bumble bee

@tea: There are no residency requirements since it’s still U.S. territory which was a big draw for us. It’s a little pricier than non-U.S. though cause it’s still the U.S. dollar so they don’t make as much as a profit off tourists as say, Jamaica would.

To everyone that suggested a restaurant at the hotel, the problem is that they won’t take reservations for more than 10 people unless we pay extra cause they consider that a reception, which we don’t want to do.

To everyone that’s been there, did you take any buses? The cabs are outrageous (I’ve been told $10-15 per person each way) but online it says that buses are only $1! And did you ever go to any restaurants off the resort?

11/28/09 @ 10:02 am (reply)

19.