Aruba wedding in January

[sillyjoy]

Hi there,

I just got engaged last week and as my family is from Brazil and his from the US, we decided to get married in Aruba. This past week I looked at so many resorts and wedding plnner...I'm so confused. And we have only three months to plan everything. We'll have around 20 people. Could you please suggest a few places? And vendors? I already contacted Jason Margarita for the pictures, but he might be booked. Also, I have no idea of how much this is going to cost us. Dinner for 20 and beach+civil ceremonies. Should we do it at the same place we will stay for our honeymoon?

Thank you so much :-)

[Cple]

Our son got married at the Amsterdam Resort. The planner did a great job.
Try to get in touch with them asap. You will have to be patient. Nobody in Aruba does anything fast.
Best of Luck

[bgmouse]

My sugggestion to you would be to contact Lisa Dammerman at the Radisson Resort. She is the most hard working wedding coordinator in Aruba. She will take care of everything for your day. I do know someone who was married at the Radisson and it was just out of this world. Actually, this past July my husband and I renewed our wedding vows on the beach at the Radisson and Lisa took care of everything for us via emails for a few months before we got there. Not one time did she ever not answer one of my emails within 24 hours. You will not be sorry having you wedding at the Radisson, it has one of the most beautiful properties on Palm Beach and all of the hotel room have a had multi-million dollar renovation over the past 2 years. Good luck and enjoy your wedding day, that is what a good wedding coordinator like Lisa lets you do.

[Andrea J.]

http://www.aruba.com/arubavacations/...lSectionLnk305

click above link for a list of wedding planners and a lot of other useful information.

one of the other things you may want to tell us is the kind of wedding dinner you want.
do you want extravagant and fancy and formal? laid back and tropical? a combination of both?
cple suggested amsterdam manor. i could not agree more. the place is lovely. their beachfront is beautiful. they have 3 restaurants.........MANGOS, PASSIONS on the beach and TULIP at MVC EAGLE BEACH resort down the street by about 1/4 mile. After an Eagle Beach beach ceremony in front of the
Amsterdam Manor, a lovely meal/reception can be held in the garden at TULIP restaurant.

do lots of reading.

are you planning a site visit?

[sillyjoy]

Thank you so much for your kindness in giving as much needed advice!

I already contacted Amsterdam Resort and also Radisson.

And I LOVED the idea of a reception at Tulip restaurant. We will have around 20 guests. A tropical, laid back meal sounds better since we are simple people and have budget limitations.

I will keep researching. Thank you again :-)

Have a great weekend.

[milacik21]

sillyjoy,
if you do go with Amsterdam Manor, i would do the reception at Passions. It's amazing! I and most of our wedding guests stayed at the MVC Eagle beach and ate at the Tulip restaurant every day, and even though i would highly recommed MVC as inexpensive place to stay with great and super friendly people working there, and myself and my husband will be coming back there every time we're in Aruba, i just don't think TULIP is what you would imagine as perfect dinner reception location. At Passions, the food is AMAZING and it's soo beautiful, and i think there is nothing like having a reception on the beach (that was imperative for my wedding). The wedding planner at the Amsterdam Manor is also great and i would highly recommend her.
when i was considering locations, Amsterdam was my #1 choice but upon visiting we realized we want a private location with no onlookers, and ended up going with Rennaisance Island.
Good luck planning - i'm sure whatever you pick it will be great!

[sillyjoy]

Thank you all for the recommendations. We've decided to go with Aruba Fairy Tales since they had the most reasonable price and the owner gets back to us very quickly every time we need to know something. Is it common that we pay for the whole thing before we get there? I thought it's usually 50% advance and 50% at the day of the wedding. That's how things work here in the USA. Could anyone let me know? Thanks again :-)

[Karen Lutzker]

One should not have to pay for the whole wedding at once, but a deposit is required to block the wedding date. If you are planning to be married in January 2012, the total amount might be due because we are already in December. It depends upon the vendor you are dealing with. If you are getting married the end of January then a small deposit might be due with balance at least 2 to 3 weeks before wedding date.

[Andrea J.]

silly when is your date?
and where did u decide to have your reception dinner?
i say take karen's advice re: the payment...if you are close then expect to pay in full.

Originally Posted by sillyjoy

Thank you all for the recommendations. We've decided to go with Aruba Fairy Tales since they had the most reasonable price and the owner gets back to us very quickly every time we need to know something. Is it common that we pay for the whole thing before we get there? I thought it's usually 50% advance and 50% at the day of the wedding. That's how things work here in the USA. Could anyone let me know? Thanks again :-)

[Karen Lutzker]

Silly, when is your wedding date? If the end of January I do hope a small deposit will be due. Yes, it is important that the package you choose fits your budget. But remember, anyone can offer a reasonable package, but it is reliability and service that counts as well and coming through for you on your wedding day. Remember the old saying, quality and not quantity.