Hello Aruba natives and regulars! I have never been to Aruba before and I'm curious if there is a shop on Aruba to buy things for wedding decor and to fill welcome/favor bags. Things such as: hurricane lamps, candles, seashells, flip-flops, candy, water, sunscreen, etc. We have so many ways to buy these things cheaply stateside, but I don't know if these are sold in bulk in Aruba. I don't want to go through the hotels because they seem to charge so much and sending these things seems expensive as well, so I'm nervous that most of my luggage will be for our guests!

There is a cool flea market in town where you can get all sorts of souveniers/favors like towels, flip flops, old license plates, t-shirts, coasters, etc. I don't know of any place to buy candy in bulk. The only thing with waiting is that you'll be running around doing all that stuff when you get there, right before the wedding. It's a catch 22- buy & ship it, bring it down with you, or get it while you're down there. Either way would be costly and/or time consuming.

My fiancee and I are going down this July and are going to bring back as much stuff as we can to fill our welcome bags, things that can all be bought at the street market: an Aruba towel, Aruba Aloe (great stuff), maps of the island, some little souveniers, our itinerary for the week, etc. I know that it will be costly to ship and/or bring the bags down with us, but I wanted to welcome our guests with a feeling of the island and the theme of our wedding!

I agree I want our guests who fly all the way out there to have something special and you are basically interested in the same things I am for the welcome bags. Would you please post the costs of the towels, Aruba aloe, and (if you see) flip-flops after you and your fiance get back? That would be so helpful!
Also, I believe you are getting married at the Westin, what do you plan to do for centerpieces? I was thinking that if we had similar ideas, we could purchase and split the costs of our centerpieces and the first person to marry would leave them there for the other person. Just thinking out loud...

Hi,
Ask for Karina at Palais Hindu (favors in general, candles, decorations, cake stand).
Ask for Arjen at Flora Market (he's the "magician" who did my "special request" bouquet and boutonieres - with orange feathers, tulips - the result was stunning, contemporary, unique and elegant). They also have candles, hurricane lamps, candleholders, etc. at a good price (not worth your while transporting yourself).
Ask for a salesperson at EMCO for T-shirts, tiles, plates.
Aruba Aloe products are always a good buy, great gift, especially sunblock, burn balm (great for kitchen burns too) and special care lotion.
Water - the local AWA (available through Balashi beer brewery) won an international award for its high quality - just slap on a custommade label (easy to do in your computer printer). Tap water is excellent - you can have the bottles custommade and just filled by hotel staff or friends.
Fabric for decoration: La Linda.
Karina (Palais Hindu) or Arjen (Flora Market) can also take care of your decorations, should you want to delegate...
Good luck. Let me know if you need more info.
Margaret

May I ask how much your special request flowers cost? We are finding the flowers to be so expensivie.

Hi Ski,
What do you need in flowers? Maybe I might have an idea. I did not find mine expensive, since they flew in the tulips for me and made a marvelous bouquet. What are you being charged?

I agree, visit the sidewalk vendors downtown by the Paddock restaurantr or on the weekends only, there is a flea market (new stuff) by the grocery stores just outside downtown heading toward the resorts. Take the bus for $2.30 round trip from the beach resorts.

We are just looking for simple calla lilies hand tied.

Kundysbride- I'll be sure to post the cost of the favors when we get back. We are getting married July 2008 - when is your wedding? For the centerpieces, I wanted wanted to do something different like hurricane lamps with sand and seashells in it, to go with the beach theme, but that will probably be to expensive. I think I might just end up with a floral arrangement of some sort, not sure yet. Any ideas??

Margaret & jackandjill--Thank you! You're giving me some hope and making me think I may have to do a day of shopping! Do any of these vendors have a website or phone number? I was thinking that maybe I could price stuff out before departing so I can cost compare. Also, we're probably not arriving on a weekend; will sidewalk vendors be around during the week?

gigi--I was thinking of the same thing--hurricane lamps, sand, seashells, or hurricane, sand & candles. I think flowers would be too expensive. Really, it's just a matter of getting the hurricane lamps b/c glass won't travel well, and I'm sure we could find some sand and shells somewhere on the island! Otherwise, pre-purchase shells here. They actually travel fine if you pad them.

I'm getting married in Nov. 2007. So I guess you can price some stuff and I'll let you know what worked.