Wedding in AC this summer, please help!

Hi folks,

I have been surfing this message board for couple of weeks, but this is my first post. We are thinking of having our wedding on AC at the end of July this summer (2004). I have a few questions and concerns that I hope you can help me out with, such as:

*Will it be too hot (will our guests be sweating and wish they hadn't come?)?
*How bad are the bugs (esp. mosquitos) at that time of year (late July/early Aug.?)
*Best places to hold a wedding (we're not very religious, so a beach is fine).
*Best places to stay. Our guests (approx. 30) have a variety of budget needs.
(We probably want to hold the wedding and stay somewhere on the South side of the island, because, although the North side sounds beautiful, getting across the river can be costly and inconvenient -- if you do it a lot)

*Any links to photos of other folks married on AC--the more the better!
(In my research I have found some pics on the message board. Unfortunately I didn't always write down where, and have often have a hard time finding them again!)

*Anyone I can email who has been married on AC and who is willing to be contacted to "talk" about their process and preparation.

*Any tips as to what works well on AC, what makes the event 'magical,' what to avoid...

*Suggestions for musicians
*Suggestions for photographers and videographers
*Suggestions for places to hold the post-ceremony dinner/reception (we're on a budget!)

I plan to either have one of the hotels/resorts to coordinate my wedding, or hire a wedding planner/coordinator on the island. I have contacted several entities about our wedding, and am leaning toward one in particular, but would like to have the community's input before I make a final decision. I know I'm asking for a lot of info., but the location issue and links to pics are the most urgent. Any info. at all would be appreciated. Thanks!

I'm getting married on AC in 4 weeks. It is a daunting task to plan a wedding in another country. Especially if you have never been there. That being said, here are my suggestions:
*DEFINITELY hire someone to help you. However, you need to keep in mind that a wedding coordinator in AC is different than in the US. You will still need to contact your own vendors for food, flowers, photos, etc. The wedding coordinator can give you suggestions but they DO NOT do it for you. The major thing that they do is the paperwork which in my opinion is TOTALLY worth it. Also, once you arrive you can be accompanied to all of you vendors to make sure that the plans are firmed up.
*Photos...try www.kayscott.com She has several couples listed that each have some photos of the wedding. If you need more information or photos send Kay an email. She is really kind and great to deal with! She'll most likely help you out and email you some other pics. Another option is to do a search on the message board for wedding information. You'll find A TON of information and a lot of people post photos too.
*Again, do a search for weddings and you will find a lot of information. I've learned in the past 8 months of planning my wedding that although the boarders are all very nice and helpful they typically don't respond to wedding questions. They are here to discuss vacation, fishing, hotels, restaurants, etc. I guess they don't want to be bothered with planning a wedding. Which is fine. There are enough of us who are currently or have already been through this process whom you'll be able to talk with.
*The only other advice that I have is to relax. The wedding industry has pushed all of us to have this unbelievable extravaganza of a wedding in the US. With that comes the pressure to plan the perfect thing. In Belize everything moves slower. It took me some time to understand that just because I'm hyper and excited about getting married doesn't mean that they'll respond to my emails in 30 seconds. So go with the flow.

One last thing.....

My fiance and I are staying at Caribbean Villas. We have set our guests up at Banana Beach. On April 2 at 4:30pm we will be getting married on the beach at Caribbean Villas (I hear is a very good spot). Kay Scott is doing our photos and Iraida of belizeweddings.com is our coordinator. After the ceremony we (the happy couple and our 14 guests) will be taking a sunset sail on a catamaran complete with rum punch and a champagne toast. The sail will conclude at Capricorn Restaurant where we will enjoy a meal under the stars. Once dinner is over the catamaran will collect everyone and drop those of us who feel like "whooping it up" into town for some drinks and dancing! All of these months of work I think will turn out to be a magical evening!

Good luck! If you have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected]

rebecca

victoria House is amazing - perfect setting, perfect size, fabulous kitchen (chef won "Best in Belize" award) etc. Essentially you can have all your events and lodgings in one exquisitely beautiful place - contact <belizeweddings.com> to do the ground-work for you ----- including the legal paperwork, hair and make-up, wonderful tropical bouquets, food/event planning, minister and photography (they work with Kay Scott) ..........
Consider a sunset cocktail cruise on the Winnie Estelle the night before the Wedding. Winnie Estelle can take 30 people easily on all kinds of adventures - snorkeling, caye caulker, etc.
Summer is the most beautiful time of year here - to my mind, it is far nicer than winter - have a fabulous wedding.

My daughter got married last September on the beach at Carribean Villas. Here is a link to the wedding pictures. http://community.webshots.com/user/kathyferguson We used Iraida at www.belizeweddings.com to help with the wedding. I don't think we could have done it without her, and she saved us a lot of time and worry. She did all the paperwork for the license and arranged the minister. She made recommendations for the photographer, flowers and hotels based on our budget. The beach and pier at Carribean Villas was a lovely spot for the wedding, as you can see in the pictures. If you need any further information, please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] Hope this helps. Kathy

Beluga Smile -

email Charlene at BC's Bar (the owner)and she can arrange a great reception keeping your budget in mind as well as help arrange the ceremony. Last year there was a couple that had their ceremony on the beach by the bar and then the reception under a tent on the beach right there.

Charlene had an awesome beach BBQ Belizean style for all the guests and the tables decorated with conch shells holding native tropical flowers of Belize. Also there was a couple of guys playing music as well.

It was a very low key casual affair and the bride wore a nice summer dress and the groom wore shorts and a tropical shirt. Maybe comfortable is a better description. Looked like everyone had a great time. The e-mail is [email protected]

Best Wishes for a fun time!

Rebecca,
I am in a similar situation as you. I am getting married in the middle of June and will have approximately 30 guests at the wedding.
We are staying at the Xanadu and having our ceremony there on the beach and the reception on the deck near the pool. The Xanadu is small and we will have nearly all the rooms for our guests. We didn't want to be at a big resort where we would bother others with our wedding - just something small and personal.
We are using Iraida as our wedding planner - in addition Susan at the hotel has been awesome!
Please feel free to e-mail me ([email protected]) if you ever want to discuss.
Good Luck!!
Laurie

Hey All,
Thanks for responding to my post. I have contacted Kay Scott since I posted my message. Unfortunately, she is not available at the end of July, when we plan to hold our wedding.

It's really important to me to have great photos, but we are on a budget (no silver spoon here, unfortunately). I've been doing a lot of research to find a good photographer and have contacted several people about doing our wedding. Unfortunately, none of them are on AC, so having them travel could make things more expensive. So if anyone knows of other good photographers On AC, one of the other cayes, or on the Belize mainland, please let me know (would certainly be cheaper than importing someone from farther away).

I really like the idea of the boat trip the night before, what would that cost? Do they give you dinner too? It would be a nice way to welcome my guests.

I am a little concerned about all the long distance planning. I can't see the screen you replied on while I'm writing this message (just getting the hang of this message board posting stuff--so if anyone wants to give me a lesson on Message Board 101--I'm all eyes!), but one of you mentioned that you (bride/groom) still have to do a lot of communicating with vendors, etc.

I thought that was the point of hiring a wedding coordinator/hotel/resort to do your wedding? So it would be more stress free...I hope. I don't mind talking/emailing some of the vendors, but I was hoping the majority of the leg work would be handled by the entity I hire.

How much time have you folks spent actually communicating with vendors personally? I like the idea of picking out my flowers and selecting my menu and having other vendors to choose from, but I don't want to have to be the person to do all or most of the legwork. Your thoughts?

I have gotten a lot of information on wedding related stuff from the board, but I'm sure there is more that people can tell me or direct me to (and I've noticed that sometimes it's hard to find the same message twice, even if I enter the same search terms--go figure?). So any and all information from anyone in regard to wedding planning is greatly appreciated! I will also try to email some of the folks who volunteered to be contacted--thanks!

By the way, someone responded and said summer is a really pretty time of year on AC, but what about the heat and bugs? Sorry for the long post--brevity isn't my strength.

...my wife and I were married here on AC, June 2 years ago (and live here now.) We had about 40 people at a VERY casual ceremony on the beach... We used Iraida to coordinate most all aspects of the wedding, legal requirements, flowers (her friend Dulce does a fantastic job decorating w/ them,) make-up/hair for my wife, etc... Do NOT worry about having to do a lot of the leg work on your own if you enlist her services, she does a great job. Simply make sure you communicate/meet with her beforehand so she gets a good idea of your preferences. We also had Charlene from BC's cater the event (I believe it was the 1st 'wedding' she had done!) and she did a FANTASTIC job.) Great bbq/casual food... If you are on a budget and want simple/local fare, you'd be hard pressed to find a better option. As far as boat/sunset cruise type things go, there is a new power catamaran on Ambergris (the "Lady Sharon") that was just brought down from Jamaica that would be perfect... can easily accomm. 50-70+ odd people, has a bar area, large indoor area (if the weather turns) and is affordable... do not have an e-mail for the owner, but I'm sure someone on this board does?

I'm getting married there in mid-April. I can definately report back to you when I get back. We're having a small ceremony on the beach and then having an intimate dinner on the private deck at Capricorn (we only have 8 in our party).

We're using Kay Scott for the photography. She has been WONDERFUL to deal with.

I'm having a bit more trouble getting in touch with a florist (for a small bouquet) so if you have any suggestions, I'd welcome them.

I'd recommend Corona del Mar for your guests. It's very reasonable price.

Good luck! Remember not to sweat the small stuff. It's the whole reason to get married away in paradise!!

My wife and I got married at Ramon's Last July. We had originally chosen Victoria House but it was more expensive and they had more restrictions (they required a certain percentage of the guests to stay there). I was extremely happy with our choice. Being closer to town was great. The woman who did the wedding planning at Ramon's (I think her name was Amy) was great. If you choose Ramon's, you have to get the beach bbq for the reception. It was the best lobster I ate the entire trip. I would also HIGHLY recommend getting in touch with Barbara K. She was great. I hope your wedding is as beautiful and fun as ours was. You will never regret choosing Belize as your Wedding spot.

My wife and I got married at Victoria House last month and were it not for the incredible staff there, things would have gone quite badly -- they really saved the day.

Based upon our experience you are MUCH better off getting married through one of the resorts.

We used Iraida and it was a very bad choice.

If you want further advice, we are happy to proivide it: [email protected]

Oh, by the way, Kay Scott did an incredible job with our photos and she's highly recommended. She and the staff at Victoria House really helped turn a bad experience into a good one.

try this e-mail for wedding help:

[email protected]

they do great organising.