Hi Ladies!
I haven't been on here very much, but I always found the GBU/Would Do/Wouldn't Do posts very helpful so I thought I'd do one. I got married at Sandals Grande in St. Lucia two weeks ago. We were leaving for the island just after Hurricane Tomas hit. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck the week before. We thought we were going to have to cancel or postpone the wedding. At the last minute, everything worked out and we were able to go. Literally, the airport opened the day before we left! Clearly, Hurricane Tomas was my "Ugly"!
Everything else was wonderful! I would say that the first "Would Do" (make that "Must Do") for me was to have a travel agent that specialized in destination weddings/honeymoons. We used Jaimi from Beach Bum Vacation. I actually found her because someone on this board recommended her. She was so much help during whole process and especially that last week. With the unknown of the hurricane, she helped with all of the communications to the guests. She also called the resort multiple times and was really able to put us at ease. Even when we didn't know if the wedding would happen, she always spent the time explaining all of our options. I can not imagine planning a wedding like this without her help. Also, the OOT bags were a hit with everyone and totally worth the effort of lugging an extra suitcase with all the items. Finally, we did a sunset catamaran tour after the wedding. All of our guests told us this was the highlight of their trip. If this is something you can fit in your budget, I would totally recommend it! I believe they offer this at all of the Sandals.
I don't really have a specific "Wouldn't Do" other than to say I wouldn't have worried about some of the details that I did. Once we got to the resort with our family and friends, a lot of the details I worried about didn't seem to matter at all. For example, on the day of the wedding I couldn't have even told you if they played the right music during the ceremony and I would have been happy with any flowers they brought me. After almost canceling the wedding at the last minute, all those little details just didn't matter any more! So my main advice would be to enjoy the wedding and don't sweat the details during your engagement!
Happy planning to you all!