So to follow up my TG/TB/TU post, here are my woulds and wouldn'ts. I hope others will benefit from both the good and the bad experiences I had.
I WOULD do a destination wedding again - 100% !!
I WOULD have done it on St. John, the island is so beautiful and the snorkeling is GREAT.
I WOULD have had a blue dress... it was so pretty against the water and I just never saw myself in white. I'm hoping to start a new trend of full-color wedding dresses
I WOULD make my wedding flowers myself ... I used all fake flowers I bought on sales at Hobby Lobby or Michael's; for less than $50 I made my bouquet, three wrist corsages, and 4 boutinnieres. Everyone thought the flowers were real and were mightily impressed! Also, it's nice to have those flowers to remember the day by, and they will stay pretty forever. We didn't do the bouquet toss since 16 out of my 18 guests were married or engaged.
I WOULD still have made my veil myself... there was no other way I could have found a turquoise veil to match my dress
I WOULD have included fans in my OOT bags -- it was hot and humid and I know my guests would have appreciated them. I wish I had ordered them from Oriental Trading and had them shipped along with the other decorations I ordered.
I WOULD have still shipped my decor, gift bags, and other items down to the island ahead of time. Since the USVI is still the US, it was quite easy to ship and relatively inexpensive (considering the costs to check extra luggage these days) AND it saved me lots of room in my luggage!
I WOULD have still kept my reception decor simple... we were surrounded by nature and a gorgeous ocean view, so minimal decorations were the way to go. I had silver square charger plates with a shell votive holder in the middle with sea stars, sand dollars, shells, and blue flat marbles sprinkled all around. It was very elegant, inexpensive, and I didn't have to take them with me!
I WOULD have made my own wire-wrapped cake serving set.
I WOULD have asked my reception venue if they had a cake stand I could borrow. They did, and it was one more thing I didn't have to pack or ship or worry about.
I WOULD have made my paper-bag luminarias again - they were very pretty and easy to pack and with LED votives were perfect since the ocean breezes were strong. Unfortunately the box with the votives never arrived so I had to use them as on-the-spot gift bags instead (which worked out well since my gift bags also never made it down there in time).
I WOULD have my guests all stay at the same resort, or at least strongly recommend it - it made it much easier considering the terrain of the island. I didn't mind having people go our to dinner every night with us or hang out at our room at night; these were all people I didn't get to see everyday anymore so I enjoyed the extra time I got to spend with them.
I WOULD have used the same photographer and stayed at Estate Concordia.
I WOULD have done my own hair and makeup and had all my BMs gather in my room so we could help each other. That's what we ended up doing despite me making an appt at a salon (see my previous post), and in the end that was more fun, easier, and less expensive. Remember - on the beach it can be quite breezy so you're better off going with a relaxed 'do than spending a lot of time and $$ on a more elaborate 'do that might get blown out anyway.
I WOULD have had my hair cut and colored ahead of time again - I was very glad I had done so.
I WOULD have had my teeth whitened professionally - I wasn't getting enough results from the at-home kits and it really helped my confidence to know that my teeth were nice and white.
I WOULD have had a mani/pedi done at home the day before I left for our weddingmoon.
I WOULD have put together my itinerary and mailed it to my guests a couple of weeks in advance. Instead I handed them out at the welcome dinner, and found it would have been better to either mail them out with the invitations or seperately but still ahead of time.
I WOULD have spent more time asking vendors and my wedding coordinators about the logistics of getting from place to place, including detailed driving directions for ourselves and our guests. I didn't do this and wish I had.
The biggest WOULD: I WOULD have gotten married legally at home ahead of time. This saved a lot of time and money, and gave us a chance to see what it was like before we did it on the beach. Our anniversary will always be our beach wedding date, and our beach ceremony was so special and beautiful. At the courthouse we didn't exchange rings and the "ceremony" lasted about 3 minutes.
I WOULDN'T have booked a nails/hair/makeup appt due to difficulty of travel on the island.
I WOULDN'T have used the same restaurant for our welcome dinner... the runner-up gave us a more detailed estimate and those little details can make a BIG difference. Make sure you get complete estimates from your vendors that don't have price ranges, but have fixed prices. Again, this will help you avoid unpleasant suprises.
I WOULDN'T have shipped my boxes via Parcel Post ... I would have shipped them down Priority.
I WOULDN'T have used a seperate vendor for the cake - I would have just asked the caterers for my reception to whip us up something. That's what they ended up doing anyways, and the cake they made for us was amazingly good.
I WOULDN'T do the garter or bouquet toss. With such a small reception they weren't missed and I was glad I didn't bother with either.
The biggest WOULDN'T:
I WOULDN'T HAVE BOOKED MY DW DURING THE HURRICAINE SEASON. I thought it would be worth taking the chance, and it SOoooooooooo wasn't worth it for myself or my guests. Even though we missed getting hit directly by Tomas, we still got pounded with tropical storm-force winds and day after day or rain. So if you're just starting to plan your DW and have chosen a date in the Caribbean from August to November, PLEASE please reconsider your date. If I had even gone a few weeks later it would have been so much better. Learn from my mistake.
That's all I can think of - good luck ladies with your future DW's!!! Please email me or message me if you have any questions about St. John. It was a great destination, just bad timing.
