Key West Wedding Anyone?!?

jaeli214

Is anyone also planning or recently had a Key West wedding?  I'm just beginning to plan and ANY advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated!!

twinkle82576

I really wanted to do a Key West wedding, but I couldn't find anything in my budget

GL though!

CandisH

I'm with PP.  Keys wedding was our first choice too but couldn't afford it.  Idk what your budge is but check out Cheeca Lodge www.cheeca.com. Its gorgeous.

flappa

We are also looking at Key West for our destination wedding.  We live in Michigan and thought that it would make an accesible destination wedding for friends.  My future sister-in-law was married in Key West about 9 years ago and she claims that it was a great location.  Small, activities for guests, and a relax party feel.

Do you want to get married in a church or on the beach.  Banquet hall reception or something casual? My problem is, I don't know if I should hire a wedding planner or attempt to organize it on my own from Michigan. I feel like there are so many options, and I am becoming overwhelmed.

Stacey

crankita

I was originally going to do a Key west wedding but instead opted for having it in Ft. Lauderdale to cut down on my FI's family's travel time (they live in Tallahassee).

But depending on your budget and wedding size the Keys are not that bad- especially if you want something small. Small and stress-free is easy to do in the Keys. Here are the two links I found while considering a Keys / Key west wedding:

Key West weddings to go

Bananna Bay Resort and Marina Wedding packages

Additionally, if you are having the wedding during our winter season the rates for cottage rentals drop because that is their slow season. Hope this helps!

gatorgirl512

If you don't know the area at all and can't afford to make a few trips down to talk with vendors, I highly suggest hiring a wedding planner. There is not a lot of information out there for Keys brides, believe me. My wedding is in Islamorada, 1-1/2 hours south of Miami and 1-1/2 hours north of Key West and I have to basically pay travel fees for all my vendors to get to my location. A wedding planner will help you find people in the area.

Also, how many people are you planning on having? Do you want a beach wedding, views of the water, or indoors? You will need to plan your wedding around the height of hurricane season, normally August-September, but the whole season runs June-November. High season is January-April, when prices for hotels can be twice as high as low season.

gatorgirl512

Winter is not slow season. The Keys slow season tends to run after Labor Day-Christmas, except for the last full week of October, when Fantasy Fest occurs.

crankita

Off season rates for staying in the Keys run from April- December (depending on the place).

dewreb

I just got engaged last week, and we are planning to get married somewhere in the keys. My fiancee is from Los Angeles, and I'm from Minnesota, so we thought it would be fair to both sides of the family to have a destination wedding, plus I'm actually living in Miami for the year. We are planning to get married in September, which is the off season (winter is the "on" season). Summers are gross here, lots of rain and humidity, but the keys seem to stay a bit cooler because the ocean breeze helps. Also, it's the hurricane season. Anyway, we have only begun the process of searching for venues, but one alternative to Key West that might be less expensive is a less popular key. For example, we are considering venues in Islamorada.

I'll be following this thread to see if you get any advice from people who have done it before!

gatorgirl512

Mid season runs from April-September. Most hotels have different rates during that time.

Low Season- Labor Day-Christmas
High Season- Christmas-Memorial Day
Mid Season- Memorial Day- Labor Day

Islamorada14

We initially looked at Key West for our wedding, but decided on Islamorada instead for several reasons, mainly because we wanted a private beach house wedding (which we just couldn't make happen in KW).  Since you're just starting out, here are a few websites that you might find helpful.

The main Florida Keys tourism website is a good place to start gathering general information: http://www.fla-keys.com/.  It also has an event calendar, so you can plan accordingly.

Although I didn't work with them, I know Soiree Key West has a very good reputation and their website is informative: http://www.soireekeywest.com/

If at all possible, I definitely recommend taking a scouting trip to Miami and then take your time driving down the Keys and getting a feel for each major area.   

If you're willing to consider the upper/middle Keys, I absolutely recommend contacting Debbie at Caribbean Catering (www.islamoradaweddings.com). She can show couples some of the less advertised potential wedding venues, including tons of private estates.

July42010BEACH

I'm planning a Key West wedding RIGHT NOW!  So fun. Congrats to you!!!  We were just down there (from Atlanta) viewing venues & meeting with a ton of vendors.  I can give you a lot of names & #'s.  I heard from all the locals that Swanky Events - Megan - is an awesome wedding planner.  We are not having a planner b/c FI's entire family & friend group lives there so they're my planners
But, I could see you needing one b/c it's hard to weed out all the options & stuff.
Great Events Catering is also great - ask for Rachel.  She caters at all the non-resort options (since the resorts require you to use their food catering services).  Some of the cool/unique non-resort options are - Audobon Gardens, West Martello Tower, Southernmost House (pricey tho), Little White House.  If you want to send me a private message I can send you more ideas/names.  I have a good list of photographers & florists....in fact, I have a detailed vendor list that you would probably find helpful.
Best of luck planning!!!!

MommyLou

I am also planning a Key West wedding for december 2012 right now. Anyone used "We've Got the Key" planners.? Looking for an intimate family wedding venue on the beach for about 50 people- romatic but causal beachy chic-if that makes any sense. All vendor ideas, steel band trios of photographer suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Many Blessings!

erinlmt

We have been planning our Key West wedding for the past 3 weeks!  We are using Weddings to Go Key West for the wedding planning and we are staying at The Inn at Key West.  That's what I've got planned so far.  

Good Luck and Congratulations!!!!