Bermuda Wedding

I have a couple of questions for any Bermuda brides out there. My fiance and I love to cruise so we figured where better to get married than on a cruise! We live in NJ so think it would be best to take a cruise out of the NY/NJ area. That is when we came across Royal Carribean's 5 day cruise to Bermuda on Explorer out of Bayonne. Anyone get married on this ship? Since we will be in Bermuda overnight we would like to get married on the beach at sunset the first day we are there. I spoke with Royal Romance and didnt like how I wouldn't have a lot of control over the planning or site. So now my idea is to find a wedding planner in Bermuda. Can anyone recommend a good one? Thanks!

Hi JerseyGrl!

I just got married in Bermuda a little over a month ago. We went through the cruise line, but it turns out they subcontract to an onsite coordinating company called The Bermuda Wedding Salon. We had actually spoken with them in the early stages of our planning, and were pleased with them then, but went with the cruiseline because we thought it would be easier. I HIGHLY reccommend this company. The woman in charge is named Barbara Whitecross, and she really knows her stuff. She is located in North Carolina herself, but has an office on the island as well. In hindsight my fiance would have rather worked with her directly instead of having The Wedding Experience as a middleman.

Here is the website for The Bermuda Wedding Salon: http://www.bermudaweddingsalon.com/, trust me, they are amazing.

Good luck with all your planning!

I am seriously considering using her for my May 18th wedding. Where did you get married in Bermuda? I am wondering about locations (didn't seem to get alot of info from RR).

Thanks.

BermudaBride2008

Firstly, congratulations!

We were married at the Coco Reef Resort, which is located along the South Shore of the island. If you want a beach wedding while in Bermuda, the only beaches worth looking at are on the South Shore.

There are a number of different resorts you could look at, but the Coco Reef is absolutely stunning. I have a review of the wedding itself listed somewhere on these boards (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=554646), with links to pictures. If you don't want to go with a resort but are looking for a nice beach, I would reccommend either Warwick Long Bay, Chaplin Bay, or Stonehole Bay, all of which are located along the South Shore. The ony reason I don't mention Horseshoe Bay is because it is the most popular beach on the island, and while it is amazingly beautiful, it might be difficult to conduct a wedding here.

RR probably won't give you a lot of information regarding different locations. I know The Wedding Experience kept trying to steer me towards the Grotto Bay Resort, due to its close proximity to St. George's where we were docked. Grotto Bay is quite nice, but the beach is not what I picture when I think of a Bermudian beach.

If there are any questions you can think of that you would like to ask, please don't hesitate. I lived on the island for five years, and even though it has changed some since then, there are things that never change and I would be more than happy to help other prospective Bermuda brides out in any way possible.

Good luck with the planning!

Hi Calrissian,

Your pictures look great, you were a beautiful bride! Best wishes for a happy and healthy marriage. Thanks for the link to the website. I like the idea of planning with someone on the island rather than RCCL. WHen I spoke with RR I felt like I would have no say whatsoever in the planning. I would like to get married some where either on the beach or overlooking the beach and then have a reception afterwards. ANy suggestions on places? Thanks!

Hi JerseyGrl

there are four places I would reccommend taking a look at, then making a decision from there. The first is the Coco Reef Resort. I may be biased because I was married there, but it is absolutely beautiful. The grounds are very pretty, the beach is amazing, and the hotel itself just looks so grand. The staff are very friendly, and overall, it's just a really great place.

www.cocoreefbermuda.com

The second place I would reccommend looking at is The Reefs. They only have a small beach, but from photos I've seen, the set up for weddings is really nice. The resort itself rests on a series of cliffs, so you're right next to the water. I know from experience the food is amazing. It has been mentioned in Travel + Leisure magazine a number of times as well.

http://www.thereefs.com/

The third place I would reccommend is the Elbow Beach Hotel. They have great food, and an amazing beach. From what I remember, there was a nice patio that looks out at the water, but it's been a few years so I could be wrong.

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bermuda/

The final place I would reccommend taking a look at is the Ariel Sands Resort. A friend of mine who lives on the island swears by the food at Aqua (a restaurant at the hotel). One really cool thing about the resort is this walkway they have right over the water...it's hard to describe what it looks like, but it gives the appearence that you are walking on water.

http://www.arielsands.com/

All of these resorts are on the South Shore, so you will have amazing views of the water and sand beaches.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Jenn

Thanks Jenn! Those links are great. I cant wait to start planning. Your help is really appreciated!

You're more than welcome. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to pass them my way, I'm more than happy to help.

Jenn

HI Everyone!!

I cannot tell you how excited I am that I found this board!! My fiancee & I are getting married on Bermuda July 2008 off of RCCL Explorer of the Seas. We just hired Barbara Whitecross and we are taking a cruise down to Bermuda leaving tomorrow & will do a site visit for Coco Reef!!

Jenn- your pictures are beautiful!!! It looks like I will love Coco Reef when I visit there!!! My cruise is staying overnight just like yours did...I have a question for you--how do you handle the hair & makeup? Did you have it done at the Spa on the ship or on the island?? And were you able to take your flowers back on the ship with you??

Thanks so much!!!...good luck to all you other Bermuda Brides out there!!:D

Maggie

Hi cruising couple...congratulations! Thank you for your congratulations. Not a day goes by that I don't relive the wedding. Granted, it's only been two months, but it was a wonderful day.

I hope you like the Coco Reef as much as we did. I thought the property was beautiful, and all the staff we ran into were incredibly helpful.

In regards to my hair and make-up, I have my maid-of-honour and her mother to thank for that. Neither are professionals, but my MOH teaches salsa and performs in shows all the time, so she's used to putting hairstyles together on a whim. I wouldn't discount the ship salon altogether, I haven't seen any negative comments towards them on any of the boards, but I also can't speak from experience on how good they are. If you go that route, all I can reccommend is to have a picture with you (or two, or three) and perhaps they can work with that.

Depending on the time of your wedding though, perhaps you could have your hair done on the island. I don't know of any salons myself, but I'm sure Barbara could steer you in the right direction.

I was able to take my flowers back on board with me, but didn't want to take the risk of trying to get them through customs back in the US and Canada, so on the last day of the cruise I bid them farewell. But they were a lovely decoration to the cabin until then!

Best of luck with the site visit, and the wedding itself! If there are any other questions, please, don't hesitate to ask.

Jenn

Thanks for all the info!!! I am sure I will have some more questions for you on the way...thanks for being so helpful :)

Your MOH and her mom did a fabulous job...you looked so gorgeous!!! Congrats again!! :p

What made any of you choose The Wedding Salon over Bermuda Bride? Just curious.

I am debating which of those two to go with and would appreciate any help you can offer!

THANKS!:)

Hi Miss Jersey

We didn't so much choose The Wedding Salon as have it chosen for us. Turns out TWE contracts out to them when they do weddings in Bermuda.

We had spoken to Barbara Whitecross ourselves in the early planning stages of the wedding, before we went with TWE, and were impressed with her at the time. The only reason we ended up going with TWE at all was because it was more cost effective.

I guess what it comes down to in the end is comfort level and preference. Barbara was always very professional on the phone, and seemed to have this weird intuition and answered questions for us before we had a chance to ask them ourselves.

Good luck with your planning, whoever you decide to go with. Bermuda as a whole has incredibly high standards in regards to their service industry, and I would guess what whatever company you choose, your wedding will turn out beautifully.

Jenn

Hi,

Mom of the bride here. Also thinking of going to Coco Reef from RCCL.

Just want to know if you used a wedding planner for the wedding or relied on the hotel. We are planning around 60 people?

Any help and suggestions welcome.

Hello Bermuda Brides!

I'm wondering if anyone has any updates since the last posting regarding Bermuda weddings. We're getting married in Bermuda and am hoping for feedback from brides who've been married there. Where did you have the ceremony? Reception? Anything you would do again or differently? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Calrissian13,

My fiance and I just got back from Bermuda and looked at the hotels you mentioned. I think that we are going to go with Coco Reef for our wedding. The link in your wedding post to your pictures doesn't work anymore. Anyway I can see your pictures?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

My husband and I were married in Bermuda in August of 08 and had an amazing wedding. We are even going back this August on a different ship, to celebrate our one year anniv!!! We too were going through TWE for a NCL wedding. I came across the Bermuda bride when googling for Bermuda wedding information and ended up with Bermuda Bride instead of TWE. They mentioned they now have a contract with TWE for all Bermuda cruise weddings. I cant say enough good things about them, so helpful and quick responses to all my questions. I will have to post pictures of my amazing day..:p

Please do post pics! We'd love to see them!!! : )

Hi everyone!

I am planning an August 2010 wedding in Bermuda and I and trying to figure out which wedding planner to go with. It sounds like Bermuda Brida and the Wedding Salon our the most sought out picks!

I guess my main deal breaker would be cost of this use. HOw does it work exactly and what price would i be looking at?!!! I was looking at the Bermuda Brida website and the quote was $175/hr and it said 35 hours was the typical time spent on the planning. That is a lot of money i think and then also pay for the flowers, cake,reception, photos etc...?

also, the wedding salon website will not open. does anyone know if it's no longer a service?

sorry for so many questions!!!

i'm also debating between coco reef and elbow beach resort. suggestions? pictures that i could look at?

oh, one more thing! how did you guys contact the bermuda bride or the wedding salon. i am e-mailing first, only because i dn't have an international phone plan.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Vicky

Hi everyone!

I am planning an August 2010 wedding in Bermuda and I and trying to figure out which wedding planner to go with. It sounds like Bermuda Brida and the Wedding Salon our the most sought out picks!

I guess my main deal breaker would be cost of this use. HOw does it work exactly and what price would i be looking at?!!! I was looking at the Bermuda Brida website and the quote was $175/hr and it said 35 hours was the typical time spent on the planning. That is a lot of money i think and then also pay for the flowers, cake,reception, photos etc...?

also, the wedding salon website will not open. does anyone know if it's no longer a service?

sorry for so many questions!!!

i'm also debating between coco reef and elbow beach resort. suggestions? pictures that i could look at?

oh, one more thing! how did you guys contact the bermuda bride or the wedding salon. i am e-mailing first, only because i dn't have an international phone plan.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Vicky

Hi Vicky,

You may want to contact the planners at the resort also. I used The Wedding Salon. The thing is, I know Coco Reef is expensive for paying just a site fee. Using the resorts, they will all charge you this. On top of that, you will have all of your other fees, along with your WP fee. You may come out cheaper if you use the planner through the resort.

I was married at 9 Beaches. Phyllis from there was wonderful. In all honesty if I would have known her prior to hiring TWS I would have went straight through her. I don't know what the price difference would have been, but it tends to cut out the middle man. I would have been in direct contact with the resort for alot of decisions, instead of emailing my planner, then her getting back to me once Phyllis emailed her back.

HTH!

Kathy

Hi Cruisers!~

My husband and I are planning our Wedding vow renewal, we did a JP wedding the first time so this is really our first ceremony with guests and everything) We crused the NCL Boston to Bermuda on the SPRIRIT a few years ago and really want to do our wedding renewal there(on the DAWN now because that is the ship in Boston now) however there have been a few snags that I need some help with. I am a pre, pre,pre preplanner so bear with me...The cruise is too far in advance for the cruiseline to give me any info what so ever so here I am.

We want to do this on our anniversary of course and the year we are doing this the day is Tuesday- the day the ship leaves port. It leaves at 5:30. This leaves us choices, not normally a problem but for me, ugh, my head is spinning.:confused:

For those who have done this cruise for your wedding, if done in Bermuda, where did they have you do it? Same question for those who wed on the ship. I have been told because it is a vow renewal, normal rules do not apply, I can do this either place. Also ANY info you can give me about what flowers were used, where you got your hair and make up done, how the cruiseline handled your guests or any info you can give me would be very helpful. I will not be calling back the woman I talked to in the wedding department, even tho I have her extention, I'll callback for someone else.

Details/concerns:

I will be having about 24 people coming we think, not a huge wedding by noral standards but for a cruise, I have been told that is big.

With the day being the day we leave Bermuda, I am afraid the cruiseline will be so busy with leaving, we will not get the attention we would like for our day if we do it on the ship- I am not expecting everyone working on the ship to stop what they are doing to cater to me, but I do not want to be an afterthought either. I asked the cruise wedding woman if doing it on the ship on the day we leave would be an issue and her response was not to worry they will squeeze you in:eek: or have you change your day, ummm, changing not an option I am not changing my anniversary date, and you squeeze in a hair appointment or a nail appointment, not a wedding!

The cruise line did tell me that if done on the ship, I can bring my own fake flowers, then added, or they will give me "what ever they have extra laying around the ship", um what does that even mean, what ever they have laying around... Really? That is what every Bride wants to hear.

Needless to say, although I am planning way in advance, a little more information from them or even just worded it better and a little understanding as to how to talk to a bride would have been helpful. Yes this is a vow renewal, but it is still a wedding and I do not think it is too much to ask to be treated like you would treat any bride, like her day was important. Please help.

You didn't mention cruise line you are using or time ship is leaving Bermuda? If departure is late p.m. have you talked to them about morning ceremony, around 10:00 or so? or if leaving in early afternoon, doing this late p.m.? If Captain is doing vow renewal (or who else is?) he will have things that need to be done on departure day that will have to be worked around...

Sorry Caroline, Norwegian Cruise out of Boston that leaves Bermuda at 5:30pm.:D

They will not tell me if the captian is doing the ceremony or not :(

I am looking at doing a Bermuda cruise next fall in 2013. Will probably only have a couple of people on the cruise with me as witnesses. I am not looking for anything expensive just to do the vows since this is not our first marriage.

Would like to have it somewhere on a beach with a photographer, minister, flowers and my witnesses/friends. Can anyone suggest anything? Don't really need to worry about food since we'll be on a cruise and this trip will be part of the honeymoon as well.

Thanks for all suggestions.