Mandygirl I need your help!

[Soon2bMrs]

Good morning,

I know that we've spoken before and now I need your help.

We have had an un expected problem w/ our wedding plans. My Fi father might have cancer. He has cancelled his cruise. With him not going we were going to cancel our cruise and wedding, but have decided to go ahead w/ it and have a party at home before we leave.

We were going to get married on St. Thomas, but now we've change our minds and want to get married on St. John.

Can this be done?

It's been a fiasco planning up to this part w/ my family driving my crazy. I had wanted to get married on St. John but decided St. Thomas was easier for my family and guests... now I don't care and we want to basically " run away" to St. John for the day.

Which beach is best?

So many questions.... so little time!

Thanks for any advice...

Kathy :)

10/05/04

[MandyGirl]

Kathy -

I'm so sorry for what you and your father in law are going through - you guys will certainly be in my prayers! I know medical stuff can always be soooo stressful - I had to miss three weeks of school this past January to take care of Curt after completely unexpected surgery (he missed six weeks of work). Not fun going through all of the unknowns and "what ifs", and sleepless nights. :(

I'm about to leave for school today (curriculum planning) but don't have school Thurs/Fri. You can email me and I can give you a call tonight if you want to talk. Remind me of a few things... who did you book your wedding through? Times in port?

You can definitely do the courthouse and St John in a typical port day. Just make sure if you guys are going through Immigration that you speak to the concierge or whoever and tell him/her you are getting married that day - they can do things to get you off the ship first so you can go on to the courthouse. Then coordinate with the ferry schedule. www.***** has it but I can give you a more detailed link. Ferries go out of either Red Hook (hourly) or Charlotte Amalie (every other hour). Taxis in Cruz Bay are plentiul. I KNOW you can make it work.

I better run for now, but I'll be in touch.

Take care,

Mandy

[MandyGirl]

Okay Kathy - I've read through your other posts to refresh my memory and here's what I think...

~ Do your hair and makeup early before disembarking ship (salon will probably have someone do it early if you want - just ask - NCL did for me)

~ Disembark ship as soon as you arrive around 7:00

~ Take taxi to Charlotte Amalie - courthouse (about $3 each, 5-10 minutes)

~ Be at courthouse around 8:00-8:30 (opens at 8AM, on second floor, it's windows overlook the Charlotte Amalie bay)

~ Leave courthouse by 9:30 and take cab to Red Hook (couthouse shouldn't take 20 minutes, depending on how many other couples are in front of you, and drive to Red Hook shouldn't take 20-25 minutes)

~ Take 10:00 ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay ($3 each, 20 minutes). Ferry schedule: http://*****/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/ But if you miss the ferry, the next one leaves at 11:00.

~ If you want to change clothes, there is a public restroom at the Mongoose shopping center (that's where I changed). Mongoose is on the way to the beaches on the north shore. Taxi to Mongoose shopping center about a half-mile or so from Cruz Bay ferry dock.

~ Taxi to beach (10-15 minutes)

~ Do a wedding at 11:30 at Hawksnest Beach. (Reason I suggest this one: Trunk Bay is the BIG tourist attraction that the cruiseship excursions go to, Hawksnest is free and closer to Cruz Bay, and is also lined with pretty seagrape trees.) However, many get married at Trunk Bay, but your timeframe in port would put it at peak time for visitors. Also, the earlier, the better due to the sun.

~ You could do a wedding lunch in Cruz Bay (or at the Caneel resort on St John http://www.caneelbay.com/dine1.cfm) or get on back to St Thomas and do lunch there - so you are not stressed about catching the ferry back in time for your ship

~ Ferry from Cruz Bay back to Red Hook ($3) or Charlotte Amalie ($7). Depending on when your ship leaves, you probably need to be on the ferry no later than 3:00ish.

~ Return to your ship and enjoy your beautiful wedding day with your hubby! :D

I would suggest Hawksnest beach though. Trunk Bay is beautiful, but equally as pretty as Hawksnest. You're probably not planning on snorkeling at your wedding, so don't worry about missing the underwater trail at Trunk. ;) This website describes the beaches, but Hawksnest seems to be used the most for weddings that I've read. http://*****/stjohn/beaches_stj/ Cinnamon is long and pretty, but also crowded and you walk through a campground to get there from the parking area. Maho is very "thin" and extremely close to the road.

Cheryl can probably coordinate the changes for you pretty easily. But BE SURE to purchase a video. You might even consider doing a party about 2-3 weeks after you return, so you can show the video and make everyone feel like they were there! :) The video was by far the best purchase we made, and our's cost $350. I noticed on Cheryl's website that her's is $225.

I hope news is turning out positive for you guys...

~ Mandy

[Soon2bMrs]

Thanks Mandy,

My head is spinning w/ all of this new info. To top it off, I have a bachlorette party to attend this weekend and when I get home Sunday night I have a ton of homework due!

 

Anyway,

I have to change wedding coordinators. Cheryl didn't think that she could attend to mine so she called and set me up w/ one on St. John. It's called

Island Style Weddings. http://www.islandstyleweddings.com/

They seem a little pricey compared to Cheryl, but we'll see.

 

I had always planned on having my hair done early. We have a sky suite on Celebrity and I think we are the first ones to get on the ship, so I plan to track down the concierge and make my arrangments. Derek found the number to the events office on Celebrity so maybe I'll call them too. Since we're comming from San Juan do you think we'll have to go thru customs? Or will we have an early departure? I looked on ***** at the cruise ship schedules back in October to see how many ships are in port on that day in October and it looked like only 2 or 3 w/ ours being one of them. I hope that helps us out!

So you think that we should take a cab and catch the ferry out of Red Hook? Is it less crowded and easier that downtown? If only we didn't have to go to the courthouse! Thanks for the shopping mall changing idea. As soon as I talk to Mary from island style, I'll run it by her to see what she thinks. Cheryl told me that she'll be picking us up from the ferry dock. Again we'll see.

I would love to do Trunk Bay, but I remember reading your posts about how crowded it can get, kinda like Megan's Bay on St. Thomas. Hawksnest looks just as beautiful and more deserted. I met another bride who got married there last summer and loved it.

Here's some bad questions. Do you think it will rain? And what would we do?

I'm debating on just 36 pictures or pay more to have 36 more in black and white? Yes on the video! How much did your planner charge you for everything... well except for that lovely catermaran! If we did that we wouldn't do the party before or afterwards.

We wanted to do the party before we left for these reasons: 1. we don't know how Derek's dad will feel. 2. They just moved to Florida so he might do treatment up here in Maryland becuase of the hospitals and becuase the family is here, but then again we just don't know what will happen. 3. It's still pretty warm and comfortable to do an outside gig in September.... and we're saving money by using my sister's back yard! 4.????????????????????/

It's funny becuase we wanted to do the cruise when we choose to, but now it seems like a pain weather wise!

Everyone is still going on the cruise except for his dad and step mom. We told the family that we were just going to run away to St. John and do it alone. My mom seemed to take the news ok. I guess once we settle on how we're doing this, we might ask them to tag along to our adventure. It's just the whole planning process has been a stuggle becuase I was planning around what would make everyone else happy and how convienent it would be to them. Altough it seems like a hassle to take the ferry, find the beach ect, it somehow makes it feel like it will be OURS.

 

Sorry I'm just rambling. Again too much info to process! But thanks for all the advice, it gives me hope that it can be done!

 

Kathy :)

[MandyGirl]

Kathy - It can definitely be done! YOUR WAY!!! Let's get that head to stop spinning!! :) I'm trying to plan a west coast vacation for my parents who are leaving next Friday on passes (visiting three different cities), and I think planning my wedding was easier to plan because I just planned what I wanted!! LOL! And we leave for Hershey tomorrow (through PHL). At least flights look really good and I don't have to stress over that. So it is fun to visit with you about your beautiful wedding and think about gorgeous St John!!

I completely forgot you are going to be in SJU the day before. You should NOT have to clear immigration then since San Juan is a US territory and St Thomas is your next stop. And I've stayed on the same deck with the Sky suites on Celebrity Galaxy - very nice! We met a couple on their THREE WEEK honeymoon from Belgium, and hung out with them at several ports. They had invited us to their suite to be on the balcony when arriving at port - very spacious and very nice!!! (We were in an inside cabin across the hall). They were the couple that talked us into doing Snuba with them. So long story short, the Sky suites are awesome!!

Ferry to St John: The reason I thought of Red Hook was due to schedule. I didn't think you could "for sure" finish with the courthouse and catch the Charlotte Amalie ferry. It only runs once every two hours in the mornings. (9:00 and 11:00). If you were in the courthouse at 8:00, you should have no problem making the 9:00. Then if you miss that, just go on over to Red Hook.

Restroom to change on St John: We sent Curt on to the beach with the family/friends - and they all LOVED walking the beach for the half hour or so before I arrived. The bathroom was not the greatest, but it was a closed door to change clothes. I didn't have to do anything with hair or makeup. Otherwise, that would not have been a good place. My maid of honor and I changed there.

Family: I'd suggest to let them all come along - while you and Derek are at the courthouse, they can go on their own to wherever you decide to marry on St John. Just give them explicit directions (cab to Red Hook, ferry, find a cab and go to ___). Derek could always go on ahead of you after you meet Mary - that way he doesn't see you in your dress before you walk down the aisle. Another big plus of having them all there is I'm sure they'll take pics. It was great getting so many pics from various people later from different angles, and we never knew they were taking pics! We only did the 36-pic package and it was fine - especially with all the supplemental pics everyone took!

The other positive of not marrying on Trunk Bay is the $4 entrance fee all of your guests would have to pay to Trunk (if they are watching money). But, with only 2-3 ships, it might not be that crowded. We spent Thanksgiving on Trunk Bay with 2 ships in port when we vacationed there, and it wasn't bad until later in the day. We saw it later from the overlook and it was packed!! Hawksnest is not a big "visitor attraction beach" so it would definitely be more intimate.

Rain - aka "liquid sunshine" - during the day if it does rain, it goes away quickly unless there is some freaky weather pattern there (like there was in early June). Hawksnest does have a covered bathroom (not so nice) and covered pavillion with picnic tables that was definitely nice. We've been there in November, December, and March and only experienced one day with showers (off and on). And oddly enough, it can be raining in St Thomas but clear and gorgeous in St John.

Costs:

Our total costs of wedding (everything including pics,video) / reception on catamaran for 19 with cake,champagne / engagement photos package: $2997.00

Wedding coordinator 18%: $540.00

Total contracted cost: $3537.00 (plus the $50 for marriage license and $152 for ferry tickets purchased through the cruiseline at $8 each RT to get us all to St. John)

Specifics: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=45025

Do you want me to loan you a copy of our video? I don't mind sending it to you at all, and it might give you ideas. Your bachelorette party wouldn't happen to be in Hershey this weekend would it??

I just looked at Mary's website - looks like she uses the same catamaran company we used (Calypso is the smaller catamaran we used). But she didn't specify if she uses specific beaches or not.

That makes total sense about a party before! Hopefully treatments will go well and life will go on as usual in the near future.

~ Mandy

[Soon2bMrs]

Hi ya!

No the party is is Deleware in a little beach town called Dewey Beach.

My future sister in laws took their kids to Hershey on Monday. Have fun! I think there is a new roller coaster ride that they keep advertising. It's only like an hour and a half from here.

And those passes... I don't think Derek misses thoses passes or the people traveling on SW! Have you been watching the show? I missed Monday's new episode. They filmed in here at BWI! If you see a bunny rabbit, it's our crazy friend Debbie.

 

I just talked to Mary about an hour ago. I liked her , she seemed really cool and she's from this area! Since speaking w/ her I feel relieved! She talked me thru the whole process and it's pretty much what you've been telling me what to expect. She did suggest the 9am ferry from the docks. She thinks that if we get to the courthouse early we'll have plenty of time to catch the ferry over. She also suggested Hawksnest, mainly becuase she thought that it was prettier in the morning. She did mention that the facilities were being renovated and that there wasn't a place to change there. I told her about your idea and she said that would be fine, just let her know ahead of time. She also suggested Caneel Bay for lunch or take a taxi to drive around the island.

 

I'm debating about my family comming over. This planning has been a pain in the butt w/ my family. First my sister invited her best friends to come along. Then she invited her sister in law, she invited her dad, her dad invited another loser sibling, then my sister invites my neices boyfriends whom I've never met. My parents friends decided to make it a family vacation and invited their kids. My mother didn't understand how I just wanted it to be our family and Derek's and a couple of our friends. My mom thought that I needed to go to church and find the love that has left my heart and couldn't understand why I hated these people. Then my sister offered to pay for her guests to come to my ceremony. It's been interesting. Then we find out that Derek's dad might have cancer.

We have told our friends that this is what we're doing and if they want they can catch the ferry over w/ us. I feel bad for my brother who hasn't done anything but support us, but how do I invite him and not my parents and my sister who has been driving me nuts? I just didn't want a fiasco anymore!

 

So, so far that's it, just Derek and I. Ok and maybe our best friends. LOL

 

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I think I can do this. I soo look forward to the cruise!

We figured that it was our honeymoon and we've never been on a real vacation so why not slurge and get the nice suite. Glad that we did, but then again it would mean a couple more bucks for wedding stuff.

 

Costs: I think our costs will be just a bit under. Then again w/ the party before who knows? That planning needs to start soon too!

Is it bad that I can't wait for this to be over with????

 

Derek's dad goes in today or tomorrow for tests. He'll have his endocopy done in Florida where they just moved last year and I think he's going to have them send it up here for results. Maryland and DC have the best hospitals, and the family is up here to help out.

Hopefully we'll know more by next week.

 

If I don't talk to you thanks again and have a blast in Hershey! Eat lots of chocolate for me!!!!

 

Talk to you soon,

kathy :)

[MandyGirl]

That's great you are feeling better about it all! Wow - if you made the 9:00 ferry in Charlotte Amalie (walking distance from courthouse) then you'd be on St John by 9:45 and could probably do an even earlier wedding! The earlier the better- I was sweating by the end of mine - and it was SHORT!

I totally see what you mean about friends inviting friends. I only had one couple extra tag along, but she works with my grandmother, so I just couldn't say no. It turned out okay - but you are right - the costs do add up when you figure a larger wedding cake (and in our case extras on the catamaran and taxi/ferry we paid for). What you could do is just have only your family and friends there at the wedding -don't even tell the others which beach or which island! Or just be up front and say that you want a small, intimate ceremony only with your personal friends/family. There's many beaches there, and they don't have to be at your's. And if they don't want to pay $4 for Trunk, tell them to go on to Cinnamon. (We liked that one better anyway, plus it's free)

I haven't even been on the Caneel property, but everything I have read and heard about it, it is fabulous. On our cruise this November, we will probably hit the beach there - I think they have seven beaches. (But of course before that, we are planning to pre-order another small wedding cake from the same chef and return to Hawksnest to share it!!) ;)

We're actually skipping the Hershey park this time - I'm doing a spa package at the Hotel and Curt is coming along for a reflexology (that's about his limit - that and massages - no wraps or scrubs for him!). But I wanted him to see that spa - it is so awesome. I went two years ago by myself while he stayed back at the B&B, so I do look forward to him joining me. When I came back from that one, even after showering at the spa afterwards and driving 30 minutes to our B&B, he said I smelled like a walking chocolate bar when I walked in the door!! :D That's Saturday morning until around 12:30, and then we have the Dave Matthews concert that night. I want to have lunch at one of the hotel's restaurants this time - and then the rest of the trip is all his. Spa and lunch - I'm happy! (We do a trip each summer centered around a Dave Matthews concert - his favorite group). Last month we did our first standby trip overseas, and that was pretty cool, so we are definitely making sure we get the most out of the privileges while we don't have kiddos. I missed the show this week, but he watched it. It is sooo realistic!!

Thinking of spas... your ship probably has an AquaSpa on board. We did a couple's treatment on Celebrity Galaxy that was really cool... and romantic. Think it was called the Rasul mud treatment in the Estrucan chamber or something like that. Worth checking into!! ;)

And I WILL have plenty of chocolate this weekend!! :)

~ Mandy

[Soon2bMrs]

Spa Package??? Even better!

Sounds like fun. I love Dave mattews as well. Haven't seen him in concert though. You'll have beautiful weather this weekend. Sunday is supposed to be hot and humid. You'll smell like hot chocolate this time! Ha ha! I looked into the treatments on the ship..... I need to save a couple bucks to do one.

 

As for wedding cake, I didn't order one. I think we'll either have one or a piece at lunch or back on the ship to share w/ our guests.

 

I love your idea of celebrating back at Hawksnest w/ one! Maybe we'll do that next year.

I'd love to go on a cruise again or just do there to stay for a week next year.

 

Well I'm off . I'm going to try not to over think about this this weekend and have fun. I'll just pick it all up Monday.

Mary sent me my invoice and other requirements. She's quick. I like that! Keeps me from changing my mind!

 

How long will you be in Hershey?

Have fun

Talk to you soon

kathy :)

[MandyGirl]

YOU have fun this weekend! I didn't do a traditional bachelorette party - we went out with friends as a group and called it the "bachelor/bachelorette gettogether"!

 

We'll only be in Hershey until Sunday morning. A quick trip. But I'm doing the cocoa bean scrub, chocolate fondue wrap, and one other thing I can't remember. It's a treat!! Last time in the wrap, I truly felt (and smelled) like a baking brownie! Our Dave tickets are awesome - floor, center, row 27!! I got really lucky when purchasing them - Curt was on the computer and I was on the phone on hold for 20 minutes - and I got the better seats. We've never been this close before, so we are excited.

That's great you have your invoice back already! The cakes can get pricey. Just to order the little cake that feeds 2-6, it's $75. That hurts, and I'm usually the one to say "let's do it" and he's the conservative one, but his reply was "it's our wedding beach...". So that settled that! Here's a local chef on St John that did our's: http://www.stjohnchef.com/cakes.htm

If USAir keeps doing such great deals, you guys could get down there easily. They have recently had specials of PHL-STT for just over $200 RT. And they even had it from Dallas (connect in Charlotte) at $206 plus taxes... and around here, it's normally $700-900. I hear they are hurting and needing money quick though... but you couldn't beat those deals they've had. I was itchin' to go just for the weekend at that price!!! You can't buy ID90 standby passes for that cheap! We were going to use the standby passes we won to go to STT this summer, but after that fare sale, we knew that flights would be packed and standby would probably leave us sitting in the airport - so that's why we are using them for PHL and booked the Thanksgiving cruise instead.

But you go have fun this weekend and don't think about it... it will still be there when you come back Monday! Have fun!!

 

~ Mandy

[Soon2bMrs]

Hey Mandy,

Sorry so long to post.

Derek's dad passed last week. It was very sudden the whole ordeal, but at least he's at peace.

I got for my first dress fitting tonight! I'm nerveous yet excited.

So far my new WP Mary has been wonderful. She keeps checking up on me.

OH and guess what? Derek's dad had been trying to get us a cocktail hour on the ship after our ceremony..... our TA kept telling us that it couldn't be done, then when she found out that it could she kept putting it off. Well his dad would call her each week for an update. Monday Derek called her to tell her about his dad, and she gave us the news that he got it done, that we will get our cocktail hour! I think it's a sign that things will be wonderful!

 

Anyway I'm glad that Hershey was fun. I wouldn't be able to do a body wrap w/ chocolate... I'd eat it off of me! LOL

Hope all is well.

 

Thanks for all of you advice!

 

Kathy :)

PS the bachlorett party was so much fun! It was a nice weekend.

[MandyGirl]

Oh Kathy - I am so sorry! You are right though - he is in a better place and will be watching over you two.

 

Yea! Getting fitted for the dress! Isn't that such a great feeling! Now don't make a trip to Hershey between now and the wedding, or that wedding dress will have some problems!! :D Hershey was awesome, and the concert was the best of the five we have been to for DMB. We stayed at a B&B 3 miles from all the attractions, parked at the Hotel Hershey earlier in the day, so after the concert, it was a 15 minute walk to the car (uphill) and 10 minute drive to the B&B. All the other rooms in our B&B started trickling in an hour later, as they were stuck in traffic. So if you ever go to a concert at HersheyPark, stay at "Inn at Westwynd Farm", park at the hotel, and you will have NO problems with after-concert traffic! And we had even stayed for the encore and for the lights to come back on in the stadium! (I'm usually dragging him out beforehand, but promised to stay on this one since I knew we had parking figured out). And... they are tripling the size of the spa with possible plans to do couple treatments! I filled that out on my comment card, so hopefully it will really happen!! Curt loved it there too - very relaxing.

How awesome about your cocktail hour onboard!! Will you wear your wedding dress for it?? The one thing I wish I had done was worn my dress to dinner that night. However, we had gone snorkeling during the day, so I had already taken it off, but that's a lame excuse. I did wear Curt's favorite dress though, but in hindsight I really wish I had worn the dress for dinner.

 

I'm glad you had fun at your bachelorette party!!! You needed a good weekend in the midst of all this stress of wedding planning and illness!

It is so exciting that you are getting closer to your dream wedding! Just sends chills of excitement!! And that's great Mary is doing great things for you. Keep in touch!

~ Mandy