I dont know if you are set on staying in a resort but another suggestion is to rent a villa, especially if you aren't even going to use the resort wedding coordinator. We are doing that in May 2006. I found it less expensive to do it this way, and plus you get your own pool, hottub (maybe), and possibly a garden shower. I've never been to STJ so I don't know about the resorts, sorry!

After spending countless hours trying to plan my wedding/honeymoon in St. John I found that renting a villa is a bit cheaper then going to a hotel/resort. We found a fabulous villa on the east end that is totally secluded with 2 cabana's; one for sleeping with a bathroom and one for hanging out (kitchen, living room and a second bathroom. Our villa has a hot tub and a fresh water pool, outdoor garden showers and tons of patio for hanging out and relaxing. I too have never been so I'm going on what I've seen and done via the internet. I'm pretty confident we made the right decision. If you need any other info for your wedding/honeymoon I have tons. We are headed down in February of 2006.

Jill-
Which villa did you rent? It sounds great! The only downfall to the villa I rented is I don't think it has much of an outside lounge area or an outdoor bar area. But it does have a 8 person hot tub and a 16' x 50' pool. Which wedding coordinator are you going through? I haven't booked one yet. I can't wait to hear how your week goes. Let me know of any good info you find!!
~April

Psuilion and April

We just had our wedding in STJ this June. My wife said that wedding coordinators are a waste of money since she accomplished everything with a couple phone calls and a couple emails. I agree with you April...rent a villa! We rented over past Coral Bay and loved it. You do get more "bang" for you buck by renting a villa. Good luck to both of you.

Just my two cents. Stacy Mulcare does wonderful job. She is very easy to work with and goes the extra mile for you.

I had her arrange for a surprise wedding vow renewal for my wife and I last May. She took care of everything for me. She also made the reservations at Zoz's and everything went perfect.

Good luck to you.

Thank you for all of the great feedback. I've never been to St. John, and figuring out where to stay has proven to be quite a challenge! I am not able to make a trip to St. John before the wedding to plan things, so I was going to rely on a professional planner to take of everything. Plus, I figured the packages would be a little cheaper although I haven't priced individual services (flowers, photos, etc). I had looked at one or two villa and they seemed pretty expensive $4000-$5000/week. Any villa suggestions? Someone had mentioned Gibney Cottage, anyone stay there?

Go to www.villascaribe.com They have houses in all price ranges. I have found quite a few homes under $2000, even under $1500 for 2 people. How many of you are going? Many of the homes are priced according to the # of people.

Coral Ray looks like a very nice 4BR home and the summer season starts 4/16/06. The price drops from $570 to $257 per night for 2 people(@257 x 7 nights that is $1799 for 1 week!). Even at the winter price it is cheaper than the Westin, which I found to be appx. $600/night Coral Ray is 2 cottages (if you have more pp traveling with you) and has a pool, hot tub, nice kitchen, garden showers and a lot more. And that is just 1 example. I have done a lot of researching and you'd be suprised at what you can find!

We rented one of STJ's most luxerious villa's at $10,260 for 7 nights but for 10 people to share. That is $2052 per couple and it is a multi-million $ home with almost every amentity possible and walk to a private area beach. No resort fuss to deal with or tons of other families.

I checked out a few websites (Destination St. John, Viva Vacations, and Catered To) with villa rentals and that seems like the way to go. Awesome views, private pools, and lots more for the same or less than the resorts. Gibney Beach Cottage looks really cute. We also saw another one - Sea Stone Villa - that was great, but looks like it's booked solid through April and May 2006 based on the website. Thanks for the great suggestions.

I would highly recommend Stacy-- she is amazing!! And despite what others have written, I got married in St. John and you do need a wedding coordinator. Dealing with the vendors can be difficult- and people are on island time-- only a coordinator can really assure you that people will be where you need them to be. Our wedding had a lot of people and Stacy coordinated everything- from where everyone stayed, to certain activities we did during the week, the best reservations at restaurants, our rehearsal dinner and our wedding. Trust me- use ceremonies!!!!!

April,

We rented through www.coralbayvacations.com we rented a villa called Astral Ridge, check out their website, they have others as well. I found it to be very reasonable when comparing to resorts. Plus we really wanted something very private without all the resort frills.

I am not using a wedding coordinator as I feel it an unneccesary expense in my case. There is only the two of us in the wedding, a couple of friends are showing up (but they are on their own). I lucked out and found a great minister who is willing to do some of the "extra" stuff for me and included it in his pricing. I used the internet to find a photographer who has met all my expectations so far. If I was having a big lavish wedding with lots of people and did all the traditional stuff I'd probably use a coordinator but we are trying to keep it as natural as possible without all the frills (it's not a money issue it's simply that we want to have a romantic wedding ceremony on the beach and then just enjoy our time together after).

The woman we rented the villa from is meeting us at the ferry and taking us to the jeep rental agency and then taking us up to the villa. Our minister is meeting us at the airport, taking us to the courthouse to get the licensing and then bringing us to the hotel we are staying at for the first two nights. So all my detail oriented stuff is done without the use of a coordinator. I lucked out and found a wonderful islander who is making my wedding planning virtually stress free.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to share my finds. Like you I've never been so it is a bit tough!
Jill

lol,I'm going to St. John for my 25th anniversary, but I DO remember some 27 years back when I had a "heart-to-heart" talk with my future father-in-law. He was pretty wise, and told me that he'd allocated a sum of money for his only daughter's wedding, and however we wanted to spend it was up to us, and what was left over was our wedding gift! So we did very much as you did, Jill, just had a simple "family and very close friends" wedding. And apparently having a simple wedding didn't have any relation to marriage longevity,either! Congratulations!