Hello Diane,

Good Idea for taking a scouting trip... Annaberg might work - you would need to contact the Natoinal Park - and not sure about brining in chairs so folks might have to stand up... A villa is another option - a wedding planner could help with that. A beach is another. You are wanting this location for the ceremony right? The reception would be more defficult at say Annaberg since its a historical site and attraction. A villa would work - pretty setting and facilities to have the reception.

--Islander

Also some folks marry on the beach and then arrange for a charter sail boat to come pick the whole group up and the reception is on the boat.

--Islander

Hi -
Thanks for your input. I am looking more for the reception locale, my next idea is to nix the original idea and go for a very nice hotel, like Caneel Bay. I heard it is beautiful there, but the food seems to disappoint. Any ideas on this? I appreciate so much all of your help.
Regards,
Diane

Diane: One of the nicest weddings I have been to was Turtle Bay Point at sunset with the reception at the Equator. Everything was perfect!

Have you gotten a quote from Caneel yet? I am looking at them, too, and when they sent me the .xls detailing their prices, I about fell off my chair: $69,000. Mind you, this included all sorts of extras (steel pan band, BBQ on the beach, etc), but even when I whittled it down to the bare minimum (I'm expecting to have about 60 guests as well), it still came out to about 25K. I'd be interested to see what your thoughts are, if you've spoken with them. (They build in 20% gratuity on *everything*, it seems....I wonder if this is negotiable?). It's a gorgeous site, from what I've seen in pictures, and if you research on google, you'll find a lot of ppl raving about it. Oh, and one more thing- they require that 25% of your guests stay at their resort...which starts around $300/night. Let the group know what you find out if you decide to go that route! 🙂